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CSO/RP/1831/121

Letter from Robert Ward [MP], Cheltenham, [England], to Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Chief Secretary, reflecting on his participation in Irish politics and advocating a code for future Irish MPs: in his opinion they should be resident, be 30 years old or more before entering the profession and each man should have an ‘attachment to his country’; noting also the prosperity of the north-east of Ireland and mentioning the value of his sons as public servants.

17 Jan 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/122

Letter from Rev Matthew Purcell and Michael Creagh, magistrates, Buttevant Petty Sessions, [County Cork], to Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Chief Secretary, commenting on the issue of acquiring proper qualifications to hold a publicans licence, the lack of which is likely to lead to ‘the demoralised state of the Peasantry and promote disafection [disaffection]’; stating they received 23 applicants, of which seven were rejected; referring to the persistent application for licence from David Mulcahy who was accused of being ‘frequently Drunk’; suggesting also some modifications to the alcohol licencing laws. Encloses copy of table detailing examination of seven persons applying to hold certificates to sell spirituous liquor: with columns showing ‘Applicants Names’, ‘Particulars of Information laid before the Magistrates and fully Proved’ and ‘Accommodation for Travellers or Persons resorting to their Houses for Food and Provisions’.

25 Aug 1830-11 Jan 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/123

File of documents concerning an application for relief in the town of Clifton, County Mayo, due to a deficiency in the potato crop and the need for a party of revenue police to protect against illicit trade. Includes letter from Charles Browne, Excise Office, London [England], to Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, stating the reason the revenue police were removed from Clifton was because illicit distillation appeared to be ‘nearly suppressed’ in that district, 9 February 1831. Also includes letter from John Darcy [D’Arcy], Clifton Castle, to Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Chief Secretary, appealing for an advance of funds for local public works to alleviate the impoverished poor of the surrounding neighbourhood; stating that the poor would greatly benefit from being employed on the quay at Clifton, for following the failure of the potato crop ‘dysentery & fever has already made its appearance’. Calling also for a restoration of the revenue police to suppress smuggling and illicit trade, a measure ‘absolutely necessary for the protection of the merchant & trader’; referring to his work in building the town of Clifton but indicating the need for a daily postal service, 18 January 1831. Includes petition from the inhabitants of the town of Clifton to Henry William Paget, Lord Lieutenant, seeking advance of a sum of £75 from the Consolidation Fund to the Board of Inland Navigation to be used for completion of the quay at Clifton, signed by 57 persons.

18 Jan 1831-23 Mar 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/124

Letter from Howe Peter Brown, 2nd marquis of Sligo, Westport, County Mayo, to Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, referring to a number of monetary demands against Alexander Nimmo, civil engineer, arising from expenditure on public works on a road and bridge in the Barony of Erris; alluding also to the appearance of a resolution [likely in support of repeal of the union] and the burning of a haystack belonging to a local Protestant. Includes printed handbill with title ‘Illegal Meetings’ warning against taking of unlawful oaths or taking part in ‘nightly or daily tumultuous assemblages’, signed by c100 magistrates and gentlemen.

13 Jan 1831-25 Jan 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/125

Printed letter from a [anonymous] landed proprietor of County Donegal to the magistrates of that county advising their response to local disorder should be ‘of a remedial rather than a coercive nature’; arguing that rather than being engulfed by ‘political excitement’ the unsettled state of the peasantry is best explained by local grievances; the cause of any breaches of the peace are due to ‘an extreme sense of suffering’ amongst the peasantry; considering as examples the ejection of the tithe agent of Rev Dr Ussher, rector of Clandyharky, the destruction of a pound on the estate of the Earl of Leitrim [Nathaniel Clements, 2nd earl of Leitrim] at Kilmacrennan, and the ejection of the tithe agent of Rev Wilkinson of Mevagh, he points to excessive rent or tithe demands as well as ‘vexatious legal proceedings’ taken against the people.

21 Jan 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/126

Draft of circular letter [internal to the Chief Secretary Office] requesting that contact be made with officials in the superior courts of law, equity, ecclesiastical and admiralty calling for a return of all recommendations and suggestions made by the Commissioners of Judicial Inquiry; and seeking to ascertain what orders or regulations have been put into effect; or whether an act of legislation will be necessary.

[1831]

1831

CSO/RP/1831/127

Letter from Mr [G. A], Navan market, [County Meath], to Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Chief Secretary, reporting that the corn market is in a state of agitation; and noting the upset caused by handbills apparently circulated in the cause of [Daniel] O’Connell. Adds in postscript that the corn market of Drogheda Gaol, [County Louth] takes place on Saturday.

26 Jan 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/128

Draft of circular letter signed by Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, ordering a communication to be addressed to the Customs Office, [Dublin], instructing their officers to be most watchful for arms arriving along the coast of Ireland.

26 Jan 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/129

Letter from Richard Griffith, civil engineer, General Survey Office, Dublin, to Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Chief Secretary, asking that a communication be sent to Sir Edward Lees, secretary, General Post Office, [Dublin], requesting that a package containing public accounts and letters be delivered free of postage charges.

26 Jan 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/130

Letters from James Lamb Audouin, magistrate, East Hill,Newtown Mount Kennedy, [Newtownmountkennedy], County Wicklow, to Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, and Alexander Mangin, first clerk in civil department, Chief Secretary's Office, offering his services to government in the present political crisis.

21 Jan 1831-22 Jan 1831

1831