State and domestic arrangements in the household of the lord lieutenant of Ireland, 1794–95

State and domestic arrangements in the household of the lord lieutenant of Ireland, 1794–95Author(s): Caroline GallagherSource: Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 62 (2009), pp. 236-243Published by: Catholic Historical Society of IrelandStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25734972 .

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Caroline Gallagher

State and domestic arrangements in the house hold of the lord lieutenant of Ireland, 1794-95

For over two hundred years the office of the Irish lord lieutenant was the

highest in the land. Dublin Castle was the seat of crown power. It was also the centre of Irish high society, where the elite vied for political hearing, favours of title, recognition of social status and where clergymen sought ecclesiastical advancement. A large body of state and private servants attended the official and social elements of the viceregal court. Some were

considered permanent and retained their appointment through succes sive administrations. Most were appointed by the serving lord lieutenant. Several were brought with him from London. As pointed out by Patricia

McCarthy, very little has been written about servants in eighteenth-century Irish households.1 However, some contributions on the arrangement of domestic servants have been made by Constantia Maxwell and more

recently and extensively by Toby Barnard.2 Joseph Robins has given valuable insights of the social and ceremonial aspects of Dublin Castle between 1700 and 1922.3 However, probably due to the short tenure of Earl Fitzwilliam in early 1795, his administration is mentioned only in passing by Robins and ignored by others.4

In the summer of 1794 Pitt's London administration was in difficulty and plans were afoot to replace John Fane the 10th Earl of Westmoreland, with William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, the 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam, as lord lieutenant in Ireland. A number of letters passed between the earl and his fellow Whig, the Reverend Thomas Lewis O'Beirne, rector of the parish of

Temple Michael in county Longford.5 O'Beirne, a former Roman Catholic seminarian at the college of St Omer in France, converted to the Church of England and formed a useful connection with the Whigs that facilitated

1 Patricia McCarthy, 'Vails and travails: how Lord Kildare kept his household in order' in

Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies: the Journal of the Irish Georgian Society, vi (2003), pp 121-139 at P-12L

2 Constantia Maxwell, Country and Town in Ireland under the Georges (London, 1940) and Dublin under the Georges (3rd edition, Dublin, 1997); Toby Barnard, Making the Grand Figure; Lives and possessions in Ireland, 1641-1770 (New Haven and London, 2004).

3 Joseph Robins, Champagne and Silver Buckles: The Viceregal Court at Dublin Castle 1700-1922

(Dublin, 2001). 4 Ibid., p. 81.

5 Thomas Lewis O'Beirne to Earl Fitzwilliam, 6 Sept. 1794 (Sheffield City and County Archive, Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments, WWM F29/7); O'Beirne to Fitzwilliam, 7 Oct. 1794

(WWM F29/9).

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Household of the lord lieutenant of Ireland, 1794-95

his eventual ascension to the Irish episcopal bench. The correspondence between O'Beirne and Fitzwilliam reproduced here occurred in the months prior to Fitzwilliam's appointment as lord lieutenant of Ireland and concerns the staffing and management of the state and domestic households of that office at Dublin Castle. From 1765 lords lieutenant were

required to reside continuously in Dublin. State apartments were provided at Dublin Castle and the Viceregal Lodge was purchased as a summer resi dence in the 1780s. However, Fitzwilliam was cautioned against residing in the Phoenix Park; 'Of all the unhealthy places in Ireland, the House in the Park is the most unhealthy'.6

O'Beirne had acted as first chaplain and private secretary to the 3rd Duke of Portland during his time as lord lieutenant in 1782 and was to secure the same appointments during Fitzwilliam's short tenure. The future lord lieutenant sought and obtained the clergyman's advice on

engaging servants to state, domestic and private households and also on matters relating to the hierarchical structure of those households; their

duties, salaries and forms of ceremonial dress. In Robins's brief mention of the Duke of Portland's term of office, the affairs of state were attended

by many of the duke's relatives.7 O'Beirne's advices made no mention of

this, but recommended that certain key staff be brought from England and cautioned that in replacing other servants of state 'nothing like punish

ment or private resentment ought to be discovered whatever'.8 In the passages quoted here, it is obvious that the domestic arrange

ments at Dublin Castle were given equal consideration to the state or

official household. O'Beirne was anxious to ensure Fitzwilliam exercised care and caution in his choices, as all classes of servant, above or below

stairs, were required to be of the utmost integrity, honesty and loyalty. He cited the folly of previous lords lieutenant such as Charles Manners, the

4th Duke of Rutland, who, due to the dishonesty of his house steward 'was

plundered to an enormous amount'.9 According to Robins, the Rutlands not only generated hedonism, but their roisterous and extravagant lifestyle was 'such that there were few among the gentry and nobility who would have felt at ease in offering them hospitality'.10

Patricia McCarthy has illustrated that the distribution of vails or the

practice of tipping servants was prevalent throughout England, Scotland and Ireland during the early eighteenth century.11 It became such a cause

of embarrassment to houseguests that in 1765 the Marquis of Kildare

6 WWM F29/7. 7 Robins, Champagne and Silver Buckles, p. 67. 8 WWM F29/9. 9 WWM F29/7. 10 Robbins, Champagne and Silver Buckles, pp 69-75. 11 McCarthy, 'Vails and travails', pp 131-134.

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Archivium Hibernicum

banned servants from requesting or accepting such supplements.12 O'Beirne made no mention of vails at Dublin Castle towards the end of the century, or at least did not use that particular terminology. As already noted however, the house steward availed of some additional emolument, as did the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, whose 'Salary and perqui sites' amounted to one thousand pounds a year and the two Gentlemen of the Bedchamber, who in addition to their salary of ten shillings per day,

were entitled to 'their share of Fees of Honor'.13 One of the most valuable and informative aspects of the O'Beirne

correspondence with Fitzwilliam is the quotation of salaries for various members of the household. When compared with sources relating to salaries paid to those occupying similar posts at the royal court just fourteen years later, it is obvious that servants of the Irish administra tion were not attracted by financial reward. In 1794, the salaries of the

Comptroller, Chamberlain, Gentleman Usher and Master of the Horse sta tioned at Dublin Castle stood at three hundred pounds a year.14 According to Lord Hawkesbury's correspondence from Arthur Wellesley in 1808, their salaries showed no improvement for many years.15 These offices,

though filled by the lord lieutenant's candidates of choice, were paid from the civil list.16 At that time, the civil purse was in surplus to the king and to the apparent detriment of servants of state, a great part of it was being 'appropriated to the payment of secret pensions' to those who had sup

ported the Irish Act of Union in 1801.17 Although it would be unreasonable to expect servants of the Viceregal Court in Ireland to have been on equal financial footing with those of the Court of Saint James, or even with those in service to the Prime Minister, one striking example of the deficit in state servants holding office in Dublin and their counterparts in London was evidenced during the tenure of the 10th Earl of Westmoreland. Following his term as lord lieutenant in Ireland in 1795, Westmoreland accepted the

appointment of Master of the Horse at the royal court, with a salary ten times greater than that of the Dublin Master.18 In Dublin, the Master of the Horse lived at his own expense, whereas in London, the same servant

enjoyed 'lodgings, plate and on the death of the sovereign, his pick of the royal horses'.19 Whatever advices were given to Fitzwilliam to surround

12 Ibid., p. 133. 13 WWM F29/7. 14 WWM F29/7. 15 'Arthur Wellesley, on behalf of the Duke of Richmond to Lord Hawkesbury, 19 June, 1808',

in The Duke of Wellington (ed), Civil Correspondence and Memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur Duke of Wellington, K.G. (London, i860), p. 456.

16 Ibid, and WWM F29/7. 17 Wellington, Civil Correspondence, p. 456. 18 British History, 'Office Holders in Modern Britain: The Stables: Master of the Horse 1660

1837, www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43902 [consulted 29 Sept. 2007]. 19 Ibid.

238




W.M. Thackeray. Caricature of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland retiring to his bed.

? Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London (Witt Collection. Pen and ink (brown) on paper. Nineteenth century. D.1952. RW.3284.

himself with the loyal and trustworthy, at least some positions at Dublin Castle were most likely accepted by aspirants for whom a term spent in the service of the Irish administration improved their political, social or ecclesiastical prospects in Ireland or increased their chances of an eventual

appointment to the royal court itself. Perhaps one of the most leveling statements regarding appointments to either domestic or state households of the Irish lord lieutenant during the seventeen-nineties was the follow

ing; 'With respect to your domestic establishment I must begin by the Cook - him first, him last - for I dare say your Lordship has often heard, that he is one of the most Effective Ministers of the Irish Government'.20

The author acknowledges the kind permission of the Director of Culture, Sheffield City Council to use the following extracts. The Wentworth

Woodhouse Muniments have been accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax

by H.M. Government and allocated to Sheffield City Council. Spellings, punctuation, paragraphing, underlining and syntax are as in the original

manuscript.

20 WWM F29/7.

239




Document

1

Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments F 29/j, 6 September 1794, Lucan, O'Beirne to Fitzwilliam

My dear Lord, The reason why I could not return an immediate answer to the Information

which your Lordship wished me to give you in your last Letter was, that I knew that Lord Buckingham had made a total change in the Lord

Lieutenants Household Establishment since the Duke of Portland's time.

Before that administration the Lord Lieutenant settled the Salaries of

his Officers at his own discretion and charged them upon the Military

Contingencies; but that time their Salaries were fixed and placed upon the

general Establishment. Your first Officer is the Steward of the Household. His Salary is 400L a year, but looking to patronage & always expected to be

provided for by some lucrative Employment. This must be a confidential

friend, on whom you can rely for the entire regulation, & Superintendance of your family. He presides at the Board of Green Cloth, and attends to

your person upon all State occasions with a White Staff. The present man, I believe, is Mr. [unreadable]. Your next Officer is the Comptroller of the Household at a Salary of 300 a year. He also is supposed to assist in the superintending of the Household, sits at the Green Cloth Table & attends the Lord Lieutenant in Ceremony with a white staff. The present

man Mr. Corkayne. The next Officer is the Gentleman Usher of the Black with a Salary of 1000 a year, or at least the Office is worth that by Salary & perquisites. It is now possessed by the Lord Lieutenant's Uncle. These three are always changed by every new Lord Lieutenant, and generally brought with him from England; & your Lordship, from the nature of this

Office, will see that, in point of prudence, the choice of your Steward of

the Household ought to be well weighed. You have two Gentlemen of the

Bedchamber, belonging also to your state, at an allowance of Ten Shillings a Day, besides their share of Fees of Honor, which makes the place worth

from 230 to 250 Pounds a Year. You have four Aids de Camp in Ordinary at an allowance of ten Shillings a Day, and as many Extraordinary, for attend ance without pay as you may choose to appoint. There are four Pages, sons of Gentlemen, two for the Lord Lieutenant and two for the Lady Lieutenant. Lord Buckingham settled that they should have 60 guineas a year each, to keep them at a School, & that their State Cloths are to be

provided for them besides by the Lord Lieutenant. The 60 guineas each is out of his own Pocket, and I should have observed that the Gentlemen

of the Bedchamber, & the Aids de Camp are changed by every new Lord

Lieutenant, & that their pay is on the Establishment. Besides these Offices, which are always changed, there are others, which, except in Jephson's

240




Instance, from the vengeful disposition of Lord Buckingham are never

changed - The Gentleman Usher to the Lord Lieutenant 300 a Year, Sir

[Hugh] Boyle Roche. The Chamberlain, Sir John Hasler, also 300, and the Master of the Horse, Jephson, 300L

- Before the Duke of Portland's time, the Gentlemen at large were changed with the rest of the Household; but as his Grace did not remove the Persons he found in that Office, the

example has been adopted and are now considered as permanent, & their

Salary is settled at 100L a Year. They also are attendants on the State of the Lord Lieutenant. No part of the Household lives at the Lord Lieutenant's

expence, except when the Steward & Comptroller preside at the Green Cloth Table; but the Steward, the Comptroller, the first Aid de Camp, the first Chaplain, & the Private Secretary have apartments in the Castle. In the Duke of Portland's time the Second Chaplain has apartments, but I do not find that there have been any so occupied since his time.

With respect to your domestic Establishment I must begin by the Cook - him first, him last - for I dare say your Lordship has often heard, that he is one of the most Effective Ministers of the Irish Government. You must have two principle Butlers, one for your own Table, & one for the Board of Green Cloth, & I need not say how Essential it is to attend to that choice of these. - But the most Essential of all your Domestics to yourself is your House Steward. He must be a Person not only of the strictest Honesty & Integrity, but attached to your Interests, and of abilities to attend &

regulate every part of your Expenditure. The Duke of Portland had one

of the best, most honest and intilligent men in that Office that I have ever known. Your Lordship may judge of him, when I inform you, that

although no Lord Lieutenant ever lived more sumptuously than the Duke of Portland, & although he remained here during the most expensive part of the year, yet after paying all Expences of every kind, there was a saving from the Salary of between three & four Hundred Pounds. By not attend

ing to this the Duke of Rutland was plundered to an enormous amount; & even the parsimonious Lord Buckingham, I have very good reason to know dipped considerably into his private Income. -

Lady Fitzwilliam must bring over her own Housekeeper, and she also ought to be a Person of great trust. There is a State Housekeeper who acts by Deputy; but there are apartments provided for the Private Housekeeper, who alone inter feres in the management of the family.

- Plate, your Lordship must bring

of your own, but I conclude that you know that there is three thousand Pounds allowed for this & other incipient Expences. Linen must also be

brought of your own, but China & Earthen ware generally handed over

from one Lord Lieutenant to another, and unless Lady Fitzwilliam would wish to bring over any particular Set, there is no necessity of any trouble about that article. Wines also are generally handed over on a Valuation & several other matters of conveniency. Your Lordship must by all means

bring with you your own Coach & riding Horse Stable Establishment,

241




except Helpers, which can be got here. There are Housemaids stationary in the Castle, but Lady Fitzwilliam, would, I dare say, wish to take one or two of her own, and the same with Footmen. This is all I can think of at

present essential for your Lordship to know. Any other details you could wish to know, I can readily gain information on them. I forgot to add about the Pages, that it is expected that some of them should be named here. - Before I conclude, I must caution your Lordship on a point, in which we are all interested, and which, I hope you will turn seriously in

your mind. Of al the unhealthy places in Ireland, the House in the Park is the most unhealthy. This has been proved by repeated experience, and indeed when your Lordship sees the Spewy Soil and the Dykes of stagnant

water that surround it, you will conclude that it must be so. The whole Park is unhealthy, & even the Secretary's House, which stands on the most

elevated & driest part of it, has been represented by Surgeon Hume, to

Farquher the Surgeon in London, who consulted him on it for Douglas, as decidedly unwholesome. Lord Buckingham quit the House there in his

time, and resided for the Summer months at a House of Leas at the Black Rock. The House altogether, ought to be sold, & a new one provided in some more healthy situation; and no place on Earth supplies more healthy ones than the Environs of Dublin.

The old Castle faction are in the greatest consternation on finding the

report of your Lordship's appointment strengthened by their accounts from London. Their Consciences have given them the alarm, although they still declare that the Day before Lord Westmorland went to Curraghmore he had positively asserted that there could be nothing in it, and that from Mr. Pitts Letters to him, he could assure them that he should hold the next Sessions of Parliament here. This appears to us very singular

- what I know for certain, and from indisputable Information is that Fitzgibbon

& the Beresfords with their old Gusto are spiriting him up to become

refactory, and to insist upon protecting them from the persecution, as they call it, to which they will be exposed by his removal. Beresford is himself,

going to England immediately, under pretence of settling a Lease he has under the Copper Mine Company, but in fact, to manage this point. I need not take up your Lordship's time with any observations on this subject of removals and Mr. George Ponsonby & Grattan will represent to your

Lordship the unanimous opinion of your friends, & one thing however, I cannot refuse myself the Liberty of observing to you, that nothing like

punishment or private resentment ought to be discovered whatever ...

I am, my dear Lord, with the truest attachment, Your Lordship's most devoted & faithful Servant, T L O'Beirne Lord Buckingham, I find, had six Aids de Camp in pay and this is consid ered as optionary in the Lord Lieutenant.

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2

Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments F 2g/g, 7 October 1794, Temple Michael, O'Beirne to Fitzwilliam

My dear Lord, ... In the detail which I gave your Lordship of your Establishment, I men tioned nothing of your Private Secretary .... What I understand to have been settled from the time of Lord Buckingham was a Guinea a Day, payed by the Lord Lieutenant himself, and as I learned from the Duke of Portland that your Lordship means to bring Mr. Dundas over with you, I thought it

right to give you this hint - at the same time I cannot see why the Private

Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant here should not be on the same footing with respect to payment, as is the Secretary to the First Minister in England and why his Salary should not be provided for in the same way. But what I chiefly now want to mention to your Lordship on this head, is that it

will be necessary to have some Person imployed besides Mr. Dundas to

carry common business and keep Common Books. The Duke of Portland

brought over a young man in that line from England, but if your Lordship would have no objection, there is a friend of mine here, whom I have

long tried & on whose Honor & fidelity I have the most implicit reliance, whom I should wish to be so employed. Salary would be no object to him, as he would be perfectly satisfied with what the Duke of Portland allowed the young man I allude to .... As I know the delicacy of your Lordship's

mind, and I feel not a little awkward and embarrassed respecting the same

appointment, of Private Secretary, let me just take the Liberty to observe that the apartments to which I am entitled as First Chaplain, or as Private

Secretary, by saving me the Expences of a House, are more than sufficient

considerations, even if I were not already so liberally provided for.

My dear Lord, Your Lordship's most obliged & devoted, humble Servant T L O'Beirne

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Documents

State and domestic arrangements in the household of the lord lieutenant of Ireland, 1794–95