Charles Price (abt. 1729 - 1771)

Born about 1729 in Maghernahar, Ballintoy, Co Antrim, Ireland [uncertain]

Descendants

Died Apr 1771 at about age 42 in Colliers Hall, Ballycastle, Co Antrim, Ireland

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Biography

Charles Price was born in either 1729 or 1730 (based on his age at death) and died in April 1771. He was the son, probably an only son, of John Price.^[1] He died in April 1771, aged 41, and was buried in the Ballintoy parish church graveyard , marked by an inscribed gravestone. This lies flat on the ground and is increasingly very difficult to read. By employing a variety of techniques in the 1970s and 80s I (Ron Price) managed to decipher the following:

HERE LIETH THE BODY OF CHARLES

PRICE LATE OF COLLIERS HALL WHO

DEPARTED THIS LIFE APRIL THE __ 1771

AGED 41 YEARS ALSO HIS WIFE

ESTHER PRICE OF MAHERNAHAR WHO

DEPARTED THIS LIFE MARCH [2 or 3]

1790 AGED 62 YEARS"^[2]

Although his life turned out to be fairly short, it appears to have been a particularly active one.

Occupation

Like his father, Charles probably initially earned his main livelihood from farming. However, the records of his leases show clearly that he had ambitions beyond remaining a tenant farmer for the rest of his life. Between January 1764 and August 1770 records in the Registry of Deeds (RoD) in Dublin show he obtained seven long-term leases to add to any inherited from his father. Some of these lease represented substantial investments, by 1770 capital costs totalled £564 and annual rent commitments £134.

These figures do not, however, tell the whole story. Firstly, only leases copied at the time for the RoD have been found; there may have been other long term leases which were not recorded. Secondly, initial one-off payments for leases were frequently not recorded in the RoD copies. Thirdly, short term leases were never recorded for the RoD and it was by these that the land would have been sub-let at a profit. So, although by the end of 1770 Charles had undertaken to pay at least £?134 annual rent, which was then a very large sum, his own sub-tenants should have been paying him even more.

In carrying out such a role in sub-leasing Charles could fairly be termed a type of "middleman" - a figure much reviled in the history of Irish land tenure. However, some who carried out a type of middleman role did provide a useful role in agricultural improvement. Evidence that Charles’ activities could fall into this category is found in an advertisement placed in the Belfast Newsletter edition of 13 June 1769. The notice states:

TO BE SET, For thirty-one Years or three Lives from the first day of November next, about thirty-two Acres of the Quarterland of Ballinlea, which will be divided into two Farms and inclosed; and also three Farms in that part of the Quarterland of Craigalappan, called the Pounds, lately inclosed and subdivided into Parks with good Stone Walls and Quickset Ditches, and strongly manured with Lime and Sea Sand, and has been these several Years under Stock, which Lands lie in the parish of Ballintoy and County of Antrim. The lands of Ballinlea are all Arable and Meadow, and extremely good, and the other Lands consist of Arable and Meadow, with some improvable Mountain and Bog, with plenty of Turf, Limestone and Sea Sand very convenient; Lime and Timber will be allowed for building, and such Outmearings as are unfinished will be completed without any Expense to the Tenants. Application to be made for all or any of said Lands to Charles Price, at Colliers-hall near Ballycastle, who will treat with and give every reasonable Encouragement to improving Tenants. Dated June 8th 1769.”

Charles’' father John is first known to have leased Craigalappan in 1743 for 27 years from John Cuppage. In 1766 Charles and John jointly exchanged this lease before it’s expiry for a long-term lease for that part of Craigalappan called The Pounds only. Clearly, by 1769, Charles also had a long-term lease for part of Ballinlea, perhaps that part most closely associated with subsequent generations. The Newsletter notice infers that Charles had improved the lands and was now intending to sub-let them at a profit.

The 1766 lease for The Pounds in Craigalappan was obtained from one Jackson Wray (who had by then presumably obtained John Cuppage’s former rights). A bundle of Jackson Wray’s leases, now deposited in the PRO, include eleven signed on four days between 17 December 1768 and 5 January 1769. All relate to portions of Craigalappan and Prolusk and all were formally witnessed and signed by Charles Price. Three leases were for a period of 31 years, the rest being for a period of three lives. In seven of these latter eight, the lives used to define the lease duration include John Price, described as then being aged about ten years and the eldest son of Charles Price of Colliers Hall. (The other lives were, as usual, children or other close relatives of the leaseholders; it would presumably have been to their advantage that John lived for a further 78 years.) Some of the leases’ text appears to be in Charles’ handwriting. We can only speculate why Charles and his son were utilised in this way, but it probably reflects Charles former involvement in the land and suggests he had a good business relationship with Jackson Wray.

Two of Charles' most costly leases were obtained in partnership with Daniel McCay of Moss-side. Immediately after signing the second lease, in March 1766, the two partners signed a legal covenant which they registered in Ballymoney for the RoD. This stated that if either should die, the leased properties were to be split between the survivor and the heirs of the deceased. Two years later Charles sold his half of one of the leases for £150 - this gave Charles a profit of £21-5s-0d assuming the original costs had been shared equally.

One of Charles' leases contained some rather unusual clauses. The lease, dated 11 April 1767, was for a plot of ground of about 1,000 square yards off Castle Street, Ballycastle. It recorded that the late John Stewart had previously "built a house which was sold and made over to...Charles Price and the executors of...John Stewart". Annual rent and fees were set at ?£21-11s-6d. However, if Charles was to "abstain form the Brewing of all kinds of malt Licquors and the Diftilling of all kinds of spirits...and prevent all other persons from doing so" for any six months, the rent would be reduced by £?5-2s-6d. The same level of reduction was also to apply if he was to abstain from the retailing of malt liquors and spirits. Compliance with both of the clauses would have left the net rent at just ?£5-1s-6d.

The reasons for the clauses in this lease can only be guessed at. Perhaps the lessor, Alexander Boyd, who was a member of the most prominent family in Ballycastle, had commercial reasons for not wanting a public house on the site, or for wanting one already there closed down. Charles' motives in acquiring the lease are equally unclear - was he becoming involved in the management of public houses?

Ballintoy vestry book^[3] and other records show that Charles, like his father, involved himself in parish administration. In October 1752, when he was only 22 years old, he appears to have been appointed as an "overseer" of a public road (unfortunately the writing in the vestry book at this point is rather difficult to decipher). The first occurrence of his signature at the foot of the minutes of a vestry meeting appears in June 1756, and then frequently up until 1770.

Another record is found in the Grand Jury Presentments now preserved in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The Grand Jury was a body appointed by the High Sheriff from leading land owners to raise money by means of local rates or “cess”. Their responsibilities included the construction of and repair of roads and bridges and the upkeep of local institutions such as lunatic asylums and prisons. The Presentments mainly list sums of money to be levied off the county, barony, or parish, for specific items of work. Presentments for 1767 include

“:We Present Ten Pounds to be levied off the Barony of Cary and paid to Charles Price and William McIlhinny to repair 40 perches of the road from Ballycastle to Colerain Between the new road and Lagnascren, An also the further sum of Ten shillings to be levied as before for the wages of the overseer @ 3d a perch.

So, for taking on their responsibilities, the overseer of a road received a payment (ten shillings in this case). No doubt there was also an element of status involved. A notation added to the Presentment, is rather difficult to decipher, but appears to state:

1767 April 21st Rec’d from John Carson ten Pounds ten shillgs in ful of above Presentt having Charles Price’s Bill ?Joh Carson favour of Alexr Laurance Peter Galan.”

In 1769 Charles was one of three men, whose appointment to "frame a new key for cefs to be levy'd off the Parish", was noted in the Ballintoy vestry book. The duty of "framing a new Key" appears to have involved determining how the total sum to be raised should be split between each townland in the parish. The sum to be raised from each household head within the townlands may also have been calculated.

Residences

Up until at least April 1767 Charles remained living in Maghernahar, the townland of his upbringing. A list of householders prepared in 1766 for a religious census names him and his father separately, indicating that by then Charles had set up his own house. But by October 1768 he had moved to Colliers Hall, a building about a mile outside Ballycastle on the road to Cushendun and Cushendall, in Broughanlea townland and Culfeighterin parish. In March 1770 Charles obtained a 29 year lease for 21 Plantation acres in Broughanlea.^[4]

The Colliers Hall site seems to have been continuously occupied by a building of this name from the eighteenth century right up to the present day. The particularly thick walls in part of the present house suggest that it may include at least part of the original building. The 18th century house was clearly a substantial one - evidence for this lies in the fact that Jackson Wray, a local landed proprietor and J.P. moved to Colliers Hall in 1771. The name of the building obviously refers to the coal mines which were being worked at the time at the base of the near-by sea cliffs. Although Charles now lived in the parish of Culfeighterin he maintained his involvement in Ballintoy parish affairs by attending vestry meetings there.

Character and Status

Charles frequent property dealings give the impression of an active and confident entrepreneur. This conclusion is strongly encouraged by the style of his signature, the most striking example of which definitely suggests an extroverted character.

Records of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Ireland show that Charles was one of the 17 inaugural members of Ballintoy Lodge (408) when it first met on 1 December 1763. This would have been a good move for someone keen to advance their position in society.

It is difficult to assess just how successful his numerous ventures were, but there are a couple of signs that he was becoming increasingly prosperous. Firstly, it is likely that the move to Colliers Hall would only have been possible as a result of increased income. A second clue may lie in the change of his occupational status, as shown in leases. Like his father, he is initially described as a "farmer" in leases of 1764 and 1766, but by 1770 he is termed a "Gentleman". One of the principal factors in determining status in the 18th century was the possession of land and the income produced from it - only when a certain level had been attained would official documents tend to use the term Gentleman.

After Charles' death his will's legacies and his debts were found to exceed his assets. This obviously casts a doubt on the profitability of his business ventures, but perhaps they needed a longer period to yield sufficient profits. On the other hand, it may simply be that he was unrealistically generous in his legacies.

Death

Charles died in April 1771 at the age of only 41. The fact that he went to Ballycastle to sign a copy of a lease just two months before his death, suggests that he was in reasonably good health at that point. However, it seems likely that he had some advance warning of his death. The evidence for this conclusion lies in the fact that he left a will in which all his freehold land was left to Alexander Lawrence, a Coleraine merchant (and obviously the same man already mentioned in the 1767 Grand Jury records), in trust for his only son who was then under the legal age of inheritance. Although the original will was destroyed in Dublin in 1922, later land transactions reveal that it contained legacies to his son and to each of his three daughters.

Sources

1. ↑ Registry of Deeds - Memorial 159510. Registry of Deeds, Dublin, Ireland.
2. ↑ Gravestone in Ballintoy Church graveyard, Co Antrim, Ireland
3. ↑ Ballintoy Parish (Church of Ireland) vestry books. Originals held by Ballintoy rector, image copies at PRO(NI), Belfast, Northern Ireland
4. ↑ Registry of Deeds - Memorial 185767. Registry of Deeds, Dublin, Ireland.