History of the House / 1878 to 1896 - The Knox family

Previous / Next: 1864 to 1878 - Bunbury McClintock / 1896 to 1901 - John Randal Plunkett

Earlscliffe residents 1878 to 1896

After the work that had been put into renovating Earlscliffe by the Bunbury McClintock's, the house was eventually sold in 1878 to Dawson Thomas Knox. [1] [2] [3]  

Dawson Thomas Knox and the Knox family

Family History

Knox Family Tree
Knox family tree

Dawson Thomas was born on the 4th May 1845, the fourth son of Reverend Thomas Knox and Eliza Winckworth Bent.

Reverend Thomas Knox was the Rector of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, whose own father, Venerable Charles Knox, was the Archdeacon of Armagh. Eliza was born in New South Wales in Australia in 1812.

Reverend Thomas Knox - first marriage

Dawson's father, Reverend Thomas was married twice.

His first marriage was to Eliza Winckworth Bent whom he married on the 1st Sep 1840.  Reverend Thomas and Eliza had six sons:

Details of the six sons of Reverend Thomas and Eliza Knox
Sibling Date of Birth Marriage Status Life details Date of death Age at death
Charles Jeffrey 7th July 1841 Charles married Elizabeth Georgina, third daughter of the Rev. Thomas Dawson Logan, rector of Charlestown, county Louth on 11th August 1864. Charles Jeffrey was born in Madras in India before being baptised in England. He was later in the Madras Civil Service and was the Assistant to the Collector and Magistrate of Nellore. [5]

Charles and Elizabeth had two children,  [4] Thomas Vesey Melville (born 1865) - insurance clerk in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Charles Arthur Northland (born 1867, died 1896) [24] of Transvaal, South Africa.		 Charles died 28 October 1881 on board the Peninsular and Oriental (P&O) steamer Mirzapore in the Red Sea.  [6] [7] 40
Ellis Henry 21st Nov 1842 Ellis never married. Ellis Henry Knox was born in Cheltenham in England. He was a Clerk in the Office of Commissioners of Church Temporalities in Ireland. Ellis died in Earlscliffe on the 20th Jun 1892 at the age of 49. He is buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton[8] 49
Robert Uchtred 9th Apr 1844 Robert never married. No details found. However, when Robert died at the age of 48, his death certificate stated that he had 'no occupation' and had 'Dementia Twenty years certified'. [30] Robert died in Earlscliffe on 26th March 1892, three months before his older brother, Ellis Henry.  [30] He is buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton [8] [9] 48
Dawson Thomas 4th May 1845 Dawson never married Dawson Thomas was a Clerk in the Office of Commissioners of Church Temporalities in Ireland [24]and later worked for the Irish Land Commission as the Deputy Superintendent of the Church property Department. [10] [11]  Dawson died at Earlscliffe on 25th Jan 1895, and is buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton.[8][12] [31] 49
Vesey 25th Mar 1847 Married on the 24th December 1885 to Helen Leigh, daughter of Benjamin William Leigh, a merchant. [28] Helen was born in Valparaiso in Chile about 1855.

At the time of the marriage, Helen was living in Wavertree, Liverpool.
Vesey was a Commander in the Royal Navy [13] and became Lieutenant in 1870. [24]

Vesey and Helen had one child, Albert Vesey Bent Knox, born on 18 Feb 1887 in Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry. Sadly, Albert died on the 6th Feb 1909.		 Vesey died in the Isle of Man on 8th Sept 1896. [13] His wife, Helen continued to live in Ireland. 49
Cheney John Maunsell 6th Aug 1848 Cheney never married. Cheney lived in Earlscliffe for a while, but later moved to 9 Percy Place in Dublin with his half-sister Emily and Kate Cassidy (servant). [14]

Emily also had a summer residence at Couleen on Ceanchor Road, Howth, which is across the road from Earlscliffe.

Kate had a son, Patrick Joseph Cassidy, in 1907. [15]

In the 1911 census, Kate is shown to live in the same house as Cheney, with a relation to head of family as servant. [14] There is no mention of her child in the census. Also, in the register of births, no father is named on Patrick's record. [15]

Cheney died on 31st Dec 1920 and left everything to his half-sister, Emily. He is buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton.[16]

Kate Cassidy died at Couleen on the 15 Sept 1947 and Patrick lived to 83 and died on the 13 Aug 1990 in Ringsend in Dublin. [15] 		72

Eliza Winckworth died on the 3rd June 1850.

Reverend Thomas Knox - second marriage

Eleven years after Eliza's death, Rev Thomas Knox married Emily Jane Logan, daughter of Rev Thomas Dawson Logan, on the 21st Nov 1861. (As an aside, three years later, Reverend Thomas' eldest son, Charles, would also marry one of Rev. Logan's daughters.)

Reverend Thomas Knox and Emily Jane went on to have four children [4]

Details of the four children of Reverend Thomas and Emily Jane Knox
Sibling Date of Birth Marriage Status Life details Date of death Age at death
Frances Mary Winifred 18th Sept 1862 Frances was married in 1910, to Francis Alexander James Fitzgerald  [17]  Frances Mary Winifred emigrated to the US with her husband, Francis, in June 1919. Francis had lived in the US since 1893 and was naturalised as a citizen of the US in 1911. After emigration, Frances was also became a naturalised citizen. [17] Frances died whilst on holiday in Ireland on 2nd Jun 1949 at Couleen on Ceanchor Road in Howth, the summer residence of her sister, Emily, which is across the road from Earlscliffe. 86
Emily Elizabeth Hannah 25th Oct 1865 Emily never married Emily was a Professor of Music, [18] who lived at 9 Percy Place in Dublin and had a summer residence, Couleen, on Ceanchor Road, Howth. Emily died on 19 Feb 1952 at 9 Percy Place in Dublin aged 76 and is buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton.[14] 86
William Arthur Logan 8th May 1864 [19] Not known William was a Mechanic, Electrical Engineer who emigrated to Perth, Western Australia on or before 1894. [20] [21]

In 1906, William, who previously had a job as a Manager, Telephone Exchange, Perth took on the role of Foreman Instrument Fitter, Grade I., Perth, as from 8th July, 1906 ; he having consented to accept such lower position. [22]		 William died in Perth in 1924 60
Thomas George Keith 15th Jan 1869 [19] Not known Thomas was educated in Friars School, Bangor, Wales where he was a boarder. [23] Thomas died on 12 Feb 1909 in the Bronx in New York City, USA. [23] 40

Reverend Thomas Knox died on the 23rd May 1871. His second wife, Emily Jane, died on the 7th Sep 1879 in Earlscliffe and was buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton, Howth. [3]

Dawson Thomas at Earlscliffe

When Dawson Thomas lived in Earlscliffe, he also shared the house with four of his brothers (Ellis Henry [24], Robert Uchtred [24], Cheney John Maunsell, [25] and Vesey Knox [26]) and briefly with his step-mother, Emily Jane. [3]

Dawson Thomas Knox never married, and died on 25th Jan 1895. [8][12] He is buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton, Howth in Sutton along with two of his brothers, Robert and Ellis, and his step mother, Emily Jane. [8]

After Dawson's death, we assume that the house was transferred in name to his brother, Cheney Knox [29] who subsequently put Earlscliffe up for auction in July 1895. [27]

•  • 

Back to top

List of Earlscliffe Residents

1844 to 1864 - Cornelius Egan
1864 to 1878 - Bunbury McClintock
1878 to 1896 - The Knox family
1896 to 1901 - John Randal Plunkett
1901 to 1922 - John Pentland Mahaffy
1922 to 1924 - CT Ovenden
1924 to 1927 - Robert Rooney
1927 to 1930 - Dr Ella Webb
1930 to 1945 - Sir John Lumsden
1945 to 1949 - William Martin Murphy
1949 to 1950 - Lily Margaret Graham Gough
1950 to 1952 - Stanley-Clarke
1952 to 1961 - Woods
1961 to 1969 - Knowles
1969 to today - Robinson & Foley family 

References

Disclaimer: Parts of the data found in these history pages are derived from sources currently available on the internet. In researching the previous owners of Earlscliffe, certain assumptions have been made as to the validity and accuracy of this internet data. If you believe that some of this data is inaccurate or should not be published on this website, please contact .

This page was last updated on 27-Jul-2023 .