Emerson Papers

Repository: Louth County Archives Service

Identity Statement

TitleEmerson Papers
Archive ReferenceIE LHA PP00286/
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/emerson-papers
Creation Dates1824-1840, 1865-1925
Extent Medium27 items, largely bound volumes

Context

Creator(s): Collon estate, Alfred H Wynne and John Emerson Senior and Junior

  • Administrative History ↴

    The Emerson papers originate from Alfred H Wynne and John Emerson Senior and Junior, who acted as agents (inter alia) for the Collon estate, in County Louth, in the period 1865 – 1925. The account books and rentals relate to the various estates for which Alfred H Wynne and two successive John Emersons, all three of Collon, Co. Louth, acted as agents, c. 1870 – 1925. The collection spans the period of the Plan of Campaign. It relates partly to the Massereene estate in Collon which is noteworthy for being the only estate in County Louth where the tenants adopted the Plan of Campaign and united to demand a reduction of their rents. It was during this case that Lord Massereene dismissed his agent Wynne for offering advice in relation to making an abatement of rent. He then employed John Emerson Senior and Junior. Some of the rentals (PP00286/002/002 and 003) contain some annotations such as no abatement, judicial (term), statutory (term), ejectment decree or civil bill decree. To read more about the case, see the extract from the ‘Incidents of Coercion: A Journal of Visits to Ireland in 1882 and 1888’ by the Rt Hon G Shaw Lefevre, MP (London, 1889), which provides a summary of events, at the end of this descriptive list (p8).

  • Archival History ↴

    This collection was originally deposited in the Public Record Office Northern Ireland, where it had the collection code D3711. John Emerson, a descendant of the Emersons who acted as the agents for the Collon Estate, arranged for the transfer of the collection to Louth County Archives in October 2009. The collection underwent conservation in 2010 which was largely funded by the Heritage Council.

  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Permanent Loan

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Collon estate, Alfred H Wynne and John Emerson Senior and Junior ↴

    The Emerson papers consist of 25 bound volumes and two other items regarding Miss Shekleton’s farm account (kept with PP00286/002/001). The majority of the collection comprises rentals, rent receipt books and account books recording Collon estate and others (see list below), 1865 – 1925, but principally 1872 – 1906. The earliest volume is a timber book recording tenants’ planting on the Collon estate [of the 1st Lord Oriel and 2nd Viscount Ferrard] in 1824 – 1833, with some references to 1804 – 1809, and comments written 1835 – 1840.

    Estates recorded in the collection include (in alphabetical order by surname):
    • Benjamin Samuel Adams’ estate in Shinan, Shercock, County Cavan
    • Samuel A. Adams’ estate in Croley, Shercock, County Cavan
    • William Augustus Adams’ estate in Killineer, parish of St Peter’s County Louth, and Corravilla, Corlattylannan, and Kinnea Manor, all in the parish of Knockbride, County Cavan
    • Samuel Bradford’s estate (receivership) in Ballynahattin, Dundalk, and Dungooly, Faughart, both in County Louth
    • Thomas P Cairnes’ estate in Rathbran Church, Killary, County Meath
    • Mrs Elizabeth Castles’ estate at Claret Rock, (Carrickaneena, County Louth)
    • John Daly Devereux’s estate in Ballyrankin, Kilrush, County Wexford
    • Robert Foster Dunlop’s estate in Monasterboice, County Louth
    • Arthur Forbes’s estate in the parishes of Drumcondra, Kilmessan, and Loughbrackan, County Meath
    • Edward Singleton’s estate in Belpatrick, Collon, County Louth
    • Harry Sydenham Singleton and John Roland Singleton’s estate in the parishes of Tullyallen and Drumshallon, County Louth and Knockbridge, and Drumgoon, Co. Cavan
    • Whitshed estate in Drogheda, and the parishes of Collin (Collon), County Louth, Grangegeeth and Knockcommon, County Meath, and Clondalkin and Tallaght, County Dublin
    • WR Wynne’s estate in Dowth, County Meath

    Other placenames included in the rents received books include:
    • Ardagh, Carricknashanna, Collon, and Mell, County Louth
    • Glasleck and Shercock, County Cavan
    • Creewood and Rathdrinagh, County Meath
    • Carrickmacross, County Monaghan

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Retain permanently

  • Accruals ↴

    No further accruals are currently expected.

  • Arrangement ↴

    The collection is arranged by record type, and then chronologically as far as possible.

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions Open access, by appointment
Conditions Governing ReproductionContact County Archives staff regarding copying
Creation Dates1824-1840, 1865-1925
Extent Medium27 items, largely bound volumes
Material Language ScriptEnglish
Characteristics Tech ReqBound volumes, paper. Poor – good condition. Careful handling required.
Finding Aids Descriptive list can be found on on-line catalogue available at http://www.louthcoco.ie Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

Originals InformationLouth County Archives Service
Copies InformationSome digitised documents may occasionally be found on http://www.louthcoco.ie
Related MaterialIE LHA: PP00019/ Collon estate, 1779 – 1781 PRONI: D207, D562, D1739, D4084 Foster/Massereene Papers, 1590 – 1939
Publication NoteKieran, Anthony, and HGT, Rental and Accounts of Collon Estate, 1779-81 (CLAJ, Vol x, No 3 1943, p222-229)

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NoteJayne Hutchinson. Updated by Lorraine McCann.
Rules/ConventionsISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottawa: International Council on Archives, 2000.
Date of DescriptionsSeptember 2010; 2013