Morris family genealogy

Of Templemore, Ireland

Arms: Or, a fesse dancettée betw. in chief a crescent and in base a lion ramp. sa.

Redmond Morris, who was a Captain in Luttrell’s Horse, in the Irish Army of King James II., belonged to a branch of the Montmorency-Morris family, which descended from John, second son of the Lord of Lateragh, who died A.D. 1562, seized in fee of Lateragh and other estates. John’s grandson, another John, who was created a Baronet, 25th March, 1631, married Catherine, dau. of Sir Edmond Walsh, of Owney Abbey, county Limerick, and had six sons. Redmond, his eldest son and successor in the title, married Ellice Wall, of Coolnamucky, county Waterford, and had three sons: 1. Sir John; 2. Hervey; and 3. Edmond (or Edward). Sir John, third Baronet (born 1620, died 1720, aged 100 years), married the Hon. Ellinor Butler, and had four sons: 1. Redmond; 2. Edward; 3. Nich.; and 4. James.

This Redmond was the above mentioned Captain in Luttrell’s Horse; in which regiment he served till the surrender at Limerick, when he went over to the English, having reached the grade of Lieut.-Colonel. The regiment being shortly after broken up, he was reduced to seek employment in France, in whose service he became a colonel. While in France he married the daughter of a merchant, named Tracy, which so irritated his father, Sir John, that he cut him off from the entail; whereupon Redmond returned to London, and, in 1703, conformed to the Protestant religion, and obtained a special Act of Parliament disqualifying his father from changing the natural line of succession. He, however, died before his father, in 1704, and was buried in St. Mary’s Church, London. His heart was sent to Ireland and deposited in the Morris Chapel at Droom, near Knockagh. Redmond had two sons and four daughters; his sons were; 1. John, and 2. Simon, who both enjoyed the baronetcy.

John became fourth Bart., on the death of his grandfather, in 1720; he married Margaret O’Shee, of Cloran, county Kilkenny, by whom he had two sons—Redmond, and Edmond, and three daughters; he died A.D. 1728. His second son, Edmond, died unmarried; his eldest son, Redmond, who became the fifth Bart., was of delicate habit and intellect, became a Protestant, and through personal pique alienated his estates from his next male heir, and died unmarried, A.D. 1740. His uncle Simon, second son of Captain Redmond, succeeded to his title.

Captain Harvey (or Hervey) Morris, of Castlemorris, was next brother to Sir John, the third Baronet, of the Lateragh branch, and was consequently uncle to Captain Redmond of Luttrell’s regiment. He married and had five sons—Richard, Redmond, James, Harvey, and Francis. This Francis, the youngest son, married Catherine, dau. and heiress of Sir William Evans, of Killkreen, county Kilkenny, and had three sons— Harvey, the eldest of whom was created Viscount Montmorris, on 23rd April, 1756. He was married twice: first, to Letitia, daughter of Earl of Bessborough, by whom he had one son, Harvey Redmond; and, secondly, to Mary, daughter of Wm. Wall, of Coolnamucky, in county Waterford, by whom he had Francis Harvey. This first Viscount died, A.D. 1766, and was succeeded by Harvey Redmond as second Viscount, who died unmarried in 1797, and was succeeded by his half-brother Francis Harvey, third Viscount, who married Anne, daughter of Joseph Reade, of Castle Hoyle, county Kilkenny, and had one son, Harvey, born 1796.

From Sir John Morris, who in 1631 wa3 created a Baronet, the following is the pedigree:

1. Sir John Morris, who was created a Bart. in 1631, married Catherine Walsh, and had six sons:

1. Sir Redmond, the second Bart., of whom presently.
2. Geoffrey, from whom Edmond Morris of Grantstown, M.P. for the Queen’s County, who was slain at the Battle of Aughrim, was descended. (Strange, that this Edmond’s name is not on King James’s Army List.)
3. Stephen, d.s.p.
4. Francis, d.s.p.
5. Oliver.
6. John.

2. Sir Edmond, the second Bart.: eldest son of Sir John; mar. Ellice Wall, and had three sons:

1. Sir John, of whom presently.
2. Harvey, of Castlemorris, who was a Captain in Luttrell’s Regiment, mar. and had five sons: 1. Richard, 2. Redmond, 3. James, 4. Harvey, and 5. Francis;[1]
3. Edward: the third son of Sir Redmond, the second Bart.

3. Sir John Morris (died 1720, aged 100 years): the third Bart. and eldest son of Sir Redmond, m. Ellice Butler, and had four sons:

1. Captain Redmond Morris, of Luttrell’s Regiment, of whom presently.
2. Edmond, d.s.p.
3. Nicholas, who mar. Susan Talbot, of Malahide Castle, and had an only surviving son, Sir Nicholas, the eighth Bart., who was a Brigadier-General in the French Army, and who in 1811 had no issue.

4. Captain Redmond Morris (d. 1704): eldest son of Sir John (died before his father); mar. a French lady, and became a Colonel in the French service. He had two sons:

1. Sir John, the fourth Bart., of whom presently.
2. Sir Simon, the sixth Bart., m. dau. of Rev. Mr. Gregory, and had Sir George Morris, the seventh Bart., who d.s.p.

5. Sir John: son of Captain Redmond Morris; was the fourth Bart. (d. 1728). He mar. Margaret O’Shee, and had two sons:

1. Sir Redmond, the fifth Bart., of whom presently.
2. Edmond, d.s.p.

6. Sir Redmond: son of Sir John Morris; d.s.p., in 1740.

Notes

[1] Francis: This Francis, as above mentioned, married the daughter of Sir William Evans, of Killkreen, county Kilkenny, and had three sons, the eldest of whom, Harvey (d. 1766), was created “Viscount Montmorris,” who was twice mar., and had two sons: by the first mar. he had Harvey-Redmond (the second Viscount), who d.s.p,, 1797; and, by the second mar. had Francis-Harvey (the third Viscount), who had one son, Harvey Morris, born in 1796.