14: Comerford of Wexford and Cork and Comerford-Casey of Cork

12.1: Anthony Hope Hawkins, author of The Prisoner of Zenda, was the son of the Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins (1827-1906), of Saint Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, and through him was descended from the Comerford family of Wexford and Cork.

Patrick Comerford

According to John O’Hart, the Comerfords of Cork are said to be a branch of the Comerford family of Co Wexford.[1] However, Joseph Comerford, merchant, of Cork, was a brother of Catherine Comerford who married James Nagle of Garranvilly or Garnavilla, near Cahir, Co Tipperary, serjeant-at-arms, Irish House of Commons, and brother of Sir Richard Nagle, Speaker of the Commons.[2]

Joseph Comerford of Cork was the same as Joseph Comerford of Anglure [see Chapter 6: Comerford of Ballymack and Callan], and was party to a family deed concerning a house and property in Clonmel. His brothers were Luke Comerford and John Comerford.[3]

Andrew Comerford, Garret Comerford, John Comerford and Peter Comerford of Cork, who died in the mid-18th century, may have been brothers.

The first named:

ANDREW COMERFORD married Dorcas Rice in 1729.[4]

The second named:

GARRETT COMERFORD married Mary Pratt in 1737.[5] Was she the Mary Comerford, widow, who married John Bradley in 1745?[6]

The third named:

JOHN COMERFORD (ca 1688-ca 1769), of Cork. He was born ca 1688. In 1718, he married Elizabeth Edge (? died 20 October 1749).[7] His will is dated 9 October 1766, and he died ca 1769 as probate was granted in 1769.[8] Elizabeth may have died on 20 October 1749.[9] He married secondly[10] Bridget, daughter of Michael Kearney of Fethard, Co Tipperary, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Denis McCarthy of Spring House, Co Cork.

John and Elizabeth (Edge) Comerford were the parents of three sons and three daughters:

1, Patrick Comerford.
2, Mary.
3, John Comerford (ca 1719-post 1769), of whom next.
4, Elizabeth.
5, James Comerford, living in 1769 and 1796.
6, Teresa, who conformed to the Church of Ireland in Rathconery Parish Church on 11 June 1769 and immediately after married ... Hamilton, a lieutenant in the 54th Regiment of Foot.[11]

John and Bridget (Kearney) Comerford were the parents of a seventh child, a daughter:

7, Anastasia, who in 1748 married George Hennessy of Ballymacoy, Co Cork.[12] He was a brother of Elizabeth Hennessy who a year later married Anastasia’s brother, John Comerford (above), and of Richard Hennessy (1720-1800), founder of the Hennessy Cognac dynasty.

The third child:

JOHN COMERFORD (ca 1719-post 1770). He was a wine merchant in Cork in partnership with his son Patrick Comerford in 1769-1770, and was a senior partner in one of the 12 Cork firms prominent in the transatlantic trade from the 1730s to the 1770s. His sometime partner, Henry O’Shea, later owned 30 vessels that were based in Cork by the 1770s, and was part-owner of many more based in other ports. O’Shea developed quays and ship-repair facilities near his house downstream, and inter-continental trading interests.[13] In 1749, he married Elizabeth Hennessy,[14] daughter of James Hennessy of Ballymacoy (died 1770) and his wife Catherine Barrett. Elizabeth was a sister of George Hennessy who married John’s sister Anastasia (see above), and of Richard Hennessy (1720-1800), founder of the Hennessy Cognac dynasty.

John and Elizabeth Comerford were the parents of three sons:

1, Patrick Comerford, of whom next.
2, John Comerford (1761- ), of Cork, baptised on 24 April 1761 in South Parish (Saint Finbarre’s South), Cork.
3, James Comerford (1777- ) of Cork.[15] He was baptised on 30 August 1777 in South Parish (Saint Finbarre’s South), Cork. He was the Town Major of Cork (1794) and was admitted a Freeman of Limerick on 9 December 1794 and a Freeman of Cork on 9 September 1796. In 1796, he was mentioned in the will of his brother, Patrick Comerford.[16] He may have been the ancestor of the Comerford-Green family of Kinsale, Co Cork, and Blackrock, Co Dublin (see below).

John Comerford’s first-named son:

PATRICK COMERFORD (died 1796), merchant, of George’s Quay, Cork, and Summerville, Co Cork. He was a wine merchant in Cork in partnership with his father John Comerford in 1769-1770. He was admitted a Freeman of Cork on 5 July 1793. He was one of the Roman Catholics called to the City Grand Jury in Cork in 1795.[17] His will is dated 15 March 1796 and was granted probate on 16 September 1796.[18] He married in Bath on 20 August 1770 Anne, or Teresa, daughter of Thomas Gleadowe (1700-1766) of Castle Street, Dublin, and his wife Teresa (Workman), and a sister of Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen (1730-1806), the banker, of Killester, Co Dublin.[24]

The former Newcomen Bank, on the corner of Castle Street and Lord Edward Street, Dublin, was founded by William Gleadowe, later Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, brother of Anne Comerford of Cork. The bank closed in 1825 after a series of banking failures (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)

Patrick and Anne Comerford had three daughters:[19]

1, Mary (1776-1840),[20] the poet and author Mary Teresa (Comerford) Boddington. She was the author of Poems (London, 1839) and The Gossip’s Week, in prose and verse (two volumes, London, 1836). She wrote verse frequently for the Cork papers, some of her songs were written to Irish airs, and she wrote some entertaining volumes of travel on the Continent of Europe from 1815 on. She was born in Cork in 1776, and left Cork for London in 1803. On 16 April 1805, at Saint George’s Church, Hanover Square, London, she married Thomas Boddington (1774-1862), a wealthy West Indian merchant of Upper Brooke Street, London, and Marylebone, Middlesex. The Boddingtons are often referred to in Thomas Moore’s Diary. She died in 1840. They had three children:
● 1a, Mary Theresa (1806-1898). She was born in London on 13 January 1806, and died in Pau, France, on 15 May 1898. She married Jean Ernest Lannes de Montebello (1803-1882), Baron de Montebello, at the British Embassy in Paris, on 27 April 1831. He was born in Lisbon, Portugal, on 20 July 1803, and died on 24 November 1882 in Pau, France. He was the son of Jean Lannes, Duc de Montebello, and his wife Louise Antoinette, Comtesse de Guéheneuc. They had three sons and three daughters:
●● 1b, Marie (1832-1917). She was born in July 1832, and died in Biarritz on 3 January 1917; in 1868, she married Henri O’Shea (1836-1905).
●●2b, Eveline (1837-1868).
●●3b, Berthe (1838-1893). She was born in Paris 19 July 1838, and died in October 1893. In 1861, she married Auguste Guillemin (1813-1877).
●● 4b, Jean Gaston Lannes de Montebello (1840-1926), born 16 May 1840 in Pau; died on 22 December 1926 in Pau.
●● 5b, René Lannes de Montbello (1845-1925). He was born in Gelos on 13 September 1845, and died on 27 December 1925. In Paris on 4 November 1875, he married Princess Marie Lubmirska (1847-1930), and they had five children, including:
●●● 4c, Hedwige Marie Renée (1881-1944). She was born in Pau on 10 Mar 1881, and died in the concentration camp in Ravensbrück on 19 Nov 1944. On 17 September 1910, she married in Biarritz Louis d’Ax dit de Vaudricourt (Château Vaudricourt). He was born on 20 May 1879 and died in the concentration camp in Dachau on January 1945. Her brother, brother, Count André Roger Lannes de Montebello (1908-1986), was involved in the French resistance during World War II and was the father of Count Guy Philippe Henri Lannes de Montebello, who, as Philippe de Montebello, who was director of the Meetroplitan Museum of Art, New York, until 2008.
●● 6b, Roger Gaston Lannes de Montebello (1850-1878). He was born in 1850, and died in Paris on 28 June 1878.
● 2a, Thomas Boddington (1807-1881);
● 3a, Harriet Boddington (1809-1877).

2, Belinda Isabella, who married on 5 November 1795 the Revd Francis Law, BA (1768-1807), and of whom next.

3, Bridget.[23]

The second named daughter:

Belinda Isabella, married on 5 November 1795 the Revd Francis Law, BA (1768-1807), curate of Newcastle, Co Wicklow (Diocese of Glendalough), 1790; Vicar of Attanagh, Queen’s County (Diocese of Ossory), 1801-1807; and Rector of Cork. He was the son of the Revd Canon Robert Law, DD (1730-1789), Rector of Saint Mary’s, Dublin (1772-1789), Rector of Middleton, Co Cork, and Treasurer of Cloyne. He was a first cousin of Robert William Law, whose daughter Elizabeth married the Right Rev John Gregg. Belinda Isabella (Comerford) and Francis Law had five sons and three daughters: [21]

1, Amelia Teresa ( -1868). She married in 1837 (the Revd Canon) Arthur Wynne, MA (1801-1854), Curate of Carnew, Co Wicklow (Diocese of Ferns), 1826-1835, Curate of Powerscourt, Co Wicklow (Diocese of Glendalough), 1835-1837, Vicar of Saint Peter’s, Drogheda, Co Louth (Diocese of Armagh), 1837-1848, Precentor of Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford, 1848-1854, and Precentor of Saint Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore, Co Waterford, 1850-1854. She died on 25 October 1868. [22]
2, Elizabeth, who married Thomas Roberts.
3, (The Revd) Patrick Comerford Law (1797-1869), of whom next.
4, (Professor) Robert Law, MD (1798-1875). He was born in Wales on 3 November 1798. He graduated MD. He married Eleanor Vesey, daughter of the Revd Dr George Vesey, Rector of Mansfieldstown, Co Louth, and his wife Barbara Taylor. He was Professor of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin (University of Dublin), and lived at Upper Merrion Street, Dublin. Robert died on 23 April 1875, aged 76; Eleanor died on 21 October 1889. They were the parents of one daughter:
● 1a, Isabella Barbara (1841-1891), born at Rutland Square, Dublin, 26 February 1841. She married at Saint James’s, Paddington, London, on 6 September 1875, (Major-General) George Baret Stokes of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and Mounthawk, Tralee, Co Kerry. She died at The Priory, Slapton, South Devon, on 9 July 1891, and is buried in Slapton.
5, (The Revd) Francis Law (1800-1881), of whom after his eldest brother, the Revd Patrick Comerford Law.
6, Isabella (1802-1802). She was born 28 January 1802, and died 22 September 1802.
7, Samuel Law (1803-1804). He was born on 20 June 1803, and died in infancy.
8, Hugh Law (1807-1807), born 20 May 1807, baptised privately the same day, and died 28 May 1807.

The third child and eldest surviving son of the Revd Francis Law and Belinda Isabella (Comerford) Law was:

(The Revd) Patrick Comerford Law (1797-1869), of Summerville, Co Cork, and Ballyalley, Killaloe, Co Clare. He was born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, on 21 August 1797. He was was educated at Trinity College Dublin (BA, 1818), and first practised at the Irish Bar. He was ordained deacon 1828, priest 1829, and was an army chaplain in Birr, King’s County (Offaly), Rector of Samlesbury, Lancashire (1829), Rector of North Repps, Norfolk (1830-1869), Rural Dean (1842), and chaplain to the Marquis of Cholmondeley.

His second cousin, Michael Law, was the father of Sir Edward Fitzgerald Law (1846-1908), of Athens, who was involved in reforming the Greek economy in the 1890s and in the negotiations leading to the eventual restoration of Crete to the Greek state; he married Catherine Hatsopoulo, of an old Byzantine family who had settled in Athens, and he is buried in the First Cemetery, Athens.

Patrick Comerford Law married at Balbriggan, Co Dublin, on 17 October 1828 Frances, daughter of the Right Revd Alexander Arbuthnot, Bishop of Killaloe, and his wife Anne Bingham. Frances Comerford Law was born at Clarisford House, Killaloe, Co Clare, she died at North Repps on 19 November 1857, and was buried there on 26 November 1857. Patrick Comerford Law died at North Repps Rectory on 15 April 1869, and was buried at North Repps on 22 April 1869. His will dated 6 June 1859 was proved in Dublin 10 July 1869, by Robert Law MD. They had 10 children, seven sons and three daughters:

1, Georgiana Anne (1829-1895), born at Samlesbury 19 August 1829, baptised there 18 September 1829. She married at Saint Mark’s, Notting Hill, London, on 22 January 1870, the Revd Theophilus John Fenton (1827-1902) of Hawthorn Cottage, Gobowen, Oswestry, Shropshire, son of the Revd Samuel Fenton (1797-1800), Vicar of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, and later Rector of Saint Mary’s, Wavertree, near Liverpool. Her husband was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford (BA and MA 1860), and was the curate of Awre in the Diocese of Derby (1867); curate, North Repps (1868-1869), where he met his wife; curate of Christ Church, Stranton, Hartlepool (1871); curate, Cottesmore, Rutland (dates unknown); living in Llangollen without a parish in 1881; and curate of Bramshall, near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, in the Diocese of Lichfield (1882-1894). She died at Gobowen on 7 March 1895, and was buried a week later at Bramshall on 14 March 1895. He was living at Seabank Road, Liscard, Cheshire, when he died on 30 May 1902.
2, Francis Patrick Law (1830-1832), born at North Repps Rectory on 1 October 1830, and baptised at North Repps on 30 October 1830. He died at North Repps on 29 March 1832, and was buried there on 31 March 1832.
3, Alexander Patrick Law (1832-1895), born at North Repps Rectory on 14 January 1832, baptised at North Repps 14 May 1832, He was educated at Rugby and Corpus Christi College, Oxford (BA, MA 1860). He was known in the cricketing world as ‘AP Infelix.’ He died at Kew, Surrey, on 30 October 1895, and was buried in Norwood Cemetery.
4, Frances (‘Fanny’) Amelia Law (1833-1883). She was born at North Repps Rectory on 1 April 1833, and baptised at North Repps on 6 May 1833. She married at North Repps on 14 August 1862, Henry Charles Hull (1833-1902), barrister, son of the Revd Henry William Hull of Exmouth, Devon, and his wife Maria Charlotte (Phillipps). She died at 55 Argyll Road, Kensington, London, on 5 October 1883, and was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London, on 11 October 1883. Their daughter, Agnes Georgina Hull (1868-1936), had a special friendship with the Revd Charles L Dodgson (‘Lewis Carroll’), author of Alice in Wonderland, who got to know the Hull family while they were living in Eastbourne in 1877.
5, Isabella Susan (1835-1885). She was born at North Repps Rectory, Norfolk, on 27 February 1835, and was baptised at North Repps on 2 April 1835; she died unmarried at Norwood, Surrey, on 14 January 1885 and was buried at Elmer’s End Cemetery, Kent.
6, Patrick Francis Law (1836-1909). Born at North Repps Rectory on 28 August 1836, and baptised on 18 September 1836. He was educated at Rugby and was a clerk at the War Office. Both Patrick and his brother Alexander played cricket, and Patrick played for Rugby School (1854-1855), Gentlemen of Norfolk (1855-1868), Civil Service (1864), CL Bell’s Civil Service XI (1866), Marylebone Cricket Club (1866-1872), and Gentlemen of Warwickshire (1871). He married in Walsingham on 9 July 1868 Julia, second daughter of Henry Taylor Jones of Chatham and Hoo, Kent, and his wife, Caroline, Dowager Lady Hardinge, who was first married to Sir Richard Hardinge of Belleisle, Co Fermanagh. Their wedding was conducted by his brother, the Revd Robert Arbuthnot Law (see below), and the Revd James Lee Warner. They lived at 52 Cambridge Street, Hyde Park, London; he died on 3 December 1909 in Shurdington, Gloucestershire; Patrick and Julia were the parents of three sons: Arthur Fitzpatrick Law (1870-1870), died in infancy; (Captain) Cecil Arbuthnot Law (1872-1932), who married Mary Theresa Forestier Walker on 29 April 1902 in Mussoorie, Bengal, and died in Menone, France; and (Colonel) Walter Henry Patrick Law, DSO (1876-1956), educated Charterhouse and Oriel College Oxford, who married Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Arthur Brooke.
8, Arthur Arbuthnot Law (1840-1841), born at North Repps Rectory 30 May 1840, baptised 13 August 1840. He died at North Repps Rectory on 24 February 1841.
9, (The Revd) Robert Arbuthnot Law (1842-1889). He was born at North Repps Rectory 28 February 1842 and baptised at North Repps 15 May 1842. He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge. he was Curate of All Saints’, Hertford (1866-1869), Rector of Larling, Norfolk (1870-1875), and of Gunthorpe with Bale, Norfolk (1875-1889). He married Agnes (1834-1882), only daughter of the Revd Chancellor John Henry Sparke of Gunthorpe Hall, and his wife Agnes, daughter of Sir Jacob Henry Astley. They were married at All Souls’, Langham Place on 20 January 1870 by her uncle, Canon Edward Bowyer Sparke. Robert died at Gunnersbury Lodge, Acton, Middlesex, 11 December 1889 and was buried at Gunthorpe; Agnes died at Burgh Hall, Melton Constable, Norfolk, on 18 June 1892. They were the parents of three sons: Arbuthnot Patrick Astley Law (1872-1938), educated Rugby, of Chesterton, Cambridge; Hubert Henry Bingham Law (1873-1936), educated Radley, died unmarried; Alexander Delaval Hamilton Law (1874-1938), educated Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, a racehorse trainer at Nepcote Lodge, Findon, Sussex.

10, William Arthur Law (1844-1913), born at North Repps Rectory, Norfolk, 22 March 1844, and baptised 21 April 1844. He was educated at Sandhurst and commissioned in the 21st Regiment, the Royal Scots Fusiliers (1864-1872). He lived at Killaloe, Co Clare, and Hill Cottage, Pulborough, Sussex. He married at Saint Mary Abbott’s, Kensington, London, on 7 July 1877 the English actor Fanny Holland (1847-1931), third daughter of John Holland of London and his wife Merial Ann Marshall . William Arthur Law was better known as Arthur Law, the playwright and actor. He died in Poole, Dorset, on 2 April 1913; she died in Bournemouth on 18 June 1931. Their only son:

● 1a, Hamilton Patrick John Holland Law (1879-1960), singer. He was born in 1879 and educated at Clare College Cambridge. He married on 9 October 1907 Frances Dora (1887-1973), only daughter of the Revd Cecil Brereton (1856-1939), Rector of Hardham. He died in Bournemouth 7 April 1960 and she died n Bournemouth 18 March 1973.

Arthur Law (1844-1913) … the English actor and playwright was a son of the Revd Patrick Comerford Law (1797-1869)

The third son and fifth child of the Revd Francis Law and Belinda Isabella (Comerford) Law was:

(The Revd) Francis Law (1800-1881). He was born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales, on 4 June 1800. He was educated at Queens’ College, Cambridge (BA, 1827). He was ordained deacon (Killaloe, 1827) and priest (Cloyne, 1828). He was the Perpetual Curate or Vicar of Samlesbury, near Preston, Lancashire (1832-1881). Author, Tracts on Romish Controversy. He married Marianne Cuppage of Killaloe, Co Clare, daughter of General Alexander Cuppage (died 1847) and Clarinda Bruce. He married secondly at Nice on 15 November 1865, Sophia Elizabeth Wahl, who died, aged 54, on 17 December 1877. Francis Law died on 20 September 1881, at Samlesbury Vicarage, aged 81. The children of Marianne and Francis Law included:

Francis Law (1829-1898), who was born in Dublin and died in Michigan (Photograph courtesy Lauri Wagaman, 2014)

1, Francis Law (1829-1898). He was born 27 February 1829 in Clare Grove, Dublin, and baptised 29 March 1829 at Coolock, Co Dublin. He was living in Samlesbury in 1861. He married on 30 January 1866 in Wilson, Niagara County, New York, Ruth, daughter of Thomas Lee of Blackheath, Kent. Their first three children were born in New York. They moved to Addison, Michigan, ca 1869 or 1870. By 1880, they were living on their farm at Tittabawassee (later Freeland) in Saginaw County, Michigan. He died on 21 November 1898. Their children included:

Robert Archie Law (1877-1923) … a direct descendant of Belinda Comerford and the Revd Francis Law (Photograph courtesy Lauri Wagaman)

● 1a, Francis Arthur Law (1867- ), born at Newfane, Niagara Co, 1 June 1867, baptised at Grace Church, Lockport City, New York, in July 1867. He married at Saginaw, Michigan, on 20 February 1897, Rose Anne Livingston.
● 2a, Ruth Ellen (1868- ), born at Wilson, Niagara County, 22 May 1868, baptised at Grace Church, Lockport City. She married at Tittabawasse, Saginaw, on 28 November 1889, George Egerton Metcalf.
● 3a, William Henry Law (1869-1876), born at Wilson, Niagara, 20 September 1869, baptised at Lockport City. He died on 4 November 1876 at Tittabawasse, Saginaw, Michigan.
● 4a, William Henry Law (1869-1876), born at Wilson, Niagara, 20 September 1869, baptised at Lockport City. He died on 4 November 1876 at Tittabawasse, Saginaw, Michigan.
● 5a Minnie Louisa (1872-1897), born at Tittabawasse, Saginaw, 9 May 1872, died at Freeland, Saginaw, 22 October 1897.
● 6a, Florence Marianne (1874- ), born at Tittabawasse, Saginaw, 4 November 1874.
● 7a, Robert Archie Law (1877-1923), born at Tittabawassee (Freeland), 18 November 1877. He married Nella Maud Thomson (1878-1962). He died in 1923. Their seven children were: Robert Dale Law, lawyer, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who died in Toledo following a heart attack during his son-in-law’s sermon; Francis Warner Law; Bertha Emily; Marion (grandmother of Lauri Wagaman), who died on 28 December 1973; Virginia Ruth; Don Carlos Law; and Dan Delton Law.

The seven children of Robert Law at their family farm in Freeland, Michigan (Photograph courtesy Lauri Wagaman)

John Comerford’s contemporary in Cork, and perhaps his brother, was:

PETER COMERFORD (ca 1702-ca 1755), of Cork. Born ca 1702, he died ca 1755, when his will received probate.[25] He probably married Elizabeth Dicks, who died ca 1747, leaving a daughter, and perhaps a son:

1, Rebecca Comerford.
2, Peter Comerford, of whom next.

Peter Comerford appears to have been the father of:

PETER COMERFORD (ca 1732-1800?), Clothier, of Mallow Lane, Cork. He was living in 1792, and was admitted a Freeman of Cork. He may have died in 1800. Peter married Mary Casey and was the father of:

1, Jane, of whom next.

Peter Comerford may also have been the father of:

1, Peter Comerford of Bachelor’s Quay, Cork, recorded in Pigot’s Directory of Cork City in 1824, and who voted in the 1829 election.[26]

JANE COMERFORD (above) who in 1792 married her cousin Edwards Casey of Cahirgal and Elmgrove, Cork.[27] The Comerford name was continued through their descendants. Edwards Casey died in 1827.

Edwards Casey and Jane Comerford had six sons and three daughters:

12.2: Saint Margaret’s Church, Higham Gobion, Bedfordshire, where the Revd Francis Hawkins and the Revd John Hawkins were rectors (Photograph courtesy Tony Hawkins)

1, (Dr) Thomas Casey, of whom next.
2, William Comerford Casey ( -1852), of whom after Thomas.
3, George Casey ( -1879), of whom after William.
4, Edwards Casey ( -1875), of Blackrock, Co Cork. He married Eliza, daughter of Robert King Cummins of Cork. He died in 1875. They had a daughter:
● 1a, Mary Jane, who died in England in 1884.
5, John Casey.
6, Comerford Casey.

12.3: The memorial plaque to Dr Frederick Hawkins and Mary (Comerford Casey) Hawkins in Saint Margaret’s, Higham Gobion, Bedfordshire (Photograph courtesy Tony Hawkins)

1, Mary, who married Dr Frederick Hawkins, MD (1796-1864), of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, fourth son of Major Henry Hawkins. Frederick Hawkins was a brother of John Hawkins (1791-1877), solicitor, of Hitchin (see below), Dr Francis Hastings (1794-1856), surgeon, of Hastings (see below), and the Revd Canon Ernest Hawkins (1801-1868) of Westminster Abbey. There were at least three inter-marriages between these Casey and Hawkins families in the 19th century. Dr Frederick Hawkins was the founder of Hitchin Hospital in 1840. Mary died on 27 October 1872; Frederick died on 27 November 1864; they are buried in Saint Margaret’s, Higham Gobion, Bedfordshire, where both his grandfather, the Revd Francis Hawkins, and his uncle, the Revd John Hawkins, were rectors. They had children, including:
● 1a, Hannah, who married the Ven Samuel Cheetham (1827-1908), Professor of Pastoral Theology, King’s College, London, and later Archdeacon of Rochester. They had no children.

12.4: The Revd Henry Hawkins (1825-1904), son-in-law of Edwards and Jane (Comerford) Casey, was a pioneer in mental health care

● 2a, Mary, married in 1853 her cousin, the Revd Henry Hawkins (1825-1904), MA (Exeter College, Oxford; Wells Theological College), the only son of Dr Francis Hawkins (1794-1856), surgeon, of Gosmore, near Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He was a pioneer in mental health care as chaplain of the Sussex County Asylum (1859-1867) and the County of London Asylum, Colney Heath (1867-1900), later Friern Hospital, in New Southgate, North London. Henry died aged 79 on 16 December 1904 after a short illness, and was buried at St James the Great in Friern Barnet. Mary and Henry had eight children, four sons and two daughters, including:
●● 1b, (The Revd Canon) Francis Henry Albert Hawkins (1855-1940), Rector of All Saints’, Highgate, and Prebendary of Saint Paul’s Cathedral London, who was the father of the Revd Canon Robert Henry Hawkins, MA (1892-1989), Vicar of Saint Mary’s, Nottingham (1943-1958), and a Canon of Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor, from 1958.
●● 2b, (Dr) Edward Hawkins.
●● 3b, Henrietta, who worked with her father at Colney Hatch.
●● 4b, (Sister) Mary, an Anglican nun.

12.5: The Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins (1827-1906), of Saint Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London

● 3a, (The Revd) Edwards Comerford Hawkins (1827-1906), Anglican priest, teacher and author. He was born on 15 May 1827. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford (BA, 1849). He was headmaster of Saint John’s Foundation School for the Sons of Poor Clergy (1861-1883), and Vicar of Saint Bride’s, Fleet Street, London (1883-1904). He was the author of Spirit and Form (1881), and The Church and Parish of St Bride, Fleet Street (1883). He died on 12 February 1906, and is buried in Saint Margaret’s Church, Higham Gobion.[28]

12.6: The memorial plaque to the Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins in Saint Margaret’s Church, Higham Gobion, Bedfordshire (Photograph courtesy Tony Hawkins)

He was also commemorated with an inscribed tablet of white marble,which once was on the ground floor of the tower at Saint Bride’s, and is now [2012] in the crypt.

The plaque commemorating the Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins is now in the crypt in Saint Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The plaque reads:

Sacred to the Memory
of
Edward Comerford Hawkins, M.A.
for 23 years Vicar of this Parish
formerly Head Master of St John’s School, Leatherhead.
Born 15th May 1827. Died 12th Feb. 1906.
His untiring efforts both public and private for
the good of others, the power and wisdom of his
teaching, the high example of his life, his liberality
of mind and the warmth of his affection are held
in grateful remembrance by his family, his friends
and all those for whom and with whom he laboured
as Pastor and as fellow-citizen
‘He that loveth his brother abideth in the light’

The Scripture reference is I John 2: 10.

He married Jane Isabella Grahame, and their children were:

●● 1b, Geoffrey Hawkins, Parliamentary Solicitor.

12.7: Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933), author of The Prisoner of Zenda, was the son of the Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins (1827-1906), of Saint Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, and through him was descended from the Comerford family of Wexford and Cork.

●● 2b, (Sir) Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933). He was born on 9 February 1863 in Clapton House, London. He was educated at his father’s school, Clapton, Marlborough, Balliol College, Oxford, and the Middle Temple. He was President of the Oxford Union (1886). He was called to the bar in 1887 and practised from the same chambers as H.H. Asquith, the future prime minister. He was defeated as the Liberal candidate for South Buckinghamshire, 1892. As Anthony Hope, he was the author of the Ruritania novels, including The Prisoner of Zenda, The Heart of Princess Osra, and Rupert of Henzau. Through his mother he was a first cousin of Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows. He married in 1903 Elizabeth Somerville Sheldon (died 1946) of New York, and they had two sons and a daughter. They lived at 41 Bedford Square, London, and then at Heath Farm, Walton on the Hill, Surrey, and Gower Street, London. He died on 8 July 1933, and is buried in Leatherhead.[29]
●● 3b, Joan, married Ernest Feilin, and had children.
● 4a, Ernest Hawkins, married Mary Cator and had five sons and three daughters.
● 5a, Albert Hawkins, a surgeon in the British army during the Crimean and Chinese wars, he died without having children.
2, Hannah.
3, Jane.

The eldest son of Jane Comerford and Edwards Casey was:

(Dr) THOMAS CASEY, MD, of St Alban’s, Hertfordshire. He was living in Cork in 1829, when he voted in the election that year. Later, he moved to England, and married Anne, daughter of Major Henry Hawkins (1750-181), of the East India Company and Lawrence End, Hertfordshire; Anne Hawkins was a sister of John Hawkins (1791-1877), solicitor, of Hitchin (see below), Dr Francis Hawkins (1794-1856) of Hastings (see above), and Dr Frederic Hawkins (1796-1864) of Hitchin (see above). Thomas and Anne Casey Hawkins had two sons and two daughters:[30]

1, (Dr) Edward Casey, MD (ca 1833-1917), of Windsor, Berkshire. Educated King’s College London (BSc, The Lancet, 15 December 1866). Practising medicine in Ewer by 1870 (Reading Mercury, 24 September 1870). Appointed Medical Officer of Health, Windsor, 13 December 1882 (Berkshire Records Office WI/AS1/4; New Windsor Local Board of Health Minute Book 6). He died at his home, 3 Park Street, Windsor, on Sunday 30 December 1917 aged 74 (Slough, Eton & Windsor Observer, 05/01/1918, p. 2; email correspondence with Peter Steere of Kellogg College, Oxford, 7 and 8/10/2014).
2, (The Revd) Henry Ernest Casey (1840-1923). He was born in St Alban’s, Hertfordshire, in April 1840, and was baptised on 22 May 1842. He was educated at Uppingham and was admitted a sizar at Saint John’s College, Cambridge, on 7 July 1858 (BA, 1862, MA, 1867). He was Assistant Master at Rossall School (1862-1863) before being ordained deacon (1864) and priest (1866) by Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford. He was curate of Slough, Buckinghamshire (1864-1867), curate of Braceborough, Lincolnshire (1867-1870), curate of Saint John’s Bedwardine, Worcestershire (1871-1879); and Vicar of Berrow, Ledbury, Worcestershire (1879-1916). In retirement, he lived in Malvern Link, Worcestershire, and died there on 16 August 1923, aged 83.
3, Anne Louisa, died young.
4, Mary (died 1872), married the Revd Jonathan Henry Bennett, MA (1829-1896), of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Headmaster of Falmouth Grammar School (1856-1888).

Dr Thomas Casey’s next brother:

WILLIAM COMERFORD CASEY ( -1852). A freeman of Cork and a woolen merchant, he voted in the 1827 election. He later moved to Wavertree, Liverpool, and was a soap manufacturer in Liverpool, where he was partner with his brother George Casey (see below) in the firm of WC and G Casey. He married Susanna (born 1815), daughter of John Hawkins (1791-1877), solicitor, of Hitchin, Hertfordshire; John Hawkins was a brother of Dr Francis Hawkins of Hastings (see above), of Dr Frederick Hawkins of Hitchin (see above), and of Anne Hawkins who married Dr Thomas Casey (see above). Her brother, Sir Henry Hawkins (1817-1907) was a barrister and judge, and became Lord Bampton. Susanna and William Comerford Casey had four sons and four daughters:[31]

1, (The Revd) William Henry Casey (1840-1916), born Liverpool on 14 February 1840; admitted pensioner, Trinity College Cambridge, 6 July 1858 (BA, 1865, MA); ordained deacon by the Bishop of St Asaph (1865); curate, Chester, 1865; curate, Saint Mary, Edge Hill, Liverpool (1869-1872); curate, Saint Matthew, Liverpool (1872-1873). In 1873, he became the Rector of Saint Paul’s Church, Aurora, New York. He moved to Union Springs, New York, in the early 1890s, continuing as before to serve the Union Springs and Aurora churches until he retired in 1915. He died in 1916. William Henry Casey has been described as “a typical Englishman; fond of walking, a great reader, and a keen sportsman.” He married Mary Matilda, daughter of RP Austin of Liverpool. They were the parents of two daughters:
● 1a, Mabel Healy, graduated at Wells College 1895.
● 2a, Norah Florence, graduated at Wells College 1897.
2, Edward Casey ( -ca 1890), a solicitor, of Basing Lodge, Hitchin.
3, Mary, born in Liverpool in 1845, baptised in Holy Trinity Church, Wavertree, 25 April 1845. She married in 1870 her cousin, Major Henry Wallich Maclear (1845-1911) of the 3rd Buffs and they had five sons.
4, Frederick Casey (1847-1887). He was born on 2 January 1847, and was baptised on 2 August 1848 in Holy Trinity Church, Wavertree. He died in 1887 at the Grande Saline, Haiti, West Indies.
5, Susanna Baretta (1848- ). She was born on 25 July 1848, and was baptised on 20 August 1848 in Holy Trinity Church, Wavertree. She was living at 69 Sandown Lane, Wavertree, when she married on 7 July 1885 in Saint Bridget’s Church, Wavertree, Thomas Moore, widowed, bank cashier, of 63 Newsham Drive, Walton, Liverpool, son of Dr Alexander Moore. The witnesses were her brother Horace Comerford Moore and her cousin, Rachel Eade, who later married Horace. It is interesting to note how the marriage records indicate the way in which the family maintained its connections with Ireland: the marriage licence was issued by the Revd Canon Courtenay Moore, Rector of Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
6, Horace Comerford Casey (1850-1920). He was born on 7 June 1850, and baptised on 14 July 1850 in Holy Trinity Church, Wavertree. He died aged 69 in Farnham, Surrey, in June 1920. In 1891, he married his cousin, Rachel Eade (1854-1942), daughter of Joseph Eade (1820-1862) of Richmond, Surrey, and his wife Rachel Hawkins (1824-1919) of Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Horace and Rachel Comerford Casey had no children.
7, Miriam Amelia (1852-1921). She was born on 1 September 1852, and baptised on 19 September in Holy Trinity Church, Wavertree. She married Charles John Greenshields Duranty (1849- ), merchant, of Livingston Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool. She died in 1921. Their children included:
● 1a, Guy Duranty (1884- ), baptised on 13 November 1884, in Saint Bridget's Church, Wavertree.
8, Emily Rebecca (ca 1851- ), born ca 1851, she married in 1870 as his second wife Charles Cholmeley Hale (1830-1884), of King’s Walden, Hertfordshire, JP, High Sheriff 1880, lieutenant Rifle Brigade, captain North Herts Yeomanry, and grandson of the writer Sir Richard Joseph Sullivan (1752-1806). They had six children:
● 1a, Charles Hale, born 1879; educated at Eton, Lieutenant, 7th Battalion Rifle Brigade.
● 2a, Evelyn.
● 3a, Elsie.
● 4a, Muriel.
● 5a, Sibyl Rose d’Amour, married in 1898, Charles Alexander F. Duranty, and had children.
● 6a, Edith Marjorie.

William Comerford Casey’s next brother:

GEORGE CASEY, was the third son of Edwards Casey and Jane Comerford. He was a soap manufacturer in Liverpool, where he was partner with his brother William Comerford Casey (see above) in the firm of WC and G Casey. He retired from the family business in 1859, and the partnership was handed over to Francis William Medley as sole trader. He later lived at Winterbourne, St Leonard’s-on-Sea, Sussex. He married in Saint Mary’s Church, Newry, Co Down, in 1845 Mercy Bourcicault, eldest daughter of George Glenny of Newry, Co Down, and Moorevale, Co Armagh. George Casey died in 1879 and his wife Mercy died in 1880. They had five sons and five daughters:[32]

1, (The Revd) George Edwards Comerford-Casey (1846-1912), of whom next.
2, Charles Ash Wyndham Casey, who died in infancy.
3, Comerford Glenny Casey, who died in infancy.
4, (Major) Charles Leslie Casey of the Royal Artillery, member of the Naval and Military Club, Piccadilly, London.
5, Arthur Edwin Comerford-Casey, of the Bengal Civil Service, and 16 St James’s Square, London. He was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, and Marlborough College, Wiltshire. He was appointed to the Bengal Civil Service in 1872, and arrived in India in 1874. He served in the North-West Province and retired October 1889. He married on 2 June 1885 Edith A. (died 1886 at Suez, Egypt), daughter of General Sir Thomas Willshire, Baronet, GCB (1789-1862), who was made a baronet in 1841 for his part in the campaign in Afghanistan, at the siege of Ghuznee and at the capture of Khelat. Arthur Edwin Comerford-Casey was granted a coat-of-arms for himself and the descendants of his grandparents, Edwards Casey and Jane Comerford, incorporating elements of both the Casey and Comerford coats of arms.[33]
1, Isabel (died in England in 1887), married Lieutenant Francis Ross Bromilow, RN, of Fraserburgh (died 17 September 1880), and had children.
2, Helena Mary, died in 1882 at Ranibagh, North-West Province, India (present-day Pakistan).
3, Emma Elizabeth, married on 1 December 1884 Sir Sainthill Eardley-Wilmot, KCIE (1853-1929), conservator of forests, India, and grandson of Sir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot (1783-1845) of Hobart, Tasmania, Governor of Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania). Emma died in 1890, and Sainthill married again the following year.[34] Emma and Sainthill had one daughter:
● 1a, Helen Jessie.
The eldest son and Mercy and George Casey was:

(The Revd) GEORGE EDWARDS COMERFORD-CASEY (1846-1912), Anglican priest, teacher, botanist, author. He was born in Wavetree, West Derby (Everton), Liverpool, on 19 March 1846, and was baptised on 5 April 1846 in Holy Trinity, Wavertree. He was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford (BA, 1869, MA, 1873). He was elected FGS (1878) and FLS (1879). He was curate of Saint Mary-le-Wigford, the parish church of Lincoln (1870-1872), Assistant Master in the High School, Nottingham (1874-1879). The 1881 census shows the family living at 68 Cromwell Street, Nottingham. The family lived in Nice, France (1882-1894). The 1901 census shows the family living at Lantosca, Madeira Road, Parkstone, Dorset. He was the author of Outlines of Latin Mood Construction, with exercises (1882), Die Urzeit, or Kindergarten German, Old Testament Tales in German and English (1888), The Broad Churchman, a Catechism of Christian Pantheism (1891), and Riviera Nature Notes (1898, 2nd edition 1903). He changed his surname from Casey to Comerford-Casey. In 1874, he married Ellen Georgina Alvina, daughter of Robert Bertram, Taylorian Professor of German in the University of Oxford. He died in Parkstone, Dorset, on 4 February 1912. They had two daughters and a son:[35]

1, Olive Bourcicault Comerford Casey (1875-1958), born in Nottingham, 16 April 1875. Olive and her sister Bertie were living at 64 Castle Road, Bournemouth, in 1939. Olive Comerford Casey of 3 Beechey Road, Bournemouth, died on 15 November 1958.
2, Alvina Bertram (‘Bertie’) Comerford Casey (1877-1953), born in Nottingham 16 January 1877. Bertie Comerford Casey of 64 Castle Road, Bournemouth, died on 3 July 1953 at Loreto Nursing Home, Cavendish Road, Bournemouth.
3, Edward Comerford Casey, born in 1880, living in 1888.

JAMES COMERFORD of Cork (see above), who was living in 1796, when he was mentioned in the will of his brother Patrick Comerford, may have been the father of:

(Lieutenant) JOHN COMERFORD, who fought in the British army during the American War, as did his brother-in-law, Lieutenant James Mahony of the 77th Regiment. This John Comerford married Anna Mahony (born ca 1758), daughter of James Mahony (1716-1794) and Jane (Hennessy), and granddaughter of Daniel Mahony of Dunloe Castle, Killarney, Co Kerry. Anna Mahony’s sister, Catherine Mary Mahony (ca 1760-1822), was an actress who married Francis Bland (1736-1778); he had fathered previously Dorothea Jordan (Bland), the mistress and courtesan of William, Duke of Clarence and future King William IV, and together the parents of 10 children.

John and Anna Comerford were the parents of at least two sons:

1, George Comerford, 57th Regiment, who died unmarried.
2, (Captain) James Comerford, of whom next.

(Captain) JAMES FRANCIS COMERFORD (?born ca 1799), of Higher Street, Kinsale, Co Cork, may have been the son or grandson of James Comerford of Cork (see above), who was still living in 1796, when he was mentioned in the will of his brother, Patrick Comerford.[36] This James Comerford married Marcella, daughter of Joseph Maxwell (1773-1850), solicitor, of 3 Merrion Row, Dublin. They had four children and the Comerford name was continued through the descendants of their elder daughter. Their children were:[37]

1, Anna, born 1829, of whom next.
2, Thomas Comerford (1829- ), born in December 1829, baptised in Kinsale 29 December 1829 (sponsors, Thomas Rochford, Ann Vicars).
3, Marcella, born July 1836, baptised in Kinsale on 11 July 1836.
John James Comerford (1839- ), born September 1839, baptised in Kinsale 11 September 1839.

The elder daughter:

ANNA (1829-1883), was living at 7 North Great George’s Street, Dublin, in 1857 when she married in Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, on 29 August 1857, James Sullivan Green, QC, of Air Hill, Glanworth, Co Cork, 10 Henrietta Street, Dublin, and later of and 83 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, JP, Crown Prosecutor, Co Cork. He was born on 17 March 1814, and in their registered wedding entry in children’s baptismal entries in the Registers of Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, and Saint Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, Dublin, he is sometimes recorded as James Comerford Greene. She died in 1883. They had four sons and four daughters:[38]

1, Mary Marcella Elizabeth (1858-1909), born 8 August 1858, baptised Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, 15 August 1858 (sponsors Joseph Maxwell, Mary Weldon). She died unmarried in 1909.
2, Thomas Sullivan Greene, JP, BA (TCD) (1860-1925). He was born on 27 January 1860 at Air Hill, Co Cork, and baptised on 21 February 1860 in Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin (sponsors: Patrick Maxwell, Marcella Comerford). He was appointed an Assistant Land Commissioner in 1899. He died in 1925.
2, (Lieutenant-Colonel) James Sullivan Comerford Green, BA (TCD) (1861-1927). He was born in 1861, and baptised in Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin (sponsors: James Maxwell and Amelia Maxwell). He was educated at Trinity College Dublin (BA), and was a surgeon-captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. he served with the Manipore Expedition in 1891 (meddal with clasp), and the Burmese Expedition, 1891-1892, including the operations of the Irrawaddy Column (clasp). He took part in the South African War (1899-1902), including the defence of Ladysmith (medal with five clasps, King’s Medal with clasp). He died in 1927.
3, George Comerford Green, BA (TCD), barrister-at-law, born in 1863, of whom next.
4, John Maxwell Sullivan (Max) Green, BA (TCD), MICE (1864-1922). He was born on 4 September 1864 and baptised on 24 September 1864 in Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral (sponsors Patrick Maxwell and Elizabeth Maxwell). He was educated at Trinity College Dublin (BA). He was Private Secretary to the Earl of Aberdeen (1907 to 1912), and was chairman of the Irish Prisons Board from 1912. On 8 January 1913, he married in Our Lady of Victories Church, Kensington, Johanna Redmond, author and younger daughter of John Redmond (1856-1918), Home Rule MP for New Ross (1861-1885), North Wexford (1885-1891) and Waterford City (1891-1918); John Redmond was buried in the Redmond family vault in Saint John’s Cemetery, Upper John Street, Wexford, and gave his name to Redmond Square in Wexford. On 3 March 1922, Max Green was shot dead in Saint Stephen’s Green, Dublin, by one of three armed men who had just committed a robbery. Johanna died in Dublin on 28 December 1922. Max and Johanna Green had twin sons:
● 1a, James Sullivan Green. He married on 4 July 1944 Dorothy M Clarke, and they have a son and two daughters: John Redmond Denis Green (born ca 1949; (Dr) Mary Cecilia Dorothy Green (born ca 1954), MB, BCh, Fellow, the Royal College of Psychiatrists; and Esther Mary Green, who married (Dr) Thomas Power, of Belle-Harbour, New York.
● 2a, John Redmond Green. He married ca on 12 January 1942 Eileen Ahern and they have a daughter: Barbara, who married (Lieutenant-Commander) David Lockyer, and they have a son and a daughter, Penelope Lockyer (born ca 1973), and Charles Lockyer (born ca 1975).
5, Anne (Anna Susan Frances) (1865-1909), born on 4 November 1865, and baptised on 16 November 1865 in Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin (sponsors: John Weldon, Anna Maxwell). She died unmarried in 1909.
6, Marcella Mary Ursula (1867-1909), born on 14 May 1867, and baptised in Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin on 26 May 1867 (sponsors: Thomas M Reilly, Anne Goold).
7, Suzanne (Susan) Mary, born in 1870, and baptised in Saint Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, Dublin (sponsors: Richard Power and Mary Power).

John Redmond of Wexford ... Home Rule leader and father-in-law of Maxwell Sullivan Green

The third son:

(His Hon Judge) GEORGE COMERFORD-GREEN (1863- ), KC, BA (TCD), barrister-at-law, judge. He was born 19 January 1863, and baptised Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral 2 February 1863 (sponsors Joseph Maxwell, Eliza Green).

He lived at 83 Lower Leeson Street, and later at Herberton, 12 Cross Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin. At that time, Eamon de Valera and his family lived at No 15, and Kevin O’Higgins was assassinated on Cross Avenue. Comerford-Green was called to the bar in 1886. By 1907, he was Professor of English Law at Queen’s College, Cork. Ca 1916-1924, he was a county court judge, and chairman of the Quarter Sessions for Co Armagh and Co Louth. By 1935, he was county court judge and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions, Co Armagh and Co Fermanagh.[39]

Judge Comerford-Green married on 21 November 1911 Gladys Mary Vaughan, youngest daughter of Reginald Vaughan of Glentrothy. They were the parents of :

1, James Reginald Comerford-Green, born 1912, of whom next.
2, (Colonel) Kenelm George Comerford-Green, of whom after James.

JAMES REGINALD COMERFORD-GREEN, born in 1912, married ... and was the father of:[40]

1, (Sister) Carolyn Green, SHCJ, a nun in the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, co-author with Sister Pauline Darby, SHCJ, and Sister Anne Stewart, SHCJ, of One Woman’s Journey in Faith (Rome: SHCJ Publications, 1990). She died in Oxford on 18 February 2012, and is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford.
2, Michael Green (living 2012), a partner in Maxwells Solicitors, Herbert Place, Dublin, for over 30 years, specialising in Land and Tenant law, commercial conveyancing and charity law. He advises a number of large religious orders on property and trust law with particular reference to the field of education at primary, secondary and third level.
3, Francesca (Fenwick) (living 2012).
4, Kenelm (‘Kensey’) Green, banker (living 2012).
5, John Green (living 2012).

His brother:

(Colonel) KENELM GEORGE (‘Kensey’) COMERFORD-GREEN, CBE (1915-2003). He was born in 1915, and was educated at Stonyhurst and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. During World War II, he was in France, Belgium, North Africa, Sicily and Italy, and was mentioned in despatches. He was colonel of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment, then commanded the 2nd Battalion, the Wiltshire Regiment (1946-1947), military assistant to the commanders-in-chief of the British Army on the Rhine (BAOR) and Far East Land Forces (1949-1951), Assistant Secretary to the Standing Group, NATO, Washington (1955-1957), Commandant, Far East Training Centre, Singapore (1958-1960), 1st Grade Staff Officer Operations SHAPE Paris (1961-1962), Chief of Staff to CGS Malaysia (1963-1965), Assistant Adjutant-General, British Ministry of Defence 1966-1969, and then Assistant Director of Personal Services. He was made a CBE (Mil) 1966. He was a member of the United Services and Royal Irish Yacht Clubs. He died at Saint Teresa’s Home, Wimbledon, on 8 July 2003.[41]

Sources and footnotes:

[1] J. O’Hart, Irish Pedigrees, vol 2, s.v. Casey, p. 535. Additional information about the Hawkins family and the inter-marriages between the Hawkins and Comerford-Casey have been provided by Robert Anthony Hawkins of Shaftesbury, Dorset, a great-grandson of the Revd Henry Hawkins (1825-1904) (correspondence with Patrick Comerford, dated 7 January 2010; enclosures included ‘Abbreviated Family Tree of Robert Anthony Hawkins’ and ‘Hawkins Family Tree drawn up for gathering at Grayshott, on 8th May 2004.’
[2] B. O’Connell, KM, FRIGS, “The Nagles of Garnavilla,” The Irish Genealogist, vol 3, No 1 (July 1956, pp. 17-24), p 17.
[3] O’Connell, p 20.
[4] HW Gillman, Index to the Marriage Licence Bonds of the Diocese of Cork and Ross, Ireland (1623-1750) (Cork, 1896-1897), p. 29.
[5] Gillman, p. 29.
[6] Gillman, p. 29.
[7] Gillman, p. 29.
[8] Betham 1/3, f 87, n 271.
[9] Betham 1/3, f 87, n 271, although Betham’s manuscript is difficult to read on this reference.
[10] (Col) J.G. White, “Historical and Topographical Notes &c.,” in Buttevant, Castletownroche, Doneraile, Mallow (Cork: Guy, 1905), vol 1, 412 pp, pp 251-254; Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1846, with additions.
[11] Cork Evening Post, 12 June 1769, Faulkner’s Dublin Journal, 15-17 June 1769, cited in AR Chamney, “Catholic converts recorded in some 18th century Irish newspapers,” The Irish Genealogist, vol 11, no 1, 2002, p. 34.
[12] Gillman (p. 29) gives her name as Anstace.
[13] (Revd) Wallace Clare, “A brief directory of the city of Cork, 1769-1770,” The Irish Genealogist (1), p. 256; David Dickson, Old World Colony, Cork and South Munster 1630-1830 (Cork: Cork University Press, 2005), p. 168.
[14] TGH Green, Index to the Marriage Licence Bonds of the Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland (1630-1800), (Cork, 1899-1900), p. 25.
[15] Betham 1/13, f 87, n 271.
[16] Betham 1/15, f 63, n 180.
[17] R. Lucas, The Cork (City) Directory for the Year 1787 (http://www.corkancestors.com/1787CorkDirectory.htm); Wallace Clare, p. 256; Dickson (2005), p. 461.
[18] Betham 1/15, f 63, n 180.
[19] Betham 1/15, f 63, n 180.
[20] Betham 1/3, ff 63-64, n 180. For more on Mary (Comerford) Boddington, see also DJ O’Donoghue, The Poets of Ireland, a biographical and bibliographical dictionary of Irish writers of English verse (Dublin: Hodges Figgis, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1912 ); Lee O’Brien, ‘Reading/Writing the Forgotten: The Poetry of Mary Boddington,’ Victorian Poetry, Volume 41, Number 4, Winter 2003, pp 473-481.
[21] Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland (1912), s.v. Law of Killaloe; Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland (1958), s.v. Law of Rosnaree, pp 426-428; Wallace, s.v. Patrick Law and Arthur Wynne; Burke’s Irish Family Records (London: Burke’s Peerage, 1976), s.v. Law.
[22] Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland (1958), s.v. Law of Rosnaree, pp 426-428; Wallace, s.v. Arthur Wynne.
[23] Betham 1/3, ff 63-64, n 180.
[24] Hibernian Chronicle, 20 August 1770, cited on http://www.corkancestors.com/Deathsmarriages.htm .
[25] Phillimore, Index 2, Cork and Ross Wills, p. 24.
[26] http://www.sci.net.au/userpages/mgrogan/cork/cork_city_pigot_merch.htm; http://www.corkancestors.com/1829corkelection.htm
[27] Green, p. 30; O’Hart 2, p. 535.
[28] Crockford’s (1887), p. 555; Crockford’s (1903), p. 619; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol 25, pp 906-907; O’Hart 2, p. 535.
[29] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol 25, pp 906-907.
[30] http://www.corkancestors.com/1829corkelection.htm; Crockford’s (1903), p. 232; O’Hart 2, pp 535-537.
[31] http://www.corkancestors.com/1829corkelection.htm; Burke’s Landed Gentry, various eds, s.v. Hale; Crockford’s (1887), p. 211; O’Hart 2, p. 536; http://www.users.bigpond.com/nebula72/tree/gp30.html#head2.
[32] O’Hart 2, p. 536.
[33] Burke’s Peerage, various editions, s.v. Willlshire (1841); O’Hart 2, pp 532-533, 536.
[34] Burke’s Peerage, various editions, s.v. Eardley-Wilmot.
[35] Crockford’s (1887), p. 260; O’Hart 2, pp 536-537; R. Desmond, C. Elwood, RD Desmond (eds), Dictionary of British and Irish Horticulturalists (CRC Press, 1994), p. 137.
[36] Betham 1/13, f 87, n 271, and 1/15, f 63, n 180.
[37] AP Burke (ed), Family Records (London, 1897), p. 280; Maxwell mss family tree, courtesy of Justin Power (25.9.2008).
[38]Parish reg, Saint Mary’s, 37/186; Parish Register, Saint Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, Dublin; AP Burke, Family Records (London, 1897), p. 28; Thom’s Directory (various eds., 1880s and 1890s); Maxwell mss family tree, courtesy of Justin Power (25.9.2008).
[39] AP Burke, p. 280; Thom’s Directory, various eds, 1907-1935.
[40] Death notice, The Irish Times, 17.7.2003 for K.G. Comerford-Green.
[41] Debrett’s, various eds, s.v. Companionage; death notice, The Irish Times, 17.7.2003.

To return to Patrick Comerford’s welcome page and the navigation aids, click here:
Welcome to ‘Comerford Family History’

© Patrick Comerford, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022.

Last updated: 25 September 2008; 14 and 16 August 2009; 21 and 22 January 2010; 26 August 2010; 19 November 2010; 5 and 24 May 2011; 16 June 2011; 22 and 23 October 2011; 16 March 2012; 18 May 2012, 20 August 2012; 17 and 24 February 2013; 1 July 2013; 5 January 2014; 30 April 2014; 17, 18, 19 and 20 June 2014; 21 July 2014; 7 October 2014; 3 and 9 January 2015; 17 December 2015; 13, 22 and 23 May 2017; 23 February 2021, 13 July 2022.