TRE USSHER FAMTLIF.S.*
FAMILY histories, especially when they consist largely of genealogical tables, though not attractive reading, are and always will be interesting to a considerable section of man- kind. That section includes not merely the living representa- tives of dead generations whose lines of descent are recorded, and those whose motive is pure curiosity, but many who are instructed by learning how families grow, spread, and are blended in the fabric we call society. They need not be illustrious or highly placed, though they must have the vitality and toughness which secures continuity, and those qualities may be just as well illustrated by a stratum running through the central mass as by one of a loftier elevation. Mr. Ball Wright, himself parcel Ussher, has taken this remarkable family at its source, and followed it down to the present time, so far as Ireland is concerned ; and it is a decidedly interesting subject, although, as we have premised, not attractive reading except to those who have the patience to watch through the dim centuries the growth of a family which produced one great man, several considerable persons, and displayed its inherent force by spreading far and wide.
It need not be said that all who bear the name in the United Kingdom do not spring from one stock. After the Norman Conquest, the name frequently occurs in documents, first as the title of an office, and then as a surname. All, however, who were 'Ushers did not retain the designation, although the graft was common. Mr. Ball Wright cites early cases in London, Northumberland, Hampshire, and Yorkshire where the title survived as a family name. It is indifferently spelled as "Usher," " Uesher," " Uscher," " Huscher," and "Ussher," the doubling of the sibilant being the more preva- lent, and in early times, as now, the most usual form. The Dublin family traces its progenitor to a merchant who flourished in the reign of Henry VI.; but, says Mr. Wright, "there were persons of the same name in Ireland long before his time," whereof he gives examples dating from the first Edward. Tradition ascribes the derivation of the first Irish Ussher to the house of Neville, and plants him in Dublin, 1185, as the usher of Prince, afterwards King John ; but the claim is not well sustained. We get on firm ground first in the middle of the fifteenth century, when a certain Arland Uscher, a merchant, was successively Bailiff and Mayor of Dublin. Though it is " probable " that a Constable of Dublin Castle in the reign of Edward II. was his ancestor, yet it is far from certain. This name, Arland, is an abbreviation of Arlantor and Arlanton, which are said to be "the original of Arlander and Alentor, and the same as Orlando or Roland," a similar name, Erland, being "frequently found among the Norse Jarls of Orkney." The Dublin citizen bearing this romantic name must have been wealthy as well as socially powerful. He married, first, Alson Taylour, and next, Anne Berford, founded a family, and left descendants, who speedily became allied to the notables of the Pale. His great-grandson was John Bath, Chief Justice, from whom come the de Bathes ; his grandson, Arland U scher, was "Ireland King at Arms" (?), Mayor of Dublin, joint Collector of Customs for that port as well as Drogheda and Dundalk. This personage rebuilt St. John's Church ; and it is recorded that the Christ Church Chapter, in 1548, "leased to him the winetavern under the said Church, which the said Arland then enjoyed.' " His grandson, Richard, who married twice, first a Planket, then a Ball, also secured the same property, for we read that "in 1594 there was a demise from the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church to Richard Ussher in considn. of 24 Engl. of a wynetavern cellar under the Church with the house and bawne thereto belonging ;" so that it was a cellar, not a tavern, which was under the church.
Indeed, from the days of the earliest Arland, the family prospered, grew rich, held places of profit, filled municipal offices repeatedly, and intermarried with the other settlers who had attained to wealth and power. Within little more than a century, the Usshers are not only plentiful, male and female, but rich, titled, and well placed. From John, the
• The 'Clasher Memoirs; or, Genealogical Memoirs of the Mosher Families in Ireland. By the Rev. W. Ball Wright. Dublin: Sealy and Co. London : Mitchell and Hughes.
eldest son of Arland, and Anne Berford, came, in the seven- teenth century, Henry and James, both Archbishops of Armagh and Primates; from Christopher, the youngest son, two Sir William Usshers, both knights, from the younger of whom came Mary, who married Richard Colley or Cowley, whose son was adopted by a childless Wesley couple, assumed that name, became Baron Mornington, and had for grandsons four brothers who were Peers, two of them renowned in history. Through females, also, the Ussher branch derived from Christopher connected itself with the Leinsters, Ormondes, Powerscourts, Molesworths, and Wolseleys. There are several ecclesiastics besides the Primates, among them the Abbe Edgworth, whose mother was Martha Ussher ; three or four Members of the Irish Parliament ; and of course, here and there soldiers of mark, and a sailor,—Sir Thomas Ussher, who commanded the Undaunted,' which bore Napoleon to Elba, and who greatly pleased that potentate. One branch of the family clung fast to the elder faith, and some of its members are now in Australia. Naturally, in these days the Irish Usshers, like other folk, are all over the world, as well as in their native land ; and, on the whole, they have done ex- tremely well in the struggle for existence during at least four, probably five hundred years. The Dublin merchant has left a pretty strong ripple on the flood of time, and his progeny may be taken as a sample of many other stalwart middle-class growths from a trading root as yet unrecorded, perhaps never to be recorded, by the laborious and inquisitive genealogist. It is satisfactory to see how deep and wide a merchant family can strike its roots and spread its branches,—though at bottom, of course, the majority of families really spring from the money-making professions, commerce of some kind, and law.
What sort of men were these elder Usshers ? Alas ! we can get but a poor answer from the records. Judging by the portraits which have come down, and their acquisitions, they must have been a courageous, shrewd, firmly grasping body of gentlemen. The ecclesiastiCs and lawyers had large, keen eyes, long noses, and resolute mouths. None of those whose pictures are given, except the Primate James, look as if they fretted much ; and even James, who suffered from the Rebel- lion of 1641, and who saw Charles I. beheaded, looks wistful and reflective rather than seriously troubled. Sir William Ussher, senior, Clerk of the Council, and John Ussher, Master of Chancery, have features which indicate the sagacity as well as the firmness of the race, when it was good to be firm, and the fine eyes and strong mouth of the earlier people reappear in the portrait of their descendant, Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Ussher. Among the brood, there were always some who had a strong bias towards learning. Primate Henry "laboured greatly about the founding of Trinity College." John, Collector of Customs, published in 1571 the first book ever printed in the Irish language, a Church Catechism. The fount of types was supplied by Queen Elizabeth. One copy of the little book alone remains. This John also made a notable suggestion to Walsingham. He urged, in 1582, "the erection of a University out of the escheated lands, as the only means, by educating the Irish youth at home, to keep them from rebellion in future, and the notions imbibed at Louvain and Douay." In the house of Sir William, the Clerk of the Council, was printed, 1602, "the first Irish version extant of the New Testament." Primate James, the great man of the family, was an Oriental scholar, and a noble character throughout, marred by a touch of intolerance common to the time on both sides ; yet not to all men. When the Lord Deputy Falkland was willing to make some concessions to the Catholics, on condition that they agreed to a tax which was to defray the expense of a small armed force, the Prelates opposed it successfully, and paid for their resistance in 1641. The Usshers in various counties were hunted by the rebels, their houses burned, their cattle driven away, and their estates devastated. One Jocelin Usher of Balsoon pathetically says that "the Relys of ye county of Clare, with many more to the number of 300, came to his house at Balsoune on the 25 day of Nov'ber last past [1641], and forcibly took from him" all he had there. The poor Bishop of Kildare fled to England, and soon died. He was the man who, when elected Provost of Trinity College, had to resign, which he willingly did, because he was "of too soft and gentle a disposition to rule so heady a company." He was not the only soft and simple Ussher. There was a Richard, in
1709, who, relying on the honour of Peter Alley, was greatly cheated. Peter, a parson, took "a great delight in hunting and horse-racing," and he raised money to pay debts by offering
"to set a good farm" for a year's rent in advance. He got the money, and disregarded the compact. Was he, we wonder, related to that Captain Alley, the Interloper, who, a few years earlier, was such a dire affliction to Mr. William Hedges at Hugh.? In the main, however, the Usshers were not soft, but always had grit enough to keep their heads and their pockets.
Among the modern members of the family, a Richard Kelly Ussher is remarkable and typical. As a youth he was a sailor at the end of the last century, but succeeded to an estate in
Waterford on his brother's death. The property was encum- bered, and in such a state that, at first, he hardly realised more than the agent's fees. He set about improving it, but for a long time the lawless condition of the county hindered him. There were no police, and only two Magistrates, Richard
and another, remained to face the turmoil. These two were obliged to act as constables. Once his "out offices were burned and his cows ripped open with reaping-hooks." Another house, at Cappagh, he fortified; living in the upper rooms, the lower rooms being built up and loopholed for defence :—
" He rode once into the Fair of Mountain Castle, the Shanavests and Caravats being drawn up in opposing lines for a faction fight, but he rode in between them, took the ringleaders and brought them prisoners to Cappagh, while no one dared to attack him."
In due time, he applied the fortune brought him by his second wife to the improvement of the estate, drained, built, planted, and left the property free from debt when he died. One more extract, and we may bid adieu to this remarkable and very prolific family. It does not illustrate any of their -vices or virtues, nevertheless it is worth reprinting from its oddity. Elizabeth, daughter of Admiral Ussher, was presented at the first Drawing-Room held by Queen Adelaide and William IV., who was an old friend of her father :—" At the moment of the presentation," so it is written, "some hesita- tion occurred owing to a slight informality, as Lord James O'Brien was handing her forward. At this the King, in his hearty, stentorian voice, called out,—' Is that Bessy Ussher ? God bless her ! Let her come ! Why, I've known her since she was a baby.' " Whereupon he kissed her loudly on both cheeks ; and probably the most amused and astonished person present was Queen Adelaide.
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