Katherine Corker Townsend (5D06)
| Date of Birth: | 1792 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | dunm 7 Dec 1873 |
| Generation: | 5th |
| Residence: | Weston Lodge, Clonakilty, Co Cork |
| Father: | Reverend Horatio (Horace) Townsend [5D00] |
| Mother: | Corker, Katherine |
| Spouse: | Unmarried |
| Issue: | None |
| See Also: | Table VD ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Katherine Corker Townsend (Kate)
In an indenture dated 20 January 1797 between Katherine's father and Richard Hungerford of The Island for the lease of lands at Ballinagorna, Katherine is described as being ‘aged about 5 years’ (1).
Katherine attended school at Clifton, Bristol ca 1807 with her sister Eliza Townsend [5D05].
Aged 49 Katherine accompanied her sister Henrietta Townsend and brother William Richard Townsend on a voyage to South Africa; (1a) leaving Portsmouth on 23 July 1841 on board the ‘Childe Harold’ they arrived in Cape Town on 21 September 1841. There they met with Edward Hume Townsend, his wife Susan Townsend, and Edward’s mother, Henrietta wife of Rev Richard Hume Townsend (Mrs RT). Edward at the time was Collector and Political Agent at Belgaum, India, with the British East India Company taking his long leave in South Africa. His mother aged 60, had set out from Ireland in 1839 to join Edward in South Africa. During the course of her journey she rode across the isthmus of Suez on a donkey and was lost in the desert for a time, having ridden ahead of her party.
Henrietta's journal about the visit to South Africa mentions Katherine on several occasions; in particular, how they enjoyed writing their journals together.
When Edward and Henrietta left South Africa on 1 Mar 1842 on board the ‘Dartmouth’ bound for Bombay Katherine, Richard and Edward’s mother (Mrs RT) returned to Ireland taking with them Edward’s three eldest children - Richard Hume Townsend, Katherine Jane Townsend and Susannah Elizabeth Townsend.
In his will Katherine's father devised to her and her sisters "the sum of £1,000 secured by Mr Creagh’s bond shall be divided equally amongst my daughters Katherine, Isabella, Susannah, Harriet and Caroline." (2)
In his will of 2 September 1846 Katherine's brother, Chambre Corker Townsend, appointed her, his wife, his father in law, Colonel Nathaniel Oliver and his mother in law, Marianne Oliver, guardians for all his children except his son Horace, who were all under age at the time of his death. (3)
Judge John FitzHenry Townshend and Agnes Townsend show Katherine's death as 7 December 1873 - '7 Dec 1873 Anna Lawton and Cath Townsend died.' In 'Pooles of Mayfield' p. 237 it is shown as 6 December 1873. 'An Officer of the Long Parliament' shows it as 1864 and Burke's Irish Family Records as 1877. All rather confusing but clarified by page 646 of the Calendar of Wills and Administration 1858-1922 in the National Archives of Ireland. It records that the will of "Katherine Townsend late of Weston Lodge Clonakilty", who died on 7 December 1873 was proved at the Principal Registry on 23 April 1874 by the oath of the "Reverend John Hume Townsend Drumbanagher Vicarage Antrim Clerk the Executor". Effects under £3,000. John Hume Townsend was a son of Katherine's sister Susan Townsend who married Edward Hume Townsend. Katherine's sister, Henrietta Townsend also lived at Weston Lodge.
Katherine is buried in St Fachtna's Cathedral, Ross.
(1) Derry Papers. DD/1. 20 January 1797.
(1a) Henrietta's journal of 120 pages recording her travels is reproduced in the page Recollections.
(2) Derry Papers. 5D00/14. Last will and testament of Rev Horatio Townsend dated 12 December 1828. Codicils 11 September 1830 and 25 April 1831. Probate 26 May 1837.
(3) Derry Papers. 5D01/6. Will of Chambre Corker Townsend dated 2 September 1846 with codicil dated 5 April 1851. Probate 9 September 1852.