On 17 January 1855, Sir Humphrey de Trafford married Lady Annette Mary Talbot, eldest sister and co-heiress of Bertram Talbot, 17th Earl of Shrewsbury. The ceremony took place in Rugby, Worcestershire, and was performed by William Bernard Ullathorne, Bishop of Birmingham. It was reportedly the first Roman Catholic nuptial mass to be performed in England since the Reformation. They had five daughters and three sons.
His eldest daughter, Mildred, got married on 8th August 1883. The wedding cake was stupendous.
“An Immense Bridescake. – The bridescake supplied by Messrs Parker & Sons, of St Mary’s Gate, and St Ann’s Square, Manchester, for the marriage of Sir Humphrey de Trafford’s daughter, which took place on Wednesday last, was a remarkable specimen of the confectioner’s art, being about 450 lbs in weight, six feet high, two feet six inches in diameter and seven feet six inches in circumference. It consisted of three sections, and some idea of its thickness may be formed from the fact that it took twenty-four hours to bake the largest of these sections. The design was that of an ancient castle of elaborate architecture, bearing on one side the arms of the Trafford family, and on the other those of the bridegroom’s family, together with the monograms of the bride and bridegroom. At intervals from the base to the apex, were wreaths of orange blossoms and other beautiful flowers, intermingled with birds and cupids.” (City News)
The castle was said to be an exact architectural copy of the bride’s future home but in fact bears only a passing resemblance to Barmeath. Mildred (Aunt Millie) married Charles Bertram Bellew, one of my great-grandfather’s elder brothers.
A list of guests published in a local paper tells a tale. Charles Bertram (Uncle Bertie) was the eldest son of Joseph Edward and Augusta Bellew. They had separated and Augusta took her children to her family home in Kilkenny, Jenkinstown. Her family were called Bryan and she was the only heir. Her father left Jenkinstown to his second grandson, George (Uncle G), conditional upon his changing his name to Bryan and this he did. This explains why he is in the paper as The Hon. George Bryan. The third child, Richard (my great-grandfather), is called Bellew. Augusta appears in the list as Lady Bellew and of course there is no mention of Lord Bellew. She eventually died in Venice and he in Baden Baden .
Aunt Milly and Uncle Bertie lived at Barmeath but had no children. When Uncle Bertie died in 1911 the title passed to Uncle G who then became Lord Bellew but continued to live at Jenkinstown while Aunt Milly stayed on at Barmeath. Uncle G had no children, but my great-grandfather pre-deceased him so he left Barmeath to his eldest son, Edward, and Jenkinstown to his second son, Bryan, my grandfather. Uncle Eddie also had no children and lived for much of his life in The Hyde Park Hotel. My grandfather lost Jenkinstown to The Land Commission when Ireland became a republic and lived in England between the wars. In 1938 he moved to Barmeath as a tenant of his elder brother. The house had been unoccupied or about 20 years as Aunt Milly at some point moved back to England as a widow. I don’t know when but perhaps in the Troubles.
My brother, his son, and his three grandsons all live at Barmeath today. My sister-in-law is the first Lady Bellew to live at Barmeath since Aunt Milly 137 years ago.
