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The
family of Caulfeild, Earl of Charlemont, is one of great power and
distinction in the north of Ireland, where its members have been settled
for the last three centuries. The present Lord Charlemont is the owner of
some twenty thousand seven hundred acres of land in the county of Armagh,
and about five thousand nine hundred in the county of Tyrone; his nominal
rent roll in the two counties reaching,
according to the modern Doomsday Book, to an aggregate of about
twenty-five thousand six hundred pounds.
The founder of this
noble family in Ireland was Sir Toby Caulfeild, son of one Alexander or
Richard Caulfeild, Recorder of Oxford, who was descended from ancestors of
great antiquity and worth, settled in that
county, and at Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
Sir Toby was a distinguished and gallant soldier, and, to quote the words
of Mr. Lodge, in his 'Peerage of Ireland,' 'being
initiated in the affairs of war when very young, performed many
serviceable and memorable actions in the reign of Queen Elizabeth against
her Majesty's enemies in Spain, the Low Countries, and Ireland (all which
are specified in the preamble to his patent of creation to the title of
Baron of Charlemont), and especially against the formidable traitor,
O'Neile, Earl of Tyrone.'
Towards the close of
the sixteenth century Sir Toby Caulfeild tools part in the siege of
Kingsale against the Spaniards; and in the beginning of June, 1602, the
Deputy, having collected his forces, took the
field, entered Tyrone, and marched up to the
passage of the Blackwater, which he bad in the previous year discovered to
be most convenient to carry her Majesty's forces that way into the heart
of that district. He there spent some time in causing a bridge to be built
over the river, and a fort adjoining to guard the passage, which, after
his own Christian name, Charles, was called
Charlemont. Captain Caulfeild, with his company
of one hundred and fifty men, were left to command it. The services of
this gallant band were so eminent, that the Queen was pleased to reward
their leader with a giant of part of Tyrone's estate and other lands in
the province of Ulster.
After King James'
accession to the crown of England, he was
honored with knighthood; called into his Majesty's Privy Council; made
Governor of the fort of Charlemont and of the counties of Tyrone and
Armagh; and further rewarded for his fidelity and worthy service with many
giants of lands and employments. He was also returned as 'knight of the
shire' for the county of Armagh, and appointed Master of the Ordnance. He
was subsequently named Commissioner for the 'plantation'
of the county of Longford and the territory of Elge O'Carrol in the King's
County. In all these several employments and trusts the King found him so
faithful, diligent, and prudent that he thought him highly deserving of
the peerage of Ireland, and so created him Baron Caulfeild of Charlemont
by Privy Seal, bearing date at Westminster Nov. 1, and by patent at Dublin
Dec. 22, 1620, limiting, or rather extending, the honor
to his nephew, Sir William Caulfeild, and his issue male.
Toby, the third Baron
of Charlemont, was returned to Parliament
for the county of Tyrone, and succeeded his father as Governor of
the fort. of Charlemont-a
very considerable and important place at the time of the rebellion of 1641
-where he then lived, having his company of the 97th Foot (at fifteen
shillings a day on the establishment) in garrison. But on Friday, October
22, be was surprised and made prisoner with all his family, and afterwards
murdered by Sir Phelim O'Neill's directions, the
circumstances whereof are related as follows in Lodge's work quoted above:
`Sir
Phelim O'Neill that day went to
dine with his lordship, who very joyfully
received and entertained him; but Sir Phelim
having appointed that visit as a sign to his Irish followers, they
repaired thither in great numbers, and his lordship's whole company, with
the captain-lieutenant, Anthony Stratford, were either killed or
imprisoned, and all the arms and goods seized by
Sir Phelim, who, being thus master of the plane,
marched that very nigh and took Dungannon; and, after keeping his
lordship, with his mother, sisters, brothers, and
the rest of his family, fifteen weeks prisoners in
Charlemont, sent them about five miles' distant to Killeuane, the house of
Lawrence Netterville.
And the next day, sending away Major Patrick
Dory, the Lord Caulfeild earnestly desired Sir
Phelim that the major might stay with
hin because he could speak the Irish language;
but Sir Phelim
answered, he should have better
company before night; and the same day, in the
majors presence, committed the charge of his
lordship to Captain Neale Modder
O'Neil an Captain Neale M`Kenna,
of the Trough, in the county of Monaghan, with
directions to convey, him to Couglowter
Castle. That night be was taken to Kinard, Sir
Phelim's own castle, when going into the castle
between the said two
captains, the latter spoke to Edmond Bog O'Hugh
(foster-brother to Sir Phelim) saying, "Where
is your heart now?" whereupon the said Edmond
shot his lordship in the back, whereof he the died.
'And that same night
there were also fifteen or sixteen of Sir Phelim's servants and tenants
all English and Scots murdered at Kinard,
among whom was a base son of Sir Phelim's also
murdered, because his mother was a British woman. And it is further
observed that Peter Pilly, his lordship's servant, three months before the
rebellion broke out, being threatened by the Lady Caulfeild (his
lordship's mother) that she would turn him away unless he would go to
church; he said she need not trouble herself, for he did believe she would
not stay long at Charlemont herself; and the day the rebellion began he
went with Sir Phelim to Charlemont, and took away his lordship's horses.
'Sir
Phelim took the king's broad seal from the confirmation patent of the
estate to his lordship's father, and affixed it to a sham commission,
which he pretended was granted by the king, authorising him to raise that
horrid rebellion.'
The murder of Lord
Charlemont tools place on the 1st of March,
1641; and this farther circumstance is added by the examination of William
Skelton, then a servant to Sir Phelim O'Neill, who witnessed the
perpetration of the deed from a window, that,
'as his lordship was entering
in at the outward gate of Kinard House, one
Clogholey O'Hugh fired his piece at him, an
missed to discharge it; whereupon another rebel named Edmond Boy O'Hugh,
cocked his piece, and shot his lordship, being
on foot, who fell down, and uttered these words,
"Lord, have mercy upon me!"
It also appears, by the
deposition of Mrs. Jane Beer, that, not long
after his lordship was murdered, the assassin
was taken, and imprisoned in the gaol of Armagh,
and had three men set as sentinels over him (as
a mock exhibition on the part of Sir Phelim),
namely, an English man, a Scotchman, and an Irishman. He,
however, succeeded in making his escape, along
with the gaoler; whereupon Sir Phelim O'Neil
caused the three sentinels to be confined, and
threatened to hang them all. The two
former (the Englishman and the Scotchman) were accordingly
executed; but the Irishman was released and the gaoler who had conveyed
away the murderer afterwards returned to his place, and remained there
unquestioned and unmolested by Sir Phelim.
A most surprising
instance of the divine Providence seems to have interposed for the
prevention of this horrid design (Lord Caulfeild's murder). The butler, an
old and trusty servant,' so runs the narrative,
'remarked that the assassin, his accomplices, and the noble family,
made up the odd number of thirteen; and observed, with dread and concern,
that the murderers had often changed both their seats and their
countenances, except the bravo himself, who kept his place on the left
hand of Lord Caulfeild, as he was wont to do, being an intimate
acquaintance.
"The butler took the
opportunity, whilst they were at dinner, to acquaint his lady with the
causes of his uneasiness, telling her that he dreaded some direful event.
She rebuked his fears; told him he was superstitious; asked if the company
were merry, and had everything they wanted. He answered, he had done his
duty they all seemed very merry, and wanted nothing be knew of but grace;
and since her ladyship was of opinion that his fears were groundless, he
was resolved, through a natural impulse he felt, to take care of his own
person. And there upon
instantly left the house, and made the best o his way to Dublin.'The
murder followed almost immediately after his
departure, before he could well have reached the
end of his journey.
His lordship dying unmarried, the honor
devolved on Robert, his next brother, the fourth
baron, who was a captain after the rebellionn
began. He, however, enjoyed the title only few
months, his death being occasioned by prescribing to himself too large a
quantity of opium so that William, the third son (his brother), surnamed
'the Good,' became the fifth Baron of
Charlemont, and had the good fortune to
apprehend Sir Phelim O'Neill, his brother's
murderer, and have him executed. His lordship Richard Blayney, Esq., 'Escheator'
of Tyrone, and others were empowered to inquire
'What
estate, right, and title Oliver Cromwell, or any
of his predecessors, kings or queens of England, at
any time had to any castles, manors, lordships rectories, tythes, &c.,
within the county of Tyrone, by virtue of any Acts of Parliament or
Council, or by reason of any attainder, escheat, or
otherwise, who were then possessed thereof, and by what title, which
commission was then executed by an inquisition, taken August 9,
1688, at the town of Strabane.'
After the Restoration,
his lordship was called into the Privy Council, Be., and, being highly
esteemed by King Charles II. on account of his merit and services, was
advanced to the degree of a viscount by privy seal, dated at Hampton
Court, July 17, and by patent at Dublin, October 8, 1665, by which title
he took his seat in Parliament.
His lordship, dying in April, 1671, was buried in the cathedral
church of Armagh, under a noble monument. erected to his memory. His lady
was Sarah, second daughter of Charles, Viscount Drogheda, and sister to
the wife of his brother Thomas; and his children were four sons and three
daughters, his second (but eldest surviving) son, William, succeeding to
his honors. This
nobleman, who was a zealous supporter of the cause of the Prince of Orange
(afterwards William III) against King James,
enjoyed the peerage more than half'-a-century. His grandson, James, fourth
Viscount Caulfeild of Charlemont, was a distinguished patriot, and was
advanced to the dignity of Earl of Charlemont in 1763.
His lordship was commander-in chief of the
volunteer army in Ireland in 1779. He died in 1799, when the family honors
and estates passed to his eldest son, Francis William, who was elected an
Irish representative peer, and who in 1837 was created Baron Charlemont,
in the peerage of the United Kingdom, with remainder to his brother and
male issue. The earl died in 1863, and, as he left no issue, he was
succeeded in all his hereditary honours by his nephew, James
Molyneux Caulfeild, the third and present Earl
of Charlemont.
Chapters From the Family Chests, 1887
Chapters From the Family Chest |
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