Henrietta Anna Margaretta Townsend (227)
| Date of Birth: | 1785 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | Feb 1825 |
| Generation: | 5th |
| Residence: | Waterford |
| Father: | John Townsend [214] |
| Mother: | Morris, Mary |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: |
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| See Also: | Table II ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Henrietta Anna Margaretta Townsend (1)
Married 24 November 1802. Major Beresford Gahan (1a & 1b) of Waterford was in the 5th Dragoon Guards.
In his will dated dated 19 January 1803, with a codicil added on 12 November 1806, Henrietta's father left her £1,000 when he died on 4 August 1810. This will was contested by Henrietta's husband who contended that John was not entitled to dispose of his estate as he did and claimed that Henrietta was also entitled to a share in the lands of Kilcoe inherited by Henry Owen Becher Townsend [223]. A compromise was affected on 23 May 1819 in which it was agreed that Henry would have absolute title to the Kilcoe estate but would pay to Major Gahan and his heirs an annual Rent Charge of £88 per annum. Lovera Papers 214/2.
Of the children:
Frederick Gahan (2). According to a report in The County Cavan 'Anglo-Celt' of March 1853 he married firstly Henrietta Byrne. "MARRIAGE. on Tuesday the 29th inst., in Cappa Church, by the Rev. James BYRNE, Ex F.T.C.D. (3), Frederick GAHAN Esq., late 57th Regt (4), youngest son of Beresford GAHAN, Esq., formerly of the 5th Dragoon Guards, and Brigade Major of Yeomanry, to Henrietta, eldest daughter of the late James BYRNE, Esq., Carlow." Henrietta died suddenly on 7 August 1856. Tables I and XIII in 'An Officer of the Long Parliament' show the son Frederick Gahan (4) married to Katherine Jane Townsend with issue. This must be his second marriage for Katherine cannot have been born before 1832 (parents married March 1831), nor could she have been married and produced nine children before 1853. A gravestone in Mount Jerome Cemetery shows a Frederic Gahan died in 1904.
Elizabeth Gahan married John Cooke Wallace, of Minehill, Dromagh, Co Cork in 1846
Mary Anne Gahan married Hugh Massy of Tullow Lodge, Carlow on 11 July 1834 and had issue. Hugh Massy was born on 10 July 1800 and died in 1886.
The Lovera Papers (227/1 and 227/2) show that a 'Henrietta AM Gahan' was in receipt of an annuity, devised by Katherine Helena Townsend from 1848 until Henrietta died in 1897. Page 154 of The Calendar of Wills and Administration 1858-1922 in the National Archives of Ireland records that probate of the will of "Henrietta Anna Margaretta Gahan late of 5 Leinster Road Rathmines County Dublin Spinster", who died on 9 May 1897, was granted at Dublin on 3 June 1897 to "Walter Charles Gahan of 36 Palmerston Road Rathmines Esquire”. Effects £136 9s 2d.
The annuity amounted to £12 – 12s – 4d per annum from 1848 until 1866 when it increased to £16 – 6s – 10d. Following the death of Henrietta the annuity passed to 'Alice Gahan'. Henrietta was living at Killencarrig Lodge, Delgany 1849 - 1866 or thereabouts in Kingstown near Dublin 1866 to 1874 and 10 Corrig Avenue, Kingstown, Dublin 1874 - 80.
Both Henrietta and Beresford are buried in Ballynamorahan Church, Kilmacow. Her headstone reads BENEATH THIS.....ARE LAID THE REMAINS OF HENRIETTA, THE BELOVED WIFE OF BERESFORD GAHAN OF THE CITY OF WATERFORD ESQ. SHE DIED.....OF FEBRUARY 1825 AGED 40 YEARS.
(1) Judge John FitzHenry Townsend shows Henrietta dying without issue.
(1a) Beresford Gahan was born in 1777 and died on 20 Feb 1845
(1b) The entry for Gahan in the University of Galway Landed Estates Database records "In 1666 Daniel Gahan and his wife Susanna, widow of Thomas Ashe, were granted of about 1,000 Irish acres in the barony of Slievardagh, county Tipperary, including Coolequill. O'Hart records three sons of this marriage, Sir Daniel, George and John. Sir Daniel had no children and was succeeded by George. George's grandson Daniel of Coolquill Castle, parish of Crohane, barony of Slievardagh, married Hannah Bunbury of Kilfeakle, co heiress of her uncle Matthew Bunbury. In 1793 their daughter Marianne married William Tighe of Woodstock, county Kilkenny. Daniel Gahan was a Member of the Irish House of Commons in 1797. He had no sons and O'Hart writes that his property was inherited by his daughters Marianne Tighe and Penelope Gledstones [Gledstanes]. Coolquill was held in fee by Colonel Palliser in the mid 19th century. He was married to Anne Glenstanes. The castle was valued at £5."
(2) 'Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory for the Year 1862' for Cavan shows Frederick Gahan as the County Surveyor.
(3) Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin.
Entries in the diary of Agnes Townsend read -'1897 May 9 Harriet Gahan died' (Harriet's daughter?) and '15 Jan 1891. Susanna Isabella Townsend Gahan m. to Mr Mackenzie' (Harriet's granddaughter?).