Belmore Papers

Repository: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

Identity Statement

TitleBelmore Papers
Archive ReferenceGB 0255 PRONI/D3007
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/belmore-papers
Creation Dates1612-1984
Extent Medium36,400 documents + 278 volumes

Context

Creator(s): Lowry-Corry family, Earls of Belmore of County Fermanagh

  • Administrative History ↴

    In 1656 John Corry bought the estate of Castle Atkinson (Castle Coole) for £860 and commenced the long and still continuing association with the Corry family. It is assumed that John Corry extensively repaired the Castle and made it defensible again after its destruction in the 1640s. A second destruction took place in 1689 during the Williamite wars.' The manor of Coole passed to John Corry's son, Colonel James Corry (c.1643-1726). On October 1721 Colonel John Corry made his will (D3007/A/6/37). His son, Leslie Corry, then a minor, was to inherit the estate, '... with remainder first to his sons then to his daughters in order; in default of such to the use of his own daughters and their heirs similarly in order. ... All the above persons are to take the name of Corry if they succeed to the property. If anyone does not take the name then he or she is to lose all benefit which is to go to the next in succession.' By a codicil of 1726 Margetson Armar, John Corry's nephew, was appointed guardian during Leslie Corry's minority. Leslie Corry came of age in 1733. He did not however enjoy his estate for very long as he died in 1741. Margetson Armar is an important link in the chain of succession to the Castle Coole estate. He had managed the estate during the minority of his cousin; he continued to live there even after Leslie Corry attained his majority in 1733; and in 1736 he married Mary Corry, the youngest of Leslie Corry's three sisters. His management of the estate helped to improve and increase it. Margetson Armar made his will on 5 May 1768 (D3007/A/6/59). In it he left all his Fermanagh lands to his wife and her issue, and, failing such issue, to Sarah Lowry-Corry and her heirs male. Sarah Lowry-Corry was the second of Leslie Corry and Mary Margetson's sisters. In 1733, she had married Galbraith Lowry, the second son of Robert Lowry of Finagh (alias Sixmilecross) and Aghenis (near Caledon), Co. Tyrone. According to the terms of Robert Lowry's will, dated 1 November 1738 (D3007/A/4/6), his estate was to be divided between his first and second sons, Finagh being settled on the eldest son, Robert, and the Aghenis portion of the estate on Galbraith. Robert Lowry Junior died in 1764 leaving no male heirs, so that the estate was reunited in the person of Galbraith Lowry. In the same year, 1764, Sarah Corry inherited that portion of her father's estates which had first passed to her eldest sister, Martha Corry, and in accordance with her father's will assumed the name of Corry, as did her son and heir, Armar Lowry-Corry, later 1st Earl Belmore. Armar Lowry-Corry's three names represented the three components of his future inheritance: Armar, the valuable churchlands in Fermanagh, Lowry his paternal estate in Tyrone, and Corry the rest of his Fermanagh estate and his country seat. -Extracted from a full account of the Belmore Papers in the PRONI catalogue: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni
  • Archival History ↴

    Deposited by the Earl of Belmore in a number of deposits from 1974 to the 1980s.
  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Donation

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Lowry-Corry family, Earls of Belmore of County Fermanagh ↴

    The Belmore Papers span the period 1612-1949, and document the acquisition, management and dispersal of the estates of the Lowry-Corry family of Castle Coole, Co. Fermanagh, Barons, Viscounts and Earls Belmore, in Fermanagh and Tyrone and also in Co.s Longford, Monaghan, Antrim, Armagh, Dublin and elsewhere. They also document the political careers of Somerset Lowry-Corry, 2nd Earl Belmore, and Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore, in Ireland and as Governors of Jamaica (1828-1832) and New South Wales (1868-1872) respectively. The 20th century is represented by an unusually large volume of correspondence, almost all of it generated by the 5th Earl Belmore, c.1914-1947; but this has still to be sorted and listed.

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Permanent Retention
  • Arrangement ↴

    The collection is arranged as follows:
    D3007/A Title deeds and leases
    D3007/B Rentals and account books (estate, household and personal papers)
    D3007/C Trademen’s accounts, receipts for wages received and subscriptions paid, etc
    D3007/D Maps, surveys and valuations
    D3007/E Legal papers
    D3007/F Curiosa and personal ephemera
    D3007/G Papers of the 2nd Earl Belmore as Governor of Jamaica
    D3007/H Miscellaneous correspondence of the 2nd Earl Belmore
    D3007/I Private and family letters to Honoria Gladstone, Countess Belmore
    D3007/J Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore about elections to the Irish representative peerage
    D3007/K Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore as Under-Secretary at the Home Office
    D3007/L Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore as Governor of New South Wales including correspondence with the Colonial Office
    D3007/M Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore about education
    D3007/N Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore about the affairs of the Church of Ireland
    D3007/O Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore about the land question
    D3007/P Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore about Co. Tyrone elections
    D3007/Q Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore about local government in Co. Tyrone
    D3007/R Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore about general political and patronage matters
    D3007/S Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore
    D3007/T Letters and papers of the 4th Earl Belmore reflecting his interests and activities as an amateur historian, antiquarian, genealogist, and archaeologist
    D3007/U Letters to the 4th Earl Belmore (and sometimes to Lady Belmore) from the agent for his Co. Fermanagh estate, J.J. Benison
    D3007/V Letters to the 4th Earl Belmore (and sometimes to Lady Belmore) from the agent for his Co. Tyrone estate, R.C. Brush
    D3007/W Letters to the 4th Earl Belmore from his successive solicitors
    D3007/X Miscellaneous letters to the 4th Earl Belmore (and his widow) about estate and financial matters
    D3007/Y Letters and papers of Viscount Corry and the Hon. Cecil Corry, later 5th and 6th Earls Belmore respectively
    D3007/Z Family and other photographs

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions The collection can be consulted in the reading room in PRONI in accordance with PRONI's rules and regulations. http://www.proni.gov.uk/proni_rules_and_regulations_2011
Conditions Governing ReproductionItems may be copied for personal research use only. If a researcher wishes to publish any documents from this collection, a request must be submitted in writing to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Creation Dates1612-1984
Extent Medium36,400 documents + 278 volumes
Material Language ScriptEnglish
Finding Aids A full descriptive list is available to search online at: http://www.proni.gov.uk/ Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

There are no Allied Materials

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NotePRONI Archivist
Rules/ConventionsISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottawa: International Council on Archives, 2000. National Council on Archives: Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names. Chippenham: National Council on Archives, 1997. UK Archival Thesaurus (UKAT)
Date of Descriptions41699