My previous blog post was part of my ongoing quest to find the roots of Rev. William Jackson (1737-1795). It focused on his oldest brother, Dr. Richard Jackson (d. 1768-9), and ended with: who was Katherine Sale? That is a useful thread to follow, but first a recap.
This was a quote from Thomas Otway's play Venice Preserv’d. In this play, the character Pierre -- convicted and sentenced to death for plotting against the government and wanting to avoid the indignity of a state hanging - had arranged to be killed before that could happen. Unlike Pierre, who died by the sword, William died by poison. With the likely help of his wife (who had visited him earlier in the morning) he had acquired a packet of arsenic. It is hard to say how much she and their children benefited from his pre-emptive death. In the years to come, she certainly wasn't flush with cash. In September 1802, five months later, she was in Paris with William, age 13, and Louisa Mary age 6 or 7. Short of money, she petitioned the French government for a pension and support for the education of William jr. NOTE: My assumptions about the name of his daughter being Mary Louisa isbased on a baptismal record in Fyfield.
The DNA of collateral relations is often used these days to solve cold murder cases. Tracking the deeds and legacies of Rev. William Jackson’s distant relations – both his mother's as well as the relations of Katherine Sales - has accomplished much the same outcome. It led us to Rev. William's Gore ancestors and at the same time explained part of the story behind his financial anxieties.
Part of the discrepancy between Rev. William's financial realities and his supposed station in life was that he was the youngest son along with three older brothers. Also, his mother, with her two brothers, were the children of a father who had been born the 3rd son in his family. Inheritance-wise, this left slim pickings for them. Eventually, his Uncle and Aunt Sale ended up with land that had once been included in the marriage jointure of William;s grandmother, land he could have justifiably thought should have come first to his mother and then to him.
It was the mention of a Sale aunt in a The Northern Star article in November 1794, which started me off on finding how this had come about: The Aunt of Mr. Jackson (by the mother’s side) was married to Dr. Sall many years register to the archiepiscopal court of Dublin.
GORE Francis Hoble to Elizabeth GORE the wife & relict - Henry - Catherine & Anne Minor the children. Admon granted 28 Feby 1701 |
It is tempting to leap to the conclusion that the Catherine, who was the daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Gore, was the same Catherine who was the aunt of Rev. William Jackson. The problem with that being conclusive is that the 2nd husband of Elizabeth, the widow of Col. Francis Gore and mother of Catherine Gore, was married secondly to a John Sale. He was the father of three children, one of whom was the Dr. Edward Sale whose wife was also a Catherine. This Dr. Edward Sale was therefore a step-sibling of the children of Francis Gore and Elizabeth. This does not mean that the two step-siblings did not marry each other, but it would have been unusual.
Three decades later, to further muddy the waters, the will of Elizabeth Sale ors Gore, mentions her daughter Catherine Sale.
Elizabeth SALE widow dated 25 Oct 1732 pd 4 Dec 1744 Son Francis GORE - daughter Catherine SALE. |
Keeping both these two wills in mind, the 1701 and 1732 wills, there are four possibilities for who this Catherine Sale might be:
- A daughter of Col. Francis Gore and Elizabeth, hence born Catherine Gore.
- A daughter that John Sale had with a previous wife, hence born Catherine Sale, a stepdaughter of Elizabeth.
- A daughter that John Sale and Elizabeth had together, hence born Catherine Sale. Possibly the Catherine Gore who was the daughter of Elizabeth mentioned in the 1701 will had died as a child and her name was reused (not unusual for the time).
- The wife of Dr. Edward Sale and hence a daughter-in-law of Elizabeth.
AVAILABLE
PEDIGREES - Burkes, etc
Despite Rev. William Jackson being a child of two significant strands of Ireland’s landed gentry, he was not mentioned in any of the records of family pedigrees such as Burkes (1949 Version). His Gore family lineage stops with his grandparents and makes no mention even of his mother. My suspicion is that this omission was because of the economic nature of such publications. Most entries start with a living descendant, and then loop back to the earliest known roots of that person. The reason for this is that these descendants – usually male –were more likely than most to purchase a copy of the recent edition. Also, the family members often supplied much of the documentation. Rev. William Jackson’s only son. also named William (last sighted in Rome in 1739, age 49), would not only have been hard to track down, but he would also no longer be considered as one of Ireland’s landed gentry.
So: Which branch of the Gore's family tree did Jackson’s mother perch on? And secondly: Was Rev. William Jackson related to Countess Markievicz?
Constance Georgine Booth-Gore (1868-1927) aka Countess Markievicz – a staged photo showing her ready for action.. |
A little more than a century after the United Irishmen’s aborted uprising, Markievicz née Gore-Booth was active in the 1916 Easter Rising. Also, she was a founding member of Fianna Éireann, Cumann na mBan and the Irish Citizen Army, Like Jackson, Markievicz had been tried and convicted, but because she was a woman (this was the given reason) her death sentence was commuted. Had Rev. William not taken arsenic and died moments before he was due to be sentenced, he might well have avoided the death sentence too. After all, mercy had already been recommended on account of his age.
Constance’s ancestors were the Booth-Gores of Lissadell House Co. Sligo and like Rev. William, she descended from Sir Francis Gore. They were both second cousins four times removed, although the land bequests of their shared ancestors bound the two strands of their families together more tightly than one might expect. Also, even though Markievicz may not have known of her relationship with Rev. William, she would have been more than well acquainted with his activism and his fate.
I have highlighted the first of the GORE ancestors that Constance Booth-Gore shares with Re. William Jackson:
1. Constance Georgine Gore-Booth b. 4 Feb 1868 d. 15 Jul
1927, Dublin, Co. Dublin, Ireland
2.
Sir Henry William
Gore-Booth Baronet Gore of Lissadell, Co. Sligo Father b. 1 Jul 1843 m. 29 Apr
1867 d. 13 Jan 1900 Georgina Mary Hill - Mother
3.
Robert
Gore-Booth Baronet Gore of Lissadel, Co. Sligo Grandfather b. 25 Aug 1805 m. 2 Apr
1830 d. 21 Dec 1876 Caroline Susan Gould - Grandmother
b. d. 16 Jan 1855
4.
Sir Robert Newcomen
Gore-Booth Baronet Gore of Lissadell, Co. Sligo Great-grandfather b. m. 19 Nov 1804 d.
23 Oct 1814 Hannah Irwin - Great-grandmother
5.
Sir John Booth
Gore Baronet Gore of Lissadell, Co. Sligo 2nd great-grandfather b. 1712 m. 23 Dec 1743
d. 22 Jul 1773, Lissadell, Co. Sligo, Ireland Emelia
Newcomen - 2nd great-grandmother b. of Co. Carlow d. Nov 1778,
Bath, Somerset, England
6.
Sir Nathaniel
Gore 3rd great-grandfather b. 1692 m. 24 Jul 1711 d. 1737,
of Newtown Gore, Co. Sligo & Ardtarmon, Co. Sligo Letitia Booth - 3rd
great-grandmother b. Of Dublin d. After 1712
7.
Sir Robert Gore 4th
great-grandfather
b. Bef 1660, of Altarman, So. Sligo m. 12 Feb 1678, St. Michans Parish, Dublin
d. Dec 1705, of Newtown, Co. Leitrim, Ireland Frances Newcomen - 4th
great-grandmother b. of Sutton, Co. Dublin d. 1 Mar 1735, Bur. St.
James
8.
Sir Francis Gore M. P. Co. Sligo 5th great-grandfather b. of Artarman, Co. Sligo
m. d. Feb 1713, of Ardtarmon, Co. Sligo, Ireland Lady
Anne Parke - 5th great-grandmother
|
1. Rev William JACKSON b. abt 1737 d. 30 Apr 1795 Dublin buried. St. Michans Parish, Dublin
2.
Anne Gore Mother b. Between 1692
and 1701 d.
3.
Col Francis Gore
Father
b. btw 1660-1664 m. Bef 1684 d. Abt 1701, prob of Co. Leitrim Elizabeth
Tiffin - Mother b. prob bef 1664 d. Between Nov 1735 and Feb
1736, Of Dublin
4.
Sir Francis Gore M. P. Co. Sligo Grandfather b. of Artarman, Co. Sligo
m. d. Feb 1713, of Ardtarmon, Co. Sligo, Ireland Lady Anne
Parke - Grandmother b. d.
|
The shared ancestry of Markievicz and Jackson also included the famous or infamous Sir Paul Gore (1567-1629). He was the first of the Gores to reside in Ireland and is worth noting because of his role in Irish political history. I have highlighted bits from The Lissadell Papers which have a bearing on the story of Rev. William.
PRONI
– D4131: The Lissadell Papers Sir Paul Gore, a successful soldier of fortune in late Elizabethan Ireland, who was granted substantial estates in the north-west and was created a baronet in 1622. He put down roots in Ireland, and was elected M.P. for Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal. Over the generations, the Gores proliferated on a large scale, and came to dominate constituencies in Mayo, Leitrim and Donegal. By the 1750s, no fewer than nine Gores, almost certainly all related to one another, were M.P. at the same time. None appear to have shone as statesmen, but they gave steady political service and they were, of course, landowners, building up substantial estates, and part of the Anglo-Irish establishment which held sway over Ireland in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.' Paul, the founding Gore in Ireland, '... was commander of a troop of horse under Robert, Earl of Essex. He was ordered by Mountjoy to escort the last two Irish Chieftains, Rory O'Donnell and Sir Donough O'Connor, to submit to Queen Elizabeth. He delivered them safely to Athlone and, in recognition, he was granted lands by the Queen. In 1608 he was ordered to take Tory Island which was occupied by a large number of Irish. He had only a small force but he contrived to set the Irish fighting amongst themselves and then massacred the victors. He was awarded more lands by James I in appreciation, created a baronet of Ireland in 1622 [and died in 1629]. He married Isabella, daughter of Francis Wickliffe and niece of Sir Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, who was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1633 to 1640. ... Sir Paul Gore built the castle of Ardtermon on the shore of Drumcliff Bay about two miles west of the present Lissadell House; ["with its angle towers and protective bawn, it was appropriately defensive for 17th-century Ireland"]. He and Isabella had six sons and seven daughters, his eldest son, Ralph, inheriting the title; his successors are the Earls of Ross. The Earls of Arran originate with the second son, Arthur. ... The fourth son, Francis, became Knight of Ardtermon and the direct ancestor of the present Gore-Booth family of Lissadell. Sir Francis co-operated with the Cromwellians, yet reconciled himself with the Royalists and was granted land at the Restoration. He is remembered particularly for his courage as a Commissioner in the High Court of Justice in 1652 when he refused to concur with the death sentence passed on the young Lord Mayo. [He was elected M.P. for Co. Sligo in 1661]. Sir Francis Gore married Anne Parke [surviving daughter and heiress of Capt. Robert Parke of Newtown Manor or Castle, alias Parke's Castle, just across the county boundary into Leitrim. She died in 1671, having borne Sir Francis nine sons and four daughters. Seventy-five years later, in 1751, the Newtown estate which she had brought into the Gore family and which then comprised 6,500 acres, appears to have been sold to one John Whyte of Dublin, and thus passed out of Gore-Booth possession and family history. |
I can’t help but note that:
- Sir Paul Gore fought on behalf of the kind of political power that Jackson and Markievicz opposed.
- His son, Sir Francis Gore, successfully toggled his shifting allegiances between the Cromwellians and the Royalists but at the same time could be a man of unwavering conviction who could withstand opposition.
- In the 1750s when Rev. William would have been in his teens, no fewer than nine Gores, almost certainly all related to one another, were M.P. at the same time. NOTE: The Jacksons and their relations also had a similar number elected to the Irish Parliament.
- Rev. William’s mother’s claims to land were not only because of her Gore relations, but also included lands in Leitrim and Sligo which came as a result of her Parke ancestry.
- Unlike his ancestors, Rev William was ill suited to the craft and cunning of war.
Some of the land granted to the Gores as their payment for military service ended up with Rev. William’s grandmother and after her death, in the hands of Dr. Edward and Catherine Sale. The records show that in July 1689 Col. Francis Gore, while serving in Tiffin’s Inniskilling Regiment of Foot, would have fought at the Battle of Newtownbutler, then in July 1690 at the Battle of the Boyne, in July 1691 at the Battle of Aughrim (Co. Galway), and in August 1691 at the Siege of Limerick. He also served with Tiffin during the Siege of Namur in August 1695 (during the Nine Years' War).
The bonds between military men are known to be deep, and it was not uncommon for Irish officers to marry the sisters and daughters of their fellow soldiers. A glance at English Army Lists and Commission Registers 1661-1714, Vol 3 is a good start for tracing many of these intermarriages. Since Rev. William’s great-grandfather Sir Francis Gore, as well as his grandfather Col. Francis Gore, had both served as senior officers in the regiment of Col. Zachariah Tiffin (d. 1702 in Antigua), it should come as no surprise that the wife of Col Francis Gore was Col. Tiffin’s daughter Elizabeth.
If Col Francis Gore were still serving with Col. Tiffin at the time of his death in 1701, and this is not unlikely, then he could have died while the army was serving in Antigua. Presumably sometime before this, he had became a Colonel.
One key take-away, arising from the Sale and Gore deeds in Co. Wicklow, is that Rev. William’s mother was widowed sometime before 1740. Given that the earliest biographies of Rev. William say that he was born abt 1737, this means that he would have been fatherless by age three. It is even possible that his father died up to nine months before William was even born. So far, a death certificate for his father, Richard Jackson, has not been found.
The early demise of Richard Jackson goes a long way towards explaining confusion about Rev. William's birthplace. In John McAdam’s 1794 article, Rev. William was described as … only accidentally an alien to this country, he being immediately descended from a family of first respectability in Ireland. If Richard Jackson sr. had died close to the time that William was born, then it is likely that his widow Anne Jackson née Gore would have stayed with some of her Gore relations in London not only during her confinement but also in the years following his birth. In later life, the widowed Anne did not remarry. She and her brothers, Henry and Francis, seem to have lived mainly in Dublin even though she still held– for a while – leases of their family land at Sandymount in Co. Wicklow. That land eventually ended up in the hands of one of her Gore relations from Sligo.
As for where Anne Gore and her husband Richard Jackson lived early in their marriage, one clue is that the record of their first-born son Richard at Trinity College places them at Ballycastle, Co. Down. [UPDATE: August 10, 2023. I now believe that this Ballycastle is more likely to have been the Ballycastle in Co. Antrim: Ballycastle the town is in Town Parks, Parish Ramoan, Barony Cary] Naturally, there is more than one Ballycastle townland in Co. Down - when is there only one of anything in this story? - but the most likely one is in Grey Abbey Parish, not far from Newtownards, home of a line of Jacksons. SEE: Jacksons of Co. Down.
The distance between Newtownards and Ballycastle is abt. 7-8 km. |
Richard R. Madden in The United Irishmen – Their Lives and Times ties Rev. William to the Newtownards Jacksons from which the celebrated American general [Stonewall Jackson] of that name sprang. If that last bit is true, what then? One source alleges that Stonewall's grandfather, John Jackson (1715-1801), was born in Duddington and grew up in London, while another version has him born in Coleraine, another in Antrim and a third alleges that he was related to the Quaker Jacksons from Lancashire (this is the version that I doubt the most). One might as well be playing pin the tail on the donkey while blind drunk. The supposedly most authoritative version of Stonewall’s grandfather's origins can be found in Wikipedia, albeit without much buttressing by primary sources:
John Jackson was an Irish
Protestant from Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland. While living in
London, England, he was convicted of the capital crime of larceny for stealing
£170; the judge at the Old Bailey sentenced him to seven years penal transportation. Elizabeth, a strong,
blonde woman over 6 feet (180 cm) tall, born in London, was also convicted
of felony larceny in an unrelated case for stealing 19 pieces of silver,
jewelry, and fine lace, and received a similar sentence. They both were
transported on the merchant ship Litchfield, which
departed London in May 1749 with 150 convicts. John
and Elizabeth met on board and were in love by the time the ship arrived at Annapolis, Maryland. SOURCE Wiki.
CONCLUSIONS:
Does any of this this change how we view Rev. William Jackson?
Family
systems theory asserts that individuals need to be
understood from their birth order as well as from the role they played and were seen to be playing in their
family. Did they feel valued? Did they feel resilient? Did they feel worthy? It is significant that Rev. William was the youngest of four sons, that
he was fatherless at a young age and finally that he was likely raised
with his wealthy Gore relations in London. It also seems likely that the prestigious Sale family played
a part in his upbringing. Although Dr. Edward Sale had died when Rev. William
was abt. six years old, his wife Catherine – aunt to Rev. William - lived till
abt. 1770. A year before her death, she had been the executor of his oldest brother
Richard Jackson’s will.
Secondly, if the Gore’s legal, political
and financial firepower had been called upon to defend Rev. William, they would have been unlikely to
have been outgunned. That they were silent in his defence perhaps speaks
volumes. There may be something about their reasons mentioned in family correspondence – the next
place to look.
Thirdly, the question arises about why Rev.
William was staying at Hyde’s
coffee shop on the day he was arrested in 1794. Was it only because of its
proximity to the Castle – the seat of power – or was it because Robert Hyde was
a near relation and/or friend? From deeds research, we know that some of the Hyde
family holdings in Co. Sligo and Dublin were also part of Gore family dower bequests and that the
Gore family tree includes some of these inter-marriages.
Fourthly, there is the question of where we
go next to unearth the Jackson side of Rev. William’s family. It currently goes
back only to his father Richard Jackson, the Proctor. It is alleged that young William
studied at Oxford although I have yet to find the record of his attendance
(which usually includes details about the father of the student). It may be
significant that this was the preferred college of the Jacksons
of Coleraine. Plus the Coleraine Jackson often named their sons Richard or William. In a single generation, there could easily be three cousins
with the same name. The father of Rev. William could have been one of the ones that got missed in the records. Coincidences, even though they don't amount to proof, can often be a good place to start.
Finally, it is possible that Rev. William
was a near relation of Henry Jackson, a United Irishman who was also the father-in-law of Oliver Bond - another United Irishman .
Henry Jackson - Image held by the National Gallery of Ireland. Note the resemblance to the etching of Rev. William Jackson included at the start of this blog. |
Henry Jackson came from Co. Monaghan, but his iron
foundry, where he produced vast amounts of pike heads as well as cannon
balls calibrated to fit French cannons, was in Pill Lane in Dublin. At the same time as Henry's foundry manufactured weapons to use against English troops, he continued to accept government contracts for public works. This provided a most useful cover. Like Rev. William, Henry was convicted of treason, but unlike Rev. Wlliam, he was exiled and emigrated to
America.
Turn thee unto me
and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted!
The troubles of
my heart are enlarged.
O bring thou me
out of my distresses.
Look upon my affliction
and my pain, and forgive me all my sins.
Consider my enemies,
for they are many, and they hate me with a cruel violence.
Oh ! keep my soul
and deliver me.
Let me not be ashamed,
for I put my trust in thee.
RELATED LINKS: From my Silver Bowl website:
- Benthams
Abstracts GORE, Updated
August 26, 2019
GORE and SALE aka SALL deeds, Updated August 26, 2019
Mentions of GOREs in the Crossle Genealogical Abstracts. - Combined notes of Land Index Town of Sligo: 1708-1739 & 1739-1810
- Co. Wicklow Leases and selected notes.
- Leases mentioning Sandymount Co Wicklow.
·
Combined notes of Land Index Town of Sligo: 1708-1739 &
1739-1810 My purpose in researching the Town of Sligo was to seek evidence
of connections of Rev. William JACKSON (1737-1795) to specific properties in
Sligo where his family held leases.
·
Registry of Deeds Land Index: Sligo Town 1708 to 1739. I
transcribed this set of deeds in the hopes of narrowing down the GORE-JACKSON
Sligo relationships. I learned a lot, but not as much as I had hoped.
·
2019 Palace and Dame Street deeds work. These notes were
compiled in the hopes of being able to prove where Hyde’s Coffee shop was
located and also to follow up on the possibility of others on Dame Street or
Palace Street who may have had business and/or family ties to either HYDEs or
JACKSON’s.
·
Co. Wicklow Leases and selected notes. My purpose on this
page was to track the leases of GOREs and SALEs and JACKSONs near Mountkennedy
and to add notes where useful to my quest to tease out the connections between
these families.
·
Co. Wicklow Land Leases 1708-1810: These only include
leases in Co. Wicklow that caught my attention because of where they were or
the names of the grantor or grantee
·
Longford GORE and JACKSON 1708 to 1738 - From Land Index.
The purpose here was to follow connections between the GOREs and JACKSONs of
Co. Longford.
·
Jacksons of Co. Longford, Dublin & Kings Co. The starting
point for the Co. Longfort Jacksons comes from Benthams Abstracts, where Richard Jackson was described as
being of Tinenane, Co. Longford.
·
Deeds mentioning JACKSONs & POOLEs. This was compiled
as part of my research to connect the POOLE and JACKSON families of Co.
Longford, Dublin & Kings Co.
NOTE: Another post
will focus on the facts that are specifically relevant to Rev. William Jackson
and will include more documents. In the meantime, here is a tree snippet:1-Col Francis GORE b. btw 1660-1664, d. Abt 1701. + Elizabeth TIFFIN b. prob bef 1664, m. Bef 1684, d. Between Nov 1735 and Feb 1736, Of Dublin, par. Zachariah TIFFIN and Catherine. NOTE: Elizabeth married 2ndly John SALE – father of Dr. Edward SALE aka SALL. ...2-Catherine GORE b. Between 1680 and 1701 ...2-Henry GORE b. Between 1680 and 1684 of Dublin ...2-Rev. Francis GORE b. Abt 1684, d. Bef 1763, of Sligo and of St. Patrick's Close, Co. Dublin + Frances GORE d. Between 1715 and 1750, par. Sir Robert GORE and Frances NEWCOMEN ......3-Rev Francis GORE d. 10 May 1748, of Affolas, Co. Cork + Catherine CROKER b. of Ballynegar, Co. Limerick, par. Edward CROKER + Ellinor PENNEFEATHER b. of Newpark, Tipperary, d. d. aft 1 Dec 1749 ......3-Elizabeth GORE d. After 1761 + Samuel COX m. 20 Jan 1748, Parish of St. Bridget, Dublin, d. After 1761 ......3-Catherine GORE + MARKS ......3-Tyffan GORE Gent d. Abt 1787 + Margaret POWELL , par. POWELL and Unknown ...2-Anne GORE b. Between 1692 and 1701 + Richard JACKSON b. prob bef 1680, m. Bef 1720, d. prob bef 1740, of Ballycastle, Parish Grey Abbey, Co. Down. ......3-Dr. of Law Richard JACKSON b. Est 1720, Ballycastle, Grey Abbey Civil Parish, Barony of Ards Lower, Co. Down., d. Between 1768 and 1769, Of Dublin ......3-Unnamed Male JACKSON b. btw 1720-1737 ......3-Unnamed Male JACKSON b. btw1720-1737 ......3-Rev. William JACKSON b. Abt 1737, d. 30 Apr 1795, Dublin, Bur. St. Michans Church, City of Dublin, Co. Dublin, Ireland + Unnamed Wife – possibly Anne PALMER m. Bef 1775, d. 1770-1775 + Elizabeth m. After 1783, d. After 1803 .........4-William JACKSON b. Abt 1790, d. After 1839 .........4-Louisa Mary JACKSON b. 1795, c. 27 Jul 1795, St. Nicholas Fyfield, Essex, England |
Like music, your historical research not only highlights the notes and dynamics, but also acknowledges the silences in and around the notes and finds new pathways in the negative spaces. I love that you've highlighted family systems theory. Well done, as always. cheers, Alison
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