T he  Corglass or Kildrumferton Wiltons    

        As I have said previously I believe the geneology of the Wilton family in Ireland is in the shape of the letter Y,and although I am descended  from Roger Wilton and his son John of the Flatt,( the left branch of the Y) Roger in his will stated that he was to be buried in Kildrumferton. In his will it also says to my eldest son John the lands of the Derries and Ballyhelland, ------ these townlands are also in the Kildrumferton area
                              From the above my side of the family obviously had it origins in the Kildrumferton area, and some time in the 1790's John moved over to Dromora(sometimes called the Flatt) beside Kilmore cathederal. Further evidence of Rogers origin is that his son Thomas who was a sadler and lived in Bridge Street, Cavan town died on 1/2/1827 ; his death is recorded in Kildrumferton Parish records,not Kilmore parish records.

               The right branch of the Y is what I call the Corglas or Kildrumferton Wiltons and the good news is that they are alive and well and still thriving in the area today. However, I at present am not going to concentrate on the "modern" day Wiltons and the purpose of this page is to state what I know of the "early" Corglass Wiltons.

   It is said that the Wiltons came to Ireland with Cromwell and this may well be true. Indeed a lot of evidence does indeed suggest this:-
                   a) 1659   Kinnagad townland, Farnbill barony Cort  George Wilton and William Rowles gents described as 8 English and 34 Irish

                   b) Gent George Wilton appointed for poll tax ordinance
                               Both the above are for Co West Meath, and Cort means cornet which is a Lieutenant of cavalry (most likely Cromwell's cavalry)

                   c) From a list of soldiers serving in Ireland during the commonwealth period as reported in the Catelogue of Reports and Schedules addresses to the Court of Claims, there is a cornet George Wilton from West Meath. Cornet means a lieutenant of cavalry which for this period of history is most likely to be Cromwell's army.
                                                                   Various grants of land ,all involving 140 acres are mentioned in the "Books of Survey and Distribution", The "Acts of Settlement and Distribution" and "Grantee's of Estates Forfeited in Ireland under the Williamite Confiscations" in 1688 the name of George Wilton appears. The problem is the exact date of these grants is not recorded and they cover a period from 1640 to 1690. Cromwell arrived in 1659 and as the dates are not recorded I can not say definitely that the Wiltons were present before 1659
              

 and also from deeds in Henrietta Street, Dublin the following:-
       25th Oct 1716, a land deed between Walter Wilton of Laffeny, Co Tipperary and a Thomas Weeks. It mentions the land being granted to George Wilton, grand father of the said Walter by King Charles 2nd i.e before Cromwell. This George Wilton is George of Gaulstown

      Evidence against :--
              a) The birth in St Michan's in 1638 of a Sara Wilton to John and Ellen Wilton.---this is well before Cromwell's time

              b) The perplexing question of Who is George Wilton of Gaulstown? and Who are his descendants? The deeds in Henrietta St , Dublin seem to be related mostly to this family and it's descendants and I am now fully convinced that George of Gaulstown has nothing to do with the Corglas Wiltons. Cosby Wilton may also be linked in here as well but I have no way of proving this as yet.
  George Wilton married Eliz Savage and although we do not know the date it is thought he was born in the 1630's, Eliz was born in 1641.
  This is again before Cromwell's time in Ireland.
           Eliz Savage was of aristocratic background and her marriage to George is mentioned in Burke's Landed Gentry. They settled in Gaulstown, Co West Meath ( The Savages and Montgomery's are a very old Irish family and were based in Portaferry Co.Down--one of their descendants was "Monty" i.e. Fieldmarshal Lord Montgomery of Alamein from the 2nd world war)
          I have so far identified over 300 Wilton deeds in Henrietta Street ,Dublin dating from the early 1700's to the mid 1800's. They are mostly mortgages,leases,marriage agreements and one will, and the vast majority of them relate to George Wilton of Gaulstown and his descendants. Indeed it is from these deeds that I have a fair idea who some of his sons, grandsons etc are. They mostly mention land in Co West Meath, Co Tipperary and property in Dublin. There is no mention of Co Cavan in any of the deeds relating to George,his sons etc:-
             
         For example:--

   Vol 34; Page No 92; Document No.20697
   This doument mentions Eliz O'Neil widow and relict of Henry Wilton of Gaulstown. It talks of the love and affection for her son Hugh of Clonin ;Kings Co (present day Co Offally) Witnessed by a Phillip Wilton---dated 10/5/1722   

   Vol 98: Pge 69;Doc No 67649
    Mentions John Wilton eldest son of Hugh

  An original manuscript D18588 in the National Library of Dublin tells of Hugh Wilton ,late of Rathcarn, Co West Meath died intestate. All his goods went to his son John---dated 27/12/1752
Another original manuscript between Hugh and John Wilton involving a George Tyrell. This a deed of recovery and talks of the rent of 100 cottages, 100 gardens,10 orchards written on 9/2/1749 and signed 23rd Hilary in George 2nd reign

   Present day Wilton's tell me that there were 7 Wilton brothers and I can identify 6 with certainty and I am fairly sure of the 7th.
        The evidence comes from the deed of 1819 (Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D)

  In this deed Samuel Wilton snr mentions 5 of his sons--Samuel,Thomas, William,George and James and it also mentions the 1753 marriage settlement deed (between George Wilton ,father of Samuel and Jane Teate)

  From the 1821 census of Corglass:-
   In house No 5 on 15 acres of land is Samuel aged 63,his wife Mary aged 58 and their son Charles aged 20
   Charles married Mary ,daughter of Richard Wilton of Legaland, Kilmore (my g,g,g,grandfather's brother as in 1821 census). Charles and Mary were 2nd cousins and this is the only reference I have ever found of what became of any of Richard's family.

   From Kildrumferton Parish Records there is the following entry:-
                              Roger Wilton of Corglass died 29/1/1804
 Written beside this entry in pencil is the word drowned (pencil wasn't invented in 1804 so this must have been added later) It has been passed down to this day that a Wilton brother drowned in Corglass lake and his other brothers may have been involved in his drowning.The addition of the word drowned in pencil may go some way to confirming this.
                                         From the above we have the existence of the 7 Wilton brothers

  Also from the 1821 census return of the townland of Corglass in the parish of Crosserlough(Kildrumferton), Barony of Clonmoghan ,there are 4 wilton brothers living in the townland along with Samuel snr and I think 2 of Samuel snr's sisters
               In house No 5 is Samuel snr aged 63 (born1759) along with his wife Mary, aged 58 and their son Charles