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Douglass of Grace Hall
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Also Dowglass of Gracehall
Motto: Forward
Gracehall is an estate located in the parish of Maralin, or Magheralin (see below)
Douglass, Charles Mathew, Esq. of Grace Hall, co. Down, a magistrate
and deputy-lieutenant, served the office of high-sheriff in 1836. Robert Douglass, Esq., b. in 1655, son of Robert Douglass, of the co. of Down, by Elizabeth Henderson, his wife, was a lieutenant in the army of King Wllllam III. at the Battle of the Boyne. He was thrice married: 1st, to Miss Elliot; 2ndly, to Miss Whitney; and 3rdly, to Miss Usher; and d in Jan. 1733, when he was succeeded by his son.
Death: Jan 1765: At his Seat at Gracehall, in the County of Downe, Charles DOWGLASS, Esq The eldest son, Thomas Douglass, Esq. of Grace Hall, married Elizabeth, dau. of Mathew Forde, Esq. of Seaforde, co. Down, and Coolgreaney, co. Wexford, by Elizabeth, his wife, sister to Viscount Northland, and had issue, Charles Mathew Douglass, of Grace Hall, J.P. and D.L., High Sheriff co. Down 1836, b. 1793 ; d.s.p. 1880, and was s. under the provisions of his will, dated 10 Feb. 1865, and proved 31 March, 1860, by his nephew, St. John Thomas Blacker-Douglass, of Grace Hall, &c. Charles Douglas of Grace Hall was a Director of the Lurgan Gas Co. and owner of 2,791 acres of land. St John Thomas Blacker-Douglass of Grace Hall was High Sheriff of Armagh in 1861. It was probably he who matriculated the family coat of arms. The estate of St. John Blacker, of Ballylongford and Killylea, county Armagh, amounted to over 8000 acres in county Kerry in the 1870s as well as 200 acres in Armagh. He was a descendent of Samuel Blacker, of the Carrickblacker family. In 1880 he assumed the name Douglas under the terms of the will lof his uncle, Charles Douglas, of Grace Hall, county Armagh. His estate held townlands in the parishes of Aghavallen and Lisselton, barony of Iraghticonnor at the time of Griffith's Valuation. Saint John Stewart Blacker Douglas (16 Feb 1871 County Armagh, Ireland - 13 Dec 1943, France was an international tennis player who was runner up in the 1905 Swiss International Championships Arms—Arg., a human heart, gu., ensigned with an imperial crown, ppr., on a chief, az., three stars, of the first. Crest—A dexter cubit arm, erect, grasping in the hand a human heart, oil ppr. Motto—Forward. Seat—Grace Hall, co. Down. Magheralin The origins of Magheralin are obscure, but the church has been identified with "Lann Ronan" or the "Church of Lan", and is mentioned in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas of 1306. It is, like all the old graveyards of the four parishes, wild and dilapidated. There are now no traces of the mediaeval church, and the Archaeological Survey dates the surviving walls as no earlier than the fifteenth century. The tower and transept were built during the next two centuries but the whole was in ruins in 1657. It was rebuilt after the restoration to be abandoned finally in 1845 when the new church was built across the road. The registers date from 1692 and the oldest stone from 1706. There is a large number of eighteenth century stones, many of which are small with a distinctive raised edge, and families represented in this period are: Barr, Byrne, Close, Connelly, Connor, Donnelly, Douglass (moved to the new church), Feris, Fletcher, Gurnell, Henderson, Humphrey, Irwen, Lavery (5 stones pre-1800), MaCoun, Macoun, Malkinson, M Murphy and Paterson. Until the seventeenth century the land belonged mainly to the sept of the O'Lavery's and the name is still numerous in the area. When the church at Lurganville was built the family appear to have used the burying ground there. Blacker-Douglas of Grace Hall The Dolling family have a conspicuous vault in the old church, dating from 1853. They first appeared in Ireland with the appointment of the Rev. Boughey William Dolling as Precentor of Dromore and Rector of Magheralin in 1806, and their name survives in the village of Dollingstown. The Douglass family (later Blacker-Douglass) of Grace Hall were probably buried in the old church and are commemorated by two memorial tablets in the north transept of the present church. It is interesting to note that the tablets contain information not in Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, so even for well-documented families memorial inscriptions may be of value. The other local landed family of the nineteenth century, Waddell of Drumcro, also have a memorial tablet in the new church and are buried in a vault beneath. The Blacker family THE REV ST JOHN BLACKER (1743-), Rector of Moira, County Down, Prebendary of Inver, County Donegal, who married firstly, in 1767, Grace, daughter of Maxwell Close, of Elm Park, County Armagh, and had issue, SAMUEL (Rev), his heir; Maxwell, QC, of Dublin; William; Valentine; Mary; Catherine; Grace; Charlotte. The Rev St John Blacker wedded secondly, Susan, daughter of Dr Messiter, of London, but had no further issue. His eldest son, THE REV SAMUEL BLACKER (1771-1849), espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Douglas, of Grace Hall, County Down, and had issue, ST JOHN THOMAS, his heir; Thomas Samuel, of Castle Martin, Co Kildare, father of WILLIAM BLACKER; Theodosia; Frances Elizabeth; Isabella. The Rev Samuel Blacker was succeeded by his eldest son, ST JOHN THOMAS BLACKER-DOUGLAS JP DL (1822-1900), of Grace Hall, County Down, Elm Park, County Armagh, and Tullahinel, County Kerry, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1861, who married, in 1855, Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Crofton Moore Vandeleur MP, of Kilrush, County Clare, by the Lady Grace Toler his wife, daughter of Hector John, 2nd Earl of Norbury, and had issue, MAXWELL VANDELEUR, his heir; St John Douglas Stewart; Grace Elizabeth; Georgina Frances; Emily Theodosia. Mr Blacker-Douglas assumed, by royal licence, 1880, the additional name and arms of DOUGLAS, on succeeding to the estate of his uncle, Charles Mathew Douglas. His eldest son, MAXWELL VANDELEUR BLACKER-DOUGLAS JP DL (1859-1929), of Grace Hall, and Elm Park, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1905, and of County Dublin, 1909, Lieutenant, 4th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, married, in 1891, Alice, only child of Robert MacGeough, of Silverbridge, County Armagh, and had issue, Robert St John (1892-1915); Charles Maxwell, b 1900; Alice Florence, b 1895.
Research note: • Sir Cosslett Stoddard (1717–1791), merchant of Dromore and Cologne in Germany, married Mary or Margaret Douglas, whose family owned land at Maralin (Magheralin). Robert Ross Waddell (d. 1771) of Islanderry House, Dromore, Co. Down married Mary Stoddard (d. 1791), an only daughter of Sir Cosslett. Note connection with Elizabeth, daughter of Charles (above, who married her half-brother Robert Waddell of Islanderry See also: Note: There may be a link (common ancestor? Robert, b1665?) with Douglas of Dervock.
See also:
Any contributions to this item will be gratefully accepted
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