Thomas Meredith
Encyclopedia
The Rev. Dr Thomas Meredith (1777–1819) D.D.
, F.T.C.D.
was an Anglo-Irish
clergyman and mathematician
, best remembered for his association with the poet Charles Wolfe
, and as the subject of a ghost
story related in True Irish Ghost Stories and Memorials to the Dead
for Co. Dublin, and his wife Martha (1752–1834), daughter of Thomas Chaytor (d.1797) of Charlemont Place, Dublin. Not long after Meredith was born his father moved to Dublin. Templerany (where his family had made their home since the late seventeenth century) was passed to Meredith's uncle, William Meredith (1752–1791) and his wife, Sarah Garrett (1758–1822) of Mount Pleasant, Co. Carlow
; niece of 1st Baron Mountflorence
, of Florence Court
. Thomas Meredith was a grandson of the John Meredith (1711–1786) of Templerany, who c.1750 had his portrait painted with his whippet
by William Hoare
at Bath.
as a 'pensioner' in 1791 (spelling his name 'Meredyth'). Two years later, in 1793, he was elected a scholar of the college, and in 1795 he graduated with a B.A.
degree. Following university
he spent the next few years managing his inheritances in Co. Wicklow
and Dublin, but using his spare time to work on mathematical theories. In 1805 he took his M.A.
and in the same year was elected to be a Fellow
of Trinity College., where he is remembered as a distinguished mathematician. At his Dublin home, 1 Fitzwilliam Square
, he kept a collection of books and maps.
At Trinity, in 1810, Meredith was tutor to the future Bishop of Meath, Charles Dickinson (1792–1842) D.D., P.C. Dickinson's biography states that 'Dr Meredith, reckoned by many as the best lecturer and tutor of his time in college, was so impressed with the manly talents of his pupil, that he urged him to direct his thoughts to the bar, as the certain road to speedy and high advancement'. Dickinson was a close friend of Charles Wolfe
and Hercules Henry Graves (1794–1817), Meredith's brother-in-law.
In 1842 an article was written for the Dublin University Magazine
by a relation of his wife's, Robert Perceval Graves (brother of Charles Graves (bishop)
). It celebrated the achievements of Graves' friend Sir William Rowan Hamilton
, stating that Thomas Meredith was one of the first to recognise Hamilton’s extraordinary intellectual abilities:
We well remember to have heard, long before we ever saw our friend, of Dr Meredith, formerly Fellow of Trinity College, and a man of great learning and ability, reporting with expressions of astonishment, that he had examined in the country a child of six or seven, who read, translated and understood Hebrew better than many candidates for fellowship; this child was young Hamilton.
In 1811, he took a B.D.
, and the following year he was awarded as a Doctor of Divinity
. He retired his fellowship in 1813 to take the valuable living of Ardtrea, Co. Tyrone, which was openly exclusively to Fellows of Trinity College. His residence there, Ardtrea House, was described as "a large and handsome house built of hewn freestone". He was remembered at Ardtrea for never turning a man away from his door, always having a silver piece for those who came to him in need. He remained there for six years, until his untimely death in 1819 at the age of forty two. His father-in-law, The Very Rev. Richard Graves
, wrote, "...and now another apparently most calamitous visitation presents itself, in the sudden death of my beloved and excellent son-in-law, by apoplexy, a disorder of which of all men he seemed least liable." The 'Freeman’s Journal of Dublin' reported,
Learned, amiable, and unassuming, he was unfeignedly respected and sincerely beloved by his numerous acquaintance and friends, all of whom deeply deplore his premature departure. He has left behind him an amiable and disconsolate widow and a family of seven children, most of whom are yet too young to feel the irreparable loss which they have sustained
, Charles Wolfe
, was much attached to, and a great admirer of Thomas Meredith. He was the Curate
of nearby Donaghmore, County Tyrone and a frequent guest of the Merediths at Ardtrea. Chiefly remembered today for his poem The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna, brought to the attention of the public by Lord Byron, Wolfe was also the author of the inscription on Meredith's memorial at the Church of Ardtrea and an epitaph
for his tomb. The memorial is made of black and white marble
and is surmounted by the Meredith crest and coat of arms
:
Charles Wolfe
wrote a poem for Meredith, meant as a second epitaph
intended for the tomb itself:
In 1817, Wolfe wrote a letter demonstrating how he valued Meredith’s friendship,
In a brief memoir to Charles Wolfe's life, published in 1842, The Ven. John A. Russell (Archdeacon of Clogher), introduces Meredith as follows,
The letter was headed ‘Castle Caulfield, May 4th, 1819’, where Wolfe was presumably staying, and it expresses his anguish at Meredith’s death as well as the deep respect he held for his friend,
of Ardtrea. Coincidentally, he was married to Adelaide Creed Meredith (1878–1968), sister of James Creed Meredith
, and one of Thomas Meredith's great granddaughters. Scott wrote a letter to Lt.-Colonel http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3357212&rec_nbr_list=1312859,1312858,1312833,1312830,1312817,1312188,3743013,106103,105701,3357212&title=Mr.+%26+Mrs.+C.P.+Meredith+at+the+Seigniory+Club%2C+Montebello%2C+1933.+&ecopy=c003128&back_url=(http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/results/arch?module=arch&Language=eng&module=arch&Language=eng&FormName=from+MIKAN+Search+Results&SortSpec=score+desc&Language=eng&QueryParser=lac_mikan&Sources=mikan&Archives=&SearchIn_1=&Operator_1=AND&SearchIn_2=&SearchInText_2=&Operator_2=AND&SearchIn_3=&SearchInText_3=&MaterialDateOperator=after&MaterialDate=&ResultCount=10&Media=&Level=&DigitalImages=&Source=&cainInd=&SearchInText_1=meredith+quebec&Paging=true&PageNum=2&MaxDocs=-1)Colborne Powell Meredith] of Ottawa
, one of Meredith's grandchildren. The letter is kept at the National Archives of Canada, and is based on the account of Meredith's death as recorded in Memorials to the Dead:
The second variation of the event appeared in True Irish Ghost Stories (published in 1926) by St. John Drelincourt Seymour, a relative of Meredith's wife, under the chapter 'Legendary and Ancestral ghosts'.,
, by his wife, Elizabeth Maria (1767–1827), the eldest daughter of the Rev. James Drought (1738–1820) D.D., S.F.T.C.D., of Ridgemount House, Ballyboy, King's Co. (Co. Offaly) and Ferbans, County Wicklow
, a nephew of the 'learned savage', his mother's brother, Theaker Wilder
. Mrs Meredith, sister of Robert James Graves
, was described as 'a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character.' They were the parents of seven children, who included amongst them Sir William Collis Meredith
and Edmund Allen Meredith
, first cousins of John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
. In the early 1830's their eldest son, Richard Graves Meredith, had lived for a time in London
, where he was a close friend of the poet Thomas Campbell; helping to found and serving as secretary to the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland
. Their descendants include Escott Reid
, James Creed Meredith
, Ralph Creed Meredith
, Frederick Edmund Meredith
, Berkeley Smith
and Rowan Gillespie
.
After Meredith's death, his widow moved their family back to Harcourt Street, Dublin. In 1824, but without the approval of her parents, she re-married her mother's widowed cousin, the Rev. (James) Edmund Burton (1776–1850), "who wasted every farthing of his Irish property before having the sense to migrate to Canada". According to Burton's nephew, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton
, Eliza had originally been his first choice of wife, but she had preferred Thomas Meredith to him. He was the son of the Rev. Edward Burton (b.1747) of Newgarden House, Annaghdown
, Co. Galway, by his wife Maria Margaretta Campbell, Eliza Meredith's great aunt. Edmund Burton was also the uncle of Lady Henry William Stisted
.
Seemingly after Burton had squandered his property in Ireland, at the invitation of the 'Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts', he went to Terrebonne, Quebec
, becoming the county's first Anglican minister. The attraction may have been that with the job he was also granted 1000 acres (4 km²) of land. By the time he returned to Ireland
, he had added another 1447 acres (5.9 km²) to his property, perhaps in an attempt to regain what he had lost in Ireland
. After the death of his first wife, he returned home to find a new bride for his ten motherless children. On marrying the widowed Eliza Meredith, he waited until the summer of that year (1824) to return with his new wife and four of her children to his house and farm, 'Burtonville' (where the village of Sainte-Julienne, Quebec
is found today), outside the village of Rawdon, Quebec
, which was then a four day journey north of Montreal
.
They lived there until 1833 before settling at Cloyne
, Co. Cork
. Eliza 'conveniently' left all the Burton children by her husband's first marriage in Canada
, according to them, 'in an unconcerned manner'. By Mr Burton she had a further six children, though it was noted by her son Edmund Allen Meredith
to one his brothers, that "all the Graves' (underlined) entertain such a decided antipathy to Mr Burton that I do not think they would feel disposed to undertake the charge in anyway of one of his children". However, the Meredith children were said to have taken a great interest in the education and welfare of their younger half brothers and sisters. Thomas Meredith's widow died at 84 Great King Street, Edinburgh
, the home of Major Robert Graves Burton M.D., of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons
, one of her sons by her second marriage, March 31, 1855.
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
, F.T.C.D.
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
was an Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
clergyman and mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, best remembered for his association with the poet Charles Wolfe
Charles Wolfe (poet)
Charles Wolfe was an Irish poet, chiefly remembered for his "exquisite elegy", The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna-Family:...
, and as the subject of a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
story related in True Irish Ghost Stories and Memorials to the Dead
Background
Born at Templerany House, Co. Wicklow, the eldest son of Ralph Meredith (1748–1799), Attorney Exchequer and Justice of the PeaceJustice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for Co. Dublin, and his wife Martha (1752–1834), daughter of Thomas Chaytor (d.1797) of Charlemont Place, Dublin. Not long after Meredith was born his father moved to Dublin. Templerany (where his family had made their home since the late seventeenth century) was passed to Meredith's uncle, William Meredith (1752–1791) and his wife, Sarah Garrett (1758–1822) of Mount Pleasant, Co. Carlow
County Carlow
County Carlow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Carlow, which lies on the River Barrow. Carlow County Council is the local authority for the county...
; niece of 1st Baron Mountflorence
John Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence
John Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence was an Irish peer and politician.Born in Dublin, he was the son of John Cole, Member of Parliament for Enniskillen...
, of Florence Court
Florence Court
Florence Court is a large 18th century house and estate located 8 miles south-west of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is set in the foothills of Cuilcagh Mountain. The nearby village is distinguished by the one-word name Florencecourt. It is owned and managed by the National...
. Thomas Meredith was a grandson of the John Meredith (1711–1786) of Templerany, who c.1750 had his portrait painted with his whippet
Whippet
The Whippet is a breed of dog in the sighthound family. They are active and playful and are physically similar to a small Greyhound.- Description :...
by William Hoare
William Hoare
William Hoare of Bath RA was an English painter and printmaker, co-founder of the Royal Academy noted for his pastels....
at Bath.
Career
Privately tutored by Samuel Crumpe (a relative of the Collis family), Meredith's father signed him into Trinity College, DublinTrinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
as a 'pensioner' in 1791 (spelling his name 'Meredyth'). Two years later, in 1793, he was elected a scholar of the college, and in 1795 he graduated with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree. Following university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
he spent the next few years managing his inheritances in Co. Wicklow
Wicklow
Wicklow) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census. The town is situated to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford. Wicklow is also connected to the rail...
and Dublin, but using his spare time to work on mathematical theories. In 1805 he took his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and in the same year was elected to be a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of Trinity College., where he is remembered as a distinguished mathematician. At his Dublin home, 1 Fitzwilliam Square
Fitzwilliam Square
Fitzwilliam Square is a small but historic Georgian square in the south of central Dublin, Ireland. It was the last of the five Georgian squares in Dublin to be built....
, he kept a collection of books and maps.
At Trinity, in 1810, Meredith was tutor to the future Bishop of Meath, Charles Dickinson (1792–1842) D.D., P.C. Dickinson's biography states that 'Dr Meredith, reckoned by many as the best lecturer and tutor of his time in college, was so impressed with the manly talents of his pupil, that he urged him to direct his thoughts to the bar, as the certain road to speedy and high advancement'. Dickinson was a close friend of Charles Wolfe
Charles Wolfe (poet)
Charles Wolfe was an Irish poet, chiefly remembered for his "exquisite elegy", The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna-Family:...
and Hercules Henry Graves (1794–1817), Meredith's brother-in-law.
In 1842 an article was written for the Dublin University Magazine
Dublin University Magazine
The Dublin University Magazine was an independent literary cultural and political magazine published in Dublin from 1833 to 1882. It started out as a magazine of political commentary but increasingly became devoted to literature.-Early days:...
by a relation of his wife's, Robert Perceval Graves (brother of Charles Graves (bishop)
Charles Graves (bishop)
The Rt. Rev. Charles Graves, F.R.S., D.D., LL.D. was a 19th Century Anglican Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe. He was also a mathematician.-Early life:...
). It celebrated the achievements of Graves' friend Sir William Rowan Hamilton
William Rowan Hamilton
Sir William Rowan Hamilton was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques...
, stating that Thomas Meredith was one of the first to recognise Hamilton’s extraordinary intellectual abilities:
We well remember to have heard, long before we ever saw our friend, of Dr Meredith, formerly Fellow of Trinity College, and a man of great learning and ability, reporting with expressions of astonishment, that he had examined in the country a child of six or seven, who read, translated and understood Hebrew better than many candidates for fellowship; this child was young Hamilton.
In 1811, he took a B.D.
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
, and the following year he was awarded as a Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
. He retired his fellowship in 1813 to take the valuable living of Ardtrea, Co. Tyrone, which was openly exclusively to Fellows of Trinity College. His residence there, Ardtrea House, was described as "a large and handsome house built of hewn freestone". He was remembered at Ardtrea for never turning a man away from his door, always having a silver piece for those who came to him in need. He remained there for six years, until his untimely death in 1819 at the age of forty two. His father-in-law, The Very Rev. Richard Graves
The Very Rev. Richard Graves
Richard Graves was a theological scholar and author of the classic in its time, Graves on the Pentateuch. He was one of the seven Senior Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Dean of Ardagh....
, wrote, "...and now another apparently most calamitous visitation presents itself, in the sudden death of my beloved and excellent son-in-law, by apoplexy, a disorder of which of all men he seemed least liable." The 'Freeman’s Journal of Dublin' reported,
Learned, amiable, and unassuming, he was unfeignedly respected and sincerely beloved by his numerous acquaintance and friends, all of whom deeply deplore his premature departure. He has left behind him an amiable and disconsolate widow and a family of seven children, most of whom are yet too young to feel the irreparable loss which they have sustained
Charles Wolfe
The poetPoet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, Charles Wolfe
Charles Wolfe (poet)
Charles Wolfe was an Irish poet, chiefly remembered for his "exquisite elegy", The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna-Family:...
, was much attached to, and a great admirer of Thomas Meredith. He was the Curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of nearby Donaghmore, County Tyrone and a frequent guest of the Merediths at Ardtrea. Chiefly remembered today for his poem The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna, brought to the attention of the public by Lord Byron, Wolfe was also the author of the inscription on Meredith's memorial at the Church of Ardtrea and an epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
for his tomb. The memorial is made of black and white marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
and is surmounted by the Meredith crest and coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
:
Sacred to the memory of THOMAS MEREDITH D.D., Formerly Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, And 6 years Rector of this Parish. A man who gave to learning a beauty not its own, And threw over Science and Literature the lustre of the Gospel And the sweet influence of Christianity. The talents which he clothed in humility And his silent and unobtrusive benevolence Were unable to escape the respect and admiration of society: But those who witnessed him in the bosom of his family And shared the treasures of his conversation Seldom failed to find the ways of wisdom more pleasant than before And to discover fresh loveliness in that Gospel Upon which his hopes and his ministry were founded He was summoned from a family of which he was the support and delight And from the flock to which he was eminently endeared On 2nd May 1819 in the 42nd year of his age By a sudden and awful visitation but he knew That his Redeemer lived. ‘Erected by his Sons’.
Charles Wolfe
Charles Wolfe (poet)
Charles Wolfe was an Irish poet, chiefly remembered for his "exquisite elegy", The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna-Family:...
wrote a poem for Meredith, meant as a second epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
intended for the tomb itself:
Here lies in this lone spot, this holy shade,
One less for earth than heavens high mansions made,
Whose virtues all in paths untrodden moved,
Too little known, alas! Too much beloved!
Whom talent, science, wisdom, goodness crowned,
With wreaths as gentle as these flowers around,
Whose modest beauty shun all common eyes,
To bless this sacred spot, these purer skies,
And like his bloom in home's sequestered Vale,
To him who gave them all their sweets exhale,
But us't to human praise he sought not such,
Unheeding all but his he loved so much,
Then be our task to fit our minds to raise
In purer Worlds a fitter song of praise,
For them alone to know his worth is given
Who lived on earth as Saints shall live in Heaven.
In 1817, Wolfe wrote a letter demonstrating how he valued Meredith’s friendship,
"I am surrounded by grandees, who count their income by thousands, and by clergymen innumerable; however, I have kept out of their reach; I have preferred my turf-fire, my books, and the memory of the friends I have left, to all the society that Tyrone can furnish… with one bright exception. At Meredith’s I am indeed every way at home; I am at home in friendship and hospitality, in science and literature, in our common friends and acquaintance, and in topics of religion."
In a brief memoir to Charles Wolfe's life, published in 1842, The Ven. John A. Russell (Archdeacon of Clogher), introduces Meredith as follows,
"The following letter (quoted below) gives an affecting account of the death of a valued friend, to whom he (Wolfe) had lately become particularly attached, the Rev. Dr Meredith, formerly a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and then rector of Ardtrea. He was esteemed one of the most distinguished scholars in the university to which he belonged. His genius for mathematical acquirements especially, was universally allowed to be of the first order; and his qualifications as a public examiner and lecturer were so eminent, as to render his early retirement from the duties of a fellowship a serious loss to the college. Of our author's talents he entertained the highest opinion; and his congeniality of disposition soon led him to appreciate fully the still higher qualities of his heart."
The letter was headed ‘Castle Caulfield, May 4th, 1819’, where Wolfe was presumably staying, and it expresses his anguish at Meredith’s death as well as the deep respect he held for his friend,
"My Dear… I am just come from the house of mourning! Last night I helped to lay poor Meredith in his coffin, and followed him this morning to his grave. The visitation was truly awful. Last Tuesday (this day week) he was struck to the ground by a fit of apoplexy, and from that moment until the hour of his death, on Sunday evening, he never articulated. I did not hear of his danger until Sunday evening, and yesterday morning I ran ten miles [16 km], like a madman, and was only in time to see his dead body. It will be a cruel and bitter thought to me for many a day, that I had not one farewell from him, while he was on the brink of the world. Oh… one of my heart-strings is broken ! The only way I have of describing my attachment to that man, is by telling you, that next to you and Dickinson, he was the person in whose society I took the greatest delight. A visit to Ardtrea was often in prospect to sustain me in many of my cheerless labours. My gems are falling away; But I do hope and trust, it is because 'God is making up his jewels'. Dr Meredith was a man of a truly Christian temper of mind. We used naturally to fall upon religious subjects; And I now revert, with peculiar gratification, to the cordiality with which we took sweet counsel together upon these topics. You know that he was possessed of the first and most distinguishing characteristic of a Christian disposition, humility. He preached the Sunday before for _, and the surmon was unusually solemn and impressive, and in the true spirit of the Gospel. Indeed, from several circumstances, he seems to have had some strange presentiments of what was to happen. His air and look some time before his dissolution had, as _ told me, an expression of the most awful and profound devotion."
Ghost and Silver Bullet
In regards to the 'sudden and awful visitation' that took his life, referred to on Meredith's memorial at Ardtrea, there are two curious stories told about him shooting at a ghost with a silver bullet. The first appeared in a book called Memorials to the Dead (published 1903, page 462). In 1924, the Rev. (William) Ernest Richard Scott (b.1874) was the RectorRector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Ardtrea. Coincidentally, he was married to Adelaide Creed Meredith (1878–1968), sister of James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith K.C., LL.D. was an Irish nationalist of the early 20th century, who upheld Brehon Law. He was President of the Supreme Court of the Irish Republic, Chief Judicial Commissioner of Ireland and a Judge of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Ireland...
, and one of Thomas Meredith's great granddaughters. Scott wrote a letter to Lt.-Colonel http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3357212&rec_nbr_list=1312859,1312858,1312833,1312830,1312817,1312188,3743013,106103,105701,3357212&title=Mr.+%26+Mrs.+C.P.+Meredith+at+the+Seigniory+Club%2C+Montebello%2C+1933.+&ecopy=c003128&back_url=(http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/results/arch?module=arch&Language=eng&module=arch&Language=eng&FormName=from+MIKAN+Search+Results&SortSpec=score+desc&Language=eng&QueryParser=lac_mikan&Sources=mikan&Archives=&SearchIn_1=&Operator_1=AND&SearchIn_2=&SearchInText_2=&Operator_2=AND&SearchIn_3=&SearchInText_3=&MaterialDateOperator=after&MaterialDate=&ResultCount=10&Media=&Level=&DigitalImages=&Source=&cainInd=&SearchInText_1=meredith+quebec&Paging=true&PageNum=2&MaxDocs=-1)Colborne Powell Meredith] of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, one of Meredith's grandchildren. The letter is kept at the National Archives of Canada, and is based on the account of Meredith's death as recorded in Memorials to the Dead:
In the parish of Ardtrea, in the County of Tyrone, stands the big rectory in which I took up my abode, with my family, on my appointment to the living in 1914. It is a curious house, with a curious history - a huge, grim, rambling building standing in the midst of forty-five acres of grounds. Erected over a century ago (1805) for a wealthy incumbent (the man who Meredith succeeded), at a time when parochial values were very different from what they are today, the atmosphere of the place seems to be impregnated with that peculiar blend of mystery and superstition which surrounds so many old houses of the kind. The rectory of Ardtrea, however, would appear to have more justification than most for the mixed feelings with which it is regarded by the simple country folk around.
Its very situation lends itself to thoughts of the mysterious. Magnificent beech trees stand upon the lawn (which it is said were planted by the sons of Thomas Meredith), and other forest giants and mournful yews are ringed about the grey old mansion. The long carriage-drive, too, is guarded by a noble avenue of great trees, and thick masses of ivy cluster upon the walls which flank the great wooden door enclosing the courtyard.
If its situation and appearance bears the impress of the unusual, so likewise do its traditions. One of its first inhabitants (the second), Dr Thomas Meredith, a former Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, Rector of Ardtrea for six years, and great-grandfather of my wife, died within its doors in 1819 from a ‘sudden and awful visitation’, as his tombstone states.
Exactly what this was no one seems to know, but the story runs that a governess employed by Dr Meredith was troubled by a ghost, which took the form of a lady arrayed in white - possibly, averred local tradition, the Virgin Saint Trea, who lived hereabout in the fifth century. This apparition greatly troubled the good doctor, and on the advice of a friend he charged a gun with a solid silver bullet and lay in wait for the midnight visitor. In due course a report (shot) was heard, and next day the Rector lay dying upon the flagged floor of a basement room. From that hour the country-people looked a skant upon the ‘haunted’ house, and avoided it whenever possible.
The second variation of the event appeared in True Irish Ghost Stories (published in 1926) by St. John Drelincourt Seymour, a relative of Meredith's wife, under the chapter 'Legendary and Ancestral ghosts'.,
In the Parish Church of Ardtrea, near Cookstown, is a marble monument and inscription in memory of Thomas Meredith, D.D., who had been a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and for six years rector of the parish. He died, according to the words of the inscription, on 2nd May 1819, as a result of "a sudden and awful visitation." A local legend explains this "visitation," by stating that a ghost haunted the rectory, the visits of which had caused his family and servants to leave the house.
The rector had tried to shoot it but failed; then he was told to use a silver bullet; he did so, and next morning was found dead at his hall-door while a hideous object like a devil made horrid noises out of any window the servant man approached. This man was advised by some Roman Catholic neighbours to get the priest, who would "lay" the thing. The priest arrived, and with the help of a jar of whisky the ghost became quite civil, till the last glass in the jar, which the priest was about to empty out for himself, whereupon the ghost or devil made himself as thin and long as a Lough Neagh eel, and slipped himself into the jar to get the last drops. But the priest put the cork into its place and hammered it in, and, making the sign of the Cross on it, he had the evil thing secured. It was buried in the cellar of the rectory, where on some nights it can still be heard calling to be let out.
Family
At Dublin, July 7, 1807, Thomas Meredith married Elizabeth Maria (1791–1855), the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard GravesThe Very Rev. Richard Graves
Richard Graves was a theological scholar and author of the classic in its time, Graves on the Pentateuch. He was one of the seven Senior Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Dean of Ardagh....
, by his wife, Elizabeth Maria (1767–1827), the eldest daughter of the Rev. James Drought (1738–1820) D.D., S.F.T.C.D., of Ridgemount House, Ballyboy, King's Co. (Co. Offaly) and Ferbans, County Wicklow
County Wicklow
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...
, a nephew of the 'learned savage', his mother's brother, Theaker Wilder
Theaker Wilder
Theaker Wilder was the first Regius Professor of Greek and Senior Register at Trinity College, Dublin and became famous for being Oliver Goldsmith's 'learned savage' of a tutor.- Family :...
. Mrs Meredith, sister of Robert James Graves
Robert James Graves
Robert James Graves, M.D., F.R.C.S. was an eminent Irish surgeon after whom Graves' disease takes its name. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Fellow of the Royal Society of London and the founder of the Dublin Journal of Medical Science...
, was described as 'a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character.' They were the parents of seven children, who included amongst them Sir William Collis Meredith
William Collis Meredith
The Hon. Sir William Collis Meredith, Kt., Q.C., D.C.L. was Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec.-Early life:...
and Edmund Allen Meredith
Edmund Allen Meredith
Edmund Allen Meredith LL.D., was Under Secretary of State for Canada; a prison reformer, writer, and the third principal of McGill University from 1846 to 1853.-Early life in Ireland:...
, first cousins of John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
John Walsingham Cooke Meredith J.P., an Anglo-Irish-Canadian office holder and businessman, best remembered as the father of the Eight London Merediths.-Background:...
. In the early 1830's their eldest son, Richard Graves Meredith, had lived for a time in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he was a close friend of the poet Thomas Campbell; helping to found and serving as secretary to the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland
Literary Association of the Friends of Poland
Literary Association of the Friends of Poland is a British organization of solidarity with Poles, co-founded February 25, 1832 in United Kingdom by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell.-History:...
. Their descendants include Escott Reid
Escott Reid
Escott Graves Meredith Reid, CC , was a Canadian diplomat who helped shape the UN & NATO, author, international public servant and academic administrator....
, James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith K.C., LL.D. was an Irish nationalist of the early 20th century, who upheld Brehon Law. He was President of the Supreme Court of the Irish Republic, Chief Judicial Commissioner of Ireland and a Judge of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Ireland...
, Ralph Creed Meredith
Ralph Creed Meredith
The Ven. Ralph Creed Meredith, M.A., was an Anglican Cleric who succeeded Edward Keble Talbot as Chaplain to His Majesty, King George VI and afterwards Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II...
, Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L. was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias for three of their Stanley Cup championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR at the inquest into the...
, Berkeley Smith
Berkeley Smith
Berkeley Alexander Smith . Broadcaster and a senior figure in the television world for nearly 40 years.-Birth:...
and Rowan Gillespie
Rowan Gillespie
Rowan Fergus Meredith Gillespie is an Irish bronze casting sculptor of international renown. Born in Dublin to Irish parents, Gillespie spent his formative years in Cyprus...
.
After Meredith's death, his widow moved their family back to Harcourt Street, Dublin. In 1824, but without the approval of her parents, she re-married her mother's widowed cousin, the Rev. (James) Edmund Burton (1776–1850), "who wasted every farthing of his Irish property before having the sense to migrate to Canada". According to Burton's nephew, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton
Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...
, Eliza had originally been his first choice of wife, but she had preferred Thomas Meredith to him. He was the son of the Rev. Edward Burton (b.1747) of Newgarden House, Annaghdown
Annaghdown
Annaghdown is a parish in County Galway, Ireland. It takes its name from Eanach Dhúin, Irish for "the marsh of the fort". The village lies around Annaghdown Bay, an inlet of Lough Corrib...
, Co. Galway, by his wife Maria Margaretta Campbell, Eliza Meredith's great aunt. Edmund Burton was also the uncle of Lady Henry William Stisted
Henry William Stisted
Lieut.-General Sir Henry William Stisted, KCB , served as the first Lieutenant Governor of Ontario after Confederation, from 1867 to 1868....
.
Seemingly after Burton had squandered his property in Ireland, at the invitation of the 'Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts', he went to Terrebonne, Quebec
Terrebonne, Quebec
Terrebonne is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shores of the Rivière des Mille-Îles and of the Rivière des Prairies, North of Montreal and Laval....
, becoming the county's first Anglican minister. The attraction may have been that with the job he was also granted 1000 acres (4 km²) of land. By the time he returned to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, he had added another 1447 acres (5.9 km²) to his property, perhaps in an attempt to regain what he had lost in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. After the death of his first wife, he returned home to find a new bride for his ten motherless children. On marrying the widowed Eliza Meredith, he waited until the summer of that year (1824) to return with his new wife and four of her children to his house and farm, 'Burtonville' (where the village of Sainte-Julienne, Quebec
Sainte-Julienne, Quebec
Sainte-Julienne is a community and municipality in Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada. According to the 2001 Canadian census, the community has a population of 7,182 The Sainte-Julienne Aerodrome is located in Sainte-Julienne.-Notable people:...
is found today), outside the village of Rawdon, Quebec
Rawdon, Quebec
Rawdon is a municipality located on the Ouareau River in southwestern Quebec, Canada, 45 minutes north of Montreal. It is the seat for the Regional County Municipality of Matawinie, in the Lanaudière region...
, which was then a four day journey north of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
They lived there until 1833 before settling at Cloyne
Cloyne
Cloyne is a small town to the south-east of the town of Midleton in eastern County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. It is also a see city of the Anglican Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese...
, Co. Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
. Eliza 'conveniently' left all the Burton children by her husband's first marriage in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, according to them, 'in an unconcerned manner'. By Mr Burton she had a further six children, though it was noted by her son Edmund Allen Meredith
Edmund Allen Meredith
Edmund Allen Meredith LL.D., was Under Secretary of State for Canada; a prison reformer, writer, and the third principal of McGill University from 1846 to 1853.-Early life in Ireland:...
to one his brothers, that "all the Graves' (underlined) entertain such a decided antipathy to Mr Burton that I do not think they would feel disposed to undertake the charge in anyway of one of his children". However, the Meredith children were said to have taken a great interest in the education and welfare of their younger half brothers and sisters. Thomas Meredith's widow died at 84 Great King Street, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, the home of Major Robert Graves Burton M.D., of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons
6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons
The 6th Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, before being amalgamated into the 5th/6th Dragoons in 1922.The 'Skins' are one of the four ancestor regiments of the Royal Dragoon...
, one of her sons by her second marriage, March 31, 1855.