Maria Townsend (5D07)

Date of Birth: 1794
Date of Death: dsp 1815
Generation: 5th
Residence: The Prairie, Schull, Co Cork
Father: Reverend Horatio (Horace) Townsend [5D00]
Mother: Corker, Katherine
Spouse:
  1. Somerville, Philip
Issue: None
See Also: Table VD ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree

Notes for Maria Townsend

Married 4 February 1811(1). Philip Somerville (2) of The Prairie,(3) Schull, Co Cork as his first wife. Philip was the youngest son of Thomas Somerville (4) of Drishane,(5) Castletownshend, Co Cork by his wife Mary Townsend [506]. See Burke's Irish Landed Gentry 1912 - Somerville. See also ‘A Guide to Irish Houses’ by M. Bence-Jones, London, 1988 – “CASTLETOWNSHEND cor Drishane. Somerville 1790+. Built by Thomas Somerville.”

It is known that Philip was a Captain in the South Cork Light Infantry Militia. The regimental records show a ‘Phil Somerville’ commissioned in 1811 - this is most probably the same Philip who would have been 29 at the time. The Militia Act of 1793 sets forth that-"Every person who has been or shall hereafter be appointed an Officer of the Militia of any of the ranks following, shall be in possession of an estate for his own life or the life of another, or for some greater estate in land or heritage's in the United Kingdom of the yearly value hereinafter mentioned in connection with such respective rank, or be heir apparent of some person who shall be in possession of a life estate in property of the like yearly value. For a Captain the sum was, £200 a year, or heir to £400 a year.”

Details of Philip's involvement in the trials of the Rev Robert Morritt are given in the record for his second wife Henrietta Townsend [242].

'Pooles of Mayfield' p 237 refers.

(1) An entry in the Church of Ireland Parish Records Ross Cathedral 1690–1823 records on page 77 - "1811 Philip Somerville of Castletown parish of Castlehaven and Maria Townsend of Derry in the parish were married in the cathedral by me on the 4th day of February by license." The service was conducted by her father.

(2) Philip was born in 1782 and died in 1861. He married second Henrietta Anne Townsend [242] in 1816 and thirdly Isabella Uniacke daughter of Redmond Uniacke of Old Court, Co Cork, whose daughter Martha married Thomas Townsend [509]. Philip's sister, Agnes Somerville, married Commander John Townsend [316] in 1820.

(3) The entry for Lissacaha Cottage (The Prairie) in the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway Connacht and Munster Landed Estates Database records "Phillip Somerville held this property in fee at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £12 10s. It is labelled "Lissacaha Cottage" on the 1st edition Ordnance Map but has become "Prairie Cottage" on the later 25-inch map. In 1906 it was owned by Thomas Phillip Somerville and valued at £15 5s. It is no longer extant."

(4) The entry for Somerville in the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway Connacht and Munster Landed Estates Database records "Burke's ''Irish Family Records'' indicates that the first of this family to settle in Cork was Rev. William Somerville, who allegedly fled persecution in Scotland in the 1690s. Col. Thomas Somerville of Drishane, Skibbereen, owned over 450 acres in county Cork in the 1870s while other members of the family owned similar amounts. Thomas Somerville was among the principal lessors in the parish of Castlehaven at the time of Griffith's Valuation while Elizabeth Somerville held townlands in the parish of Skull at the same time."

(5) The entry for Drishane in the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway Connacht and Munster Landed Estates Database records "Thomas Somerville held this property in fee at the time of Griffith's Valuation when it was valued at £35. Lewis also recorded it as the seat of Thomas Somerville in 1837. In 1906 it was owned by Aylmer Somerville and valued at £35. It is still extant."

For other Somerville connections see also Elizabeth Henrietta Townsend [225], Henrietta Augusta Townsend [234], Jonas Morris Townsend [237], Henrietta Anna Townsend [242], John Townsend [316], Horatio Thomas Townsend [334], Letitia Mary Townsend [351], Mary Townsend [506]. See the entry for Mary Townsend [506] for a precis of the Somerville family and their connections with the Townsends.