Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 223. “(Bingham, Clanmorris, B/Pb) A mid to late C18 house of two storeys over a basement, possibly by William Leeson. Seven bay entrance front, doorcase with blocked engaged Doric columns and pediment; broad flight of steps up to door. Adjoining front of seven bays, with three bay breakfront; centre windows in lower storey longer than those at the sides. The rooms are said to have been spacious but not very lofty. Irish battlemented tower in grounds. In 1837 the house was gutted by a fire with is said to have burnt for 8 days. Not rebuilt.”
Letters from Georgian Ireland: The Correspondence of Mary Delany 1731-68.
Ed. Angelique Day, foreward by Sybil Connolly. The Friar’s Bush Press, Belfast, UK, 1991.
p. 131. 27 Oct 1732. “I writ to you from Mr Bingham’s, we staid there Tuesday and Wednesday, and were very merry. Left that place on Thursday morning, and dined at another Mr Bingham’s [at Newbrook, Claremorris] about eight miles from Castlebar, uncle of the Mr Bingham we left – a very good, agreeable sort of man, extremely beloved by all the gentlemen of the country; his wife – a plain, country lady, civil, hospitable and an immoderate lover of quadrille; their two eldest daughters are beauties – reserved, well-behaved, but not entertaining, so we passed the day hum-drumish.
The next morning we decamped, and travelled to Tuam; nothing happened on the road remarkable, sometimes I rode, but generally went in the chaise with Phil, that being the way I like best. We got early into our inn, played at my lady’s hole, supped and went early to bed.
The next day we arrived at Mrs Mahone’s [Castlegar], staid there Sunday and Monday, were free and easy, lived as at Killala, everybody went their own way, we danced and sung, and were entertained in a very handsome, friendly manner. We left them Tuesday morning; jogged on through bods, and over plains, and about three miles from the place were to rest, we passed a fine place called Aire’s Court [Eyrescourt in Galway], a great many fine woods and improvements that looked very English.”
Listed in Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland by The Knight of Glin, David J. Griffin and Nicholas K. Robinson, published by The Irish Architectural Archive and The Irish Georgian Society, 1988.
THE TORRENSES OWNED 1,232 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM
JAMES TORRENS JP (1816-1884), of Edenmore, County Antrim, second son of JOHN TORRENS, of Clough (or Clogh), County Antrim, married, in 1848, Sarah Hughes (daughter of Samuel Gelston JP, of Rosstulla, County Antrim, and Eliza his wife, daughter of Thomas Hughes, and had issue,
JOHN; Thomas Hughes (1851-1928), of Edenmore, DL, High Sheriff, 1903.
The elder son,
JOHN TORRENS JP (1849-1908), of Rosstulla, wedded, in 1876, Florence, daughter of Robert Stewart Lepper JP, of Trainfield House, Belfast, and had issue,
JAMES ROBERT, his heir; Florence Muriel (1881-93); EILEEN, of whom hereafter.
Mr Torrens’s only son,
JAMES ROBERT TORRENS (1877-1921), Captain, 4th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, espoused, in 1902, Enid Maude (whom he divorced in 1908), daughter of the Hon William Forster, Agent-General of New South Wales, and had issue, JOHN BASIL HUGHES TORRENS (1902-).
John Torrens’s younger daughter,
EILEEN TORRENS (1886-1983), married, in 1911, Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Frederick Spence (1880-1937), Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment), who changed his name by deed poll, in 1928, to TORRENS-SPENCE, and had issue,
John Cecil (1913-91); FREDERICK MICHAEL ALEXANDER, of whom hereafter; Kenneth Brian, b 1919.
Click to Enlarge
The second son,
FREDERICK MICHAEL ALEXANDER TORRENS-SPENCE DSO DFC AFC (1914-2001), Captain, Royal Navy, of Drumcullen House, near Downpatrick, County Down, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1979, had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Ulster Defence Regiment, and Ulster Special Constabulary.
Captain Torrens-Spence succeeded SIR NORMAN STRONGE as Lord-Lieutenant of County Armagh (1981-89) following Sir Norman’s heinous murder with his son, James, at Tynan Abbey (my father and I attended their funeral in Tynan parish church).
He married, in 1944, Rachel Nora, eldest daughter of Edward Stanley Clarke, of Ballyauglis Lodge, County Antrim, and had issue,
MICHAEL WILLIAM, b 1947; Edward John, b 1953; Alexander Thomas, b 1954; Joanna Jane, b 1945.
His second son is BRIGADIER EDWARD JOHN (Johnny) TORRENS-SPENCE CBE.
LINEAGE OF SPENCE
WILLIAM SPENCE married Sarah ______ and had with other issue,
BENJAMIN, of whom presently; George; Mary; Ann.
The seventh child,
BENJAMIN SPENCE, of Bramley, Leeds, Yorkshire, born in 1766, married, and had with other issue,
JOHN, of whom presently; Catherine.
The eldest son,
MAJOR JOHN SPENCE, 86th Foot, served in the Peninsular War, 1810-14, born in 1795, wedded Honoria, daughter of ____________, of Limerick, and had issue, a son,
CAPTAIN SAMUEL SPENCE (1816-57), 28th Foot, served in Crimean War, 1854-56, who married, in 1841, Charlotte, daughter of ___________, of Dublin, and died on active service, 1857, leaving issue,
John; WILLIAM ALEXANDER, of whom hereafter; Sarah Julia; Margaret.
The younger son,
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL WILLIAM ALEXANDER SPENCE (1843-1900), espoused, in 1875, Margaret, daughter of the Rev Benjamin Dowding, and was killed in action, 1900, leaving,
Arthur; Cecil; HERBERT FREDERICK, of whom presently.
The youngest son,
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL HERBERT FREDERICK SPENCE (1880-1937), of Rosstulla, Whiteabbey, County Antrim (see above).
Edenmore
EDENMORE HOUSE, Whiteabbey, County Antrim, was built in the Italianate style ca 1865 for James Torrens (1796-1884), a prosperous solicitor and land agent for the Donegall and Shaftesbury estates in Ireland.
The mansion was likely designed for Mr Torrens by the architects Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon.
There were two gate lodges, long since demolished.
It remained the Torrens residence for 63 years years, until the death of James Torrens’s son, Thomas Hughes Torrens (1851-1928).
Following his decease, Edenmore became the quarters of Edenmore Veterinary Hospital under the patronage of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
In 1950, the house and demesne were adapted as RAF Edenmore, a base for No. 67 NI Reserve Group and No. 3502 (Ulster) Fighter Control Group.
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Edenmore operated as a hotel from 1963 until the mid-1980s.
Its principal function rooms were called Eden, Torrens and Shaftesbury.
Mrs Mary Delanystayed at Hollymount House in the summer of 1745, sketched the house and wrote a romantic description of it and the surrounding woodlands.
From the Prices, the property passed by marriage and inheritance, in 1779, to Francis Savage and then, when he died in 1723, to his widow, the Lady Harriet Butler.
Lady Harriet later married MATHEW FORDE, of Seaforde.
Her ladyship greatly enlarged Hollymount House, building a new Georgian-style wing in front of the old house, now ruinous.
In 1838, Lady Harriet sponsored the construction of Hollymount Church; and in 1841 arranged for the construction of a new house on her estate, Drumcullen, as a residence for the rector of the new church.
In 1853, she enlarged the house after a design by Charles Lanyon for herself and her nephew, the Rev Pierce Butler, Rector of Hollymount, 1852-56.
Later residents of Drumcullen House included the Rev F H Hall, William Russell, a solicitor in Downpatrick and Portaferry, the Whitesides and the Galways, from whom Captain Torrens-Spence bought the property ca 1948.
The estate comprises 113 acres including the house, garden, farmyard and woodland.
103 acres have been let on a con-acre basis to the same tenants for about 20 years.
There are farm buildings, including stables and three Dutch barns (recently re-roofed).
The property has recently been sold, following the death in 2017 of Mrs Rachel Torrens-Spence.
9, Wellington Place, Belfast
9, WELLINGTON PLACE, BELFAST, a red-brick Georgian townhouse of four storeys, was built ca 1830.
The premises were purchased outright in 1860 by Richard Davison and James Torrens, who were recorded as occupants in that year.
Davison and Torrens were solicitors who established an office at 9, Wellington Place, but also had a branch at 65, Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin.
Davison and Torrens continued to operate from their Wellington Place offices until the 1920s.
They also conducted business as estate agents and principally administered the estate of the Earl of Shaftesbury.
In 1910, Thomas Hughes Torrens was recorded as Lord Shaftesbury’s agent.
The solicitors continued to operate from the address in 1918; however, by that time the firm had changed its name to Torrens & Bristow, when John Bristow took over as partner from Davison.
Mr Torrens still operated as Lord Shaftesbury’s agent at this time.
Torrens & Bristow had vacated the building ca 1924.
Irish Historic Houses 