See also

Juliana FITZGERALD ( - )

1. Juliana Cecilia FITZGERALD, daughter of Maurice FITZGERALD ( - ) and Mary William BURTON ( - ), appeared in the census. She married William H.W. FITZGERALD.

 

It is not known if her mother was indeed Mary Burton, or her father's first wife (name unknown).

 

William H.W. FITZGERALD, son of William FITZGERALD of Kilcarragh ( - ) and Anne POWELL ( - ), was born in 1789 in Co. Clare, Ireland. He was a JP, High Sheriff, 1842. He died on 17 February 1872 in Cliffe Hall, Piercebridge. He and Juliana Cecilia FITZGERALD had the following children:

 

+2

Anne FITZGERALD ( -1877)

+3

Mary FITZGERALD (1819-1852)

Second Generation

2. Anne FITZGERALD, daughter of William H.W. FITZGERALD and Juliana Cecilia FITZGERALD, was born. She appeared in the census. She married Richard Bassett WILSON on 5 December 1839. She died on 11 July 1877.

 

Anne was one of two daughters of William Fitzgerald, a Sheriff and JP from County Clare in Ireland. Her younger sister Mary married Sir Lucius O'Brien, 14th Baron Inchiquin. The Fitzgerald family motto is "Shanet a Boo" (No literal translation of the Fitzgerald Motto has been located to date. It is thought to be a corruption of Shanid, a land grant in County Limerick to the Fitzgeralds in 1197 and the site of Shanid Castle. Suggestions range from the battle cry "Shanet to Victory" to "My Home is My Castle", "Long Live" etc.).

 

Richard Bassett WILSON, son of John WILSON (1767- ) and Martha BASSETT (1776-1869), was born on 3 April 1806. He was a Magistrate and Landed Proprietor. He died on 18 February 1867. He and Anne FITZGERALD had the following children:

 

+4

Juliana Cecilia WILSON (1840-1898)

+5

John Gerald WILSON (1841-1902)

+6

William Henry FITZGERALD-WILSON (1844-1932)

+7

Mary Lucia WILSON (1844?-1930)

+8

Richard Bassett WILSON (1846-1901)

+9

Augusta Jane WILSON (1848- )

+10

Emily Gertrude WILSON (aft1851-1928)

+11

Maurice Fitzgerald WILSON (1858-1945)

 

3. Mary FITZGERALD, daughter of William H.W. FITZGERALD and Juliana Cecilia FITZGERALD, was born in 1819. She married Lucius O'BRIEN on 21 February 1837. She died on 26 May 1852. She was buried in Kensall Green Cemetery.

 

Sir Lucius O'BRIEN, son of Sir Edward O'BRIEN 4th Baronet (1773-1837) and Charlotte SMITH ( - ), was born in 1800. He had the title '14th (8th?) Baron of Inchiquin'. He died in 1872. He and Mary FITZGERALD had the following children:

 

+12

Mary Grace O'BRIEN ( -1912)

+13

Charlotte Anne O'BRIEN ( -1918)

+14

Edward Donough O'BRIEN (1839-1900)

Third Generation

4. Juliana Cecilia WILSON, daughter of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born on 11 September 1840. She married Thomas Charles Johnson SOWERBY on 14 September 1865. She died on 15 November 1898.

 

In the year after her husband's death, the family were staying in Cornwall at her sister Augusta Bolitho's house, along with her sister Mary Lucia and a butler, footman, cook, lady's maid, three servants, two housemaids and a scullery maid. This according to the 1891 census. No children of the Bolitho's were listed, and it is not known if they had any.

 

Thomas Charles Johnson SOWERBY of Snow Hall, Darlington, Yorks, JP was born on 7 August 1838 in Ketton, Rutland. He died on 15 November 1890. He and Juliana Cecilia WILSON had the following children:

 

15

Charles Fitzgerald SOWERBY (1866-1916). Charles was born on 31 July 1866. He was a Captain in the Royal Navy. He died on 31 May 1916 in Battle of Jutland.

16

Mabel Frances SOWERBY (c. 1868- ). Mabel was born circa 1868 in Gainford, Co. Durham.

17

Edith Mary SOWERBY (c. 1870- ). Edith was born circa 1870.

18

William Bassett SOWERBY (1870- ). William was born on 13 April 1870. He was a Colliery Company Assistant Secretary (1891). He married Lena HUNTER on 13 April 1900.

19

Edward Chaytor Sowerby SOWERBY (1872- ). Edward was born on 2 September 1872.

20

Mary Gertrude SOWERBY (c. 1882- ). Mary was born circa 1882.

21

Gerald SOWERBY ( -1913). Gerald died on 6 November 1913.

 

5. John Gerald WILSON CB, son of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born on 29 December 1841 in Yorkshire, Man[s]field. He was a Colonel in the Army. He married Angelina Rosa Geraldine O'BRIEN on 4 June 1873. He died on 8 March 1902.

 

John Gerald Wilson of Cliffe was Colonel, 3rd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment.

"Wilson. - Col. John Gerald Wilson, C.B., commanding 3rd Batt. York and Lancaster Regt., died March 8th, 1902, of wounds received in action between Tweebosch and Palmietkuil the previous day. He was the eldest son of the late Richard Bassett Wilson, Esq., of Cliffe, by his marriage with Anne, daughter of the late William Fitzgerald, Esq., of Adelphi, co. Clare. Col. Wilson was born in 1841, and educated at Cheltenham. He joined the 84th Regt. in 1858 from the Royal Military College as an ensign. After the death of his father in 1867, and his succession to the family estate of Cliffe Hall, Piercebridge, Darlington, he retired from the army as a capt., but subsequently accepted a commission in the volunteer force, and in 1873 was appointed to the command of the 1st North Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers. From the latter he was transferred in 1883 to the command of the 3rd West Yorkshire Militia, now the 3rd Batt. York and Lancaster Regt., and in 1889 he was appointed to the command of the West Yorkshire Volunteer Brigade. He was awarded the C.B. on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria in 1897, and was hon. col. of the 2nd Volunteer Batt. Prince of Wales’s West Yorkshire Regt. His battalion was first embodied in Dec., 1899, being disembodied after twelve months?service. It was again embodied in Dec., 1901, and volunteering for active service proceeded to South Africa. In the course of the war, Col. Wilson lost a brother (Col. Richard B. Wilson) and a son (2nd Lieut. Richard B. Wilson). The name of Col. J. G. Wilson is inscribed on the Eleanor Cross War Memorial erected at Cheltenham College."

His service record from the eighty-fourth regiment:

"Wilson, John Gerald, C.B.-Born at Cliffe Hall, Darlington, December 29th, 1841. From R.M.C. to Ensign 84th Foot without purchase December 31st, 1858; Lieutenant by purchase December 19th, 1862; Captain by purchase December 4th, 1866; Retired by sale of his Commission September 13th 1867; Lieutenant-Colonel 1st North York Rifle Volunteers June 9th, 1871; Resigned January, 1883; Lieutenant-Colonel 3rd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment January 20th, 1883. Went with the 3rd Battalion to the South African War in 1901, and died of wounds received in action on March 2nd, 1902, while with Lord Methuen's column between Tweebosch and Palmietkiul. Served in Malta April 3rd, 1865, to June 13th, 1866."

Extract from The Last Post - Roll of Officers who fell in South Africa 1899-1902 by Mildred G Dooner, published by Naval and Military Press.

 

ALDBROUGH is a township containing 1,807 acres and 400 inhabitants. The soil is fertile, and in a high state of cultivation. The gross estimated rental of the township is £2,685, and the rateable value, £2,421. Eleanor, dowager duchess of Northumberland, is lady of the manor, and the most extensive landowner;

Col,. J. G. Wilson, Cliffe Hall, owns 145 acres; Messrs. Hutchinson and Shipton, 22 acres; and Miss Spencely, six acres besides cottage property.

 

Angelina Rosa Geraldine O'BRIEN, daughter of Rev. the Hon. Henry O'BRIEN ( - ) and Unk UNK ( - ), was born circa 1852 in Ireland. She and John Gerald WILSON had the following children:

 

22

Richard Bassett WILSON (1874-1900). Richard was born in 1874 in Yorkshire, Manfield. He was a Lieutenant, Imperial Yeomanry. He died on 26 July 1900.

23

Murrough John WILSON (1875- ). Murrough was born on 14 September 1875 in Yorkshire. He had the title 'DL for North Riding, Yorks'. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, Unionist Member of Parliament for Richmond, Yorks. He married Sybil May MILBANK on 16 February 1904.

24

Harriet Anne Dorothy WILSON (1876- ). Harriet was born in 1876 in Yorkshire. She married Frederick Richard MILBANK on 12 July 1904.

25

Denis Daly WILSON (1878- ). Denis was born on 22 October 1878. He married Mary Henrietta FRANKS on 17 December 1911.

26

Gladys Mary WILSON (1880- ). Gladys was born in 1880 in Yorkshire. She married John Beaumont HOTHAM on 15 August 1905.

27

Frank O'Brien WILSON (1883-1962). Frank was born on 30 April 1883 in France. He married Elizabeth Frances PEASE on 25 November 1919 in Middleton Tyas. He died on 7 April 1962 in Kilima Kiu, Kenya.

28

Gerald Geoffry WILSON (1884-1896). Gerald was born in 1884 in France. He died in December 1896.

29

Geraldine WILSON (1888- ). Geraldine was born in 1888 in Yorkshire.

 

6. William Henry FITZGERALD-WILSON, son of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born on 22 April 1844. He was a Barrister. He married Isabella Olave STANHOPE on 21 November 1885. He died on 17 April 1932.

 

(Adelphi, Corofin, co. Clare).

 

Isabella Olave STANHOPE, daughter of Russell Charles STANHOPE of Parsonstown Manor, co. Meath ( - ) and Ellinor Avena BLACKBURNE ( - ), was born in March 1861. She died on 28 November 1941. She and William Henry FITZGERALD-WILSON had the following children:

 

30

Francis William FITZGERALD-WILSON (1886-1963). Francis was born on 8 December 1886. He was a Soldier. He married Phyllis Lockhart GREENSHIELDS in 1922. He died on 4 July 1963.

31

Olave Clare FITZGERALD-WILSON (1888-1912). Olave was born on 11 February 1888. She died in 1912.

 

7. Mary Lucia WILSON, daughter of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born in 1844 (estimated) in Kilnarsola, Co. Clare, Ireland. She died on 20 January 1930.

 

It is likely that she never married. She had not married by 1891, which was her 48th year. In fact, according to the 1901 census, she was living, aged 57, with her brother Maurice.

 

8. Colonel Richard Bassett WILSON, son of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born in 1846 in Cliffe Hall, Piercebridge. He was a Colonel in the Army. He died on 21 March 1901.

 

Born in 1846 at Cliffe Hall, Piercebridge, he was educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford. He joined 3 (Militia) DLI in 1870 and rose to Honorary Colonel in 1893. He took his battalion to South Africa in January 1900 and was Mentioned in Despatches in February 1901. He died of enteric fever and pnuemonia at Kroonstad, on 21 March 1901. He was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George for his service in the Boer War. Richard Wilson's brother and nephew also died in the Boer War of wounds received in action.

These medals are located in Medal Case 29, Display Group 39:
Order: St Michael & St George
Queen's South Africa (1899-02)

"War Office, March 4 1902.
MEMORANDUM
IMPERIAL YEOMANRY.
The undermentioned Officers resign their commissions and receive new commissions subject to the provisions of the Militia and Yeomanry Act, 1901, each retaining his present rank and seniority, viz.:-
(...) Yorkshire Hussars (Princess of Wales's Own). (...) Lieut.H.B.de la P.Beresford-Peirse, D.S.O."

A couple weeks later, on Friday, March 14th, he attended "a service (...) held (...) at Manfield Church, near Darlington, in memory of Colonel J.G.Wilson, C.B., of Cliffe-hall, who was killed at Klip Drift. (...) The lych-gates at the entrance to the churchyard were erected last June by public suscription in memory of Colonel Wilson's son, who also died in South Africa".
The latter, Lieutenant Richard Bassett Wilson, had died at Rustenburg on July 26th, 1900, of wounds received in action five days previously at Oliphant’s Nek - he was an officer of the Yorkshire Hussars.

It is to be noted that an unofficial tribute medal was awarded by the "Committee of the Yorkshire Volunteer Equiptment & Emergency Fund" to all members of the 3rd battalion (Yorkshire) Imperial Yeomanry "in recognition of their patriotism and the good service rendered by them in South Africa".

 

Hart's Annual Army List:

Richard Bassett Wilson, 3rd Battalion Durham Light Infantry (1st Durham Militia)

2nd Lieut or Ensign 18th July 1865
Lieut 8th April 1870
Captain 4th July 1874
Appointed to Reserve 7th July 1880

 

Born in 1846 at Cliffe Hall, Piercebridge, he was educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford. He joined 3 (Militia) DLI in 1870 and rose to Honorary Colonel in 1893. He took his battalion to South Africa in January 1900 and was Mentioned in Despatches in February 1901. He died of enteric fever and pnuemonia at Kroonstad, on 21 March 1901. He was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George for his service in the Boer War. Richard Wilson's brother and nephew also died in the Boer War of wounds received in action.

 

9. Augusta Jane WILSON, daughter of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born on 28 May 1848. She married Thomas Robins BOLITHO on 30 June 1870 in Westminster.

 

Thomas Robins BOLITHO was born on 13 September 1840. He had the title 'JP for Cornwall, DL'. He was a Director of Barclays Bank (following the absoption of Bolitho's - the family bank - in 1905. He died on 28 September 1925.

 

10. Emily Gertrude WILSON, daughter of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born after 1851. She married James Fitzgerald BANNATYNE on 17 December 1878. She died on 10 October 1928.

 

The only clue as to the identity of this woman was through an internet search which revealed "Palk manuscripts in the possession of Mrs. Bannatyne of Haldon, Devon" by Emily Gertrude Wilson Bannatyne...
( London: H.M.S.O (1922) 492p. [Palk, Robert. Sir, Indian army officer: Manuscripts. 1769- 1786.]).

 

James Fitzgerald BANNATYNE, son of James BANNATYNE (c. 1800- ) and Harriet FITZGERALD ( - ), was born in 1835. He died on 18 October 1915. He and Emily Gertrude WILSON had the following children:

 

32

Mary Stuart BANNATYNE (1881- ). Mary was born on 1 May 1881. She married Ludovic HEATHCOAT-AMORY on 12 July 1911.

33

James Fitzgerald BANNATYNE (1883-1916). James was born on 25 November 1883 in Ireland. He died on 14 May 1916, a casualty of the war.

34

Victoria Vera BANNATYNE (1887- ). Victoria was born on 11 September 1887 in Ivychurch, Yorkshire, England.

 

11. Maurice Fitzgerald WILSON, son of Richard Bassett WILSON and Anne FITZGERALD, was born on 4 February 1858 in London. He was a Civil Engineer. He was confirmed on 20 October 1874. He married Florence May BADNALL on 2 August 1884. He died on 23 December 1945. He was buried in December 1945.

 

Maurice Fitzgerald Wilson was born on the 4th February, 1858, and died on the 23rd December, 1945. He was educated at Eton and at the Crystal Palace School of Engineering, and, after a short period at the Thames Ironworks, was articled in 1881 to Sir John Coode, K.C.M.G., Past-President Ins. S.E., spending most of his pupilage on the harbour works at Table Bay and Port Elizabeth. From 1883 to 1886 he was engaged on constructional work at Tilbury Docks for Messrs. Kirk and Randall and Messrs. Lucas and Aird, for whom he also worked on the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway. In 1888 he was appointed resident engineer on the construction of the breakwater at St. Ives, Cornwall. From 1892 to 1895 he was resident engineer on the dock works of the London and South western Railway at Southampton. In 1896 he was appointed superintending engineer in charge of the survey for the Admiralty harbour, Dover, and later for the construction of the works, on which he was engaged until 1905. In 1906 he joined the firm of Coode, Son and Matthews, of which in 1924, on the death of Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, Past-President Inst. C.E., he became senior partner. For nearly forty years he was engaged in the design and construction of harbours, docks, sea defence works, bridges and barrages, including dock extnesions for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board; the Admiralty harbour of refuge at Peterhead; Fishguard harbour; the Lyttelton and gisbourne harbours, New Zealand; wharves and docks at Singapore; the Jahore causeway; Colombo harbour; entrance works and wharves at Lagos; harbour works on the Gold Coast, in Sierra Leone, and in Gambia; and work for the Whangpoo Conservancy Board, Shanghai. In 1921 he was appointed a member of the consultative committee of engineers of the European Commission for the Danube. From 1929 to 1933 he was in charge of the technical investigation of the proposed Severn barrage, upon which the report issued in 1933 was based.

Mr. Wilson was elected an Associate Member of the Institution on the 5th February, 1884, and was transferred to the class of Member onthe 12th February, 1895. He was elected to the Council in November 1928 and became Vice-President in November 1937, but declined nomination for election as President in November 1940 owing to ill health. In the previous February he had been elected an Honorary Member of the Institution. In 1919 he presented a Paper on the Admiralty Harbour, Dover, for which he was awarded the George Stephenson Gold Medal and a Telford premium. He was a member of the Sea Action Committee and later acted as its Chairman. For many years he took a leading part in the work of the British Standards Institution, of which he was Chairman from 1922 to 1933, and honorary life chairman of its Engineering Divisional Council.

In 1884 he married Florence May, daughter of the Venerable Hopkins Badnall, Archdeacon of the Cape, and had two sons. Mrs. Wilson died in 1941.

Obituary, published in the Journal of Institution of Civil Engineers, vol. 26, 1945-6.

 

Letter written to Maurice's son Fiennes' "Brass Hat" - a reference to his son's promotion within the Royal Navy? An image of the original letter is viewable as a Multimedia Object.

My dear Brass Hat,

Though you have been well known to me by name and reputation for some years I have never yet been brought into intimate relations with you so that in writing to offer you my congratulations I feel I should introduce myself lest you might think me presumptious. I understand you are now to adorn the head (of diminishing thatch?) of my son, up till this morning at 0000? hours a Lieutenant Commander R.N. and he, being as I have just said, my son, I introduce myself to you as his father. This will be clear and no doubt satisfactory. I feel it is a matter on which I may offer natural?? congratulations both to yourself and my son. To yourself fu?, though you will seldom have but? what I must describe as a birds eye view of him, you will I am sure be always comfortable and fairly well treated except upon the comparatively rare occasions when you may perchance be used as a water bucket or a football. At any rate I am sure you never be inconvenienced or pressed by any undue swelling of the temples. I am sure you will always be treated with consideration though you must not expect to be wrapped up in cotton wool. You will be carried high and will be naturally looked up to, provided this does not develope [sic] a squint. Nest?? in any case you may be sure the intention will be there.

My son I think must also receive my heartiest congratulations on having become your possessor. It is a prize he has long looked forward to with hopes of obtaining and I need not tell you with what pride and pleasure his mother and I saw? and I may call the announcement of your marriage in the papers this morning. This letter is therefore to wish you every success in your future journeyings together.

Please therefore accept these wishes yourself and convey them to Commander Wilson from his very loving

Father.

 

Maurice was at Eton College from 1871-1877. Whilst there he was awarded an enormous engraved pewter tankard for being "second in junior pulling"[!!]

Maurice Fitzgerald reached the top of his profession of civil engineering. His work included the building of the harbour at St. Ives in Cornwall, where there is a plaque. The details of his distinguished career are given in his obituary - printed below. Maurice's grandson Peter entered the same firm two generations later, where he spent his entire career, ending up as Managing Director, when the firm of Coode and Partners ceased to be a partnership.

Maurice was invited to become President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, but declined for family reasons. The correspondence about this is documented here.

 

Florence May BADNALL, daughter of The Venerable Hopkins BADNALL (1821-1892) and Sarah Elizabeth OWEN-SMITH (1839-1903), was born on 8 February 1858 in Cawthorne, Yorks. She died on 31 January 1941. She was buried in February 1941. She and Maurice Fitzgerald WILSON had the following children:

 

35

Maurice Fiennes Fitzgerald WILSON (1886-1975) (known as 'Fiennes'). Fiennes was born on 22 June 1886 in 2 Talbot Villas, Old Dover Road, Gravesend, Kent. He was a Naval Officer. He married Catherine Gladys MURRAY on 4 August 1914 in St Judes, Portsea, Portsmouth, England. He died on 16 February 1975 in Watlington, Oxon. He was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery.

36

Bassett Fitzgerald WILSON (1888-c. 1972). Bassett was born on 1 September 1888 in St. Ives, Cornwall. He was a Soldier, artist. He married Muriel Gertrude SAMUELSON on 24 April 1915. He was buried circa 1941. He died circa May 1972.

 

12. Hon. Mary Grace O'BRIEN, daughter of Sir Lucius O'BRIEN and Mary FITZGERALD, died on 12 July 1912.

 

13. Hon. Charlotte Anne O'BRIEN, daughter of Sir Lucius O'BRIEN and Mary FITZGERALD, died on 31 January 1918.

 

14. Edward Donough O'BRIEN, son of Sir Lucius O'BRIEN and Mary FITZGERALD, was born on 14 May 1839. He had the title '14th Baron Inchiquin'. He married Ellen Harriet WHITE on 29 January 1874. He died on 9 April 1900. He married Emily A'COURT.

 

Emily A'COURT was the daughter of William Henry Ashe A'COURT ( - ) and Elizabeth HOLMES ( - ). She and Edward Donough O'BRIEN had the following children:

 

37

Lucius William O'BRIEN (1864-1929). Lucius was born on 21 June 1864. He had the title '15th Baron Inchiquin'. He died on 9 December 1929.

38

Murrough O'BRIEN (1866-1934). Murrough was born on 8 November 1866. He died on 6 September 1934.

39

Edward Donough O'BRIEN (1867-1943). Edward was born on 28 December 1867. He died on 27 December 1943.

40

Clare O'BRIEN ( -1950). Clare died on 21 September 1950.

 

Ellen Harriet WHITE was the daughter of Sir Luke WHITE ( - ) and Emily STUART ( - ). She and Edward Donough O'BRIEN had the following children:

 

41

Moira O'BRIEN (1876- ). Moira was born on 13 April 1876.

42

Henry Barnaby O'BRIEN (1887- ). Henry was born on 9 January 1887.

43

Doreen O'BRIEN (1888-1960). Doreen was born on 4 March 1888. She died on 10 June 1960.