Theodosia Meade, Countess of Clanwilliam


Theodosia Hawkins-Magill, later Countess of Clanwilliam, was a great heiress and landowner in County Down, Ireland.

Early life and family

She was the daughter and heir of Robert Hawkins-Magill, of Gill Hall, Dromore, County Down, by his second wife, Anne Bligh, daughter of John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley and Theodosia Bligh, 10th Baroness Clifton. She may have been called "Titty" by her family, as this was a pet name used for Theodosia's aunt, Lady Theodosia Bligh, who married William, 2nd Lord Brandon, in 1745.
, 50 x 40 inches
When young, she was painted by both Reynolds and Gainsborough.
On 29 August 1765 she married John Meade, son and heir of Sir Richard Meade, 3rd Baronet, of Ballintober, co. Cork, by Catherine, daughter of Henry Prittie, of Kilboy, co. Tipperary. Sir John Meade, 4th Baronet, was created Baron Gillford, of the manor of Gillford, co. Down, and Viscount Clanwiliam, of co. Tipperary, on 17 November 1766, and Earl of Clanwilliam on 20 July 1776; all in the peerage of Ireland. Previously he had been MP for Banagher, 1764–66. Between them their estates in 1799 were said to be worth £14,000 per annum, which made them approximately the eleventh largest landowners in Ireland.

Properties

She lived at Gill Hall and at Burrenwood, a cottage ornée put up near Castlewellan on some land halfway between her mother's house at Castle Ward Bernard Ward after the early death of her first husband, Robert Hawkins-Magill, the Greenore Ferry, Rathfriland, and her ancestral seat at Gill Hall.

Burrenwood

Burrenwood stands between the forest parks of Tollymore and Castlewellan, beside the Mourne mountains and just inland from Dundrum bay at Newcastle. Burrenwood is comparable with the Swiss cottage at Cahir ; Derrymore, Bessbrook, Co. Armagh ; and the Petit hameau de la Reine at Versailles.

Gill Hall, near Dromore

Meanwhile, Gill Hall had become one of the most haunted houses in Ireland and was home to the "Beresford ghost story".
This took place 14 October 1693 when John Power, 2nd Earl of Tyrone told his friend, Nichola Sophia, the sister-in-law of Sir John Magill, youngest daughter of Hugh, 1st Lord Hamilton of Glenawly, wife to Sir Tristram Beresford, 3rd Baronet, and mother of Sir Marcus Beresford, 4th Baronet and 1st Viscount Tyrone, of his own death that day thus showing, as arranged, that there was life on the other side.
Part of the stable block remains but the house was destroyed over thirty years ago.

Descent of Gill Hall

Heraldic note