Flood Estate Papers

Repository: Kilkenny Archaeological Society

Identity Statement

TitleFlood Estate Papers
Archive ReferenceIE KAS Q010
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/flood-estate-papers
Creation Dates1897-1926
Extent MediumValuation and rental ledgers (6), estate correspondence (444 items in 4 folders)

Context

Creator(s): Flood Estate, Kilkenny

  • Administrative History ↴

    From the seventeenth century, this 4000 acre estate was held under the various names of one family: Warden, Flood, and Hanford. The estate was originally granted to William Warden who fought in the Confederate wars. In 1692, William's grandaughter, Anne Warden, married a Longfordman, Major Francis Flood, and thus introduced the Flood name to the property. The renowned parliamentarian, scholar and orator, Henry Flood, was born to a son of Anne and Francis named Warden Flood. Like other family members, Warden trained as a lawyer in London. It was Warden who, around 1759, built the family house, Farmley, in Kilkenny. Warden was a Member of Parliament for Callan and went on to become Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. In 1759, after an education at Trinity College Dublin, Oxford and London, Warden Flood's son Henry followed his father and grandfather into Parliament. There, he ably used his oratorical skills in the campaign for increased constitutional freedom for Ireland. Henry Flood died in 1791. His will stipulated that, on the death of his wife, the bulk of his property should go to Trinity College Dublin to establish a chair of Irish and for the purchase of Irish books and manuscripts. The will was successfully challenged by his cousin John Flood of Flood Hall, Co Kilkenny on the grounds that Henry had been born out of wedlock. John thus took over the property and his son Robert succeeded him in 1807. When Robert died unmarried in 1836, Robert's brother, another John Flood inherited. This John Flood had two children, both born out of wedlock: William Lloyd and Anne LLoyd. Anne Lloyd married Rev Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, 8th Baronet and became Lady Cullum. In 1839, her brother William Lloyd inherited the Flood estate and took the name William Lloyd Flood. In 1847, William Lloyd Flood married Frances Hanford, an English heiress. This couple and their large family divided their time between Ireland and England. When Frances succeeded to her family's estate at Woollas Hall in Worcestershire in 1861, the family name became Hanford-Flood. Frances Hanford Flood died at Farmley, Kilkenny in 1875. It is three of William and Frances' children, John, Robert, and Mary whose tenure of the Flood estates is covered in the KAS papers. Each of these children successively inherited. The eldest was Colonel John Compton Hanford Flood (1849-1911). John was educated at Eton and Trinity College Cambridge. He joined the 19th Hussars and served in the Egyptian war and in Sudan. He assumed the name of Hanford in lieu of Hanford-Flood. John's brother, Major Robert Thomas Hanford Flood (1850-1921) succeeded to the Flood estates in Kilkenny in 1911. The third child of William Lloyd Flood and Frances Hanford was Mary Frances Flood Hervey. In 1886, she married Col. Constantine R W Hervey, JP. The couple came to live in Flood Hall in 1925. After her death in 1937, the Flood Estate was sold to the Irish Land Commission.
  • Archival History ↴

    The papers were donated to Kilkenny Archaeological Society by the family in 1985.
  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Donation

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Flood Estate, Kilkenny ↴

    The Flood Estate papers consist of ledgers, valuations, and estate correspondence covering 30 years (1897-1928) of the family’s 300 year occupancy of their estates in Kilkenny city and in the vicinity of Farmley, Cuffesgrange and Knocktopher, Co Kilkenny.
    Details are given in the Tenants’ Ledgers of the area, valuation, tenure and rent paid by the named tenants, the arrears due, the Poor Rate and County Cess allowed, the Income Tax paid.
    The Valuations list the occupiers, immediate lessors, changes in tenancy, area and valuation. The costs of insurance, salaries, legal and agent’s fees are also stated.
    The Correspondence includes letters but more frequently notes, receipts, calculations, etc. The agent, Percival Maxwell, is the principal author, followed by the Hanford Flood brothers. Various tenants and solicitors make up the remainder. Most of the correspondence was pinned to the respective tenant’s page in the ledger. Metal fastenings have been removed, the numbered letters placed in folders, and a searchable database created to record the original location of the letter, its place in the ledger, its date, and the correspondents.

    The following townlands are listed in the ledgers and valuations (some townlands only appear in a single ledger): Aglish, Archer’s Street, Archerleas, Ardscradaun, Ballybur Lower, Ballymack, Ballyroberts, Barrettstown, Baunavollaboy, Baunreagh, Baysrath, Black Mill, Blind Boreen, Booly, Burnchurch, Callan Road, Cherrymount, Coal’s Farm, Cottrellsbooly, Curraghmartin, Danganbeg, Farmley, Flood Hall, Flood Street, Gallows Hill, Gaol Road, Graigue Lower, Graigue Upper, Higginstown, James’s Green, John Street, Kells Road, Kenny’s Well, Kilbricken, Kilcreen Road, Knockdrina, Knocktopher Commons, Knocktopher Manor, Maiden Hill, New Street Upper, Newlands, Oldtown, Ormonde New Road, Orphanhouse Lane, Paddock, Parnell Street, Patrick St. Upper, Piltown, Sheepstown, Stephen’s Street, Stonecarty, Sunhill, Tullamaine, Viper Kells, Walkin Street, Walkins Street Upper, Washer’s Bog, Waters Lane.

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Permanent Retention
  • Arrangement ↴

    The collection is arranged as follows:
    /1/1 Tenants’ ledger 1897-1909
    /1/2 Tenants’ ledger 1910-1926
    /2/1 Valuation of estate of Col John Compton Hanford 1897
    /2/2 Valuation of estate of Major Robert Hanford 1912
    /2/3 Valuation of estate of Major Robert Hanford 1917
    /3 Account and rental of Major Robert Hanford’s estate 1920
    /4/1-4 Folders of correspondence from the Valuation ledgers and from the Tenants’ ledgers (444 items)

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions Open by appointment. Please contact librariankas@gmail.com in advance of your visit.
Conditions Governing ReproductionItems may be copied for personal use. If a researcher wishes to publish any documents from this collection, a request must be submitted in writing to Kilkenny Archaeological Society.
Creation Dates1897-1926
Extent MediumValuation and rental ledgers (6), estate correspondence (444 items in 4 folders)
Material Language ScriptEnglish
Finding Aids Detailed lists of correspondence and townlands are available in the KAS Reading Room. Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

Related MaterialDeeds, manorial records and estate papers of the Hanford family of Woollas Hall, Eckington 1312-2000 are held by Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service, UK. (NRA 1289 Hanford)

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NoteAnn Tierney, August 2015
Rules/ConventionsIGAD: Irish Guidelines for Archival Description. Dublin: Society of Archivists, Ireland, 2009.
Date of Descriptions2015