Susan Townsend (5D09)
| Date of Birth: | 31 Jan 1805 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 19 Dec 1882 |
| Generation: | 5th |
| Residence: | Cuilnaconartha, Clonakilty, Cork |
| Father: | Reverend Horatio (Horace) Townsend [5D00] |
| Mother: | Corker, Katherine |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: | |
| See Also: | Table VD ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Susan Townsend
Married 12 March 1831. Edward Hume [626] (1) was the elder son of Rev Richard Townsend [612], Rector of Magourney.
Edward was an official of the East India Company.(2) His marked ability brought rapid promotion from Lord Clare who was Governor of Bombay 1830 to 1834. Later Edward was appointed Secretary to the Bombay Government and then Revenue Commissioner to The Presidency of Bombay.
Ten days after their wedding Edward and Susan left Derry bound for India and landed in Bombay in June that year. Fifteen months later Susan started her amazing Journal about their travels in India. It covers the period 1832 - 1843 and comprises 15 volumes. The transcription runs to 35,500 words and is a very detailed record of the towns and villages she and Edward visited. It is very difficult to follow in places and is too long and complex for these family records. Nevertheless it contains many interesting entries and these have been extracted and are reproduced in chronological order in the page Recollections. Susan describes their routine; how they travelled early in the day or in the evening to avoid the heat, moving from government bungalow to government bungalow when available or living in tents of which they had at least four. They had an entourage of natives to move their personal possessions, furniture, beds, tents, cooking equipment etc and 145 books including 6 bibles and 11 dictionaries. All were loaded onto bullock carts and the family travelled in a phaeton, one of the bullock carts or palanquins.
Over the course of 9 years they travelled well over 1,000 miles on Jamabandi (2) in southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. On average they covered about 5 - 12 miles a day and the conditions at times, particularly during the monsoon, were especially tough for Susan.
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." (3)
There is a beautiful picture of Susan in her 'Scrapbook'. She died at Cuilnaconartha, Clonakilty, which Edward had purchased in 1854.
Susan's death was recorded in the diary of Agnes Townsend [334] - 'December 10 1882 Susan Townsend died aged 78 - They that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with Him'. She got the date slightly wrong for page 854 of The Calendar of Wills and Administration 1858-1922 in the National Archives of Ireland records that Letters of Administration of the personal estate of "Susan Townsend late of late of Cuilnaconarthra County Cork Widow", who died on 19 December 1882, were granted at Cork on 28 May 1883 to "Susan E Townsend of the same place Spinster the Daughter and a Legatee". Effects £279.
(1) Edward was born on 3 September 1803 and died on 23 January 1880.
(2). A Resident or Political Agent was an official of the East India Company, who was based in a princely state and who served as part-diplomat, part-adviser to the native ruler, and part monitor of activities in the princely state. An important part of their duties was Jamabandi - a record of ownership, cultivation etc. They also adjudicated in kutcherry (katcheri - Hindu court of law). Details of the system of governance in the East India Company can be seen in the article Company Rule in India.
(3) 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.
'Pooles of Mayfield' p 237 refers.