James Stanley (1762-1845) of Bethlehem, Co. Westmeath and Elizabeth Ireland (c1766-1832) were married 06 July 1786. The standard published genealogies disclose only one child – William James Stanley, born 1798. However, as Peter Stanley in his 1998 book The House of Stanley observed “Pedigrees are generally restricted to the issue of elder sons”. In fact, other sources reveal that in the nineteen years between 1788 and 1807, James and Elizabeth had thirteen children, of whom eight survived childhood.
There are three sources to support this:
(i) a C19th manuscript list of all thirteen children, in the possession of a descendant;
(ii) the parish records of Kilkenny West held by the Church of Ireland’s Representative Church Body Library in Dublin; and
(iii) a manuscript pedigree produced by the Office of Arms and held by the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.
C19th manuscript
(i) The C19th manuscript listing all thirteen children with accompanying dates of birth (and death where applicable) appears to have been written by one of the grandchildren of James and Elizabeth.
Kilkenny West parish records
(ii) The C19th century manuscript is corroborated by the parish records of Kilkenny West church, Co Westmeath in terms of the names, dates and order of children – but only so far as the last seven are concerned. The dates of baptism correspond perfectly with the dates of birth in six of the seven cases. The first six children do not appear in the parish’s records so were evidently baptised elsewhere.
Heraldic Pedigree
(iii) The heraldic pedigree (NLI. GO. MS. 8307) which purports to list the children of James and Elizabeth with spouses is (a) incomplete, having neither Elizabeth Ireland’s Christian name, nor any of the infants, nor two of the adults known to have married (b) in the wrong chronological order (c) incorrect in that the Christian name of at least one spouse is known to be wrong (although the surname is correct) and (d) partial – since William James Stanley’s line is full, detailed and presumably accurate, up to 1920, unlike those of everyone else. It does however corroborate the manuscript list (i) in several respects and certainly explodes the idea that William James was an only child.
The complete list of children is therefore as follows:
Magdalene + 1788-1805
James + 1789-1789
Edmond 1790-
Eliza + 1792-92
Catherine 1793-1854
Elizabeth 1795
James + 1797-1797
baptised Kilkenny West 12 Feb 1797 “son of James and Elizabeth Stanley”
William James 1798-1885
baptised Kilkenny West 18 March 1798 “son of James and Elizabeth Stanley”
Richard 1799-1864
baptised Kilkenny West 28 Oct 1799 “son of James and Elizabeth Stanley”
Susan 1801
baptised Kilkenny West 26 April 1801 “dau of James and Elizabeth Stanley”
Anne + 1802-1803
baptised Kilkenny West 29 Sept 1802? “dau of James and Elizabeth Stanley”
Arthur 1803-1880
baptised Kilkenny West 10 April 1803 “son of James and Elizabeth Stanley”
Magdalen 1807-1885
baptised Kilkenny West 13 June 1807 “dau of James and Elizabeth Stanley”
Obviously, there is still some work to do here. Did Kilkenny West records only begin c1797? Was the family based elsewhere between 1788 and 1797? (Not at St Werburgh’s, Dublin). Are there any nearby parishes, perhaps closer to Low Park, that might be likely candidates?