Handcock (Moydrum)
The Handcocks were settled at Moydrum Castle, near Athlone, in county Westmeath from the late 17th century. The Right Honourable William Handcock was created Baron Castlemaine in December 1812. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Lord Castlemaine held land in the parish of Kilglass, barony of Ballintober North, county Roscommon. Hon. Charles Handcock and his wife Elizabeth sold the fee simple of an estate in the barony of Athlone in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1856. The Freeman's Journal noted R. Carroll as the purchaser. In the 1870s Lord Castlemaine's estate in county Roscommon amounted to 597 acres. In county Westmeath he owned 11,444 acres. The Handcock family were resident in county Westmeath from the seventeenth century. In 1666, William Handcock was granted over 8,000 acres in county Westmeath with other lands in counties Roscommon and Kilkenny. Some 5,000 acres of the county Westmeath lands were made into the Manor of Twyford. William Handcock, born 1766, was elevated to the peerage in 1812 as Lord Castlemaine. In the same year Sir Richard Morrison was employed to redesign the existing mansion at Moydrum. Lord Castlemaine’s county Westmeath estate was mainly located in the parishes of Kilkenny West, Ballyloughloe, Kilcleagh and St Mary’s Athlone. Parts of the estate were sold in the early 20th century and after the burning of Moydrum in 1921 the Castlemaines moved to live in London. Donal O’Brien gives a detailed account of this family in his book ‘The houses and landed families of Westmeath’.
Associated Families
No houses were found for this estate
Archival sources
- Account books from office of A. Bole detailing accounts of King-Harman estates, Longford and Westmeath, Rev. W. Handcock, Roscommon & Westmeath, 1845-late 19th century. MSS. 14,03-109. ; National Library of Ireland
- Map of plots in the town of Athlone, compiled by order of Lord Castlemaine and Mr St George, Jan 1833. 21 F 43 (15); National Library of Ireland
- Fred Sutton and Company, solicitors; Map of part of the estate of Rev. Dean Handcock at Balnamudagh, Co. Westmeath, 1773. M.6970; National Archives of Ireland
- Printed rental and maps of the estate of Edward, Baron Castlemaine … of the lands of Arcadia in Athlone to be sold, 1908. P3237; National Library of Ireland
- Handcock Papers, documents relating to the Handcock family of Athlone, including a letter of Oliver Goldsmith, 1753-1866, originals in possession of Crozier and Son, solicitors. P2788; National Library of Ireland
- William Handcock and Leonard Hatfield v Sir Arthur Shaen administrator of Sir James Shaen in title suit re lands of Killenure, Co Westmeath. Irish Chancery House of Lords Appeals, Vol I; King's Inn Library
- Executors’ Account book of R C Bryanton, with reference to lands in Cos Longford and Westmeath, 1818-1830. P 7093; National Library of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 314
- HUSSEY DE BURGH, U. H. ''The Landowners of Ireland. An alphabetical list of the owners of estates of 500 acres or £500 valuation and upwards in Ireland''. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Figgis, 1878. [available online at www.askaboutireland.ie] : 76
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 48
- BATEMAN, John. ''The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland''. London: Harrison, 1883. : p.81
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 48
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 82
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Athlone Union, 10 (Hare Island); 48 (Bellanalack); 56 (Moydrum); 110 (Creaghduff); 117 (Woodville)
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 142 (Moydrum); 205 (Hare Island)
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 360 (Hare Island)
- LEET, Ambrose. ''A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland''. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 299 (Moydrum)
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 361 (Moydrum)
Modern printed sources
- MOSLEY, Charles (ed). ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage''. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999: I, 517-519
- NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. Reports on Private Collections: AINSWORTH, J.F. Report on the Walker papers relating to Athlone Corporation, Adamson, Handcock, Kelly, Longworth, Robinson and Rochfort families and lands in Roscommon and Westmeath. NLI report on private collection, No. 196.
- ''Freeman's Journal'': Encumbered Estates Court sale reports, 12 November 1856, p.3
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage''. London: Harrison & Sons, 1886: 252
- DUNNE, Eugene. ‘The experiences of the aristocracy in county Westmeath during the period 1879 to 1923’. PhD thesis for Department of History, NUI, Maynooth, 2016.: All
- O'Brien, Donal. ''The Houses and Landed Families of Westmeath''. The author, Athlone (2nd edition 2015): 60 (Creaghduff); 119 (Hare Island); 154 (Moydrum); 228 (Woodville)