Collection LE57 - Landed Estate collection, Massy Dawson papers

1 Box

This Landed Estate collection holds papers from numerous family estates throughout Munster and Leinster. This collection is comprised of documents which were acquired and managed by Robert Sanders. This collection primarily relates to the Massy Dawson family estate. The Massy Dawsons owned over 19,093 acres in county Tipperary. As was common with extensive estates a land agent was employed to oversee the day to day to management. Mr. Robert Sanders of Sanders Park Charleville was the acting land agent for this estate, and he supervised the payments of rents, grazing agreements, evictions etc.

Robert [Massey Dawson] Sanders was born in 1862 and died in 1941. He was the son of Thomas Sanders (1816-92). Robert [Massey Dawson] Sanders managed the family estate at Charleville Park and managed several other estates. He married Hilda Augusta Katherine Beaumont, (who was the fourth and youngest daughter of Francis Henry Beaumont) on 1 February 1899. In 1923 Sanders’ house in Ballinacourty Co. Tipperary was burnt down by the IRA in the Irish Civil War. As a result, Sanders received compensation from the Irish government and purchased Buckland Court from his father-in-law Francis Henry Beaumont. Sanders lived at Buckland, although he retained his property of Sanders Park Charleville Co. Cork until his death. He had two sons, Charles Craven Sanders (1899-1985) and Terence Robert Beaumont Sanders (1901-85).

The first series in this collection hold papers relating to John Bolton Massy. John Bolton Massy was born on the 20 February 1818 and died on the 1 August 1896. He owned 2259 acres in Limerick and 903 acres in Dublin and when he died, he left nearly £17000 in personal estate. He was the second son of John Bolton who was the second son of Robert Crompton Bolton and Elizabeth Rose Massy Dawson. His father John Bolton took the name of Massy on inheriting the estate of his grand uncle the Hon John Massy.

His sister Elizabeth Rosetta Bolton Massy was born on the 16 June 1819 and died circa 1859. She married James William Butler Scott on the 28 June 1851.

The second series in this collection relates to James William Butler Scott who lived at Annesgrove Abbey, Co. Laois, until his death on the 22 April 1889. Together Elizabeth and James William Butler Scott had five children.

The fifth series in this collection contains papers relating to their youngest daughter Frances (Fannie) Catherine Scott was born circa 1859. She was the second wife of Adam William Stafford Delmege. They married on the 5 June 1890. Fannie died of TB on 24 February 1912 aged 52 years at St Patricks Hospital, Cork. Together they had two sons, Eyre Bolton Massy Delmege who was born in 1891 and was killed in action during World War I in 1916. Their youngest son Hugh Barry Evans Delmege was born circa 1892 and died 1927. Both sons died without any successors.

Adam William Stafford Delmege held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for County Tipperary. He was a practising Barrister-at-Law. He lived at Ballywire, County Tipperary. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for County Limerick.

John Christopher Delmege was the first cousin of Adam William Stafford Delmege. He was the first-born son of Christopher Delmege and Martha Forde Royse Yielding. He married Katherine O'Grady in 1845 with whom he had six children. He died on 29 July 1893.

The third series in this collection relates to the Cramer Roberts. The Cramer Roberts family originated in the Bavaria region of Germany. They came to Ireland in 1639 during the reign of James I and they established their family home in Ballyfoyle Co.Kilkenny.

John [Henry] Cramer Roberts was born in 1796. He was the first-born son of John Walter Cramer Roberts and Kate Maver. John Henry married Marian Ross in on 12 November 1828. They had four children, including John David Cramer Roberts. John Henry was Aide de Camp for the Malta Garrison of 1834. John Henry died on the 4 March 1864.

John David Cramer Roberts was born in 1832. He married Elizabeth Beaseley in 1858. They had one son who died in infancy.

The seventh series in this collection documents the Massy Dawson Family. The Dawson Family arrived in Ireland in 1666. John Dawson was granted over 2,900 acres in county Tipperary. Ballinacourty [Ballinecourte] house passed by marriage to the Massy family thus becoming the home of the Massy-Dawsons. The original house was destroyed during the troubles in 1922 and became ruinous by the mid-20th century.

George King Staunton Massy Dawson of Ballinacourty [Ballinecourte] was born on 30 November 1816 and died on the 14 November 1897. He owned 19,093 acres in county Tipperary. He was the son of James Hewitt Massy-Dawson and Eliza Jane Dennis. He married, Grace Elizabeth Leeson on 5 September 1854. The pair had five children including Maira Isabel Massy-Dawson and George Henry Edward Massy-Dawson. George King Staunton Massy Dawson held various army ranks throughout his life including Captain of the 14th Light Dragoons and the office of Deputy Lieutenant. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) and he held the office of High Sheriff of County Tipperary in 1854.

Maria Isabel Massy-Dawson was born circa the 27 November 1861. She married Rev Thomas Lindsay on 2 October 1891. Maria died on 31 March 1938 aged 74 years in York.
George Henry Edward Massy-Dawson was born on 8 October 1864. He married Rosalie Margaretta Hunziker, on 25 September 1894. They had no children. He died at Ballinacourte on 13 September 1916 at age 51.

The eight series in this collection relates to the Ryan estate. Thomas Ryan owned land in Clooncrippa in the barony of Connello Upper of which Robert Jones Staveley had a life claim. He hired Robert Saunders to be his lawful attorney and land agent for his estates.

Thomas Ryan was a born-on the 21 August 1804 at Ballinakill, County Laois. Thomas Ryan emigrated to Canada with his brother Edward circa 1823. There they became wholesalers in Quebec City and later Tomas Ryan became an agent for the Baring Brothers, a commercial banking firm based in London. Later he served as vice president for the city’s main bank (Bank of Montreal). He had an extensive political career and was a member of the Liberal-Conservative party. He was elected president of the Montreal Board of Trade in 1849 and 1850. Later he was elected to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada for Victoria division in 1863. He died on the 25 May 1889 in Montreal Canada.

The ninth series documents the Saurins of county Tipperary who came to Ireland in the early 18th century. Mark Anthony Saurin was the son of William Saurin and Mary O'Brien. Mark A. Saurin held land in the parishes of Glenkeen, barony of Kilnamanagh Upper and Kilmore, barony of Upper Ormond.

He married Anna Maria Massy-Dawson, daughter of James Hewitt Massy-Dawson and Eliza Jane Dennis, on 9 December 1839. He died on 3 July 1862. The couple had no children, but Anna Maria had one son Robert Poore (5 May 1834- 22 Jan 1918) from her first marriage with Robert Montagu Poore.

The eleventh series documents William Smith Powell Doyle estate. William Smith Powell Doyle was also known as William [Le Hunt] Doyle and he owned 864 acres in county Tipperary and 4 acres in Waterford city in the 1870s.

The final series holds papers belonging to the Staveley family. The family had estates in the parishes of Monagay, barony of Glenquin. Also, in Cloncrew, Dromcolleher and Kilmeedy, barony of Connello Upper Co. Limerick. Robert Jones Staveley was the only son of Jones and Margaret Cuthbert Staveley. Robert Jones married Maria Butler in Dublin on March 4, 1815.

There are papers in this collection relating to their youngest son Thomas [Cuthbert] Butler Staveley who was born on the 28 August 1837 and died on 10 March 1911. He was married to Eliza Staveley.
The papers in this collection were donated by Maurice Magrath to the Archives and Special collections department in the University of Galway in 2023. The papers were acquired by Robert Sanders throughout his career as a land agent and solicitor. They were acquired by Maurice Mcgrath and the collection was divided between various archives including the Clare County Archives, Tipperary County Archives and the Erasmus Smith School. This collection has been moved around quite substantially prior to Maurice Magrath obtaining it which contributed to its disorderly arrangement. This was the first time the collection was listed by an archivist.

This collection contains papers from estates which were managed by Robert Sanders. There are twelve series in this collection which correspond to family estates. This collection holds a variety of documents including legal papers, correspondences, leases, wills, marriage settlements, financial ledgers, maps etc.
Due to the varied nature of documents and people in the collection I created subseries to emphasise which material relates to which person within the family estates. I then created sub-subseries based on the functions of these papers, which correspond to the relevant people in the subseries.

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Other portions of this collection were donated to Clare County Archives, Tipperary County Archives and the Erasmus Smith School Archives.
For general information on Landed estates: https://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/big-houses-of-ireland/welcome-to-the-cork-archi/background-to-landed-esta Accessed 04 December 2024
For biographical information on the families the following sources were used:
Burke, Sir Bernard. History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. Harrison and sons. 1904.
Also, the Landed estate database was used throughout my research https://landedestates.ie/ Accessed 04 December 2024
For Sanders estate: https://www.tipperarylive.ie/news/sport/164857/Terence-Sanders-.html Accessed 04 December 2024 https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/search?q=sanders Accessed 04 December 2024 https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2022/05/516-beaumont-of-buckland-court.html
Accessed 04 December 2024
For Bolton Massy Estate: https://www.youwho.ie/boltonmassy.html Accessed 04 December 2024
For Delmege Estate: https://www.thepeerage.com/p32078.htm#i320776 Accessed 04 December 2024 https://www.thepeerage.com/p38100.htm#i381000 Accessed 04 December 2024 https://www.youwho.ie/boltonmassy.html Accessed 04 December 2024 https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/205736/eyre-bolton-massy-delmege/ Accessed 04 December 2024
For the Cramer Roberts Estate: https://maltaramc.com/regsurg/rs1830_1839/rmo1834.html Accessed 04 December 2024
For Massy Dawson Estate: https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/05/ballyinacourty-house.html Accessed 04 December 2024 https://landedestates.ie/estate/2574 Accessed 04 December 2024 https://www.youwho.ie/massydawson.html Accessed 04 December 2024 https://www.thepeerage.com/p24846.htm#i248456 Accessed 04 December 2024
More material relating to the Massy-Dawson family of Ballynacourte can be found on https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F22662
For the Ryan Estate: https://dbpedia.org/page/Thomas_Ryan_(Quebec_politician) Accessed 04 December 2024
For the Saurin Estate: https://landedestates.ie/estate/3540 Accessed 04 December 2024 https://www.thepeerage.com/p24841.htm#i248408 Accessed 04 December 2024
For the Smith Powell Doyle Estate: https://landedestates.ie/estate/3567 Accessed 04 December 2024
For the Staveley Estate: https://landedestates.ie/estate/2286 Accessed 04 December 2024 http://www.staveley-genealogy.com/dublin.htm Accessed 04 December 2024

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08/01/2025
12/06/2025