The Will of John REA 1822-1881
The earliest of my known REA ancestors was John REA (senior), who was born about 1770 in Belfast into the earliest times of Irish upheavals. Through all the battles and skirmishes of the 1790’s he was seen as a character, and very visibly felt about Saintfield in 1798, which was the first major conflict of the Irish Rebellion between British Redcoats and Irish Rebels. He survived and went on to raise a family in Belfast. I only know of one of his sons.
Francis REA was born to John Rea (senior) about 1800 in Belfast, likely in the Millfield District. As a young man growing up, he was a cotton spinner. He later found employment as an agent for the Dublin mail coach, and then a toll collector in Belfast. By then he had married Mary Ann Hunter and was a freeholder of land in Millfield Street in Belfast in 1832 with a growing young family. With his organisational skills he was able to take on the position of Clerk of the Belfast markets by 1852, and they were living nearby at 98 Donegal Street.
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The eldest son of Francis Rea and May Ann nee Hunter was John Rea, born in 1822 in West Street in the Millfield District of Belfast. He had inherited his grandfather’s rebellious nature and was intelligent enough to become a solicitor in about 1847. He was prominent in the Young Ireland Party and was imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail for 9 months for his part in the abortive rising of 1848. He acted for the Roman Catholics in the famous "Dolly Brae" Inquiry His action against the Belfast Corporation for misappropriation of funds lasted for years. He won on an appeal to the House of Lords. Being strongly anti-Tory, he spent considerable energy trying to break up the Conservative party in Ulster. He was often imprisoned for contempt of court and was welcomed on release by torchlight processions. He unsuccessfully contested Belfast for Parliament in 1874. He defended Michael Davitt in 1879. He shot himself and was found dead at 80 Donegal St, Belfast on 17th May 1881 at the age of fifty-nine. He never married. |
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John Rea. |
The will of John Rea bequeathed his entire estate, valued at £2,850, to his father Francis Rea, his mother and his youngest sister Esther Rea who remained in Belfast with the parents. No other persons were mentioned.
The
will of Francis Rea. When Francis Rea, the father, died on the 31st
August 1887 at Croft Cottage
in Holywood, County Down, and the mother Mary Ann
died there on the 21st March 1889, the unmarried sister Esther Rea
inherited £95 from her father and then gained full control of John Rea’s
estates, giving her the income from 10 rental houses.
The will of Esther Rea. When she died on the 1st March 1908, other than substantial legacies to the poor of Belfast and her servants, the remainder of her estate, originally valued at £1,391 was bequeathed to the twelve nephews and nieces of her brother and two surviving sisters with families in Australia.
Initially Mary Ann McNaught (nee Marrick) the eldest daughter of Eliza Rea was included in the twelve nephews and nieces, but something she said or did turned her Aunt Esther Rea cold. She was immediately written out of the inheritance in a codicil to the will. Her brother John Rea Melville Marrick, the Mayor for Kempsey in NSW, and his unmarried sister Esther Rea Marrick of Sydney, received their inheritance after Aunt Esther died on the First of March 1908 in Holywood, County Down.
The seven surviving children of Agnes Rea and John Johnstone of Melbourne were all given their share. This included Rea Johnston who received £200, according to Heather Honey, Rea’s daughter (and my Mother-in-Law). She said it was part of John Rea’s will, which I suppose it was, but was via his sister Esther Rea’s bequeath. Some of the Johnstone brothers worked with him on the waterfront around Williamstown and rowed as members of the Footscray Rowing Club. In 1879, 1880 and 1881 they won the prestigious Clarke Memorial Cup for rowing eights, chiefly due to being employed as workers continually rowing for their livelihood, setting world records along the way.
The last two nephews of Esther Rea who received their share were the sons of her brother James Rea, a solicitor of Bendigo. Both were born in Bendigo but moved to Western Australia. Francis Rupert Ignacious Rea went gold seeking in 1893 in Cue and found it. He moved to Perth in 1904 staring a butcher’s shop in the city central, married in 1909, and went into the local Perth City Council politics. He stood as Mayor in 1916 to 1917, ran unsuccessfully for State Parliament and retired in 1924. He died in Cue in 1936. Local Perth places are named for him – Reabold Hill and Rea Street.
His brother John Hunter Rea was an unmarried accountant in Narellan Queensland in 1903 to 1905, who came to Western Australia after this. Perhaps it was the bequeath from his Aunt Esther Rea in 1908 that gave him the impetus to head West. He ran a restaurant in Diorite Street in Westonia, a small eastern wheatbelt town between Meredin and Southern Cross. He retired to Mosman’s Bay in Perth and died in 1931, aged 64 years.
So apart from the generous legacies to the poor of Belfast and some servants the substantial estate of John Rea, solicitor of Belfast, was shared among his nephews and nieces in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia through the will of his younger sister Esther Rea.
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rea.doc 17 Nov 2023
NOTES on the REA FAMILY
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John REA Born: 1822/3, West Street,
Millfield area of Belfast Died: 17 May 1881 at 80
Donegal Street, - suicide by gunshot Father: Francis REA Married: Never married http://www.newryjournal.co.uk/ 1. JOHN REA, Lawyer, born in West St, in the Millfield District of Belfast and became a solicitor about 1847. He was prominent in the Young Ireland Party. Was imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail for 9 months in 1848. He acted for the Roman Catholics in the "Dolly Brae" Inquiry (see notes below on Jocelyn, Earl Roden) His action against the Belfast Corporation for misappropriation of funds lasted for years. He won on an appeal to the House of Lords. He was often imprisoned for contempt of court and was welcomed on release by torchlight processions. He unsuccessfully contested Belfast for Parliament in 1874. He defended Michael Davitt in 1879. Shot himself and was found dead at 80 Donegal St, Belfast on 17th May 1881. |
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17 Oct 1881: Wills and Administrations – National Archives of Ireland.
The Will of John Rea late of Belfast solicitor deceased who died 17 May 1881 at same place was proved at Belfast by Esther Rea of Holywood, Co. Down, spinster, one of the executors.
"Dolly Brae" 1849
JOCELYN, Robert - 3rd Earl of Roden 1788-1870.
succeeded his father as Earl, created peer of the U.K. and Knight of St Patrick in 1821. Became the Grand Master of the Orange Society
On 12th July 1849, the local Orangemen gathered to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne. They paraded through the Catholic district of "Dolly's Brae” near Castlewellan and were then entertained by Roden in his grounds at Tullymore Park. The Government had dispatched troops and dragoons to the area, and these escorted the Orange-men on their return, which they chose again through the "Brae". In an encounter with a gathering of Catholics, including some "Ribbonmen", 6 or 7 Catholics were killed, and many were wounded. Then the Orangemen set fire to their houses. Only 1or 2 Orangemen were wounded seriously. A Government Commission was set up to investigate the affair. Roden was censured and dismissed from the Magistratecy. He died in Edinburgh on 20th March 1870.
(both items from Henry Boylan "A Dictionary of Irish Biographies")
The Will of John Rea late of Belfast Solicitor deceased who died 17 May 1881 at same place was proved at Belfast by Esther Rea of Holywood County Down Spinster one of the Executors.
THE BELFAST AND PROVINCE OF ULSTER DIRECTORY FOR 1852
Rea, Alexander, hair cutter, 11½ Great Edward Street
Rea,
Francis, clerk of the markets, 98 Donegall Street
Rea, Hugh, of Messrs. Sinclair and Boyd's Donegall Quay, 21 Fountain
Place
Rea, James, bookkeeper, 6 Victoria Terrace
Rea,
John, solicitor, 12 Donegall Street
Rea, John, shoe maker, 19 Little May Street
Rea, John, railway constable, 12 Wesley Place
Rea, Joseph, baker, 71 Green Street
Rea, Miss Anna, milliner, 37 Edward Street
Rea, Mrs., 37 Edward Street
Rea, Samuel, surgeon, 26 Gloucester Street
Rea, Samuel, spirit dealer, 36 Shankhill Road
Rea, William John, hair cutter, 12 May Street
THE LISBURN
BY-ELECTION OF 21 FEBRUARY 1863 - A LIST
OF VOTERS
The Lisburn by-election of February 1863 was called for by the resignation of Jonathan Richardson, who had held the seat as a Conservative, since 1857. Of the two candidates, John Dougherty Barbour (son of Hilden mill owner William Barbour) was a Radical, Edwin Wingfield Verner a Tory. Lisburn itself was a staunchly Tory town. The by-election reached an all-time low in political chicanery and graft. Hilden House, the Barbour family seat, became a virtual prison camp for nine days before the election, as twenty voters were wined, dined, amused and kept in a state of perpetual intoxication, to secure their votes for Barbour. Barbour, in fact, won by six votes but was suspended and unseated in the following June, on charges of coercion and bribery of voters (note the remarks about payment to voters, which John Rea refers to in the Appendix). - Trevor Neill
Editor's Note
John Rea, a Belfast solicitor, whose acerbic and amusing observations are appended to this list of voters, was a well-known character during the second half of the 19th century. Strongly anti-Tory, he spent considerable energy trying to break up the Conservative party in Ulster. Unstable and quarrelsome, he frittered away his ability in local squabbles and ended his life mistrusted by all political parties. He committed suicide on 17 May 1881, at the age of fifty-nine.
Feb 1867 Belfast History – The Fenians
At 19 Pound
Street police discovered fourteen rifles and as many bayonets buried in the
back yard, the tenant of the house, Elizabeth Cassidy, and a man from next door
were arrested.
Two days later the police and the Belfast
Newsletter were delighted to announce that two top Fenians, Francis Rea and
James Burns were arrested following a raid on 22 Pound Street.
The
Belfast Morning News, Wednesday, September 11. 1867. Death of a Fenian Prisoner
in the Belfast Jail.
ON Monday evening, shortly after ten o’clock,
William Harbinson, who, for the past fifteen months, has been imprisoned on the
charge of being connected with the Fenian conspiracy, was found dead in his
cell; in the Belfast Jail. our readers are doubtless aware that he was one of
the Fenian prisoners brought up at the last Belfast Assizes, and for whom Mr. John Rea succeeded in getting their
cases postponed until the next Assizes; but his confinement dates so far back
that the circumstances connected with his imprisonment may have escaped the
memory of the majority of our readers. Shortly after the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act he was arrested in Belfast on suspicion of being connected
with the Fenian conspiracy. For seven months he was confined in Belfast jail,
during which time no steps were taken to establish a case against him, and at
the end of that period he was admitted to bail; but scarcely had he regained
his liberty than he was gain arrested, not on suspicion of being connected with
the Fenian conspiracy, but on the sworn information of John Murray, the
informer; and it may here be interesting to state that on the night on which he
was arrested Murray and he slept in the same bed. After his committal to the
Belfast jail the second time, he, with other Fenian prisoners, among whom were
his brother, Philip Harbinson, and
Francis Rea, both at present confined in the same jail, was transmitted to
Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, and there detained until the beginning of last July,
when he was again sent to Belfast to stand his trial at the Assizes. Mr. Rea, who appeared for him there,
succeeded in getting his trial postponed on the ground that “General” Massey,
whom the Government sent down to identify him, had not sworn his information in
the presence of the accused, and that, therefore, the prisoners were taken by
surprise. Mr. Rea afterwards applied to get the prisoners admitted to bail,
but, not effecting this object, deceased and the other Fenian prisoners were
sent back to jail, there to remain until next March Assizes. Harbinson,
however, died on the evening of the 9th Sept. He was a native of Ballinderry,
and at the time of his arrest was a sergeant in the Royal Antrim Rifles. Dr.
Purdon, surgeon of the jail, gave it as his opinion that deceased died from
disease of the heart, but his friends being anxious that an inquest should be
held, steps were at . Accordingly Dr. Dill, coroner, attended at the jail
yesterday for the purpose of holding one. In the board-room of the jail, where
the inquest was held,
RE-COMMITAL OF MR REA - 1872
Yesterday in Belfast Police Court, Mr John Rea, a solicitor, who was released from gaol on Thursday, after seven days’ imprisonment for contempt of Court, was again committed for seven days for a similar offence. Mr Rea had been defending six persons charged with being concerned in the late riots, and who were committed for trial. Mr Rea contended against the magistrate’s decision, and a scene occurred, which ended in him being removed in custody amidst great confusion and hissing. (The Liverpool Weekly Albion, Saturday 31 Aug 1872)
Famous Trials - 1879
Michael Davitt and the
collapse of "The Sligo State Trials"
A Land League meeting in Gurteen on Sunday November 2, 1879, led to one of the most remarkable trials ever held in Sligo. Among the defendants was Michael Davitt who had been arrested and brought to Sligo Jail to face charges of sedition as a result of his Gurteen speech. The proceedings, attended by Parnell, became known as "The Sligo State Trials", which collapsed after a week-long barrage of ridicule and scorn hurled at the presiding magistrate by an eccentric but brilliant solicitor, John Rea, whose courtroom tactics had earned him the reputation of Ireland's best criminal lawyer.
On 18th November Michael Davitt received a message from E. Dwyer Gray, editor of "The Freeman" warning him that he would be arrested the following morning for his speech in Gurteen. Davitt ignored the advice given to him to leave the country "until the storm blows over" and at 5 a.m. next morning he was arrested and brought to Sligo Jail. He discovered that Daly and Killeen were also in custody and when brought before the Magistrate that day they were remanded until the following Monday on a charge of sedition.
Parnell immediately denounced the arrests and called a huge protest meeting in the Rotunda, Dublin, forty-eight hours later, whipping up such public outrage that the authorities dropped their penal servitude plan and instead put Davitt and the others on trial in Sligo Courthouse. Davitt's plan, later outlined in his book "The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland" was to turn the proceedings into ridicule and cover the Castle and its laws with public contempt. Selected for the job was John Rea, a Belfast solicitor, a Protestant, and a man who was as eccentric as he was brilliant. Magistrates dreaded him with good reason and single-handedly he turned the trial into a farce and made it an international laughingstock.
The trial began in Sligo on Monday, 24th November 1879, and was subsequently described by Davitt as "one of the most successful legal farces ever acted off a theatrical stage." Rea represented Killeen, Davitt represented himself helped by Parnell and a Mr. Louden represented Daly. Public interest was so intense that twenty-seven newspaper reporters were packed into the cramped press facilities.
The day started with the Sligo brass band and a huge crowd escorting the prisoners from the jail to the packed courthouse. At the end of the first day's hearing the "circus" paraded back to Cranmore Jail through the streets, accompanied by bands and guarded by police. Parnell, Dillon and the prisoners were followed and cheered by the whole town. That night a huge public meeting was addressed by Parnell and Dillon who fiercely denounced the prosecution.
Meanwhile the 27 newspaper reporters were unwittingly playing their part in undermining the trial. Detailed reports of the hearing appeared in newspapers in Ireland, Britain and the United States. Protest meetings were called for Limerick, Cork, Liverpool, London, Glasgow, Dundee and elsewhere, and cables of support began to pour in from the United States. Davitt was delighted by this and wrote that, "we could not have done the League work of propaganda and of covering the law with ridicule as effectively if we had spent £5000.00 on the task. Our enemies were our best friends in this sense, and it became a most anxious consideration with us how we could best prolong the priceless entertainment."
Every night the prisoners returning to Cranmore were greeted by huge crowds. Parnell and Dillon continued their scathing condemnations of the authorities at packed public meetings in the town. One by one the defendants were committed for trial and allowed out on bail until only Killeen remained. By now the proceedings had become so discredited that even the newspaper reporters hissed from the Press benches whenever the Crown representative tried to make his case. Realising that to continue the strategy of ridicule any further might defeat its purpose; Parnell ordered the attacks to be curtailed, much to the disgust of Rea who felt he could prolong the farce for a further week.
"The Sligo State Trials" ended with Killeen released on bail after being committed for trial. The collapse had a profound impact on the Land League's fortunes. Davitt wrote: "The priceless assistance rendered to the League by the blundering tactics of the Sligo prosecution broke down almost all barriers hitherto operating against its progress outside Connacht. Its influence in the country grew by leaps and bounds. Dublin Castle had grappled with it and had been thrown badly in the encounter was laughed at by the public in the disgrace of its defeat. Its prestige bad suffered while that of the league became enormously enhanced. The landlords had forced the action of the Government in the trials, and the result would tell against them and their rentals in a situation which was soon to hoist them more or less on their own petard. They had attempted to kill the 'no rent' feeling when they saw clearly that a terrible winter was approaching, and instead. They had helped to create a power that was destined in that and another winter to kill the rent system which had the British Empire behind it for hundreds of years."
J S Battye Library of West
Australian History
Private Archives – Collection
Listing
The papers were donated to Battye Library by Mr Frank Rea on 28 July
1994 (Acc.5094A).
8 March 1904
Certificate of Marriage for George Charles Austen and Edith May Schroder
in Perth.
1. /3 28 April 1913
Search certificate for birth of Francis Rupert Rea in Victoria. "No
Record" result.
2. /4 2 May 1913
Extract of Birth Entry (23 May 1868) for John Hunter, son of James and
Elizabeth Rea.
3. /5 30 August 1909
Certificate of Marriage for Francis Rupert Rea and Mary Emma Edwards.
4. /6 2 April 1919
Birth Certificate for Jean Flora Edwards in Hindmarsh, South Australia.
5. /7 July 1922
Certificate from Christian Brothers College, Perth to Francis Rea (son)
5094A/8 August 1923
Certificate from Christian Brothers College, Perth to Francis Rea. (son)
6. /9 August 1924
Certificate from Christian Brothers College, Perth to Francis Rea. (son)
7. /10 14 July 1931
Grant of Right of Burial in Karrakatta Cemetery, issued to Frank Rea.
CORRESPONDENCE 5094A/11 16 July 1912
Postcard from Lady Forrest to Francis Rea. Addressed only by photograph
of Rea, Barrack Street. Promise of one guinea if delivered.
EXTRACTS 1. /12 n.d.
Extracts from the "Bendigo Advertiser" relating to births and
marriages of Rea family.
INVITATIONS /13 1 July 1920
Invitation from the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Perth to Mr J.
R. Rea for a reception in honour of the Prince of Wales.
CERTIFICATES 5094A/1 21 April 1884
Certificate of Marriage for Charles Edmunds and Mary Theresa Woods in
White Hills, Victoria.
TROVE - Extracts from the "Bendigo Advertiser" relating to
births and marriages of Rea family.
MARRIAGE. - Bendigo Advertiser Wed 20 Aug 1863
By special license, at Eaglehawk, by the Rev Mr Abernethy, James Rea, Esq. late of Belfast, Ireland, to Elizabeth Webb, daughter of Mr Henry Webb, of Sandhurst.
BIRTH. - Bendigo Advertiser Wed 27 Sep 1864
On the 25th instant, at South Yarra (Melbourne), the wife of Mr James Rea (Sandhurst in Bendigo), of a daughter.
BIRTH. - Bendigo Advertiser Wed 22 Feb 1866
On the 21st inst, at Barnard Terrace, the wife Mr James Rea of a son.
BIRTH. - Bendigo Advertiser Wed 28 May 1868
On Saturday, 23rd May, the wife of Mr James Rea, Mackenzie-street, Sandhurst, (Bendigo) of a son.
DEATH. - Bendigo Advertiser Wed 1 Mar 1869
On the 20th ultimo, at her residence,
Mackenzie-street, Sandhurst (in Bendigo), Elizabeth, the beloved wife of
James Rea, formerly of Belfast, Ireland.
DEATH. – Bendigo Advertiser Wed 25 Oct 1871
On the 24th October, at his residence, Sailor's Gully, Mr. James Rea, aged thirty-six years.
John REA by Hourican, Bridget
Rea, John (1822–81), lawyer and
political activist, was born in West St., Belfast, son of Francis Rea, who was
variously a cotton spinner, an agent for the Dublin mail coach, and a clerk of
the Belfast markets. John was educated at the Belfast Academy, where he was a
champion elocutionist. On leaving school, he was apprenticed to Solomon Darcus,
clerk of the peace. He was admitted as a solicitor in either 1847 or 1849.
Thenceforth he became notorious for the high profile of the causes and people
he defended; for his eccentricities; for his populism; for the disruptive
tactics which led to his being frequently dragged from proceedings, imprisoned
for contempt of court, and welcomed on release by torchlight processions; and
for his peculiar brand of ‘Orange Fenianism’, which
he justified by claiming that English Tories were the natural allies of Irish
priests, but Orangemen and Fenians were for the working classes. In practice he
found the two hard to reconcile.
He joined the Young Ireland movement,
was in contact with James Fintan
Lalor (qv) and John Mitchel (qv), and
was imprisoned in Kilmainham jail for nine months but was released on the
collapse of the movement in 1848. He acted for Catholics against Orangemen in
the celebrated ‘Dolly's Brae’ inquiry. On 12 July 1849 Orangemen paraded
through the catholic district of Dolly's Brae near Castlewellan, Co. Down,
where they were met by an angry gathering including armed Ribbonmen;
six or seven Catholics were killed and many houses set on fire. As a result of
a commission of inquiry, Robert
Jocelyn (qv), 3rd earl of Roden and grand master of the Orange
order, was dismissed from the magistracy of Down thanks to Rea's efforts. In
1855 Rea took a celebrated case against Belfast corporation on charges
including unauthorised borrowing, misappropriation of funds, disenfranchisement
of ratepayers, and promotion of private interests. He pursued a vendetta
against the corporation, which had dismissed his father from his post as clerk
of the markets. The case was tried in Dublin before the lord chancellor, who
pronounced certain corporation members personally liable for a total of
£273,000 misapplied or illegally raised since 1845. Rea was met on his return
to Belfast by jubilant crowds at the station, though the ‘chancery suit’, as it
was known, continued to go through the courts till 1864. By this time Rea was
attacking the corporation from within; his proceedings had broken down the
municipal control system, enabling him and five other liberals to be elected in
November 1855 to the corporation, where they did much to thwart the measures of
conservatives and big property owners.
Rea used his popularity to organise
catholic votes in support of Capt. William
Johnston (qv) in a bitterly contested Belfast election which saw
Johnston elected as Ireland's first independent Orange MP in 1868. Six years
later Rea himself stood against Johnston, as an independent in the 1874
election, but did little campaigning, and was soundly defeated. In 1879 he
defended the presbyterian barrister James Bryce
Killen (qv), who together with Michael
Davitt (qv), who defended himself, was facing a charge of
using seditious language at a land league meeting in Gurteen,
Co. Sligo. Rea, by interruptions and obstructions, rendered the proceedings
(24–8 November) farcical, and the case was dismissed. Yet the following year,
when Davitt organised a land league meeting at Saintfield, Co. Down (23
December 1880), Rea was among the Orangemen who travelled by special train from
Belfast to obstruct it; confrontation was only narrowly avoided by the swift
action of the resident magistrate, Clifford
Lloyd (qv). Rea's last stand was as the ‘Orange Cromwellian
conservative’ candidate in January 1881 for the representation of St Anne's
Ward in the corporation. He did not win, and four months later (17 May 1881) he
shot himself in his office at 80 Donegall St., Belfast; the coroner returning a
verdict of suicide while of unsound mind.
Though of undoubted ability, Rea was
highly volatile and suffered the usual suspicion attaching to those with a foot
in two camps. The Fenian John O'Leary (qv)
termed him ‘notorious, aggressive, loquacious, paradoxical . . . he
became a mere mountebank’ (Recollections, i, 33). A pamphlet
was circulated during his lifetime entitled Memoirs of the Rea family from 1798 to 1857,
without date, author, or publisher but probably written by a tory, Arthur Hill
Thornton; it stated that John Rea was inflicted on Belfast to obstruct its
progress, spoil its propriety, and mar its prosperity.
Sources
John O'Leary, Recollections of Fenians
and Fenianism (1896); D. J.
Owen, History
of Belfast (1921); T. M. Healy, Letters and leaders of my
day (1928); T. J. Campbell, Fifty years of Ulster, 1890–1940 (1941); Ir. Booklore, i (1971), 13; Boylan; T. W. Moody, Davitt and Irish
revolution, 1846–82 (1981); B. M. Walker, Ulster politics, 1868–86 (1984);
A. McClelland, William Johnston of Ballykilbeg (1990);
Frank Wright, Two
lands on one soil (1996)
PUBLISHING
INFORMATION
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3318/dib.007592.v1
Originally published October
2009 as part of the Dictionary of Irish Biography
Last
revised October 2009
THE
WILLS, transcribed by Ken STEWART November 2023
Last
Will of John REA – died 17 May 1881, probate
granted 17 October 1881
(He really does waffle on
continuously)
The Will of John Rea late of Belfast Solicitor deceased who died 17 May 1881 at same place was proved at Belfast by Esther Rea of Holywood County Down Spinster one of the Executors.
This
is the Last Will and Testament of me John Rea of number eighty Donegal Street
in the County of Antrim, solicitor. I devise and bequeath all my real and
personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever situate and whether in possession
reversion remainder or expectancy or by way of future estate or interest to
accrue after my decease unto and to the use of my father Francis Rea of Croft
Cottage near Holywood in the County of Down,
gentleman, my mother his wife and to my sister Esther Rea and to the survivors of
any one of them my said father mother and sister respectively as joint tenants
and not as tenants in common but nonetheless in one equal undivided third or
one half undivided shares and proportions as the case may be during their
respective joint lives or the joint lives of any two of them to have take use and enjoy the rents profits interests dividends
and other produce thereof for their respective use and benefit and from and
after the decease of any two of them then I devise and bequeath my said real and
personal estate as aforesaid and all accumulations if any unto and to and for
the sole use and benefit of the survivor of their his or her respective heirs
appointed executors and administrators or assigns absolutely according to the
nature tenure and quality thereof respectively with full power and authority to
my said father mother and sister or any two of them during their respective
joint lives or to the sole survivor of them absolutely to sell and dispose
thereof or of any part or parts thereof respectively by public auction or
private contract and at such price or prices as to them him or her shall seem
fit and to execute all deeds and instruments in writing for effectuating such
sale or sales to raise money thereon or any part or parts thereof by loan or
mortgage and to give and execute all proper receipts and discharges from the
moneys arising from such sale or sales loan or mortgage discharged from the
trusts and purposes of this my will. And
I
hereby authorise and empower the survivor of them my said father mother and
sister my said real and personal estate and all moneys arising there from and
securities upon which some moneys may from time to time be invested by them him
or her respectively by his or her last will and testament or any codicil or
codicils thereto for all his or her estate or interest therein notwithstanding
the coventure of my said sister at the time or times
of such sale mortgage loan devise or bequest thereof or at the time of her
decease if shall happen to be such sole survivor of them and I hereby declare
it to be my will and intention that the share or shares of and in my said real
and personal estate and of and in the proceeds or accumulations thereof as the
case may be of my said sister under the provisions of this my will shall be
free from the debts control and engagements of any husband or husbands with
whom she may hereafter intermarry and I hereby authorise and empower my said
father mother and sister to arbitrate adjust settle and compound all debts and
liabilities due to or by me and all differences and disputes matters and things
touching my estate or any part or parts thereof as in their his or her
discretion may become fit or desirable and to do all other acts deeds matters
and things as to them him or her may seem fit to carry out the provisions of
this my will as fully and effectively as if I had done and performed the same
in my own lifetime.
And
I hereby appoint my said father Francis Rea to be executor and my said sister
Esther Rea to be executrix of this my will as well as trustees thereof. In
testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twenty eighth day of May in
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven. - John
Rea
Signed
published and declared by the said John Rea the Testator as and for his last
Will and Testament in our presence who in his presence and at his request and
in presence of each other all being present at the same time have hereunder
subscribed our names as witnesses hereto the word eighth on the thirteenth line
from the top being written anendletteration. Wm Leeds Belfast solicitor, Chas J Cigginson solicitors appce
Belfast
Probate
of the will of John Rea deceased, granted on the 17th day of October
1881 to Esther Rea one of the executors therein named. Power is served to make
a like grant to Francis Rea the executor therein named when he shall apply for
the same.
J
M Higginson, District Registrar
Last
Will of Francis REA – died 31 Aug 1887, probate
granted 12 March 1888
This
is the last Will and Testament of me Francis REA of Holywood,
County Down. I leave all my real and personal estate of every nature and kind
to my daughter Esther Rea whom I appoint as sole trustee and executrix of this
my will. In witness hereof I have hereunto set my hand the sixth day of
February one thousand eight hundred and eighty tree. – Francis Rea
Signed
by the said Testator as his last Will and Testament in the presence of us
present at the same time who at his request in his presence and in the presence
of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses. Peter Macaulay, Mary
Hamilton.
Probate
of the will of Francis Rea deceased granted on 12th March 1888 to
Esther Rea the sole executrix therein named.
J
M Higginson, District Registrar
Last
Will of Esther REA – died 1 Mar 1908, probate
granted 10 Jun 1908
Probate of the
Will and three Codicils of Esther Rea late of Croft Cottage, Holywood, County Down Spinster who died 1 March 1908
granted at Belfast to Robert Boyd and Robert J. Boyd Rent Agents
This
is the last Will and Testament of me Esther REA of Holywood
in the County of Down, Spinster, hereby revoking all Wills by me at anytime heretofore made. I leave, devise and bequeath unto
my executors and trustees hereinafter named all my property real and personal
of every nature and kind soever. Upon trust to realise same by public auction
or private contract and to stand possessed of the proceeds thereof upon trust
to pay in the first place the following charitable legacies: To the Society for
Nursing the Sick Poor of Holywood the sum of twenty
five pounds sterling and to the Methodist Orphan Society for the Counties of
Antrim and Down the sum of fifty pounds sterling said sums to be for the
benefit of the poor maintained and educated in said establishments and to be
paid the respective treasurer of each whose receipt shall be sufficient
discharge. To my executors upon trust to pay my servant Mary Hamilton during
her natural life the sum of one pound sterling each week with the obligations
on her to keep my grave and monument in Holywood
graveyard in order and repair to the satisfaction of my trustees, and in
default of her fulfilling this obligation my trustees may put and keep it in
order and deduct same out of her weekly annuity and to append the sum of three
hundred pounds sterling on the education maintenance and support of the said
Mary Hamilton’s son named Louis Rea Hamilton and upon trust to divide the
balance amongst the seven children of my sister Agnes Johnston, namely Francis,
Mary Ann, Agnes, Robert, Rea, Philip and John Johnston and the three children of my sister Eliza Marrick, namely Mary Ann
McNaught otherwise Marrick, John and Esther Marrick and the two children of
my brother James namely Francis Rupert and John Hunter Rea and I direct that
each of the said females shall have double of what each of the males shall
have. And in case of any of them dying leaving lawful issue such issue shall take
the place of such male or female dying. And upon trust to postpone the sale and
realisation of such property and in the meantime until such sale to keep and
repair such property and pay any interest on any mortgage that may be existing
and to stand possessed of any rents issues and profits thereof upon the trusts
similar to those hereinbefore expressed.
And
I authorise my executors and trustees to let by lease or agreement.
I
appoint as executors and trustees of this my will Peter Macauly solicitor
Robert Boyd rent agent of Belfast and my nephew Robert Johnston of Australia
and Robert Boyd Junior rent agent Belfast and I direct that each of my trustees
and executors as may be a solicitor or rent agent shall be authorised to change
their professional services journey and expenses as such solicitor and rent
agent in the execution of the trust in the same manner as if they had not been
appointed or had not been acting as trustee or executor. I leave to my
executors the sum of fifty pounds sterling each. As witness my hand this
fifteenth day of April 1907. Esther Rea
Signed
by the said Testatrix as her Last Will and Testament in presence of us present
at the same time who at her request in her presence and in the presence of each
have signed our names as witnesses –
Austen G Macaulay, Peter Fox.
This
is a codicil to my will dated 15 April 1907. I empower my trustees in letting
or leasing any part of my estate to lease for such term or estate as they are
enabled to do and at such rent as they think proper and either accepting a fine
or not.
I
revoke the bequest or legacy to my niece Mary Ann McNaught, otherwise Marrick,
one of the daughters of my sister Eliza, and as to the legacy to the children
of my sister Eliza I desire that part of my will be altered by changing the
word three to the word two and so that the words the three children of my
sister Eliza Marrick instead will read two of the children of my sister Eliza
Marrick, it being my intention that Mary Ann McNaught shall be excluded from
any benefit under my said will. I direct that the unanimous decision of my
trustee as to any point under my will legal or otherwise or as to the share to
which each of the legatees is entitled or their representation shall be final
binding and conclusive on all parties interested under said will, and I declare
that if any legatee take legal proceedings in regard to said will or the
management of the trust thereof, such party so taking proceedings, shall
forfeit all benefit under such will and their share shall fall into my general
estate divisible then according to the provision of said will but excluding the
party or parties so taking proceedings.
I
revoke the appointment of trustee of Robert Johnston owing to him being an
interested party and it might be thought he might not be able to give
satisfaction in his management and he resides in Australia.
I
leave to my faithful servant Lizzie Wallace if she be in my service at the time
of my death the sum of £40 to be paid amongst the first of my legacies. Subject
to this codicil I confirm this will except I revoke that part wherein I say the
share of the female is to be double that of the male as I desire that the share
of the males and females to be equal. I leave to the two sons of the said Mary
Ann McNaught the sum of one hundred pounds each and I direct the legacy to
Lizzie Wallace be free of legacy duty.
In witness whereof I have hereto signed my name as a codicil this ninth
day of November 1907 (seven). - Esther Rea
Signed
by said Esther Rea in presence of us present at the same and of each other and
who at her request have signed our names as witnesses in her presence and of
each other Georger Macaulay,
Edward Costello
This
is a further codicil to my will. I leave to Louis Rea Hamilton besides anything
left to him or his mother by my will an annuity of fifty shillings a week
chargeable on my property which annuity is to be payable from the date of death
of his mother and to be paid during his life if he survives her and then to
cease and I direct my executors and trustees to control the paying of said
annuity beginning after the death of his mother until he is thirty years of
age. I leave the said Louis Rea Hamilton my semi grand drawing room piano. As
witness my hand this sixteenth November 1907.
(seven) . - Esther Rea
Signed
by said Esther Rea as a further codicil to her will in presence of us present
at the same time who at her request in her presence and in the presence of each
other, have signed our names as witnesses, the word Robert being struck out and
the word Rea initialised. William
Hamilton, Edward Costello
This
is a further codicil to my will. I revoke the legacy of £40 made in a previous
codicil to my servant Lizzie Wallace and instead thereof I leave the said
Lizzie Wallace an annuity of twelve pounds sterling payable at the rate of one
pound sterling a month during her natural life first payment to begin and be
payable the first day of the month that will be after the expiration of three
months from the date of my death. I direct Robert Boyd senior to be rent agent
over my property and his accounts shall be taken by my trustees as correct. In
addition to previous legacies I leave my servant Mary Hamilton my household
furniture, and her son Louis Rea Hamilton. In all other aspects I confirm said
will and previous codicils. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my name this
5yh day of February 1908. (eight) . - Esther
Rea
Signed
by said Testatrix in presence of us present at the same time who at her request
and her presence and of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses. Ann Spence, Edward Costello
Added data - REA BURIALS in BELFAST – not
immediate family
Balmoral Cemetery,
Belfast
REA
[White limestone tablet, fallen from surround.] In memory of James REA who died 15th June 1862 aged 46 years. Also, his sister Mary COTTER who died 6th May 1862 aged 49 years. And his wife Elizabeth REA who died 26th October 1891.
[Register: Cotter, Mary, aged 49 yrs., of Belfast, buried 9 May 1862. REA, James, aged 46 yrs., of Belfast, buried 18 June 1862. REA, Elizabeth, aged 70 yrs., of 10 University St., buried 1891.
The will of James REA, late of University Street, Belfast, county Antrim, accountant, who died 15 June 1862 at Belfast aforesaid, was proved at Belfast 18 August 1862 by the oaths of Eliza REA of University Street, Belfast, widow, one of the executors. Effects under £600.]
REA
[Polished granite pillar.] Erected by Margaret REA in memory of her son Joseph who departed this life 6th July 1895 aged 32 years. Also, his three children who died in infancy.
[Register: REA, Joseph, aged 32 yrs., of 99 McClure St., buried 8 July 1895.
The will of Joseph REA, late of 99 McClure Street, Belfast, plumber, who
died
6 July 1895 at same place, was proved at Belfast 13 September 1895 by John REA of 9 Wesley
Place, Belfast, flesher, the sole executor. Effects £451.]
Shankhill Graveyard, Belfast
REA
Erected by John REA of Belfast in memory of his son John REA who
departed this life January 14th, 1839, aged 23 years.
REA
Erected by John REA in memory of his son James REA who died 19th March
1868 aged 21 years. Also, the above-named James REA who died July 1885.