Archival work has recently been completed on a document of national and great local interestcurrently held in the Russell Library. The Byng-Conolly marriage settlement was acquired in May of this year, and relates to the marriage in 1761 of George Byng, (1735-1789) of WrothamPark, Middlesex, and Anne Conolly (d. 1806) of Castletown, Co. Kildare.
George Byng was the eldest son of the late Hon. Robert Byng (1703-1740), and the Hon. Elizabeth Byng, of Wrotham Park in Barnet, Middlesex, England, and grandson of British naval officer and statesman George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington (1663-1733). George’s father, Robert, had an active career, serving as Member of Parliament for Plymouth, Paymaster of the Navy, and Governor of Barbados. His mother, Elizabeth (d. 1786), was the daughter of Jonathan Forward, a transport contractor for the Admiralty. George was later elected to represent the borough of Wigan in Lancaster in 1768 and 1774, and then Middlesex in 1780.
Anne Conolly was the second daughter of the Right Hon. William James Conolly (1706–54) and Lady Anne Wentworth (eldest daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford of the second creation) of Castletown in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. Anne’s father, William James Conolly, was the nephew of politician and speaker of the Irish House of Commons, William Conolly (1662–1729). ‘Speaker’ Conolly was born in Ballyshannon in 1662, the son of a local innkeeper, and despite his humble beginnings was to become the wealthiest and most powerful politician in Ireland.He built Castletown House in Celbridge, CountyKildare, between 1722 and 1729 as a symbol of his great wealth and power. After Speaker Conolly’s death in 1729, the Palladian mansion and Conolly’s estates and fortune were divided between his widow, Katherine, and nephew, William James Conolly. The latter finally inherited Castletown in 1752 on Katherine’s death, passing away himself just two years later. He was succeeded by his son Thomas (1738-1803), brother of Anne Conolly. Castletown House remained in the Conolly family until 1965, and has been in state ownership since 1994.
The marriage settlement is dated 4 March 1761, the day before the marriage of George Byng and Anne Conolly. The document is made of parchment and consists of eight sheets of handwritten text. It outlines in great detail the terms and conditions relating to the couple’s union. The document is signed and sealed by the couple and their witnesses:Elizabeth Byng, Thomas Conolly ‘of Dublin City’, Right Hon. William Earl of Strafford, Hon. Henry Osborne (Admiral of the Blue),Edmund Bramston (of Hall Place in Southampton),Right Hon. Lady Anne Conolly,Henry Vernon (of Hilton in Strafford); and Hon. George Pocock (Admiral of the Blue). The settlement summarises other relevant documentation, including an earlier marriage settlement dated 27 April 1833, that of William Conolly and Anne Wentworth, the last will and testament of William James Conolly dated 14 December 1738, with a codicil dated 27 December 1753.
Detail of marriage settlement with Conolly signatures
The Russell Library undertook a re-housing project for a collection of letters written to Eneas MacDonnell (1783-1858), who was Parliamentary Agent in London for Irish Catholics between 1825 and 1829, the period prior to Catholic emancipation. He was formerly a student at the lay college in Maynooth.
The collection spans the period 1823-55 and contains letters and a few contemporary printed items.
As is not uncommon, these had come to the library closely folded, tied in bundles and stored in a non-archival box. They had both surface dirt and minor handling damage, but were mostly robust.
The collection is a rich and varied resource which provides an elegant snapshot of the period. The letters are themselves of interest for their content but it is also interesting to link the individual authors of the letters to the wax seals present. Furthermore, the paper has both makers’ watermarks and, on some of the sheets, the paper-type is embossed on the pages. All of these are interesting from an historical perspective, thus the material provides diverse research and study potential.
Letter before treatment Letter after treatment
Our aim was to list the documents prior to cataloguing, flatten the pages, carry out minimal repairs, and provide archival housing that would ensure safe reader access.
The challenges that this body of material posed were many. The pages were not of uniform size, many of them had text on both sides, and there was sensitive secondary media present on the paper: fragile wax seals and fugitive postal franks.
Present on letters: seal, embossed stamp and postal frank
The material was lightly surface cleaned, but conservation intervention was kept to a minimum as some of the media was known to be fugitive and unsuitable for washing or aqueous treatment. Larger tears were repaired using lens tissue and wheat starch paste and it was decided that the housing chosen would provide stability, durability and protection for the material.
Each letter is to be housed in an archival polyester sleeve after treatment. This allows visual access to and physical support for the paper, as well as some breathability within the binding structure. Archival polyester is perfect for this task. All the sleeves are uniform in size but have been internally modified to accommodate three different dimensions within the collection. The bindings can be housed vertically on open shelves, preventing the risk of crushing to bottom documents which can arise where collections are housed loose in boxes. It also reduces the risk posed by direct handling of the pages.
Once bound, it is possible to dismantle the binding without any risk to the collection, either for access or rearrangement should the need arise. It has been a pleasure to be involved in preparing this material for readers to enjoy and to address the challenges posed by such a historical body of work.
The following links may be of interest for further reading:
The North East Document Conservation Centre Preservation leaflet: [see unbound flat paper]
The Russell Library, National University of Ireland & St. Patrick's College, Maynooth
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