The Eustace family of Robertstown, County Kildare almost certainly descends from the 1st or 2nd Viscount Baltinglass, and is one of the extremely few branches of the Eustace family now in existence.

                It was believed that the Eustaces of Baltinglass became extinct soon after the abortive Baltinglass Rebellion of 1580; but more than two centuries later a petition was submitted, and repeated in 1839 by Rev. Charles Eustace of Robertstown (located 7 miles NW. of Naas) and his brothers, claiming that he should be acknowledged as the direct heir to the line. They submitted an unshakable pedigree proving their descent from a William Eustace, who had married in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century Margaret Ashe of Forenaghts Great. They claimed that this William Eustace was the younger brother of the 3rd Viscount, and that he, being in England at the time, had taken no part in the rebellion. Thus he could not have been slain in 1581 as reported, and in 1610 was in fact living openly in England as the 5th Viscount. (William’s elder brother, Edmund, had been titled 4th Viscount by the Pope in 1586 but had died in I588). Among other evidence they produced a sword engraved “William Eustace 1558” and bearing the Eustace arms, attainted in 1585. Their claim was accepted by the Attorney-General of Ireland, who considered that the petitioner and his heirs would have a right to the title in the unlikely event of any future reversal of the attainder. The Eustaces of Robertstown have from that date been recognized as the descendants of the Viscounts Baltinglass.

                It is only fair to state that doubt is cast upon the validity of this claim in The Complete Peerage (1910), by O. E. Cokayne and V. Gibbs, where the fates of the Baltinglass brothers, as disclosed by more recent research, are fully dealt with. William Eustace most certainly existed, but was he the 3rd Viscount’s brother? This assumption presents several difficulties, and I should guess that he was more probably a first cousin,” (or son of a first cousin. Had he been a second cousin he would have had no claim to the peerage granted to the 1st Viscount) but we have very little information concerning the families if any, or of the 3rd Viscount’s uncles. Whatever the truth, we must now tell the story of his distinguished descendents.

                There is a letter dated 14th Aug., 1601 in the Irish State Papers from Captain E. Fitzgerald to Secretary Cecil, in which he alleges that William Eustace of Castlemartin, as head of the family, is claiming some or all of the lands of the late Viscount Baltinglass, whereas William Eustace of Little Bollies (i.e. Boleybeg, SE. of Harristown, owned by William Eustace of Castlemartin), now in England and is next heir in blood to the late Viscount. Note that at that time William did not apparently claim specifically to be the Viscount’s brother.

William Eustace returned to Ireland soon after 1610, by which time several Acts of Parliament had been passed pardoning political offenders of the previous reign. He soon married (or had previously married) Margaret, daughter of Edward Ashe, a rich Naas merchant who owned Forenaghts Great, three miles east of the town. William had a son Rowland and a daughter Jane who married Captain Archbold.

Rowland Eustace of Naas settled in the town and married in about 1635 to Elizabeth Bigland, a daughter of Mary (or Maria) Strickland of Sizergh who was a godchild of Mary Queen of Scots. Rowland Eustace’s two sons, when very young boys, had nearly lost their lives during the 1641 rebellion, and Rowland himself died that year. James the elder son became an army officer but died without issue probably in 1665, when Rowland was succeeded by his brother Richard.

Richard Eustace of Naas was Sovereign of the town in 1665, 1697 and 1698. He inherited Forenaghts Great from his grandmother but sold it soon afterwards to the Neville family. The Forenaghts Great estate had been saved from confiscation in 1641 by having been mortgaged to Alexander Eustace of Dowdenstown (q,v). (In about 1700 Richard Eustace owned Watergate Castle with adjoining mill and malt- house, and some land nearby called Eustace Meadow. Watergate was situated where Friary Road enters the south side of the old market place now called Poplar Square. Close to this place still remain parts of Eustace Castle, which was owned by Colonel William Eustace of Craddockstown in the late 18th century. It would seem more than likely that these two castles were identical, bough some authorities think they stood on opposite sides of the present Friary Road. Eustace Meadow is described as a piece of commons on the left hand of the ford leading from Naas to Craddockstown below the square fort.” Friary Road is the road to Craddockstown, and the old mill-race (now in a culvert under Poplar Square) gave the name to Watergate.)

Richard Eustace married Mary, daughter of Sir William Forster, a friend of the Lord Strafford who built Jigginstown Castle just west of Naas, His eldest son John died without issue. Richard Eustace was succeeded on his death in 1705 by his second son  Charles Eustace. The other children were: William, dsp., Elizabeth, Avis and Mary. Avis married in 1688 to Alexander Graydon, who as executor to his father-in-law claimed against the estate of Sir Maurice Eustace of Harristown (d. 1703) for debts.

Charles Eustace of Naas was Sovereign of the borough in 1703, 1709 and 1724. He married Elizabeth daughter of Captain John Borrows of Ardinode, just west of Ballymore Eustace and died in 1732 (A pedigree in Ulster Office gives his death (I think incorrectly) as 1702, i.e., before that of his father.)

Charles left eight children;  Richard; John of Naas, Sovereign in 1719, m. 1736 Elizabeth, of Robert Graydon of Russellstown, part of the former Baltinglass estate of Kilberry (see Athy), and died 1769 leaving an only son, Charles, who succeeded his uncle, Richard; William, Sovereign of Naas, 1715; Borrows; Alexander (Rev.), d. 1779; Thomas; Mary and Elizabeth. The last six left no issue.

Richard Eustace, the eldest married in 1731, Susanna, daughter of Aaron Crossley of Dublin, by whom he had five children, but the male line died out and succession passed on his death in 1776 to his nephew Charles, later a lieutenant-general.

Lieutenant-General Charles Eustace of Robertstown, Co. Kildare and of Corbally, Queen’s County, M.P., was the son of Richard’s brother John. He was born in 1737 and entered the army where he saw much active service during the American War of Independence and in Ireland. During the troubles of 1798 he was present at New Ross, where he was second-in-command to Major-General Johnson, whose A.D.C. was Charles’s 15-year-old son William Cornwallis Eustace, and also at Vinegar Hill. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General and was appointed Colonel of the 68th Regiment. He was for a time an officer of the Irish Engineers, then separate from the Corps of Engineers (now the Royal Engineers). He married in 1762 Alicia, daughter of Oliver McCausland of Stranolar, M.P. for Strabane, Co. Tyrone, and died in 1800 as the result of hardships suffered during the fighting of 1798, having had eleven children.

Reverend Charles Eustace of Robertstown, the eldest, was the petitioner referred to above. He married in 1800, Cassandra, daughter and co-heiress of John Stannard of Ballydoyle, Co. Cork, and died in 1856 leaving four daughters and a son, Captain Charles Stannard Eustace of Robertstown. He married first in 1843 Laura, daughter or Christopher Thomas Tower of Weald Hall, Essex, and second in 1864 to Rosetta Philippa, daughter of Colonel Cameron of Danygraig, Glamorganshire, but died without issue in 1875, when succession passed to his cousin Henry Eustace of Corbally. Rev. Charles’ eldest daughter, Alicia Catherine Eustace, married in 1827 to Robert Robertson leaving two sons and two daughters. The elder son, Colonel Robert Jameson Eustace ROBERTSON, took the additional surname EUSTACE.

He married in 1863 Lady Catherine Legge, daughter of the 4th Earl of Dartmouth, and died in 1889, leaving, with five daughters, three sons: Major Charles Legge Eustace, dsp.; Robert William, Barrington, D.S.O., Member of the Legislative Council, Kenya, dsp. 1935; and Seton George Legge, born 1871 and married, 1915, Stella Olivia May by whom he had four children:

Charles who died young, Rowland and Sinclair, who have the single surname EUSTACE, and Alicia. Rowland married Barbara Belloc, and has a son and a daughter born in 1956. Alicia married Anthony Arthur Russell, son of Lord Russell and grandson of the 6th Duke of Bedford.

Lieutenant-General Henry of Corbally, Queen’s County, General Charles Eustace’s third son, entered the army and like his father rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. He married in1819 Henrietta, daughter of Peter, Count D’Alton of Grenanstown, Co. Tipperary, and died in 1844 having had three sons and two daughters. Henry of Corbally, the eldest, was born in 1822 and succeeded to Robertstown on the death of his cousin Charles Stannard Eustace in 1875. He bought Grenanstown from Lord Gormanstown, to whom it had been left by his father-in-law. He was appointed a J.P. and Deputy Lieutenant of the County. He married Albertine, daughter of the Marquis Paulucci, but their only child, Henrietta of Grenanstown, born 1862, died unmarried in 1920. On his death in 1898 succession passed to the line of General Charles’ fourth son William Cornwallis Eustace;

William Cornwallis Eustace (1783-1855) K.C.H. (Knight Commander of the Hanoverian Order) C.B., of Sandford Hall, Essex, was the son of Lieutenant General Charles Eustace (1737-1800) of Robertstown and Corbally, County Kildare by his wife Alicia McCausland.  He entered the British army and first saw service, as we have already noted, during the troubles of 1798 when only 15-years-old. He afterwards served in Italy and throughout the Peninsular War as Colonel of the Chasseurs Britanniques taking part in more than twenty battles. He was later transferred to the Grenadier Guards. He was appointed a CB and in 1832 a K.C.H. From 1843 until his death in 1855 he was Colonel Commandant of the 60th Rifles.

William Cornwallis Eustace was first appointed to the Chasseurs Britanniques Regiment in 1783 and served in Ireland through the Rebellion of 1798, being present at Ross, Vinegar Hill and Wexford. He gained promotion, by purchase via a number of regiments and sailed to the Mediterranean with Sir James Craig. He was later present at the battles of Maida and Scylla. A major, 96th boot, he purchased the lieutenant-colonelcy in the Chasseurs Britanniques, 23 August 1810 and took command from April 1811.

William Cornwallis Eustace was wounded on the Heights of Villares in 1812, but only left on leave that winter. He was absent most of 1813 due to injuries but re-joined the unit just before the action above Lesaca in August. Here he was severely wounded, for which he later was awarded a pension of £300 and returned to England on leave. On reduction he went on to half pay, but exchanged, with Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Davies in 1818, to the Grenadier Guards. He became a colonel commandant of the 60th Foot in 1843 and a general on 20 June 1854; he died the following year. He is described as being awarded the Gold Medal for Fuentes de Onoro and Salamanca and the Silver Medal for Madrid and Pyrenees.

He married three times: first, in 1809, to Catherine Frances (d. 1816), daughter of Richard Wogan, 2nd Baron Talbot of Malahide; secondly, Caroline Margaret, daughter of John King, Under-Secretary of State; and third, Emma, daughter and co-heiress of Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, G.C.B., of Chigwell, Essex. By his first wife he had a son, Alexander Talbot Eustace and two daughters, Frances Catherine Elizabeth who married (1) in 1841 to Robert King and (2) to Reverend Samuel Lloyd; and Alicia Margaret, who died unmarried in 1840; by his second wife, three sons, William, who died young, John Thomas (1825-1919) and Robert Henry (married 1859) and by his third wife a daughter, Emma Louise who married Miles Lonsdale Formby in 1854.

Alexander Talbot, the eldest son, adopted the surname EUSTACE MALPAS. He married in 1845 Georgiana Charlotte, daughter of John Drummond, and died in 1870 having had two sons of whom the younger, Alexander Rowland, b. 1859, died in 1900 without issue. The elder, Major-General Sir Francis John William, K.C.B. of Rochestown, Co. Dublin, and later of Robertstown was born in 1849 and served in the Royal Artillery, finally being appointed a Colonal Commandant of the Regiment. He married in 1882 Marina Annie, daughter of General Sir Donald Stewart, Bart., G.C.B., and died in 1925, leaving a son Frank Rowland, b. 1891 who lived in Rochestown, Co. Dublin, and headed the family. He married three times but had no son.

Colonel John Thomas Eustace, General Sir William’s third son, was born in 1825, served in the 60th Rifles and later went to South Africa, where he was elected Member for Capetown in the first South African Parliament and was for some time Resident of Namaqualand. In 1860 he married Edith Twentyman in South Africa, and died in 1919 having had five sons and seven daughters. The daughters of Colonel John Thomas Eustace were: Myra, Edith, Emily, Emma, Augusta, Mon Alice and Mildred. Monica Alice Eustace married her first cousin, Colonel Henry Montague Eustace (q.v).

John Bridges Eustace, the eldest, born in 1861, rose to the rank of Admiral in the Navy, married but without issue and died in 1947. ROBERT KING EUSTACE, the second son, died in 1912 also without issue. The third son, MAJOR-GENERAL ALEXANDER HENRY EUSTACE, C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., was born in 1863, served in India in the 2nd Sikh infantry, Punjab Frontier Force and died in 1939, leaving a son. He is John Curtis Wernher. C.I.E., who was born in 1906 and served in the Indian Civil Service until 1947, being from 1942 till 1946 a Deputy Home Secretary, Punjab Government He married in 1937 to Pamela Mary, only daughter of Sir Harold Glover, Indian Forest Service, and had three sons; William John Henry Eustace b. 1939, Midshipman, Royal Navy, Rowland Alexander Fitz Eustace b. 1942 and Francis Edmund Portlester Eustace b. 1944. WILLIAM MOSS EUSTACE, the fourth son, died in 1908, leaving two daughters and a son Terence Eustace, who has two sons and a daughter. The elder daughter of William Moss Eustace, Monica Alice, married Donald Stephen Wedderburn-Ogilvy, R.N., and had a son, Caryl Eustace, who has a son.

Terence Eustace in 1955 was South African Minister in Rio de Janeiro. CHARLES FRERE EUSTACE, the fifth son, was born in 1868, married Lydia, daughter of L. Acutt, and died in 1901 leaving two sons, COLONEL JOHN PATRICK EUSTACE, MC., and CHARLES FRERE EUSTICE, born 1868, who has a son, Patrick, and two daughters, Susan and Jane.

The Rev. Robert Henry Eustace, General Sir William’s fourth son, married in 1859 Emily Henrietta, daughter of Sir Thomas Pym Bridges and had three sons. GERARD, the eldest, born in 1860 died without issue in 1872. COLONEL HENRY MONTAGUE EUSTACE, D.S.O., of Mountfin, Co. Wexford, the second son, born in 1864, married in 1903 to his cousin Monica Alice, daughter of Colonel John Thomas Eustace, and died in 1926 from wounds received in Gallipoli leaving a daughter (Myra Caroline Henrietta, b. 1905, who married Donald Stephen Wedderhurn-Ogilvy, RN, the widower of her second cousin, Monica Alice. She has two children Alys and Peter, a Lieutenant in the Navy) and two sons, of whom the elder, Robert Brooke Bridges Eustace of Mountfin (b. 1907) who served in the Colonial Civil Service, Nigeria. was unmarried; and the younger, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerard Henry Eustace of Ballinahallin, Co. Wexford, married Joan Norah Glenn and has two children. The Rev. Robert Henry Eustace’s third son LOUIS CHARLES MOSS EUSTACE, was born in 1866, and married first, Elizabeth Jane Quinton, but without issue, and second in 1923 Marjorie Ross. He died in 1939 leaving a son and four daughters. The son, Captain Thomas Robert Hales of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, born in 1923, married first Pamela Venetia Browning by whom he had two sons, and secondly in 1957 Dorothy Anne, daughter of Baron Percy of Newcastle, son of the 7th Duke of Northumberland, by whom he has a daughter born 1958.

Thus, although Captain Frank Rowland of Rochestown had no direct heir, there are sixteen male descendants of the ancient line of Baltinglass able to continue the connection of the Eustace family with County Kildare.

(To be continued)

1. The Knights Commander of the Hanoverian Order were largely a British Order as the Kings of England were Kings of Hanover. Lieutenant-General John Rowland Eustace, of Baltrasney was a knight of the same order. John died unmarried in 1864.

These pages © Ronald Eustice, 2009