History of the Johnstones, 1191-1909, with ... - Electric Scotland

JOHNSTONS IN IRELAND 331
Royal Hibernian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, which he
founded, and laid the first stone of the Academic edifice in 1824, which was
built at his expense. (3) William, married Margaret, daughter of John Arthur
Donnelly. (4) Andrew, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland,
married Sophia, daughter of George Cheney of St. Stephen's Green, Dublin,
and Hollywood, Co. Kildare.
Andrew's son, Richard Johnston, late Rector of Kilmore, born 18 16, married
Augusta Sophia, daughter of the Rev. George Hamilton, son of the Bishop of
Ossory. She died i860. Mr Johnston died 1906, having married, secondly,
Hester, daughter of Robert William Lowry, J. P. and D.L. of Pomeroy, and
thirdly, Olivia Frances Hall-Dare. By his first wife he left: (1) George
Hamilton, Lieutenant-Colonel, late East Yorkshire Regiment, born 1847. (2)
Andrew Edmund, born 1848, married Mary Constance, daughter of John
Samuel Graves of Woodbine Hill, Honiton, Devon, and has George Paul
Graves, born 1881 ; Catherine; Isabel ; Constance.
(3) Francis Burdett (Rev.),
born 1850, Vicar of Waltham Abbey, Essex. (4) Henry Augustus, barrister-
at-law, J. P., Co. Armagh, born 1851. (5) Sophia. (6) Isabella. (7) Augusta.
Kilmore, the seat of Colonel G. H. Johnston, stands on a hill seven miles
from Armagh. The house is a museum of art and historical relics, among
which is the organ brought by Handel to Dublin in 1 741, on the occasion of
his Oratorio— " The Messiah "—being performed. The family pictures include
portraits of some of the Burney family, Susan Bumey having married Colonel
Molesworth Phillips, great-grand-uncle of the present owner of the estate ;
Philip Crampton and Chief Justice Doherty, direct descendants of Captain
John Johnston of Drumconnell ; Nathaniel Weld Johnston, and William, son
and grandson of William Johnston, who settled at Bordeaux ; Hugh Hamilton,
D.D., F.R.S., Dean of Armagh, and later Bishop of Ossory ; Major-General
Robert Ross, the hero of Bladensberg; Walter Shirley, Bishop of Sodor and
Man ;
George Hamilton, M.P. for Belfast, Solicitor-General for Ireland, a Judge
of the Irish Court of Exchequer ; Major-General Sir Edward Barnes, G.C.B.,
M.P. ; Right Hon. Sir Henry King, Bart., M.P. ; Thomas Cromwell, Earl of
Essex ; John Paulet, first Marquis of Winchester ; and Sir John Seymour,
maternal ancestors of the present owner. There are also marble busts of the
Marquis of Wellesley and the Duke of Wellington. 1
1 Last but not least are the mementoes of the eminent architect, Francis Johnston
(1761-1829), whose three-quarter length portrait, with that of his wife, hang on either side of
a splendid clock in the spacious hall. Opposite the entrance is a large picture of the Lower
Castle Yard, Dublin, showing the Old Chapel and the Birmingham Towers, in all of which
Francis Johnston superintended the modern alterations (1807-16). He lived at Armagh from
1786 to 1793, presiding over the erection of the Cathedral Tower. Later he held the post
of Architect and Inspector of Civil Buildings in Dublin, where his munificence and the
important works he executed are recorded on a silver trowel, now displayed in the hall at
Kilmore. It is inscribed: "His Majesty King George IV. was graciously pleased, on the
6th day of October 1822, to constitute and appoint the Royal Hibernian Academy of Painting,
Sculpture, and Architecture. Francis Johnston, Esq., then Treasurer and now President of
the body, laid with this trowel the first stone of the Academic edifice on the 29th day of April
1824. This building, elegant in design, spacious in extent, and costly in execution, he raised
and perfected at his sole and proper expense, and with it endowed the members of the
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