25 Mary Creagh daughter of Sir William and Lady Margaret Creagh m. Dominick Archdeacon

Information from many sources notes that Mary Creagh married Dominick Archdeacon a merchant from Cork.  They had a son named William.

Who was Dominick Archdeacon?  With research, my aim has always to prove the facts or information, but it has been impossible to find anything at all about Dominick Archdeacon.

But knowing that families of the "upper" echelon seemed to either arrange a marriage with another of the same standing, or from someone known to the family, my first thoughts were that being Irish, from Cork he must have known Sir William Creagh.

Sir William's grandmother was Margaret Archdeacon.

Margaret Archdeken

Margaret Archdeken is the daughter of George Archdeken. She married John Creagh, son of John Creagh and Mary Waters.

       

Children of Margaret Archdeken and John Creagh Merchant

• Christopher Creagh
• Michael Creagh                         *   Father of Sir William Creagh
• Colonel John Creagh        He gained the rank of Colonel in 1642 in the service of 
•                                                                        the Army of Confederate Catholics.
• William Creagh b. 1594, d. 1670

Searching information reveals so many interesting facts about the Irish, King James II and the merchants who traveled the world to obtain goods, often carrying out some practices to avoid paying customs fees.  As Mary's brother in law was one such customs officer, perhaps Dominick sailed on ships to Newcastle, and chose Mary as his bride.

The only problem is that there are no records at all on-line, indicating such a marriage certainly not in England, and then Cork was a long way from Newcastle, had Mary traveled over there?

Back to Mary Creagh.

The family seemed to be living in London around 1705.  Francis was apprenticed as a draper, Anthony and Margeret were married in London in 1707,  And Mary was living in the St Giles in the Field parish in 1741.

There is evidence of a rift within the family, as in 1714 Mary who was a spinster, was suing her brother Francis Creagh, her sister Sarah Creagh, Anthony Isaacson husband of her sister Margaret, her sister Margaret, and Christopher Mountague (who was a Commissioner of Revenue of Excise), and a George Isaacson.

 (The only reference I have found of George Isaacson is from 1701 Archives;Treasury warrant to the Customs Commissioners to employ George Isaacson as a landwaiter London port loco Michael Whittell deceased. Out Letters (Customs) XIV, p. 130.

The records can be searched at the Archives in Kew.

Short title: Creagh v Creagh. Plaintiffs: Mary Creagh spinster, of St Giles in the Field, ...
...Creagh v Creagh. Plaintiffs: Mary Creagh spinster, of St Giles in the Field, Middlesex . Defendants: Francis Creagh linen draper , of London , Sarah Creagh spinster, George Isaacson , Anthony Isaacson , of Newcastle ...

Collection: Records created, acquired, and inherited by Chancery, and also of the Wardrobe, Royal Household, Exchequer and various commissions Date range: 01 January 1714 - 31 December 1714 Reference:C 6/391/18 Subjects:Litigation

Reference:	C 6/391/18
Description:	Short title: Creagh v Creagh. Plaintiffs: Mary Creagh spinster, of St Giles in the Field, Middlesex. Defendants: Francis Creagh linen draper, of London, Sarah Creagh spinster, George Isaacson, Anthony Isaacson, of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Margaret Isaacson (alias Margaret Creagh) his wife and Christopher Mountague. Subject: The plaintiff's portion from the will of Mary Creagh (alias Mary Blackett) his wife, deceased, her late mother and a legacy from the will of Dame Mary Blackett, deceased, her late grandmother: mentions Sir William Creagh, of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, intestate, husband of Mary Creagh. Document type: bill, answer. SFP
Date:	1714     Held at National Archives Kew.
	She was challenging the legacy of her mother's will, as it appears she did not inherit from either her mother's estate nor that of her grandmother, John Rogers I wife, Mary who then married Sir William Blackett.

From the North East Inheritance database

Mary BLACKETT, widow, of towne and county of Newcastle upon Tine [Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland]
Date of probate: 12 September 1709

• commission, 2 March 1709 (DPRI/3/1709/B118/2)
  commission to swear oath executed 12 September 1709
• administration bond, 12 September 1709 (DPRI/3/1709/B118/1)

Sir William CREAGH, of towne and county of Newcastle upon Tyne [Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland]
Date of probate: 25 March 1704

• administration bond, 25 March 1704 (DPRI/3/1704/B1/1-2)

Sarah CREAGH, spinster, of town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne [Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland]
Date of probate: 14 July 1748

• will, 12 September 1747 (DPRI/1/1748/C11/1-2)
  with codicil, undated

John ROGERS, gentleman, esquire, of towne and county of Newcastle upon Tine [Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland].
Date of death: 30 May 1671
Date of probate: 1673

• will, 30 May 1671 (DPRI/1/1673/R9/1-2)
• registered copy of will, 30 May 1671 (DPRI/2/9 f01v-102r)
• inventory, 6 January 1674 (DPRI/1/1673/R9/3)
  with legatee's receipt, 9 January 1674, actual total £565 1s
  inventory, subscribed with 9 Jan 1674 receipt of a legatee (also acting as executrix)
• bond, 1673 (DPRI/3/1673/B249)

---

Trying to locate information about the Archdeacon family is very difficult, as searching on their surname provides countless lists associated with the clergy.

My Irish Family History website advises:    Please note that there are no birth, death or marriage records before 1700 or after about 1920. 

So back to Ireland

Dominick Archdeacon was a merchant in Cork, born around 1659.  The following stories about the success of the Archdeacon in that period are certainly very interesting.

The name was widely known 300 years ago, but is not so common any more, however there are families all over the world.

The 17th century finds the name of Archdeacon in County Cork.  In 1659 the name is foundin the Barony of Kierycurrihy and elswhere


The Archdeacons appear to have come to Ireland from England, and of interest is a property outside Cork.     (From the Cork Archives)


The Archdeacons were a very ancient Catholic family in the county of Galway. Previous to 1218, Sir Stephen ‘Archdeken’, Knt. endowed the Abbey of St Thomas in Dublin. In 1309 Maurice Archdeacon had livery of his estates in Ireland; and in a short before that John, Maurice Sylvester and William le Ercedekne were summoned by King Edward II as Fideles of Ireland, to the Scottish wars. In 1310 Raymond Lercedekene was summoned to, and sat in, a parliament held at Kilkenny. In 1355 Sir Richard le Ercedecyne, or Archdeacon, was appointed one of the “guardians of the Peace” for that county.

 In 1585 Robert Archdeacon was one of the representatives of Ennistiogue in the Parliament held by Sir John Perrott, the Lord Deputy, and in 1589 Sir Nicholas Archdeacon was killed in a tournament. In 1610 Richard Archdeacon of Corballymore, county of Wexford, had a confirmatory grant thereof, “with courts leet and baron”. In 1611 he also received a confirmatory grant of the manor of Bawnmore and Kilmurry, with certain rights in the borough of Thomastown, all the latter premises being in the county of Kilkenny. 

In 1667 a Richard Archdeacon received a confirmatory grant of various lands in the same county, and in ten years after Nicholas Archdeacon, ancestor of the Lord Bishop of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, passed patent for about 1,000 acres in the county of Galway.

 In the charter granted by James II, to Kilkenny in 1687, John Archdeacon was one of the Aldermen, John Archdeacon Junior Sheriff, and Peter Archdeacon Chamberlain. This Alderman Archdeacon was in 1698 elected Mayor of Kilkenny. The Lord Bishops ancestor, Nicholas Archdeacon Esq., was a cornet in the gallant Lord Clare’s famous Yellow Dragons during the Great War of the Revolution in Ireland. 

There was also an Archdeacon an Ensigm in Colonel Graces infantry, another was captain in Lord Kenmares, while Redmond Archdeacon was a Lieutenant in Lord Galways. Cornet Nicholas Archdeacon according to the description given of him in the Inquisition of Outlawry, in 1691, was “of the county of Cork”, yet it appears by the records of the county that he was “seised of various lands in the county of Galway”, which were the subject of a marriage settlement in 1699.

 Lieutenant Redmond Archdeacon is styled in his attainder as of “Tristane in the county of Galway”. 

There was also attained by Government in 1691, James Archdeacon of Kilmosheer; Henry Archdeacon, of the city of Cork, and John Archdeacon on Monkstown, in the same county - at which place a castle had been erected at an early period by one of his ancestors.

This article provided some information, John Archdeacon of Monkstown was Alderman in 1687, and Henry Archdeacon was also living in Cork.

The castle:      www.travelmania-ireland.com

Monkstown Castle was built in 1636. Dame Anastasia (Gould) Archdeacon had the castle built for her husband, John Archdeacon, while he was working as an officer in the wars of King Philip of Spain. There is a story told that when John returned, he thought the castle had been built by the enemy and fired a cannon at it. It is believed locally that the castle cost only four pence (4d.) to build. Dame Archdeacon was a lady of remarkable business acumen whose family were merchant princes of Cork. While she would have had considerable wealth herself, wages at the time were low, the large estate associated with the site could produce any food that the workers needed and limestone and timber for the construction was available on the land. It is said that she gave her workers food and lodgings, the price of which she deducted from their wages. She also ran a shop, believed to be mid-way in Castle Terrace, from which her workers were expected to buy all their additional requirements. When the castle was finished, she added up the cost of the building, took away the profit she had made in the shop and the result was that the castle had cost only 4d. Magnificently situated on the side of a steep glen overlooking the south entrance into the West Passage of Cork, Monkstown Castle is a square building built of local sandstone with lime mortar. It has four outflanking portions and covers about 21 metres by 21 metres. It had two storeys in the main square of the building, with three storeys and an attic in each of the four corner structures. Each tower has a bartizan on the outside corner supported by five elegantly tapering corbels. Entrance doors are to the north west and north east, each with an elliptical arch and hood moulding overhead. The door to the north east was clearly the main entrance, leading to the main hall on the ground floor. The first floor was of similar layout to the ground floor, but was accessed from an exterior staircase leading to the north west door. All of the windows had square or rectangular lights. Originally, there were nine square chimney stacks. Inside, at ground floor level in the central block, there was a large fireplace in the centre of the west wall. This had a cut stone surround with an elliptical arch and a prominent keystone. Above it, at first floor level, was a more elaborate fireplace and the date 1636 standing in shallow relief on a mantle with leaf and branch carving. Above the console were inscribed the initials “B.S.” and the year 1814. These marked the re-roofing and repair of the house by then owner Bernard Shaw. There were two galleries running each end of the main hall connecting the rooms across in the floors above. These were accessed by staircases in each of the four corners. It is here the bedrooms were located, one in each storey. We are told that they were fine-sized rooms, each with a fireplace. The castle was surrounded by a courtyard and the entrance would have been from the old Monkstown – Cork road to the east of the building. It is said that when John Archdeacon returned home, he hated the castle. However, after some time, he came to appreciate its grace, solitude and grandeur of location. However, his pleasure was not to last for long. Towards the end of the 17th century, John Archdeacon became involved with some of the leaders of the Catholic Association and fell into disfavour with King Charles II. He was dispossessed of his lands and the castle was taken over by the Commonwealth. It is said that Captain Thomas Plunkett, a commander of one of the ships of the Parliamentary Navy, occupied the Castle some time thereafter. Later, Colonel Huncks, an officer who had been selected to witness the execution of Charles I in 1649, obtained a short tenancy. Then in 1685, the tenancy of all John Archdeacon’s rights were handed over to Michael Boyle, Archbishop of Armagh. Some histories tell us that John Archdeacon was acquainted with Michael Boyle and obtained Monkstown Castle back for a short period when James II came to power in 1685. However, he is thought to have lost it again in 1688 . The Archdeacon family is buried in the old graveyard adjacent to the Castle and history therefore surmises that the family either remained in the Castle as tenants or returned to it as such. Either way, Monkstown Castle was passed down to the son of Michael Boyle, Viscount Blessington. On the death of Viscount Blessington, it went to Michael Boyle’s daughters. Finally, it came by descent and marriage into the joint possession of the Earls of Longford and Viscount De Vesci, names associated with Monkstown to this day. John Archdeacon and his wife, Anastasia, lived in the castle until John died in 1660. Anastasia died in 1689. Both were buried in the old Monkstown graveyard just below the Castle. Their delight and pride in their home is evident from the inscription of John Archdeacon’s tomb: “Sic Saltus, sic transit honor. Eu! Aula supera Non portuit dominos hic retinere suos. Corpora Marmor habent, animas celestia regna, Proh! Dolor ut tantos haes habet urna viros. Adjacent eo loco Domini, Castillis, capella Condidit hoc Triadi; templlum divessque parenti Delicis hortus, hospitibusque domum Cujus sideres gaudet mens aequa sacello Terra colit famam, marmore membra permunt.” Translated as: “Thus the leaf! thus honour passed! Behold, The superb hall was not able to retain its Masters here Their bodies posses the marble, the celestial regions their souls, Oh, what grief that the sepulchral urn must contain such men. Adjoining this place are the castle, the chapel and the gardens, He built this temple to the Trinity and to His Divine parent; The gardens for pleasure, and the home for hospitality, Of him the just soul now enjoys the heavenly sanctuary, The earth cherishes his fame, this marble contains his body.” Monkstown Castle served as a military barracks during the Peninsular War, 1808 - 1814. It could accommodate 450 soldiers. Thereafter, the castle and townlands were held by the Shaw family for about 60 years. During this time, the estate was developed considerably. The family lived in the adjacent Castle House, which Bernard Shaw had built. These Shaws were the ancestors of George Bernard Shaw, the eminent playwright and author. So there are two John Archdeacons who lived at the castle, John who died in 1660 and his son John. John and his brother, Henry were two merchants who successfully set up trade in France along with John Cossart and Sons. Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland. Boyle was an important figure in the continuing English colonisation of Ireland (commenced by the Normans) in the 16th and 17th centuries, as he acquired large tracts of land in plantations in Munster in southern Ireland. Moreover, his sons played an important role in fighting against Irish Catholic rebellion in the 1640s and '50s, assisting in the victory of the British and Protestant interest in Ireland. He claimed to have built the town of Bandon, but in fact the town was planned and built by Henry Beecher, John Archdeacon and William Newce. The land on which Bandon was built was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Phane Beecher in 1586 and inherited by his eldest son Henry, who sold it to Boyle in November 1618.  In Bandon he founded iron-smelting and linen-weaving industries and brought in English settlers, many from Bristol. An Amazing Past - Brandon IE: Surnames such as Beecher, Newce, Shipward and Archdeacon, while rarely found in the Bandon area nowadays were the founders of the town. Some years later, the town and much of the area was taken over by an English adventurer, Richard Boyle, later to become the first Earl of Cork. He is widely recognised as having one of the biggest influences in the development of the town. He built the walls and town gates which were completed by 1625.

From: Irish and Scottish Mercantile Networks in Europe and Overseas in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.

There was a trade between Cork and the markets of Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels, for hides and butter.  In the 1730 and 1740 William Archdeacon and Thomas Ray were involved.  The Archdeacon clan had established itself in the town in 1705 and enjoyed a family business network that connected Cork with Rotterdam, Dunkirk and later Bruges.

In the 1720 1730 there was a demand for high quality tea from China emerging in the Duyrch and English markets. Charles Hennessy and other Irish merchants like Archdeacon John Ley and Patrick Sarsfield developed a well thought out system to cover up their smuggling based on Ostend.  They purchased Chinese tea and Indian textiles at the public auction of the Ostend East India Company and shipped these goods to England, the Isle of Man, the Channel Isles and especially to Ireland.  To mislead customs officials all smuggling vessels received false bills of lading.

Irish Migration Studies in Latin America

In the early eighteenth century, families from Connacht and Munster, Archdeacons, Kellys,
and Bourkes, established a tradition of Irishmen holding the Jamaica’s highest legal offices.
Coming from a Catholic background, to achieve these positions they had to conform to the
established church, but Protestantism in the Caribbean was always less severely demanding
than in the mainland colonies. Legal office opened the way to the easy acquisition of land
for plantations so that all these families emerged as rich slave owners. 

In 1752 the heiress Elizabeth Kelly, daughter of Denis Kelly of Lisaduff, County Galway and Chief Justice of Jamaica, married into the Brownes of Westport, County Mayo, thus aiding their rise to Viscounts of Altamont and Earls of Sligo. Irish names on the island continued to mount among the
substantial planter class, O’Hara, O’Conner, Talbot, Coulthurst, Herbert, Gregory, Martin,
Madden, Forde, Richards, Dobbs, and de la Touche.

Irish settlements in the West Indies were established in the late 1600's, and later in our ancestry there are links to the Blake family, one of the 14 Tribes of Galway.

At the time thousands of Irish girls were sent to the West Indies, and the traders introduced slaves from Africa.

Relations between Irish men and African women were as much a staple of the Caribbean

experience as malaria, yellow fever, hurricanes, rum drinking and turtle soup, but it is an area of

life which rarely appears on the written record. The earliest emigrant letters hint at this scheme

of things. In 1675 John Blake, a merchant settler from Galway admitted to the veracity of his

brother Henry’s accusation that he had brought a ‘whore’ from Ireland to Barbados along with

his wife, but excused himself on the grounds of domestic necessity; his wife’s ‘weak constitution’

meant that she could not manage everything herself ‘for washing, starching, making of drink

and keeping the house in good order is no small task to undergo here’. He could not dispense

with the services of the prostitute until the African girl he had bought was properly trained

in household matters (Oliver 1909-19, II: 55

In fact John Blake even asked his father to send another Irish girl as this one was no good at housework!


So it is established that John and Henry Archdeacon were involved in trading all over the world.

Dominick was born around 1689, however a William Archdeacon was born in 1685 and he lived to Ghent where he lived with his family.



William Archdeacon

An Irish harper on the continent: portrait of Cork merchant William Archdeacon with his family (c. 1750), from painting in private collection, Ghent.William Archdeacon (1685–1759) had established a family business network by the 1730s which linked his...

- See more at: http://journalofmusic.com/focus/william-archdeacon#sthash.aBZALvfI.dpuf

An Irish harper on the continent: portrait of Cork merchant William Archdeacon with his family (c. 1750), from painting in private collection, Ghent.

William Archdeacon (1685–1759) had established a family business network by the 1730s which linked his native Cork with Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Dunkirk inFrance, Bruges in Belgium, and Cádiz in Spain. Living on the Continent, like many wealthy Irish émigrés he prided himself on his Irish identity, symbolising it here by an Irish harp (at a time when the traditional instrument was in terminal decline in his homeland).

This image has emerged to public view in a National Library of Ireland exhibition Strangers to Citizens: The Irish in Europe 1600–1800 which will be on display until late 2009 at 2–3 Kildare St, Dublin 2 (see www.nli.ie). The painting is reproduced in colour in a book of the same title which accompanies the exhibition – ISBN 978-0-907328-64-3 (pb.) and 65-0 (hb.).

 (caption) Courtesy private owner of painting and National Library of Ireland, per Irish Traditional Music Archive 

- See more at: http://journalofmusic.com/focus/william-archdeacon#sthash.aBZALvfI.dpuf

Trying to place either William or Dominick into the family lineage is just not possible!

Another member of the family was Edmund Archdeacon who lived in Dunkirk.  Archive searches reveal:

Furthermore, goods that were in the warehouses at the time of decease, are inventoried. This was the case for the merchandise of Edmund Archdeacon, who lived in Dunkirk and died in 1753. 

His inventory of estate covers 11 pages which deal with the goods that are in the warehouse and in his basement. Archdeacon was for instance trading oil from Seville, tobacco, cognac and wine.

Furthermore, details from the “Geheime Raad”, an official body of the government, have been admitted in the database. They also contain information about “Irish Ostenders”, their integration into the local community and their participation in the local magistrate. 

One most also mention the magnificent genealogical pedigrees of the Irish merchants Nicolas Ley and William Archdeacon found in the city archives of Bruges . Next to their easthetical value, they reveal precious information about kinship. 

The last type of source that can be mentioned are documents drawn up by the Admiralty. Especially in the privateering business Irishmen were prominent, so they frequently turn up as shipowners. Furthermore they were present at prize auctions and are noted as buyers

.Irish Mercantile Networks in the Low Countries

An Irish harper on the continent: portrait of Cork merchant William Archdeacon with his family (c. 1750), from painting in private collection, Ghent.
William Archdeacon (1685–1759) had established a family business network by the 1730s which linked his native Cork with Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Dunkirk inFrance, Bruges in Belgium, and Cádiz in Spain. Living on the Continent, like many wealthy Irish émigrés he prided himself on his Irish identity, symbolising it here by an Irish harp (at a time when the traditional instrument was in terminal decline in his homeland).
This image has emerged to public view in a National Library of Ireland exhibition Strangers to Citizens: The Irish in Europe 1600–1800 which will be on display until late 2009 at 2–3 Kildare St, Dublin 2 (see www.nli.ie). The painting is reproduced in colour in a book of the same title which accompanies the exhibition – ISBN 978-0-907328-64-3 (pb.) and 65-0 (hb.).
 (caption) Courtesy private owner of painting and National Library of Ireland, per Irish Traditional Music Archive 
- See more at: http://journalofmusic.com/focus/william-archdeacon#sthash.aBZALvfI.dpuf