Hugh Sutherland Thane 1830 : Short Biography

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Hugh Sutherland Thane was born in Ardgay Scotland. Was married to Elizabeth and lived in Castleblakeney. They had 7 children. . ?He was on the Board of Guardian for Mountbellew Workhouse.
He died 1882.
Ref. http://www.willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie/search/cwa/details.jsp?id=…

Paula Kennedy

Sunday 23rd August 2020 01:44PM

In the course of researching the background of my great-great grandfather, John Naughton (spelt Noughten on headstone in Aughiart Cemetery - died 1858 aged 56 years), I came across this person Hugh S. Thane. John Naughton seemingly was a tenant farmer under landlord John H.Blakeney in Ashfield, Castleblakeney, Parish of Ballymacward. He is recorded as such in Griffith's Valuation c.1852. After he died, the record of him or his family in the Valuation Office listings for Ashfield was deleted. The Valuation Office show a lot of holdings, including that of John Naughton, having been amalgamated under the name of Hugh S. Thane, whom I had assumed was a Landlord who had acquired the land from previous Landlord, John H. Blakeney. Thane's total holding is listed as comprising 67ac 3r 39prs, a substanrial holding at the time. It appears that after John Naughton died in 1858 his family were removed or evicted from their 29 acre tenanted farm. We understand they went to live in Rathbaun (commonly spelt Rabane) in the parish of Caltra (between Castleblakeney & Caltra). Around 1907 my newly married grandfather also called John Naughton went back to live in Ashfield and farm a holding of land different to the original farm taken over by Hugh S. Thane. I presume he was allocated this holding by the Irish Land Commission. I wonder did Mr. Thane own the land in his own right or as a trustee of the Poor Law Cimmissioners who operated the Workhouse? Any further information would be appreciated. Many thanks, Brendan Naughton.

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 12:26AM

Brendan,

I was very interested to read your comment, as Hugh S Thane was my great-great-grandfather. I have never been able to locate him in Griffiths Valuation, so I'd be very grateful if you could possibly send me a link to what you found. All the documents I have relating to HST refer to him being a Land Agent, so unfortunately I have no idea in what capacity he held the land. After he died (of drowning - suicide?) in October 1882, his wife Elizabeth was evicted from their home at Church View, Castleblakeney. She died a month after her husband, in November 1882. I deduce from this that Hugh was not a landowner himself. His father, George Thane had moved from Scotland in the 1830s to take up a position as agricultural adviser to J Hacket Esq of Castlehacket.

 

Julie

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 09:14AM

Hi Julie, that is very interesting about Hugh S. Thane being your great-great grandfather. The land he occupied is listed in the records of the Irish Valuation Office. It is located close to Castleblakeney village on left-hand-side of road towards Galway City in townland of Ashfield. I am not sure if he had his residence there or whether this was the place you refer to as Church View. There are the ruins of a Church of Ireland church in the village. This is the only church in Castleblakeney and reflects the large population of protestant people that once lived there. This church would probably have been used in Hugh S. Thane's time. My father (also John Naughton) used to tell me that the kids used to throw stones at the windows on the way home from school! The windows were probably beautiful stained-glass ones into the bargain! There was no interest in conservation in those times. Anything that reflected landlordism or English rule was destroyed. I have copies of Maps and land occupancy listings I obtained some time ago from the Valuation Office. These listings show the lands occupied by Hugh S. Thane. The email address of the Valuation Office is: info@valoff.ie. The map reference is; VO Griffiths Map Sheet 60. The holding of land in the name of Hugh S. Thane is listed under Barony of Tiaquin; Parish of Ballymacward; Union of Mountbellew; Electoral Division of Castleblakeney; Townland Ashfield. My guess is that Hugh S.Thane was a land agent for the Landlord, John H. Blakeney after whose family Castleblakeney is named. I can send you a photo of relevant documents if you wish. The service from the Valuation Office is suspended at the moment on account of the pandemic lockdown. The workhouse of which Hugh S. Thane was a member of the Poor Law Commissioners, is still in use today as a secondary school, Colaiste an Creagan (Mountbellew College). This is located half way between Castleblakeney and Mountbellew on main road in townland of Newtown. You would not find any listing for Hugh S. Thane in the original Griffith's Valuation as that was completed around 1852 and only showed occupancy at that time. I hope this information is of interest to you. Brendan.

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 01:32PM

Brendan, Thank you so much for all this information.I will certainly contact the Valuation Office but, in the meantime, it would be brilliant if you could send me photos of anything you have. My email address is eboulangerie@aol.com. I visited Castleblakeney a couple of years ago and located the site of Church View. There is a playing field where it once stood. Only the garden gate remains. If you know Castleblakeney, it's on the edge of the village by the entrance to a boreen leading down to a stream. On the day I visited,the church ( which also serves  as a heritage centre) happened to be open. I'm sure my Thane ancestors must be buried there but there was no evidence to prove it. Many of the headstones had already sunk into the ground. I was also lucky enough to get a good look round the grounds of the Mountbellew Workhouse too. All Hugh's children dispersed to different parts of the world, including the UK, Canada, and the USA. Thank you again for your interesting  post. Julie

 

Julie

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 02:18PM

 

 

 

Hi Julie, yes of course I will scan the documents I have pertaining to Hugh S. Thane (HST) and email them to you this evening. The residence and farm occupied by my great-great grandfather John Naughton comprising c.29 acres was subsumed into the holding of c.79 acres which ultimately came into the possession of HST. It was only recently I found this out. What misled me is that I was always told my family came from Rathbaun (Rabane) a few miles away between the villages of Caltra and Castleblakeney and that my grandfather only came to live in Ashfield when he got married around 1907 and was allocated land by the Land Commission there. I had no idea we had any previous historical connection with Ashfield until I came across my great-great grandfather's name in Griffith's Valuation as a tenant farmer of 29 acres under landlord John H.Blakeney in a different location in Ashfield. I was only able to track down the actual location very recently as there was some confusion over mapping reference numbers. So in fact you have progressed further than I have in the sense that you have actually visited the site of HST's holding of 79 acres where the football field is now located. I will be paying a visit out there soon to see where my great-great grandfather came from. My first cousin still lives in Ashfield and farms the holding obtained by my grandfather in 1907,  which is about a half mile from the original. As I mentioned previously my great-great grandfather died in 1858 and is buried in Aughiart Cemetery near Mountbellew. This mystified me for a long time as that graveyard is not in what might be considered the catchment area of Ashfield. I am only saying this in case HST may not have been buried at all in Castleblakeney but in some other cemetery such as Ballymacward or Killahaun which also serve the area. I actually checked in website "historicgraves.com" but unfortunately the only graveyard in the area listed on the website is Aughiart (spelt historically Aghyart). My great-great grandfather's grave and headstone is posted on it. I come from Mountbellew but I have been living in Galway City for many years. I have been unable to establish who else is buried in the plot besides John Naughton (Noughten). The inscription says the headstone (monument) was erected by his wife Catherine and his four sons, John, Michael, Thomas and Pat. I can find no records of other burials there but I presume his wife Catherine was interred with him. My line of descent comes through Michael. Two of his 3 children, Michael J. and Mary both emigrated together to the USA in 1898 aged 20 and 19 respectively. They never returned again. This only left one sibling, my grandfather John Naughton, at home. I am in communication with the only daughter of Michael J.Naughton, Rita Mai, who lives in Florissant, Missouri and is now 90 years of age. If you have any further queries after I email the documents to you please don't hesitate to contact me again. Brendan.

 

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 10:20PM