5
ONL Y
ÂŁ1.5 0 York Street, 1968
Bringing Old Belfast To The New
Glenravel Local History Project
There is perhaps no more fruitful for of education than to arouse the interest of a people in their own surroundings These words were written by Richard Livingstone and appeared in a book by Alfred Moore called Old Belfast over fifty years ago. Looking back its hard to imagine that they are as true today as they were way back then. More and more people are becoming interested in the history of Belfast and it was out of this that the Glenravel Local History Project were born in May 1991. Many could be forgiven for assuming that this name derived from the famous Glens in Co. Antrim and they would be right but in a roundabout way. Glenravel Street was situated directly behind in the old Poorhouse on North Queen Street and contained quite a few beautiful and historic buildings. One of these buildings was situated at its junction with Clifton Street and although it was officially known as the Ulster Ear, Eye and Throat Hospital it was known to most people as the Benn Hospital. This was due to the fact that it was built by Edward Benn (brother of the famous Victorian Belfast historian George). Mr Benn lived in the Glens of Antrim where Glenravel is situated. Although Glenravel Street contained all this history the street itself was totally obliterated to clear the way for the modern Westlink motorway system leaving us to question schemes such as historical areas of importance as well as buildings. The Glenravel Project was established by local historians Joe Baker and Michael Liggett and has now went on to become the main local historical group in the whole of Belfast. Over three hundred publications have been published by the group as well and several web sites, DVDs and countless newspaper and magazine articles. The Project also conducts several walking tours ranging from the Belfast Blitz right through to a walking tour of the historic Cavehill area. One of these tours is also around the historic Clifton Street Burying Ground which is also situated behind the old Poorhouse and which was opened by them in the mid 1790s. Although our original aim was the historical promotion of this site we have now went on to cover the whole of Belfast as well as assist numerous local historical schemes far beyond our city’s boundaries. This magazine is now our main focus for the local and factual history of Belfast and we welcome all articles of interest relating to the history of our city. And our aim:-
To secure a future for our past
5 Churchill Street, Belfast. BT15 2BP
028 9035 1326
glenravel@ashtoncentre.com 028 9020 2100 028 9074 2255 2
www.glenravel.com
DEAD PRISONERS, BLOODY HUDSON’S ENTRY AND DEAD BODIES IN A CEMETERY!
A Look Back at Victorian Belfast O ld Belfast newspa pers are absolutely fascinating and looking at the old Victorian editions can keep you totally gripped for hours. As we have always pointed out looking through these really is an enjoyable past time and to give you a flavour we have decided over the next few issues to take a look at the year 1870 when Belfast was still very much a town and was eighteen years away from actually becoming a city. On the 3rd of January, 1870, at the local Police Court,Hugh Brennan, a pauper, was imprisoned for three
months for having threatened to burn the workhouse and for using threatening language towards Mr. Watt, the master of the workhouse. When leaving the dock, the prisoner threatened to have Mr. Watt’s life when he came out of jail. As a result, his sentence was increased to six months. Guess he should have kept his mouth shut! Robert Johnston was charged with driving a bus over a man named John
McCurry in High Street. He was allowed out on the understanding that he would appear again in a week once McCurry was expected to leave hospital. The Belfast newspapers reported one of the most notable signs of rapid progress in Belfast – the extension of omnibus accommodation. A new line was to commence to Ormeau and Ballynafeigh. The omnibuses enabled the businessmen of Belfast to reside outside the town and
The old Belfast Workhouse which Hugh Brennan threatened to burn down
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travel in, helping to create suburbs. The establishment of Mr. Owen, 46 Barrack Street, was feloniously entered and a large number of watches and a quantity of jewellery were stolen. A man who gave his name as Patrick Doyle was taken into police custody after trying to pawn two watches which fitted the description of some of the stolen items. A house was also searched in Prince’s Street where a number of items were found. A man named Owen Clarke was remanded, having struck a man named William Reid several times on the head with an iron hoop. Reid was injured severely as a result. Both men were in the employment of Mr. Scott, brewer, Cromac Street. A man named William Walker fell into the water at Donegall Quay, opposite Queen’s Square. HarbourConstables McConnell and Smith, and Captain Smith, of the schooner Rankin rescued him. When taken to hospital, Walker was in a very exhausted state, and little hope was entertained of his recovery. 4
Cornmarket where in the early part of 1870 local residents had serious problems with coal carts.
Thomas Leyburn, superintendent of the Borough cemetery, reported at the Albert Crescent Barracks that he had found the dead body of a child inside the gate of the cemetery, in a small wooden box, and rolled up in a piece of cloth. An explosion of gas took place in the committee room of the Friends’ Institute, Frederick Street, injuring the caretaker and his wife – Charles and Mary
Ann Daniel, and causing considerable damage. The explosion occurred when the caretaker attempted to light the chandelier.
It was reported that a fire had broken out in the Spinning and Weaving Company, Smithfield. However, when the fire brigade arrived, they discovered that the chimney of and office had been on fire, and so they returned to the station.
Messrs. Harland & Wolff launched an iron screw steamer of 330 feet in length and 1,800 tonnes named the ‘Historian’, from their building yard on the Queen’s Island. The ‘Historian’ was registered for Messrs. T. & J. Harrison’s steam line between Liverpool and New Orleans.
The ship Fleckiford, from Odessa, laden with Indian corn for Messrs. J. & J. Davidson, Queen’s Bridge Mills, grounded when attempting to enter the new floating dock when in tow. She had to be lightened before she could be got off. A man named John Wallace, of Sandy Row, fell into the water at Clarendon Dock. He was rescued by Harbour-Constable Carson and a young man named Patrick McKenna, and taken to the General Hospital. The statue of the late Prince Consort, executed by Mr. S. Lynn for the Belfast Albert Memorial Clock Tower, was successfully raised to the niche constructed for it in the shaft of the Tower. The statue was nine foot high and
made out of Portland stone. A meeting of protest and appeal was held by the main inhabitants of the Corn Market and the upper part of Ann Street to publicly express their grievances relating to the obstruction of those thoroughfares by coal carts and narrow passages. The completion of the already advanced widening of Corn Market was discussed as a remedy. A number of Town Council officials, armed with sledgehammers, attempted to re-open Hudson’s Entry but were offered strong opposition by locals, who had enjoyed quietness, peace and security since it
was closed. The area had previously been considered unsafe to walk through, even in daylight. Hudson’s Entry’s name was later changed to Gresham Street. At the beginning of February 1870 it was reported in the Belfast newspapers that David Lockshaw was brought up in custody on the charge of having discharged a gun at James Reid at Ballyvallagh, near Carrickfergus, the effects of which he died from a month later. Messrs. Cramer & Co. gave a select circle the opportunity of hearing the new organ, which they
An 1899 advertisement for gas-light fittings 5
erected in the newly-built Episcopal Church of St. Stephen’s, Millfield. Mr. Frederick C. Smythe, Mus. Bac., T.C.D presided at the instrument. A fire broke out in the shop of Mr. E. Berry, hat manufacturer, Castle Street. There was very valuable property on all sides of the premises. The fire was confined to the shop by the efforts of the fire brigade. However, the shop itself was completely gutted of its contents.
Mr. James McKenna, publican, Grattan Street, Belfast, and his wife were found dead in bed in a house in the neighbourhood of Maghera, County Derry. McKenna’s wife had been a native of Maghera. A fire had been burning in the centre of the room during the night. It seems that Mr. and Mrs. McKenna suffocated. A fifty-five year old clerk named Edward Conroy, from Carrickfergus, was arrested on a charge of drunkenness. However, he had to be taken to the General Hospital after being found in his cell in a terrible condition. Despite the
application of restoratives, he died the next morning. A verdict of death from the effects of an overdose of opium and alcohol was returned at the inquest. It was also recommended that in all cases where prisoners became insensible from drink while in the Police Office, the doctor should be sent for immediately. An inquest was held in the office of J. Rowan & Sons, York Street, on the body of a seventeen-year old boy named John McCloy, who was killed by being caught by the machinery in Messrs. Rowan’s foundry. The boy had been an apprentice in the pattern shop. A verdict of accidental death was returned.
Victorian York Street
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THE OLD POORHOUSE AND GRAVEYARD Part 3 FEVER AND CHOLERA
On the 7th of April, 1846, 33-year-old Margaret Owen, who lived in 34 Henry Street, was buried in the poor section of the New Burying Ground. Her cause of death was recorded as fever. Nothing much was thought of by this death. After all, people were dying of fever at a rate of around one hundred per year. However, what was different about this death, was the fact that it was the first in a new epidemic for this burying ground. The town of Belfast had been hit by a fever epidemic in
1836-1837. At that time the fever was accompanied by outbreaks of Influenza (flu) and Erysipelas, which was a skin disease caused by a bacterial infection. Together these caused a very high death rate in the town. The fever which struck Belfast in the 1840s was in fact two different types Typhus and Relapsing. Both of which were carried by body lice, fleas and ticks. Both fevers first caused pain in the joints and muscles, extreme headache, continuous vomiting, widespread rash,
and later a slow and painful death for its unfortunate victim. At the same time as the fever outbreak, Ireland was facing another, more serious problem, the potato blight, otherwise known as the ‘Great Famine’. The ‘famine’ had a less disastrous effect in the north of Ireland, than on many other parts of the country. One reason for this was due to the fact that the people in the northern counties were not completely dependent on the potato for survival, since 7
oatmeal was traditionally an additional article of their diet. Nevertheless the North was severely affected, and many people left their homes in search of food and work in the towns. The fever epidemic which followed was attributed to the introduction of infection by the ten thousand refugees who had crowded into the poorer areas of Belfast. Andrew Malcolm, who was a doctor in the General Hospital in Frederick Street, at the time of the outbreak wrote: We will remember the aspect of the hordes of poor who thronged into the town from 8
all parts. Famine depicted in the look, in the hue, in the voice and gait. The food of a nation had been cut off; the physical strength of a whole people was reduced; and this condition, highly favourable to the impression of the plague-greath, resulted in the most terrible epidemic that this island has ever experienced. What was happening was simple; the poor from all over Ireland were coming into the already overcrowded poor areas of Belfast in search of food and work, and with them they brought the fever.
In 1847 the People’s Magazine printed a series of articles written by Dr Andrew Malcolm entitled ‘Sanitary Inspections of Belfast’ and in one of these he presented a map of the New Lodge district, back-to-back houses were shown along with pumps, open sewers and other problems. He examined in detail the various ‘rows’ and ‘courts’ and the few streets which then existed. In these he found gross overcrowding with most two up-two-down houses with sometimes upwards of five families in each. Other poor areas such as Carrick Hill and the Pound
Loney were worse again. Indeed, all the poorer districts of Belfast with their appalling conditions proved no hindrance to the spread of this new fever epidemic. It was not long before large numbers of people began to die. Bodies were being found in the streets and others were being left outside graveyards for burial by their families or friends. At the New Burying Ground, sometimes up to four bodies were being found outside on Henry Place. For example on the 27th of February, 1847, the body of an unknown two-year-old child was found on the doorstep of the graveyard gatehouse, it was the first of many.
By now the number of people dying was rising at an alarming rate with sometimes upwards of one hundred people being buried in the New Burying Ground every week. When the fever had reached its height, Belfast was struck with outbreaks of dysentery and small-pox. By now, preventing the fever and other diseases was seen as an impossible task. More worrying, was the new outbreak of dysentery. This disease attacked the bowels and abdomen before leading to a very painful death. The first person to die of dysentery and to be buried in the New Burying Ground was 26year-old Alexander McMurry. He was an inmate of the Poor-
House. The day after his death, another seven people died from the same disease all of them inside the PoorHouse. To cope, the Board of Health, which had just been set up, had to enlarge the Union Infirmary and move Poor-House inmates (thought to carry the disease) into it. The Board also had built a large shed in the grounds of the General Hospital which was facing the Poor-House in Frederick Street. Two unused hospitals, the College Hospital, which was in the old Barracks, and the Cholera Hospital were once again opened. Later tents were erected in the grounds of the Workhouse to accommodate 700 convalescent patients.
9
The old Poor House
Back in the burying grounds of Belfast, burial space was running out, and at the New Burying Ground, bodies were arriving faster than the gravediggers could accomadate them. On the 9th of July, 1847, the Belfast Newsletter described the scene in the New Burying Ground:In the course of the present week we saw no fewer than twenty coffins, containing the corpses of persons who had died of fever in the various hospitals in town during the proceeding twenty four hours lying for interment in that portion of the New Burying Ground appropriated for that purpose; while cart loads would arrive before the com10
mon grave was ready for their reception: A sight so melancholy was never before witnessed in Belfast. Some of the coffins contained more than one body in each, as the registry books of the Burying Ground show, and sometimes up to five bodies were placed in one coffin (which were really large boxes). Soon after, coffins were not used at all. When the poor ground was full, the cholera ground, which was last used in the epidemic of the 1830s, was once again opened. Even the gap between the Antrim Road wall, and the graveyard wall was used. In the Belfast Newsletter of the 16th of July, 1847, it was reported that the parish ground
was full. The congestion at Friar’s Bush was as serious as at the New Burying Ground. At the same time the Rev. Richard Oulton described how he was shocked by the sights to be seen in the New Burying Ground, where coffin was heaped upon coffin until the last was not more than two inches below the surface. The problem now was burial space. More would have to be found or the fever epidemic would have to be stoped quickly. At this time it was fully realised that to control the epidemic, it was first necessary to control vagrancy, and thus prevent more paupers coming into the town. To do this a meeting was held by the Poor-House Commit-
tee on the 20th of July, 1847. It was at this meeting that it was agreed that all beggars were to be ‘placed’ in the House of Correction (prison) and that this was to begin on August 3rd. The following is the first report on the beggars first convicted: August 3rd, House of Correction. Present. Dr Denvir, J.Getty, Dr C. Purdon, A.J. McCrory, J. Knox, Rev R. Oulton, Rev W. Bruce in the Chair. Samuel Burns aged 16 from parish of Kilmore near Crossgar convicted of begging on Carrick Hill to be confined for one fortnight. James McDonnell aged 25 from Drumane, Tullamore West, latterly from Glasgow
sent by the town found begging in Hercules Place to be confined for one fortnight from yesterday. Biddy Flinn who had with her a 10 year old son and a child about 2 years old living in Queery’s Entry, North Street, was found begging in College Square North to be confined for one fortnight from yesterday with the liberty to have the children with her. As the days went on the lists became longer at each session as more and more beggars were being arrested and confined to the House of Correction. If the idea of doing this was to prevent begging in the streets by people who had come to Belfast for that purpose and to scare away others, then it had worked. The
Poor-House minutes for the work done in the House of Correction continue until February 5th, 1848, which was when the last of the vagrants were disposed of either by dismissal or transfer to the Police Office. From August there was a gradual decline in the fever. By November the General Hospital ceased to admit any further fever cases, and the following month the Barrack Hospital was closed as the new Workhouse Hospital provided sufficient beds for any remaining cases. At the end of 1847 Dr Andrew Malcolm was warning people through the pages of the Peoples Magazine, that cholera was spreading at an alarming rate towards Europe, and at the same time the
The old House of Correction
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The General Hospital in Frederick Street
Board of Health, which had been set up to combat the fever epidemic, was being disbanded, even though Belfast was still suffering a high death rate. According to the census of 1841, the mortality rate per 1,000 in Belfast was 28% the average age of death was nine years, and one half of the population was under the age of 20 years. Dr Malcolm, having demonstrated that Belfast suffered to an unusual extent from preventable disease, went on to examine the sanitary state of the town in detail. He dealt first of all, with housing and reported the following: 12
The great majority of the poorer houses in this town consist of four rooms varying in size from 7 feet to 10 feet square in two stories. They are generally occupied by two families... We have known as many as eighteen or twenty persons sleeping within such limited apartments;... Poor lodging-house keepers have been known to cram three beds into one apartment and three persons into each bed. The first case of cholera occurred in the Lunatic Asylum on the 1st of November, 1847, and for upwards of a month was the only case.
This was Asiatic cholera which had last appeared in the town in 1832 and affected almost 3,000 people, killing over 500, most of whom are buried in the poor ground of Clifton Street. Soon this disease began to appear in various localities in the town. A cholera hospital was opened in Howard Street, and the General Hospital in Frederick Street was enlarged to treat cases from the North Queen Street and ‘Sailortown’ areas, the Union Hospital dealing with the rest of the town. In the Poor-House, great care was taken to prevent the
entry of infection. During the new cholera threat, no inmate was allowed out and no one was allowed to come in. Only on Sundays did the inmates get out, and this was only to go to their places of worship under strict supervision. During this epidemic the Poor-House escaped infection, entirely due to these measures being taken. The poor who had died of cholera outside the house were causing the committee in charge of the burying ground a major problem of where to bury them. Wednesday 9th July 1847 Present. Dr Stevelly, Dr Denvir, Dr Cooke, J Getty, J Knox, R Magee, R Simms. Rev W Bruce in the Chair. This meeting was sum-
The Cholera Ground at Clifton Street Cemetery moned in consequence of the very great difficulty of finding burial ground for the poor in the present crisis. At the suggestion of the board of health, a certificate as to the safety from infection in opening the graves of bodies buried in the time of cholera in 1832 and 1833, was signed by many of the most respectable medical practitioners.
And so, after this meeting the order was given that the mass grave of the earlier cholera victims was to be reopened. However, the cholera outbreak did not last as long as had been expected and was claiming fewer victims. Soon the scare was over, and when it was the mass grave at the burying ground was filled in for the last time.
1878
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1900
Exploring Belfast’s Old Streets Raymond O’Regan
ROYAL AVENUE
Part 2
she appeared at the Ritz Cinema in the 1960’s.
Numbers 1 - 19; Corry House (1881) housing many shops, cafes, etc. In 1840 when it was the little narrow street called Hercules Place a Miss Digby ran a day school. Later it also housed Tates Medical Hall.
Numbers 21-22; Avenue House (1988). In 1882 this was the site of the Royal Avenue Hotel. In 1984 it was destroyed in a fire. The Hotel was popular with Belfast people for musical entertainment. Some previous guests included Ella Fitzgerald when
Ella Fitzgerald Here is Rosemary Street (named after the herb). Numbers 31-39; Royal Chambers (1882). Originally on this site William Reid’s Drapery Store which was the first business to open in the new expanded street now called Royal Avenue.Today
there are various shops on the ground floor such as the Schuh Shore Store Numbers. 41-73; This block running up to Garfield Street contains a mixture of Victorian and 20th century buildings. Numbers. 41-51; (1885) Present day Harry Corry Store Numbers 53; (1960’s) Nationwide Building Society on ground floor. Was origi15
1880
1884
nally the site of the Water Commissioners office Numbers. 55-59; Hampton House - Argos Store 16
Numbers 61-73; Leicester House - Alliance & Leicester Building Society Here is Garfield Street (named after U.S. President Garfield)
Number 75-79; SPENCER HOUSE on the ground floor is the Irish Linen shop,Subway and Edwards flower shop
longer in business and on the ground floor can be found First Trust Bank and Roast Coffee Cafe
President Garfield
Number 101; A public house was on this site from 1880 to 1930. It was owned by the tragic McMahon family who were brutally murdered in their Kinnaird Terrace home in the early 1920’s
Nos 81-87 A restored 1888 building now used by CULT Clothes store Number 89-93; (1926) The famous home to Sinclairs Department Store Nos. 95-101; This building was also part of the Sinclair Empire. Sinclair’s are no
Here is the junction of NORTH STREET and ROYAL AVENUE (Lower North Street was originally called Goose Lane as it lead from Bridge Street to the North Gate of the 1641 Ramparts were the geese were let out into the countryside. The Ramparts or Rampier were
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Junction of Royal Avenue and Lower North Street in 1907
thrown up as a reaction to the 1641 Irish uprising and it function was to protect the Scottish and English Planters who lived in the town. 18
Number 103-107; Eagle Chambers (1883). Originally the home of the Tea Merchant Forster Green and was emblazoned by a large eagle (see
pictures). Forster Green’s other tea emporium was at the corner of High Street and Cornmarket (now Dunnes Store), ground floor nowadays
1897
Bannons Furniture Store and unfortunately has a rather ugly cladding covering up this part of a late Victorian building. Where as next door is the home to the famous Marcus Musical Instrument store which externally remains unaltered Here is William Street
a Western Union office and unfortunately the eagle didn’t survive the many alterations to the building over the years. Number 109-111; Designed by John Lanyon for the Northern Bank in 1883. Now used as the Kainan Café.
Number 113; – c1885 – Originally Steel and Sons Goldsmiths and Silversmiths. Northern Bank took over the building in the 1930’s. Numbers 115-125; (1885) Numbers 115-119 is a bridal shop and was formerly 19
Number 127-137; Donegall Chambers (1890) A three storey building with Clements Coffee shop and JNP offices on the ground floor. Number 139-141 Mark Royal House (1965) Corner of Royal Avenue and Donegall Street On the ground floor is a hairdressing salon and the upper 1880
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floors is the home of the N.I.Small Business Association This completes the journey through Royal Avenue (incidentally The section of Royal Avenue that runs from North Street to Donegall Street used to be known as John Street )
1884 21 21
Castle Junction around 1910
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The old White Linen Hall This stood on the site of the present City Hall
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Then & Now Castle Junction in 1820
The same view today
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The Four Corners in 1841 looking from Waring Street
The same view today
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From The Albert Bridge to The Old Ropeworks M Bobby Cosgrove
any of us walk regu larly along our city thoroughfares without ever giving a thought of its history and of the people who were on it in the years before us. As an example I will take a walk along the Albertbridge Road as it was in the period between the end of the First World War and Partition 1919-1922. The road remained almost the same up until the 1970s. It was a hive of activity and a road with a heart and a community, with hundreds of people living in the side streets.
The Albert Bridge itself was formally called the Lagan Bridge right up to 1884, it was also known as the Halfpenny Bridge as it was a toll gate bridge and that was the fee to cross over. The toll keeper was a man called William Canmer a lowland Scot and the father of 15 children He also ran an inn and coffee house at the entrance to the bridge on the Lagan Village side. He had a daughter called Margaret who was the wife of Joseph Campbell famous Irish poet and writer.
The name Canmer was given to the building that sat between the Ravenhill and Woodstock roads and the name was associated with the area until the road widening in the mid 1970s. At the turn of the 20th century the road from the bridge to the Mountpottinger Corner had over 100 shops serving the local community in the many side streets that ran off it. The reason for the name change came about in 1884 when the centre spans of the old Lagan Bridge collapsed into the river taking the life of
The original Albert Bridge after its collapse
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The Albert Bridge at the turn of the last century
a carter and his horse as they travelled over it, the New Bridge was renamed the Albert Bridge after Queen Victoria’s late husband. Houses for Liquid Refreshments As you come of the bridge heading towards the Ards the first buildings you would have found one on each side of the road where two local pubs. The Armagh House stood at the start of the Ravenhill Road and was named by locals who had come to the City from that County in the 1880s looking for work. At the top of the Short Strand stood the Bridge Bar I would say it was named after the Bridge. The next bar with an address on the road was the Primrose it also was listed on the Woodstock Road it had a door on each side and on each road
it was the last bar to survive when the bull dozers pulled the area down during so called improvements and redevelopment of the area. Just across the Albertbridge Road from the Primrose was a pup that is not two well known but stood there for over 50 years it was called the Sportsman Bar another name for it was the Glen Bar.
Another Bar that had two addresses was McShannons at the Mount Corner this again was a famous pub and had a long history of serving drink to a thirsty public. Furlong Terrence numbers 38-52. It was in this block of shops that St John Greer Ervine (1883-1962) Novelist, Dra-
27
1888 matist and Critic was raised by his grandparents. His very successful plays included Boyd’s Shop a story of working class Protestants and Catholics was based on this shop and the customers that were served in it. Mixed Marriage another of his plays and it caused much controversy and riots when first shown in the 1920s. He managed the Abbey Theatre and resigned after the Easter Rising of 1916. He joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and lost a leg while on active in France in 1918. He wrote the Biographies of Sir Edward Carson, Sir James 28
Craig and George Bernard Shaw His Novels include "The Foolish Lovers and the Wayward Man" both regarded as classics. St John Ervine became a member of the Irish Academy of Letters and from 1933-36 was Professor of Dramatic Literature for the Royal Society of Literature the only Irishman to hold this post in the 20th Century.
Prices Department Store 121-129 Albertbridge Road. First opened as a shop in the 1880s and by the turn of the Century it had been extended
to a large three-story department store. Brothers James and Jack Price managed and owned the store and among its clients were Governor of Northern Ireland Lord Grey, and almost all the members of the Government. The store was the Grace Brothers "are you being served fame" type of store, the inside of the shop was a Victorian treasure chest with its high wooden counters and its suction pipes to take your payment to the cashier office on the upper floors. The store disappeared with the re-development of the Albertbridge and Woodstock
Roads, as did the community that lived around the store. Next to Prices and at the Mount Corner stood the well known Opticians and Chemist of "Davidson & Murray" Mountpottinger Corner (Two sites) The Mount. The town book of Belfast 1650s showed that Ballymacarrett had only two dwellings and one off these was a large house called Mountpottinger and this house was sited in the middle of the Square were the present Mount stands. The Pottinger family was one of the most prominent families in the City and a Thomas Pottinger was the Sovereign in 1688 and saved the town from the same fate as Derry by negotiating a
Mountpottinger Corner at the turn of the last century
truce with Patrick Sarsfield King James 2nd commander. His grandson Sir Henry Pottinger 1789-1856 became the most famous of them all. Henry left Belfast at the age of twelve and travelled the world first as a sailor then a diplomat and in 1842 he negotiated the treaty of Nanking with the Chinese that led to Hong Kong Island becoming British, in 1843 he was ap-
pointed the first governor of Hong Kong. He was made a Baronet for is talents as a diplomat the family estate was sold in 1789 and the family retired to England, there is a grave that has this name on it dating back to 1602 in Knock Graveyard Henry died in Malta in 1856 where he had retired to. CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE
Mountpottinger Corner around 1920
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The Captains Love Story
I
n June 1922 in the Dublin high court a case opened which related to a breach of promise case, which occurred in Seskinore, County Tyrone. The case was between Miss Kathleen Donnelly of Seskinore who brought the case against Captain George Evans, described as a Justice of the Peace, of Greenmount Lodge, Seskinore.
manner, according to the morality and public opinion of the time it was evident that he had acted with calculated cruelty.
Miss Donnelly was the daughter of a respectable farmer; Captain Evans was also a reputable man who owned a farm less than one mile from the Donnelly homestead. There seemed no doubt that a promise had not only been made but that it was broken, and it seemed that the jury would only have to decide on the amount of damages that should be awarded to Miss Donnelly.
Miss Donnelly was convent educated and just three months after she returned home to Seskinore from school she was introduced to Captain Evans who at that time did not live in the locality. Captain Evans had served in the Great War and after the war in 1919 he came to Tyrone to settle in Seskinore. He bought a substantial farm there for over £5000 with a handsome residence on the land. In September 1920 he proposed marriage to Kathleen, which she accepted, subject to her father’s approval. Captain Evans gave her a valuable engagement ring, then told her father "I don’t want money, but I hope you will fix Kitty up all right".
Captain Evans had treated Kathleen Donnelly in a most insulting and cruel
Her father agreed to the wedding and Captain Evans inserted the fol-
30
Elaine Hogg lowing announcement in the Dublin newspapers on April 8th 1921: Captain Evans, Omagh, whose engagement is announced, obtained his commission through Trinity O.T.C. and served throughout the war with the 10th (Irish) Division in France, Egypt and Salonika. His name is mentioned as a Parliamentary candidate at the forthcoming election". Having advertised the engagement to Miss Donnelly the relationship between the couple flourished and the ceremony was fixed for June 8th of that year at the Marlborough Street Cathedral in Dublin. Owing to the trouble in Dublin at the time the place of marriage was changed to Armagh Cathedral and finally it was arranged that it should take place at Seskinore on June 14th. Miss Donnelly travelled to Omagh to arrange for
the printing of the marriage cards. Captain Evans took Kathleen in his Daimler car all around County Tyrone introducing her to his friends so she began to prepare for her forthcoming nuptials. She went to Belfast where she stayed a week purchasing everything she would need in the way of clothes and accessories for her married life, a position of respectability and social importance as the wife of a landowner, highly regarded member of society.
several occasion to her fiancé to ask him what the situation was in relation to their marriage, her last letter to him was this;
choice but to take a court action to settle the matter otherwise her marriage prospects in the future would be damaged.
Dear Captain Evans, I am writing to you on a subject that I would much rather forget, but I can’t forget. I wonder if you realise the injury you have done me. You told my brother that I was to blame, kindly explain. I am anxious to know… after you asking me to marry you, and having all arrangements made.
Captain Evans gave no evidence to defend his position other than to claim that Kathleen had been seen with two boys in Omagh in June, who later turned out to be cousins of Kathleen. This was his only excuse for his actions; he did not at any time mention that money could have anything to do with his not marrying Kathleen.
A few days before the day fixed for the wedding ceremony Captain Evans visited Kathleen brother, George to tell him that he would not be able to marry Kathleen unless he received £2000 as dowry. He then visited Kathleen father, repeated his request and the marriage was postponed but to everyone’s surprise by October of the same year Captain Evans married another girl who was from a wealthy family.
It certainly was not the acting of a gentleman....Kindly take a little of it to yourself. You need it more than I do. I wish you would settle matters. Father feels badly about the affair. I request an answer by return stating what you intend doing - if you are going to fulfil your promise to me or not.
The jury found that Captain Evans was in breach of promise, what is more, he was ordered to financially compensate Kathleen for the clothes and accessories she had purchased for her future married life, together with printing costs for the marriage invitation cards that she had printed.
Captain Evans never replied to her letter and Kathleen Donnelly must have felt rejected, insulted and ashamed. She felt she had no other
The courts were however unable to compensate Kathleen for the emotional trauma, social humiliation and shame that she felt.
Between April and October Kathleen wrote on
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THE INFAMOUS GALLOPER THOMPSON
A
ll of us know some sort of ghost story, but there is no doubt that many of the stories which we were told in our childhood were nothing but mere fiction, the result of someone's overactive imagination. Unfortunately when it comes to ghost stories the boundaries between fact and fiction are never very clear. Many of us, when told a fictitious story, were so terrified as children that the story stuck with us and eventually we believed it. Then there was the problem with the ‘additions’ What would happen here is that someone would tell a story and when it came to the second person repeating it various bits would be added on so as to enhance the story. This would go on and on until the final story is nothing like the original – the spooky version of Chinese whispers. ECCENTRIC One ghost story which this has happened to is the famous Belfast tale of ‘Galloper Thompson.’ There are numerous stories surrounding his ghost and from the ‘bits added on’ it also appears he got around a bit. The basic story was centred around one Gordon Thompson who was a bit of an eccentric character who travelled around the world. When he returned he settled into a house in Upper Donegall Street. A few years later he began to build a house on the Crumlin Road. When he moved to here he named the building ‘Bedeque House.’ This was in 1851 and the house he had just built was modelled on a property which was then in Prince Edward Island. Thompson lived here until 1872 when he sold the house to Frederick Kinahan who in turn later sold it to the Catholic Church who used it as a new hospital. They later demolished the house and the site is today occupied by the Mater Hospital. But who, or what, was this ‘Galloper Thompson?’
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Jennymount Mill
STORIES Gordon Augustus Thompson was of the old family of Thompson's of Castleton, or Jennymount. Third son of John Thompson, one of the original directors of the Belfast Banking Company, he went out to relatives called Gordon, West India merchants, one of whom was Governor of Montserrat. Thompson’s mother, Anne Wilson, was of the same family as Walter Wilson, shipbuilder. A faint idea of his wandering moods is gathered from the description of his having camped on part of the ground now covered by Melbourne. An early letter writer confirms the suggestion. "Gordon Thompson." said a Wilson of Maryville, "returned to Belfast after twelve years travel. He came to Maryville one day every week and delighted us all with his stories of the Rocky Mountains, Andes etc." He was a member of the Belfast Town Council in 1849, and for a
few years afterwards. In response to the call of the wild he returned to Australia, and died at Melbourne in 1886 at the age of 87. His portrait in oils was in the Municipal Art Gallery. There is an appropriate Fenimore Cooperesque flavour about his monumental inscription in Carnmoney, "The last of the family name - Thompson's of Jennymount."
FAMILY OF BANKERS The Castleton Thompson's were best known as bankers, of whom there were three generations. Robert (1736-1800) of Jennymount. John (1766-1824) of Jennymount, and John (1798-1874) of Lowwood. The first John had three sons, Robert of Castleton (1792-1862), John of Lowwood and Gordon Augustus of Bedeque House. He was one of the founders of the Commercial Bank (1809) which by amalgamation subsequently with the Belfast Bank became the Belfast Banking Company. Both father and (second) son were in succession the head directors of this concern. The elder Robert Thompson, grandfather of Gordon, was principal partner in the earlier Discount Company, and was probably the first occupant of Jennymount, called after his sis-
ter, it is believed. Their father was John Thompson (1691-1765), Presbyterian minister of Carnmoney for 34 years, and their mother was Jane Legg, of Malone House
MERCHANTS The Rev. John Thompson was succeeded in the ministry of the same church by his nephew, also John Thompson, a man of very decided character and great influence during his 62 years of active duty. He was a native of Shilvodan, near Connor, and it was probably here the family settled originally in the seventeenth century. His sons Charles and William, were well known merchants in High Street, their mother being the daughter of the Rev. William Laird, of Rosemary Street, and they were succeeded by their nephews, the Finlays. Sir Thomas McClure was also a grandson of the Carnmoney minister, and joined the Finlays in a business which later became the Wolfhill Spinning Company. Among the family papers is a document (with seal) dated 1703, certifying that, "Mr. John Thompson, preacher of the Gospel, was admitted a burgess of the Burgh of Irvine in Scotland, which may give some clue to the source of the family.
Jennymount
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BANSHEE As in many old houses, popular superstition attributed a banshee to the Jennymount residence; and in the legendary lore of Ireland "Galloper Thompson" has found a place. We now know who ‘Galloper’ Thompson was and who his family were but what exactly is the story connected with this ghostly rider. There is no doubt that the tale of Galloper Thompson is the most famous of all Belfast ghost stories. The story began when Gordon Thompson stated to his friends that when he died if he did not find a place in heaven then he would return and haunt Jennymount. A few years after his death a number of people reported seeing the ghostly apparition of a man riding a horse at break neck speed along old Jennymount Avenue. As Gordon Thompson rode a horse at speed almost daily many stated that it was his ghost. It was this activity which gave Gordon Thompson the name ‘Galloper’ as he rode his horse around the Jennymount estate. The story continues today and when Jennymount was demolished it was claimed that the apparition could be seen in the area around Alexandra Park Avenue which replaced Jennymount Drive.
state. The story was often used by parents to scare their children to come in early or to go to bed. Many people continue to remember their mothers and fathers telling them to be in for a certain time or "Galloper Thompson will get ye," while the same line was used to get them to go to bed. We can now wonder if the children got to sleep after being frightened with such a tale? Because the story was based in North Belfast that left other areas at a disadvantage when it came to discipline. Often the tale of Galloper was used in the same way with the only difference being that he had moved to the area where the story was being told. Another ‘addition’ to the story was a new ending. Some people heard the story that a minister tricked Galloper Thompson into a bottle. He then handed the bottle to a sailor who dumped it into into the Red Sea, however, where this occurred or how it happened was never made clear. Like all ghost stories no one can say if the tale of Galloper Thompson is true or not, but what is fact is that it is a fascinating story and that the ‘real’ Galloper Thompson was one of the most extraordinary characters Belfast has ever known.
THE ADDITIONS Needless to say because of the fact that this is a Victorian story it has been told so many times that ‘additions’ have been added. In the story itself there are those who claimed to have been almost knocked over by the speeding horse and rider while others claimed that neither had any heads. There was also another story added which stated that Galloper went to the stables of a nearby house and take a horse out for a ride. He would then return the horse and the following day the owners would be totally mystified as to how the horse got into such a dirty 34
Taken from Joe Baker’s Haunted Belfast which is on sale in all leading bookstores
Belfast map of 1955 showing the Docks area
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THE TRUE CASE OF THE HEN HOUSE CHILD
I
n 2008 the world was shocked by the extreme cruelty of Josef Fritzl who had kept his daughter Elisabeth locked in a cellar for 24 years at their Austrian home. Surprisingly this is nothing new and in this country there have been more than a few similar cases. Cruelty can take many forms be it physical, mental or sexual. One of the most bizarre cases ever found in the North was that of the young child who was kept locked in a hen house at Broclough, Crossgar, County Down. The child’s mother pleaded guilty to neglect after she was brought before the court at Downpatrick in November 1956.
PUT ITS HANDS UP The case was brought to light after three schoolboys noticed some strange activity at one of two hen houses at Halfpenny’s field at Crossgar. One boy, Desmond Bannon who later gave evidence about his discovery explained how when passing one of the hen houses he heard someone walking about inside. He went over for a closer look and after checking the door, which he found locked, went to look in through the window. The windows were covered on the inside by old sacks but as he was there someone lifted the covering and peered out. "I saw either a wee boy or a wee girl with long hair," he stated. "I could see down to its waist and it had no clothes on, as far as I could see. I asked what its name was, and got no answer. I asked again 36
but got no reply." The boys evidence continued with more startling claims. He told the police that during the school holidays he went up to the hen houses again. This time he was accompanied by his friend. He said that once again the door was locked but when he knocked at the window the young child lifted up the sacking and put its hands up to the netting wire on the window. The children told how they next visited the hen house on two other occasions each time with more friends and on each occasion they saw the child, it was locked in the hen house. On the last occasion, which was about one month before the child was rescued, one of the boys, Sean McMullan told of knocking on the window. They could hear something shuffling inside then, before very long, someone came to the window and tried to lift up the bag which was covering it.
SUFFERING The NSPCC and the police were notified of events at the farm and the child was named as Kevin Halfpenny, a seven-year old boy. He was immediately taken to the Nazareth Lodge Children’s Home. While here he was examined by doctors who were horrified to find that he only weighed two stone. His height was a mere 30 inches high and it was claimed that he was suffering from rickets for at least five years due to continual denial of sunlight.
MOTHER CHARGED The boys mother, Mrs Margaret Halfpenny, was arrested and charged with ill-treating and neglecting the boy in a manner to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to his health. When she appeared in court NSPCC Inspector Alex Mahood gave evidence of examining the boy at Nazareth Lodge where he looked pale and thin. His arm and leg joints were swollen and his shin bones were concave in shape. Both legs were folded up beneath his buttocks while he was in a sitting position. The boy could only stand without assistance for half a minute and then he fell down on his semi-contracted legs. The child’s mother was allowed bail of £100 with one surety of £100. Meanwhile the child was given all the treatment necessary at the Children’s Home. When the case came to trial Mrs Halfpenny pleaded guilty to a charge of wilful neglect. She was also arraigned on a charge of wilful ill-treatment to which she pleaded not guilty and the Crown entered a nolle prosequi on the charge. Judge Hanna explained that had not the Lower Court refused the submission by Halfpenny’s defence to prevent publicity in the case the public would have been unaware of all the details of the case. HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING Her defence maintained that the building in which the child had been kept was more of an outhouse than a hen house even though Mrs
HATRED OF THE PEOPLE Judge Hanna sentencing Mrs Halfpenny said, "I cannot hide from myself that, while this might have been a clean and healthy place to keep a child from time to time if some attention had been paid to it, I cannot lose sight of the fact that the windows were covered by bags. Medical evidence here is that one of the things your child lacked was sunlight. You deprived him of something God gave him. You deprived him of something the State was prepared to give for nothing - medical advice and attention."
We may have been shocked by the recent events in Austria but our own history shows more than a few cases of similar neglect and abuse. Halfpenny referred to it as a hen house in her own statement. Mrs Halfpenny also claimed that the child was not locked in that place except whenever she was going shopping at Downpatrick. Her own life was described to the court as being one of hardship and suffering. Her husband had died after they had been six years married and she was left with three daughters and two sons whom she had to rear single handed. The medical evidence however proved that the child had been suffering from rickets for a long time and Judge Hanna commented that, for four years, the child was kept for at least some periods in this outhouse where there were bags
placed over the windows which kept out the light. It was said that the condition rickets was caused due to both a lack of sunlight and a diet without Vitamin D. Basil Kelly who led the woman’s defence deposed that Mrs Halfpenny had no other place to leave her child only in this outhouse. At that time, he said, "some of the children were out working and some were at home. Those at home were at school every day. Mrs Halfpenny was faced with the problem therefore of finding a safe place to leave the child while she went about her work. This was the safest place for a disabled or subnormal child where there was no fire, stairs and chairs about."
He also commented on the difference she had made between that child and her other children. "Perhaps you were ashamed of the child. If you were it seems a sad thing that you should try to penalise the child." Commenting on the disgust that the public have for anyone who would victimise innocent children he said, "If I am a judge of public opinion in this country, any penalty I impose upon you will be nothing like the punishment and hatred of the people you will come in contact with once you are free." After pleading guilty to a lesser charge and having asked for the mercy of the court the judge declared that the course of the defence case meant that the penalty would have to be greatly reduced. As for showing mercy he said, "I do not know whether you are entitled to demand mercy. Perhaps, who knows, there may be some Divine providence who will provide it for you - a mercy I could never provide." Mrs Halfpenny was sent to jail for nine months. 37
The old Lying in Hospital which stood on Clifton Street where the present day garage is situated The building was later taken over by Millar & Co., and was destroyed in an IRA firebomb attack in 1922 On the facing page are photographs of the old hospital after it was destroyed by the IRA in 1922 and below is the site today
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1950’s BELFAST
A Major Photographic Exhibition of Life in the City During This Exceptional Decade FREEMASONS' HALL, CORNMARKET Friday 11th September Saturday 12th September 10am - 4pm Admission FREE
Also on Display will be an EXHIBITION OF MASONIC REGALIA AND JEWELS
Old Belfast is published by the Glenravel Local History Project as part of our Belfast History Project scheme www.glenravel.com
European Heritage Day
Saturday 12th September
ISSN 1757-7284