The Boxwell family of Sarshill after 1798

 

Many people in County Wexford, and most in Kilmore parish, will have heard of John Boxwell who died of his wounds after the Battle of Ross. It is thought that he was educated at Trinity, where he was imbued with the ideals of the American and French Revolutions, but, despite which, he became a major in the Royal Irish Artillery. He, like his cousin, Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, was a United Irishman. When the Wexford rebel forces took up arms he was assigned charge of some captured artillery pieces. John was severely wounded when one of the cannons exploded "caused by his bungling assistants".(1) While trying to make his way home after the defeat at Ross, he died of his wounds. He was 29. John's patriotism and bravery have been lauded ever since but what of the young widow and family he left behind?

In 1790, John had married the eighteen-year-old Susan Berry of Ballykelly. In the years up to the Rebellion they had six children, two of whom died, and Susan was expecting her seventh child when John died. The two children who died were Mary and Joseph and the survivors were Elizabeth, Samuel, William and John. There are two stories as to how Susan got to know of her husband's death. One was that his horse returned riderless to his stables, the other was that Susan, who had taken refuge in Wexford, saw a British trooper riding her husband's horse down the Main Street.

Her husband dead, his cousin Bagenal Harvey and her brother-in-law, John Colclough, both executed, life must have looked very bleak to Susan. Many of her friends probably would have wanted to dissociate themselves from any hint of support for the Rebellion. Fortunately, John's uncle, Ambrose Harvey Boxwell, and his son, John Boxwell of Butlerstown were most supportive. Susan's seventh child, Anne, was born in Butlerstown, on 8th September 1798. In 1802, Susan married John Boxwell of Butlerstown and by this marriage bore another six children and became ancestor of both the Sarshill and Butlerstown families. When John of Sarshill died, the eldest of his children was only seven years old, so it is unlikely that any of them had much memory of him. John of Butlerstown treated Susan's first family like his own and they probably lived between Butlerstown and Skinners Row in Dublin, where he was probably involved in his father's silversmith business.

Elizabeth married William Sparrow of Wexford in St Werburgh's Church, adjacent to Skinner's Row. Little else is known of Elizabeth and William, except that at a later stage of their life they lived harmoniously at Sarshill with her brother, Samuel, and his wife.

When Samuel, the eldest son, was old enough he took over the running of Sarshill from his mother and stepfather. In 1829 he married Susan Richards and had two sons, John, who died young, and William who eventually inherited Sarshill, William married Jane Deborah Barrington, who brought a good dowry into the family. William bred hunters and was a keen huntsman; he and Jane led a good social life and were noted for their hospitality.

William, the next son of John of Sarshill, became a doctor and surgeon and practised in Abbeyleix, married Sarah Sparrow and had seven children. William taught surgery to apprentices (medical students) who included his stepbrother, Francis, who later became noted for his major role in the upbringing of Arthur McMurrough Kavanagh of Borris who was born with rudimentary arms and legs. Family tradition has it that another apprentice was William (later Sir William) Wilde who became a noted eye surgeon and father of Oscar.

In Abbeyleiz, about 40 years ago, I was told that Dr Boxwell was well remembered, particularly for his method of obtaining subjects for his apprentices to practice on. It seems that on occasions, Dr Boxwell with two others would be seen walking home from the direction of the local churchyard.

All three (see illustration below) were enveloped in a huge cloak and the middle (lifeless) person was secured to the others by a leather harness around the chest of all three and by straps around his ankles to the inner ankles of the others. If the trio met the Watch, Dr Boxwell would call out heartily "Good evening officers, this poor chap has had a drop too much to drink but we will get him home safely". I cannot say whether this story is true or was just told to extract a half-crown from me.

John, the youngest of John of '98, joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. Did he tell the Royal Navy of his father's part in the Rebellion? In 1813, when he was sixteen years old, he wrote from HMS Amelia in Portsmouth to his "father" (John of Butlerstown). He said that he had borrowed £20 because he was about to go ashore for six months hospital attendance that he needed because of conditions on the West Coast of Africa. He assured his father that the money had not been misspent. In December 1817, John wrote from the merchant ship "Mary Ellen" (Captain Donaldson) in Liverpool before starting a voyage to Brazil. John died in October 1818, nine days after arriving in Para (Belem) Brazil. Even in living memory the West Coast of Africa was called the "White Man's Grave".
The youngest child of John and Susan was Anne who married William Monk Gibbon. Their son, Edward Acton Gibbon, became an army surgeon and after retirement was for a period secretary of the Kilmore lifeboat. Two of Edward's sons also served as secretaries of the lifeboat. Another descendent of Anne and William was William Monk Gibbon, a noted writer whose service at the Western Front in WW1 turned him to pacifism.

Susan (Berry) Boxwell was a very strong woman who, despite all the difficulties after the death of her husband, made a good life for herself. How many other families, bereaved by the Rebellion, did as well?

Sources;

Written by J Leslie Boxwell. Reproduced by kind permission of the Kilmore Parish Journal. This account first appeared in issue 30, 2002.

1 "Some account of the Symptoms of the late Rebellion..." by James Alexander of Ross, Major Ross Fencibiles

Family papers in possession of Mrs Helen Boxwell Skrine of Butlerstown.