Radleys of Cork

JOSEPH JERVOIS I (circa 1653 - 1737)

JERVOIS CONNECTIONS …… My great grandmother, Elizabeth Jane Armstrong/Radley, was
descended from Elizabeth Jervois, daughter of Samuel Jervois of Brade House, Leap.

Elizabeth Jervois married John Murphy esq.about 1784. Her daughter Catherine Murphy
married Rev.Julius Armstrong, who was Elizabeth.Jane's father.

A picture of BRADE HOUSE is depicted here.

Brade, parish of Myross, Co. Cork.
A rather austere house that reserves its beauty for inside.
Photograph taken in 1962.

Picture courtesy R.ffolliott's IRISH ANCESTORS.

An interesting item is the following, collected from the Journal of IRISH GENEALOGIST 1967.

A message from 40 years ago…………Under queries……………

JERVOIS
Information wanted on parents of JOSEPH JERVOIS of Maryborough, County.Cork. Buried 23rd
February 1752 at BALLYMODAN, BANDON.

Grandson of JOSEPH JERVOIS of BRADE (will proved 1737) and wife ELIZABETH, daughter of
Captain John FREKE of BANDON, husband of FRANCES, daughter of REV.BARTHOLEMEW
THOMAS, RECTOR OF FERNS, and widow of ZACHARY CORNOCK OF CROMWELLSFORT his
cousin german (?) (J.Jervois, The Malt House, Nayland, Suffolk)

Joseph was born in the former sea-port of Barnstaple, about the year 1653, and was the second
surviving child of Captain Samuel Jervois by his first wife, Lattis Wescombe.

His formative years were spent with his mother's family in Barnstaple. This was because his
mother died when he was about two years old and his father was unable to provide a proper
home for his children, due to his employment as a military administrator in the unpacified
regions of County Cork.

After his mother's death in 1655, he and his elder brother Samuel were placed in the care of
their aunt, Miss Hannah Wescombe, and stayed with her until about the year 1662. At that time
the boys were taken into the home of their uncle, Captain William Wescombe. Some years
later, evidence in a law suit over ownership of the family silver (which concerned only his
brother Samuel) recounted his upbringing during those years. Samuel is described as having
been provided with "meat, drinke, washinge, lodginge and attendance suitable and fittinge to
his degree.........clothes and apparell and all other necessaries in linen and wool...shoes and
stockings, etc." to the value of some ten pounds per annum.

Samuel suffered from kidney stones and his uncle William was obliged to call on the services
of an apothecary and a physician, as well as providing the dozen or 13 bottles of white wine
necessary for the cure. The boys stayed with their uncle for about six and a half years, during
which time he saw to their education. They probably had only occasional visits from their
father as, having suffered some loss of property at the Restoration in 1660, he now needed to
work hard to consolidate his position at Glandore.

William Wescombe was a merchant in Barnstaple, as was his brother Jacob, so it is probable
that the boys were given a good grounding in the principles of commerce; both were
successful in business in later life. Samuel was baptised in the Barnstaple parish church in
1664, when he was about 12 years old. This would be a very late start if he were of the
established Church of England, but perhaps not so unusual if his father was an Anabaptist, as
some circumstantial evidence suggests. The Wescombes were all baptised as infants.

Early in 1669, Captain Samuel Jervois was married to Martha Salmon of Glandore. As a result,
he was able to provide a home for his family at Drom, near the village of Leap, a mile or two
from Glandore. The boys were escorted there by their uncle Jacob Wescombe. Joseph would
have been about seventeen and ready to enter adult life. The brothers probably continued to
live with their father for the next decade or so, until they were ready for marriage. Apart from
their father's guidance, they would have had some contact with their stepmother's relations,
especially her sister Mary, who was married to Colonel Thomas Sadlier of Sopwell Hall in
Tipperary. He was also a former Parliamentary soldier and administrator, and was known to
have been sympathetic to the Anabaptist movement, as his first wife had been "dipped" by that
sect.

In October, 1676, Joseph and his brother were sworn in as Freemen of the Borough of
Clonakilty, which was their market town and some eleven miles away by bridle-path. Their
election may have been a natural consequence of their father being a Burgess of that town
although, in later years, both were prominent in the management of the Borough.

Business affairs may have required Joseph to visit Bandon, the nearest fortified town in the
area and only another nine miles beyond Clonakilty. On such a visit, he may have met Captain
John Freke and his family as, in 1680, he was married to Captain Freke's daughter Elizabeth.
This marriage was highly advantageous, as it allied Joseph to several of the leading families
of the county. The fact that Joseph's brother Samuel followed his lead and married Elizabeth's
sister suggests that the brothers were close friends.

John Freke was a former Royalist officer and had married Mary, the daughter of Francis
Bernard (a Parliamentarian officer) of Castle Bernard, and widow of Thomas Poole (a Royalist
officer) of Knockanameele. It was here that the Frekes were living at the time of Joseph's
marriage, though John Freke was originally of Garretstown, near Kinsale. These marriages
between former Royalist and Parliamentarian families suggest that their differences were
submerged in the need for unity amongst the English settlers. It may have been through this
marriage that the family subsequently lived at Curravarahane, which adjoined both the Poole
and the Bernard properties.

Brade was built during this period and the newly-wed couple were soon settled there. Joseph
set about establishing the plantations of woodland that Charles Smith noticed favourably in his
history of Cork, which was published some seventy years later.

Joseph and Elizabeth had at least five children, of whom:

1. Samuel was the eldest boy and subsequently inherited Brade. He extended the family
business by building boulting mills for the grinding of corn and wheat. He married twice and
had children, but the legitimate male line of his family eventually became extinct. However,
most of the present Jervois descendants are of this line.

2. Joseph II, the second son, who was my ancestor and shall be the subject of a separate
essay.

3. William, who is said to have attained the rank of Captain in the army and to have built
Maryborough House, near Timoleague. He remained a bachelor, died relatively young and left
Maryborough to his brother Joseph.

4. Mary, who was married on 23 September, 1708 to Isaac Cornock of the City of Cork. A
memorial of their marriage settlement, dated 21 August, 1706 is in the Registry of Deeds,
Dublin. She was given a marriage portion of five hundred pounds and a jointure of eighty
pounds. He died in 1732, leaving an only son Zachery. She died in Bandon (probably at
Curravarahane) in 1761.

5. Elizabeth, who was married firstly, in 1717, to Captain Percy Smyth of Headborough. They
had a son and three daughters, of whom Esther married Francis Bernard and was the mother
of the first Earl of Bandon, and Anne who married Hibernicus Scott of Ballinagarragh and had
children. Elizabeth was married secondly, in 1727, to Francis Beamish of Kilmaloda and died
in the following year.

In 1696, Joseph was appointed a Justice of the Peace for County Cork and in 1698, together
with his brother Samuel, he leased the lands of Towmacdermod and Malagow from Daniel
O'Donovan of Banelaghan. This document is also in the Registry of Deeds, Dublin, and bears
both his signature and his seal of six ostrich feathers. The lands concerned are both in the
neighbouring parish of Drinagh and total about 524 acres.

Joseph continued to prosper and on 26 July, 1703, he was elected a burgess of Clonakilty and
for the next 24 years he continued to take an influential part in civic affairs. He acquired an
interest in various pieces of land in the district and also in Cork city, some of which remained
in the family until comparatively recent times. These include the lands of Cullane and
Rossmore. There is record of several leases and mortgages concerning Joseph during this
period and one of the more interesting describes Mary (Mrs Cornock) as his eldest daughter,
thus suggesting that he had at least two other daughters.

In 1713, on 19 October, he was elected to be the Sovereign of Clonakilty, an office which his
father had held and to which his elder son, Samuel, would be elected in 1729. On the same
day, his sons Samuel and Joseph were admitted Freemen of the Borough. His year of office
was so successful that, in an irregular election, his fellow burgesses voted that he should
continue in office for a further term. This was a contravention of the rights of the Lord of the
Borough and a week later the Recorder declared the election to be void. However, Joseph
continued in office and, on 24 November, 1714, a compromise was reached. The illegal
election was set aside by the Borough and the Lord of the Borough then confirmed the
appointment of Joseph as Sovereign, and so he served for a further year!

In 1727, he decided to retire from public life, and records show that he was disfranchised from
the corporation at that time and at his own request. It may have been then that he and his wife
left Brade and went to live with his younger son Joseph and his family at Curravarahane. It is
reasonable to suppose that his widowed daughter Mary Cornock also lived with them. Joseph
lived in retirement for another ten years and died at Curravarahane in 1737. His will was dated
19 June and was proved on 8 September of that year. In it, he mentioned his widow Elizabeth,
his surviving children Samuel, Joseph and Mary, and his Smyth grandchildren.

So ended a long and very full life. It is difficult to think of him as a Devon man, but it is unlikely
that he ever onsidered himself as anything else. The records suggest that he was a man of
considerable business ability and social skills.

William Jervois,
3rd Edition
24 June 2006

Reference William Jervois, Resident Genealogist, Albany Musuem, Grahamstown South Africa

JOSEPH JERVOIS II (circa 1682 - 1752)

Joseph was born at Brade House in the parish of Myross, County Cork, about
the year 1682. He was the second son of Joseph Jervois of Brade by his
wife Elizabeth, daughter of Captain John Freke of Garretstown.

Nothing is known of his childhood, though having been born to Protestant
land-owning parents, he must have been aware of the hazards of survival in
the Catholic-dominated society which flourished in Ireland under the rule
of King James the second. This would have changed dramatically when he
was about 8 years old, as the victory of King William the third at the
battle of the Boyne meant that the family were assured of the Protestant
ascendancy which followed.

When he was about 30, he was admitted as a Freeman of the Borough of
Clonakilty, on the occasion of his father being installed as Sovereign of
that town on the 19th of October, 1713. It is possible that he was
already married to his wife Mary, whose maiden name is not recorded.

He is said to have inherited Maryborough, near Timoleague, from his younger
brother, Captain William Jervois. The house is mentioned in Smith's
History of Cork, which gives his brother as having built it. There is
no evidence to show that he ever lived there.

Both he and William were beneficiaries in their uncle Samuel's will, which
was written in 1717, but William was not mentioned in their father's will
1737, which suggests that he died before that date. David Jervois, the
merchant of Cork, must have been either a brother or a first cousin.
Davy, as he was known, married Catherine Barrington in 1724 and died in
or before 1740.

It seems likely that Joseph spent most of his adult life in the vicinity
of Bandon, and may have farmed Curravarahane (in the parish of Ballymodan),
which had been the property of his maternal grandfather. He must have
been a man of substance, for in a deed dated 20 October, 1721, his father
gave him the right to redeem a property in Roche's buildings in Cork city,
provided that he paid a sum of 300 pounds to the trustees of his sister's
dowry.

It is not known when his son Joseph III was born, but it is likely that
he was the eldest child. His son Isaac died in 1719 and was buried in
the neighbouring parish of Kilbrogan. It is probable that he had other
children. Thomas Jervois, who was buried at Ballymodan in 1753, was almost
certainly a son of Joseph and Mary. It is curious that none of these
children were mentioned in family wills.

Joseph must have had his father living with him in his retirement as that
gentleman's will, which was proved in 1737, describes him as being of
Curravarahane. A few years later, in 1745, Mary died and was buried at
Ballymodan churchyard on the 2nd of April.

Joseph lived on for another seven years. His death occurred in 1752, the
same year as that for his eldest son, Joseph III.

As mentioned before, Thomas Jervois was buried on 19th November, 1753.
The register describes him as the son of Mrs Mary Jervois. This
description could serve to differentiate his mother from Mrs Frances
Jervois, the wife of Joseph Jervois III. There is no evidence of Thomas
having married or of having left a will.

It has been suggested that he held a commission in the Life Guards, though
no record of this has been found. Joseph II was not a conspicuous
member of the family, in that there is no evidence of the successes that
were enjoyed by his father and elder brother Samuel. In that which is
said to be his portrait, one may detect the whimsical gaze of a gentleman
of leisure.

W. Jervois
Albany Museum
Grahamstown 6139
South Africa