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- The Brownlow Family and the Rise of Lurgan
from Review - Journal of Craigavon Historical Society Vol. 1 No. 1
by K. Clendinning
Charles, Second Baron Lurgan, was born 10th April 1831, K.P. 76th Regiment, Lord Lieut. Co. Armagh 1864/82. Lord in waiting Queen Victoria 1869/74. He married 20th June, Emily Ann, daughter of John Brown the 3rd Lord Kilmaine. When his father died, Charles was a minor and the estate was managed by the Agent, John Handcock. Between 1845-49 the greatest disaster ever to hit Ireland was the potato famine People of this district are inclined to think that the famine was in the South and West but that is not so. Here are some extracts from a letter by a Church of England clergyman to the Relief Committee of the Society of Friends about conditions in North Armagh, dated Feb. 23rd 1847. "The weaver at present can only earn by weaving a web of sixty yards; two shillings and six-pence to four shillings and sixpence which employs him nearly a whole week in preparation, while at present such wages will not support the mere weaver without a family Even at such wages I can state as a fact having come under my own immediate observation that weavers are sitting up three nights per week in order by any means to procure food One of the poorhouses in the district of Lurgan is shut for ingress or egress; seventy-five died in one day. We are in short rapidly approaching, and if unassisted, must arrive at the worst picture that has been presented to the public from Co. Cork."
In 1351 the population of Lurgan was 4,651 and ten years later it had risen to 8,500. This was probably due to power loom weaving introduced by James Malcolm in 1855. In 1861, owing to the American Civil War, there was a great upsurge in the linen trade. Old mills were enlarged and power looms built and powered by steam. Lurgan began to extend its boundaries. To keep factories supplied with coal, a new Cut was made in 1863, 300 yards longs from Lough Neagh to Kinnego. This meant that lighters of 60 to 100 tons could come into the new quay, towed by a steam tug from Ellis Cut which was where the Lagan Canal met Lough Neagh.
In 1863 the Town Hall was built at the cost of £2,300 and the Town Commission did Lord Lurgan the honour of appropriating his family coat of arms and crest, and impaled it with a coat of their own design which was: Vert, on a chevron ermine, charged with three bezants, between a pile of linen in chief, and in the base a beehive with bee, all proper supported with flax plants and the motto: "Be Just and Fear Not."
This coat of arms is termed. bogus or unauthorised arms. No person can give or sell this coat of arms. The legal right to the use of a coat of arms can only be obtained on the payment of certain fees and stamps. This coat of arms was used by Lurgan Town Council until it became a Borough.
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More About FIRST BARON LURGAN CHARLES BROWNLOW:
Political office: Bet. 1818 - 1832, MP for Armagh
Title (Facts Page): 1839, 1st Lord Lurgan
Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan was born on 17 April 1795.1 He was the son of Lt.-Col. Charles Brownlow and Caroline Ashe.1 He married, firstly, Lady Mary Bligh, daughter of John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley and Elizabeth Brownlow, on 1 June 1822.2 He married, secondly, Jane Macneill, daughter of Roderick Macneill of Barra, on 15 July 1828.2 He died on 2 September 1877 at age 82.1
Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan was created 1st Baron Lurgan, of Lurgon, co. Armagh [U.K.] on 14 May 1839.1
Citations
[S34] Peter Townend, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition (London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1970), page 1675. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage, 105th ed..
[S34] Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage, 105th ed., page 1676.
[S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 1417. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
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1795 - 1877 (82 years)
