Baldwin family genealogy

Of Mount Pleasant, Kinalmeaky, County Cork

Arms: Ar. a chev. ermines betw. three hazel sprigs vert. Crest: A squirrel sejant or, holding a hazel sprig vert.

Two different origins of this family are given by genealogists: namely, Thomas Balbhan Fitzmaurice, and 2. Baudwin or Baldwin, Earl of Flanders. The former was son to Patrick, the seventh lord of Kerry; and the other was a nobleman attached to the court of Charles the Bold, King of France, who created him “earl of Flanders.” This Baudwin married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bold, and granddaughter of Charlemagne, widow of Ethelwolf, King of England, and stepmother of King Alfred the Great.

We can trace back to Henry Baldwin, a ranger of Woods and Forests in Shropshire, who married Elinor, daughter of Sir Edward Herbert, of Red Castle, who was the second son of the first Lord Pembroke, by Lady Anne, daughter of Lord Paar, of Kendall, and sister of Lady Catherine Paar (or Paer), surviving queen of Henry VIII., King of England. That Henry Baldwin had three sons, who settled in Ireland in the time of Queen Elizabeth, the eldest of whom was Henry; from this Henry, the O’Baldwin pedigree is as follows:

1. Henry: son of Henry.
2. Herbert: his son.
3. Walter, of Granahoonick (now Mossgrove): his son; mentioned, with his son, in the report addressed to the “Court of Claims;” under the Act of Settlement, he obtained part of the land of Knocknough and Kilbalane.
4. Walter (2): his son.
5. Henry (3): his son; married Miss Field, niece to Colonel Beecher, of Sherkin.
6. Henry (4): son of Henry; m. Elizabeth, dau. of Dive Downes, Protestant Bishop of Cork, by his third wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Beechey of Sherkin, and relict of Captain Townsend.
7. Henry (5): son of Henry; m. a daughter of Sir Robert Warren of Kilbarry, West Muscry, and was progenitor of the Baldwins of Mount Pleasant, near Bandon. This Henry had a brother named William, who m. a dau. of Alderman French, of Cork, and was founder of the Baldwin family of Lisarda, west of Macroom. This William was a Barrister; his son Henry of Tralang was High-Sheriff of the county of Cork, in 1777; and left, amongst other issue, William of Nelson Place, who m. Mary, daughter of Franklin Kirby, of Bamborough Grange, Yorkshire, England. This William of Nelson Place was High-Sheriff of the county of Cork in 1813; and died in 1838, leaving a numerous issue.
8. Walter (3): son of Henry; had two sons and one daughter. The sons were:
   1. Henry.
   2. Samuel, of Mossgrove, who m. his cousin, Kate O’Baldwin, and died at Bandon, co. Cork, in Dec., 1861. No legitimate issue. The dau. was married to Capt Stubbs, of Cove of Cork (now “Queenstown”); no issue.
9. Henry: son of Walter; m. Miss Gillman, of Shancloyne, near Bandon, whose sister married Sir Emmanuel Moore, Knight. This Henry went to France, became a Catholic, died there; his body was brought to Ireland by his son John, and interred in the family vault at Templemartin. He had:
   1. Henry, of whom presently.
   2. Herbert, died unm.
   3. Walter, d.s.p.
   4. John, d. at Mount Pleasant Cottage, in 1882, s.p.
10. Henry: son of Henry (9); went with his children by his second wife to Australia; his first wife was Eliza Corker, of Cor Castle, Innishannon, by whom he had three sons and two daus.:
    1. Henry, d. unm., aged 21 years.
    2. Captain Chambery d. unm.
    3. James, of whom presently.
    4. Caroline, who married Mr. Biggs, of Kinsale; she became a Catholic, and d. leaving issue.
    5. Mary, who m. Richard Tonson Rye, Esq., of Rye Court (living in 1887), and has issue.
11. The second wife of Henry (10) was a Miss Beasley, who, with her children were either wrecked off the Australian coast, or captured by pirates.
11. James (born 1834): son of Henry; died at Mountpleasant, in 1875; m. in Australia, on 1st Jan., 1856, Miss Margaret Whelan of Queen’s County, Ireland (who was born in 1839); and living in 1887 at the Bank of Ireland, Portadown, county Armagh. This James had by his wife:
    1. Henry William who was born in Australia, 7th Dec., 1856; was unm.; and on 26th Sept., 1883, was drowned whilst fishing in the Arigadeen river, near Timoleague, co. Cork.
    2. James, of whom presently.
    3. Chambery, born in Australia, 31st Oct., 1862, and living in Dublin, unm., in 1887.
    4. Walter, born at Mount Pleasant, 14th August, 1864, and living, unm., in Australia in 1887.
    5. Lizzie, born in Australia, 14th Oct., 1860. She m. in 1881, Arthur S. Gore (a scion of the Earl of Arran family), of the Bank of Ireland, Bandon—now (1887) of Portadown, county Armagh, and has issue.
12. James (The O’Baldwin): son of James (11); born in Australia, 25th August, 1858; m., in Nov., 1880, Adelaide, dau. of Maurice Yescombe, Esq., of Cornwall, England: lives (1887) at 21 Green Park, Bath, England; and has a son James, with other children.