WEDDING BELLS AT CASTLETOWN HOUSE: THE BYNG-CONNOLLY MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT

Castletown House

Archival work has recently been completed on a document of national and great local interest currently 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 Wrotham Park, 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, County Kildare, 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