Wellesley
Family title
Earl of Mornington
Estate(s)
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Wellesley | In the 19th century the Earls of Mornington owned estates in a number of Irish counties including county Cavan. Their land holding in county Cavan amounted to about 1,470 acres in the parishes of Ballymachugh and Urney. These lands along with many others amounting to 20,991 acres were for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1853 and 1854. Colonel Alexander Saunderson bought the townlands in the parish of Ballymachugh as recorded in Griffith's Valuation. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation [publ. 1854] William Richard Arthur Wellesley, 5th Earl of Mornington's county Westmeath estate was in the parish of Kilbeggan. It was comprised of about 2,000 acres. He died unmarried in 1863 when his titles devolved on his cousin the 2nd Duke of Wellington |
| Saunderson (Castle Saunderson) | In June 1666, Colonel Robert Sanderson was granted an estate of 10,814 acres in county Cavan and 901 acres in county Meath. Robert Sanderson was descended from a Scottish family. From his third son Alexander descend the Saundersons of Castle Sanderson and Clover Hill. Robert built Castle Sanderson near Belturbet in county Cavan in the mid-17th century. A number of his descendants served as High Sheriffs of the county and represented the county in Parliament. One of these, Alexander, was High Sheriff in 1758 and it was he who reputedly changed the spelling of the family name to Saunderson. In 1779, Alexander’s son, Francis Saunderson, married Anne Bassett, daughter of Stephen White of Miskin, Glamorgan and heiress to the Bassett estates in Wales. In 1828 their son, Alexander, married a sister of the 9th Lord Farnham. In the mid-19th century the main part of Colonel Alexander Saunderson’s estate was in the parishes of Annagelliff and Lavey in the barony of Upper Loughtee but he also held sizable portions of land in the parishes of Larah, Annagh and Killinkere. He also bought some of the estate of the Earl of Mornington which was for sale in 1853. His brother, the Reverend Francis Saunderson, rector of Kildallan, county Cavan, held an estate in the parishes of Drumlane and Killashandra. Mary Anne Saunderson’s estate [Cloverhill] was mainly in the parishes of Kilmore, Annagelliff, Denn and Lavey in the barony of Upper Loughtee with further lands in the parishes of Annagh and Ballintemple. In 1876, Major Edward Saunderson of Castle Saunderson owned 12,362 acres, Llewellyn T. Saunderson of Drumkeen, county Cavan, owned 4,160 acres and Samuel Saunderson, formerly Winter, of Cloverhill, Belturbet, owned 2,560 acres in county Cavan. |