John Walsh (abt. 1735 - 1822)

Born about 1735 in County Kilkenny, Ireland

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Walsh — married about 1757 in Chelsea, London, England

Descendants

Died 1822 at about age 87 in Surrey, England

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Biography

Gentleman, property speculator, of Redbourn, Hertfordshire, originally of County Kilkenny, Ireland.

Background

"John Walsh, it turns out, was an Irishman of ‘good family’ from Kilkenny, who came to Redbourne by way of London bringing with him his wife, two sons and two daughters. The reasons why Cussans mistakenly made him out a plumber are not beyond conjecture, but we need not go into that here. Actually his business was speculating in property - and he did extremely well out of it. Mary Elizabeth who married Mr Carpenter was his eldest child, then came Fred, then George, and the youngest was Charlotte - Mrs Grimstead to be." Laying the Ghost of Glamis, Queen Magazine, p6 (handwritten date "late 1960s"), copy provided by Rob Kittle (2021).

Royal ancestors of Redbourn, Hertfordshire

"There is an error concerning John Walsh, head of this family, who is erroneously stated in many published genealogies of the ancestry of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to be one Frederick Walsh (who was in fact his son).

"That is to say, Frederick Walsh was not the father of Charlotte Jane Sarah Walsh. He was in fact her brother. Charlotte Sarah Jane Walsh was (confusingly) the sister of Mary Elizabeth Walsh (also an ancestress of the Queen), and therefore they were both daughters of John Walsh.

"Hence, the Queen traces two lines of descent from John Walsh. The Queen's grandfather, Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore (&c) was the product of cousins. His father was the great-grandson of John Walsh and his mother was the granddaughter of John Walsh."

Death

John Walsh died in 1822.

Will

"The Will of the Queen's ancestor, John Walsh, was Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) on 21 March 1822 (PROB 11/1655/171). A copy of this Will can be downloaded online from the National Archives for a small fee.

"The Will states that he was 'John Walsh ... of Redbourn in the County of Hertford ... now residing in Surry (sic), Gentleman.'

"The Will runs to several pages and is remarkable in that it is written without the usual legal dryness. John Walsh names in this document, among others: 'Francis Delaval, Esquire, who married my eldest daughter';

"His son, Frederick Walsh 'to whom the greatest misfortunes of my life are imputable.' Frederick was cut out of his father's Will completely. John Walsh also said of him, among other things, 'I did on his marriage give him a much larger estate than I now possess the only return for which has been the most shocking ingratitude.'

"John Walsh also clearly named: 'My daughter Charlotte the wife of Joseph Valentine Grimstead' and 'my granddaughter, Charlotte, elder daughter of Joseph Valentine Grimstead and my daughter Charlotte';

"His elder daughter was mentioned only briefly. She was in fact Mary Elizabeth Walsh, baptised on 18 May 1758 at St Luke's Church, Chelsea. Her mother was Elizabeth."

Contemporaries

He is not to be confused with British scientist and Secretary to the Governor of Bengal, John Walsh (1726-1795), see: Wikipedia [1]

Children

Mary Elizabeth Walsh

She "married at St George's Church, Hanover Square, Westminster, on 15 September 1779 to George Carpenter 'of Redbourn in the county of Hertford, Esq.' George Carpenter was an ageing, but wealthy bachelor. He died not long after the marriage. His Will (a copy of which can also easily be obtained from the National Archives) was Proved in the PCC on 12 November 1782, having been drawn up only three days previously when Carpenter was clearly very close to death. He mentions his wife and 'the child my wife is now big with.' This child was Mary Elizabeth Louisa Rodney Carpenter who was born posthumously on 1 January 1783.

"On 25 June 1783, less than a year after her husband's death, Mary Elizabeth Carpenter (nee Walsh) remarried, again at St George's Church, Hanover Square, Francis Delaval, Esquire. She was described this time as a 'Widow of Redbourn in Hertfordshire'."

Her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Louisa Rodney Carpenter. "On 25 March 1800 at St George's Church, Hanover Square, the Hon Thomas Bowes married Mary Elizabeth Louisa Rodney Carpenter who was described as a 'minor' (ie, under 21) of Redbourn in Hertfordshire. The marriage, it was stated, was with the consent of her mother 'Mary Elizabeth Delaval, the wife of Francis Delaval, the mother and guardian' as 'appointed in and by the last Will of her father George Carpenter, Esq ... the natural and lawful father of the said minor'."

Charlotte Sarah Jane Walsh

"John Walsh's daughter, Charlotte Sarah Jane Walsh, for her part was married to Joseph Valentine Grimstead on 2 September 1788 at Esher. Joseph was described as being 'of Leatherhead'. Their children, including Charlotte Grimstead, were christened at Leatherhead. Charlotte Sarah Jane Walsh was probably born in the late 1760s. She was living at Redbourn at the time of her decease in 1848."

Frederick Walsh

"Frederick (Fred) Walsh, the brother (of Mary Elizabeth Walsh and Charlotte Jane Sarah Walsh) who is usually erroneously described as Charlotte Sarah Jane Walsh's father, was born circa 1762. He married Harriet Frances Carr at St Pancras on 24 July 1795. He died in London in March 1839 and was buried at Kensal Green on 9 March 1839, apparently aged 76."

No 54 High Street, Redbourn Village

"It was originally a timber framed house built in the 16th century but in the early 18th century a brick façade was added. The rear of the building shows another 18th century addition – a back range. It is two storeys high with seven windows all with sash windows. The ground floor windows have thick glazing bars and deep lintels and are of 18th century design. There are two doorways with square hoods with 19th century reeded frames. The roof has plain and machined tiles with moulded brick eaves cornices.

"The building was bigger and appears in records in 1582 as an inn (later known as The White Hart), when Nicholas Finch, a yeoman, was the owner. It appears again in 1608 and 1659. By 1709 it was held by Thomas Potton but then, from 1721 it went into the hands of the Boyce family until 1741 when it was mortgaged for £120, in 1752 for £200, in 1766 it was mortgaged again but then, in 1787 it was sold by William Boyce to John Walsh for £200. It is probable that during these years of the 18th century that not all the premises were being used as an inn as the victuallers billeting returns in 1756 note that it had just three beds and stabling for 10 horses. Later inn keepers recorded are Joseph Jenkins, John Nicholls, P W Allen and William Gilbert (though he was declared bankrupt in 1830). Records for land tax assessment suggest that turnover at the inn was falling.

"John Walsh died in 1822 and his daughter Charlotte became the owner. In 1851 Charles Dixon Junior was named as innkeeper though he was only 16! By 1861 it had ceased to be an inn and by 1873 when it was sold by C F Walsh to Lady Glamis it was described as consisting of a freehold house, a baker’s shop, garden and five stables.

"By 1904 it was sold again for £360 to William Smith who let it to the first of the Sibley family – Joe at £28 per year. The area behind the building then became the village blacksmith and wheelwright with three generations of the family until 1960.

"The rest of the building was let out by Mr Smith’s widow (from 1914) and then by her daughter Mrs Dyer till her death in 1973. In 1949 part of the building became an electrical and hardware shop run by the Dyer family later under the name of D & C Electrical. This business closed in 1993 and since then has been a golfing shop and now a computer business. After renovation in 1971 the other part (left hand side) became a restaurant – The Chattery, then in 1974 The Old Forge and since 1993 Indian Nights." Redbourn Village [2]

Sources

Wikivisually, Queen's ancestors at Redbourn, Hertfordshire [3]

Fab Pedigree [4]