Clement-Jones family - Person Sheet
Clement-Jones family - Person Sheet
NameJohn NICHOLSON, 15435
Notes for John NICHOLSON
Of Derrycaw
From http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/mcelroythenicholsons.html
The origins of the Nicholson family are well recorded by many writers but a difficulty arises for the modern historian in that no two accounts seem to agree. The best solution to this problem seems to be to state the various accounts and to let the reader make up his or her own mind.
Charles Allen tells that the Rev. William Nicholson came to Cranagill in 1622 as the rector of the Parish of Derrybrochus. This ancient parish - mentioned in the Annals of Ulster in 668AD as Daire Bruchaise - lies between the Bann and the Blackwater before they enter Lough Neagh. (N.B. the old church on the hill was later to give the Verner estate its name of Churchill) He built for himself in Cranagill a house at Tallbridge or Taulbridge ( the spellings vary) and remained there until 1641 when he and his house were swept away by the cataclysm of the rebellion of that year.
Allen records that the house was burned and the whole family murdered with the exception of the Rev. William's daughter-in-law and an infant grandson. These two survived the massacre because they had been hidden under a pile of brushwood by a servant. When the surviving grandson reached maturity he rebuilt the house at Cranagill. He had by this time experienced a religious conversion which led him to membership of the Society of Friends and because of this he became known as William the Quaker. These were, however, unsettled times and violence was to disturb the area again during the Williamite wars. In 1688 the advancing Jacobite forces burnt Tallbridge House and the Nicholson family fled to Londonderry for sanctuary. William the Quaker had three sons, two of whom died or were killed during the siege. The family later returned to Tallbridge and successive generations spread to the Gilford area where they were very influential in the development of linen bleaching in the Bann Valley.
A slightly different version of these events is given in A Biographical Dictionary of Irish Quakers by Richard S.Harrison. This states:
"According to tradition this family derives from William Nicholson, a clergyman who came to Ireland in 1588/9. His son, John Nicholson of Cranagill, was killed in the disturbances of 1641 at Tallbridge. John Nicholson's wife heard a noise when the rebels came to kill him and lay on the floor of an empty room with her child under her. The rebels supposed she was dead but gave her a wound that was not mortal anyway. She then fled the house but an officer of the English army took pity on her and wrapped her in his cloak, bringing her to Newry where she departed for England. The son's name was William (1632-1715) and when he grew up he came to Ireland and succeeded in regaining part of his father's land. William Nicholson was the first Quaker Nicholson and was convinced after hearing Thomas Loe preach."
In the biography "James Nicholson Richardson of Bessbrook", the biographer, Charlotte Fell Smith, when telling the story of the Richardson family writes, "Nicholson was a name to which the entire family became greatly attached, not least for their cherished story of their common ancestor Captain Nicholson who was a soldier in Cromwell's army." She tells how this Capt. Nicholson was quartered in Alnwick in Northumberland during the Civil Wars and that he had met, fallen in love with and married Lady Betty Percy, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland. When the Cromwellian army came to Ireland Capt. Nicholson brought his wife with him. During the fighting there he was killed and his wife later found wandering with a baby in her arms over the battlefield searching for her husband's body. When Oliver Cromwell heard the sad story he was touched by her plight and gave her a grant of lands in Ireland.
It is rather difficult to accommodate this version of the family story with that given by Allen and Harrison but if it is true one can surely see the emergence of the Percy (or Hotspurs as they were known in the North of England) traits in the personality of Brigadier-General John Nicholson.
Whatever is the exact story of the family origins in Ulster it is absolutely clear that a close connection existed between the Nicholson and Richardson families from an early date. The Richardsons had settled near to Loughgall in 1602. By the early 1700s three members of the Richardsons had married Nicholsons and this close web of Quaker families was to bring some members of the family to the Gilford area. In the townland of Moyallen the Christy family (also Quakers) had become extensive landowners and John Nicholson came into ownership of Stramore House through his marriage to Isabella Wakefield, a Christy connection
From http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/mcelroythenicholsons.html
The origins of the Nicholson family are well recorded by many writers but a difficulty arises for the modern historian in that no two accounts seem to agree. The best solution to this problem seems to be to state the various accounts and to let the reader make up his or her own mind.
Charles Allen tells that the Rev. William Nicholson came to Cranagill in 1622 as the rector of the Parish of Derrybrochus. This ancient parish - mentioned in the Annals of Ulster in 668AD as Daire Bruchaise - lies between the Bann and the Blackwater before they enter Lough Neagh. (N.B. the old church on the hill was later to give the Verner estate its name of Churchill) He built for himself in Cranagill a house at Tallbridge or Taulbridge ( the spellings vary) and remained there until 1641 when he and his house were swept away by the cataclysm of the rebellion of that year.
Allen records that the house was burned and the whole family murdered with the exception of the Rev. William's daughter-in-law and an infant grandson. These two survived the massacre because they had been hidden under a pile of brushwood by a servant. When the surviving grandson reached maturity he rebuilt the house at Cranagill. He had by this time experienced a religious conversion which led him to membership of the Society of Friends and because of this he became known as William the Quaker. These were, however, unsettled times and violence was to disturb the area again during the Williamite wars. In 1688 the advancing Jacobite forces burnt Tallbridge House and the Nicholson family fled to Londonderry for sanctuary. William the Quaker had three sons, two of whom died or were killed during the siege. The family later returned to Tallbridge and successive generations spread to the Gilford area where they were very influential in the development of linen bleaching in the Bann Valley.
A slightly different version of these events is given in A Biographical Dictionary of Irish Quakers by Richard S.Harrison. This states:
"According to tradition this family derives from William Nicholson, a clergyman who came to Ireland in 1588/9. His son, John Nicholson of Cranagill, was killed in the disturbances of 1641 at Tallbridge. John Nicholson's wife heard a noise when the rebels came to kill him and lay on the floor of an empty room with her child under her. The rebels supposed she was dead but gave her a wound that was not mortal anyway. She then fled the house but an officer of the English army took pity on her and wrapped her in his cloak, bringing her to Newry where she departed for England. The son's name was William (1632-1715) and when he grew up he came to Ireland and succeeded in regaining part of his father's land. William Nicholson was the first Quaker Nicholson and was convinced after hearing Thomas Loe preach."
In the biography "James Nicholson Richardson of Bessbrook", the biographer, Charlotte Fell Smith, when telling the story of the Richardson family writes, "Nicholson was a name to which the entire family became greatly attached, not least for their cherished story of their common ancestor Captain Nicholson who was a soldier in Cromwell's army." She tells how this Capt. Nicholson was quartered in Alnwick in Northumberland during the Civil Wars and that he had met, fallen in love with and married Lady Betty Percy, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland. When the Cromwellian army came to Ireland Capt. Nicholson brought his wife with him. During the fighting there he was killed and his wife later found wandering with a baby in her arms over the battlefield searching for her husband's body. When Oliver Cromwell heard the sad story he was touched by her plight and gave her a grant of lands in Ireland.
It is rather difficult to accommodate this version of the family story with that given by Allen and Harrison but if it is true one can surely see the emergence of the Percy (or Hotspurs as they were known in the North of England) traits in the personality of Brigadier-General John Nicholson.
Whatever is the exact story of the family origins in Ulster it is absolutely clear that a close connection existed between the Nicholson and Richardson families from an early date. The Richardsons had settled near to Loughgall in 1602. By the early 1700s three members of the Richardsons had married Nicholsons and this close web of Quaker families was to bring some members of the family to the Gilford area. In the townland of Moyallen the Christy family (also Quakers) had become extensive landowners and John Nicholson came into ownership of Stramore House through his marriage to Isabella Wakefield, a Christy connection