Knolles family genealogy

Of Oatlands, Kinsale, County Cork

Arms: Gu. on a chev. ar. three roses of the field.

This family was originally “Knowles,”[1] and is considered as of the family of Knollys, in England. In the Commonwealth period Thomas Knowles, of Killeighy and Knockabowlea, in the county Cork, who settled in Ireland at that period, married Dorothy, eldest daughter of Giles Busteed, Esq., of Mount Long, in said county. From that Thomas Knowles, the descent was, as follows:

1. Thomas Knowles, m. Dorothy Busteed, and had:

1. Thomas Knolles, of whom presently.
1. Elizabeth, who m. in 1684, Wallis Warren, Esq.
2. Dorothy, who in 1691 m. George Daunt, Esq., of Knockatowr, co. Cork.
3. Rachel, who in 1697 married William Daunt, Esq., of Kilcaskan.
4. Leah, who m. a Mr. Snow, of Kinsale.

2. Thomas Knolles, of Killeighy: son of Thomas; b. in 1660; was twice mar.; first, to Margaret, dau. of Thomas Hungerford, Esq., of Inchidony Island, county Cork, and had:

1. Mary, who, in 1702, married Michael Shuler, of Kinsale, merchant.
2. Anne, who in 1706 m. Henry Daunt, Esq., of Knocknamana, co. Cork.
3. Margaret.

He was m. secondly, in 1692, to Rachael, dau. of Francis Shuler, and by her had two sons and three daus. For his adherence to King William, this Thomas (who died in 1707) was attainted by the Irish Parliament of King James II.

3. Thomas, of Killeighy: eldest son of Thomas; b. 1693; d. 1756; m. in 1715, Catherine, dau. of Col. Richard Hungerford, of Inchidony, and had issue:

4. Thomas, of Killeighy (b. 1719; d. 1770): eldest son of Thomas, m. in 1740, Joanna, dau. of Robert O’Callaghan, Esq., of Clonmeen, co. Cork, and had two sons and seven daus.

5. Thomas, of Killeighy, who d. in 1807: eldest son of Thomas; m. in 1781, Miss Sarah Meade, and had issue.

6. Thomas, of Killeighy and Oatlands, who was b. in 1784, and d. in 1840: eldest son of Thomas; m. in 1807, Frances-Susanna, dau. of Thomas Walton, Esq., of Walton Court, co. Cork (and co-heir with her sister Anne, second wife of Sir Thomas Roberts, of Britfieldstown, Bart.), and had:

1. Thomas Walton, of whom presently.
2. Richard-Walton, who married Miss Warren.
3. Robert-William, who emigrated to Australia in 1836.
4. Francis-Charles, Lieutenant North Cork Rifles.
1. Elizabeth, who mar. Robert Nettles, Esq., of Nettleville, co. Cork.
2. Anne.
3. Sarah-Frances.

7. Thomas-Walton Knolles, of Oatlands, county Cork, J.P.: eldest son of Thomas; born 1809; and living in 1883.

Notes

[1] Knowles: The Armorial Bearings of “Knowles,” of Aylesham, county of Norfolk, England, were—Arms: Gu. on a chev. ar. three roses of the field, in chief a crescent or, charged with a mullet sa. Crest: A ram’s head ar. attired or.

James Sheridan Knowles, a distinguished actor, dramatist, author, and preacher, was born in Cork, 12th May, 1784. His father, James Knowles, who was first cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was a schoolmaster of high reputation, and the editor of an edition of Walker’s Pronouncing Dictionary, at which he is said to have laboured for thirty years. He visited Dublin in 1808, and resided for a time with his relations—the Le Fanus, who endeavoured to dissuade him from going on the stage. In 1809 he acted at Waterford, in company with Edmund Kean; and there published a volume of Fugitive Pieces of Poetry, and his drama of Leo, or the Gipsy. His father and he afterwards established a school at Belfast; Sir Joseph Napier was one of his scholars. In Belfast he produced his drama of Brian Boroimhe [Boru]. Caius Gracchus followed in 1815. At the request of his friend Kean he next wrote his great tragedy of Virginius, which was brought out at Glasgow, and afterwards in London. William Tell appeared in 1825, establishing the author’s reputation as one of the greatest dramatists of the age. Other works followed in quick succession; and he acquired a right to be considered a great actor as well as a great writer, by impersonations in his plays of The Hunchback, and The Wife. He was also the author of several novels. In 1836 he visited America; some time after his return, ill-health obliged him to give up the stage, and he appeared as a lecturer on oratory and the drama. In his later years his mind received a theological bias; he wrote on religious subjects, and ultimately became a Baptist preacher. From 1849 he had been in the receipt of a pension on the Civil List, of £200 a year. Besides numerous minor writings, his works in Allibone’s list number twenty-six. He died at Torquay, on 1st December, 1862, aged 78. A posthumous play, Alexina, or True unto Death, in Two Acts, was produced in 1866. Of him Allan Cunningham writes: “The poetry of his dialogues is the poetry of passion … his strength lies in home-bred affections: his Virginius, his Beggar’s Daughter, and his Wife of Mantua, all bear evidence of this, and contain scenes of perfect truth and reality, such as no modern dramatist surpasses—he touches the heart and is safe.”