The following is what, I along with Doug Vaugh and his brother
Hugh have managed to research on the subject of the early Wiltons. Quite
a lot of it has come from The P.R.O in Dublin, Register of Deeds, Henrietta
St , Dublin and other sources such as Swanzy
Will Extracts, Kildrumferton Parish Records,The National Library,
Kildare St., Dublin
This is an ongoing topic and will I feel, be so for many years.
I will try to explain my interpretation as you read through it
;The earliest reference to any Wilton I can find here in Ireland is that
to George Wilton of Gaulstown
The perplexing question of Who is George Wilton of Gaulstown? and Who
are his descendants?
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.
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 these deeds relating to George,his
sons etc from Corglas in Kildrumferton :-
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 Henry was a son of George
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
In the National Library there is an orginial document (No D9423) , which concerns the leasing of land by George Wilton in Co West Meath for the sum of £5000 ( An absolutely hugh some by today's values-- none of it ever came my way!!) It is also signed by a Mary Wilton. This document is dated 1688
These references are only a few of the many in the Wilton
deeds and it is possible to follow a line of ascent from George Wilton
of Gaulstown to the mid 1700's. I have often wondered is Cosby Wilton
linked in here as well as I can not find any connection with him to the
Kildrumferton Wilton's.
I now believe our Wilton's came to Ireland with Oliver Cromwell's army and the original George was a junior officer in the cavalry.
1659
townland Kinnagad;Farnbill barony Cort GeorgeWilton and Wm Rowles
gent described as 8 english and 34 irish
Gent George
Wilton in West Meath appointed for poll tax ordinance-- I now know Cort
means cornet which is a lieutant of cavalry
From a list of soldiers serving
in Ireland during the commonwealth period as reported in the Catalogue
of the Reports and Schedules addressed to the Court of Claims, there is
Cornet George Wilton ; Westmeath
From the "Acts of Settlement and
Explanation"(1661-1665) a grant of land was
given to George Wilton
{ these acts were passed in the reign of Charles1st
in parliament during 1640 but were not acted upon until Charles 2nd
. I presume because of the English civil war, the Irish rebellion starting
in 1641 and the Cromwellian period}
From Books of "Survey and Distribution" (unsure of the date of these) George Wilton received a grant of 140 acres in Corglas
From the list of Grantees
of Estates Forfeited in Ireland under the Williamite Confiscations in
1688 the name of George Wilton appears and
also in Simm's book of the period he mentions that George Wilton received
a grant of 140 acres at this time
From the book "The Western
Protestant Army Ireland1688/90", the author Gibson in his appendix1 lists
"people of distinction " who signed a letter to King William and Queen
Anne. Among those was the name of Roger Wilton
(A) The
first documentary evidence is to be found in the Registry
of Deeds ,Henrietta Street, Dublin
Vol 17, Pg No. 95 Document No. 8267 signed 19th
Nov 1716 . This document describes George Wilton leasing Corglas. the
lease being dated 1709
(B) See
Swanzy Will Extracts ref
Charles Wilton son of Roger Wilton
i.e.--Charles Wilton,son of Roger Wilton. Corglas Co
Cavan,gent, was apprenticed to Jas Cottingham, Goldsmith's Company of
Dublin--1675
From St Michan's
parish records Dublin:--
baptism 25/4/1638 Sara Wilton daughter
of John and Ellen Wilton-- I can find no connection for this entry to
the Wilton's of Kildrumferton
14/10/1684; baptism--Roger son of
Charles Wilton,innkeeper and Jane his wife
28/5/1686; burial-- Charles Wilton
4/11/1686;baptism-- Charles son of
Charles Wilton deceased and relict Jane
21/3/1687; burial--Ann daughter of
Charles Wilton,deceased and his relict Jane
3/7/1687; burial --Charles son of
Charles Wilton deceased and his relict Jane
Also St Michan's 1686 seat holders in the new church :- Widow
Wilton
From the above the only survivor seems to be Roger son of
Charles
Also mentioned, seat holders in the new church i.e. St Michans ----widow Wilton. Apparently you bought the right to sit in a certain seat and you were actually buried under neath the seat as well. The wealthier and more important you were the further up the church you sat and were buried. The idea of this was that the further up the church you were, the closer to the altar you became and hence you were closer to God (at that rate of going I would have been out on the street)
Is it reasonable to assume that George Wilton
had a son called Roger (from B)who had a
son called Charles who also had a son called Roger baptised in 1684?
Was Charles Wilton apprenticed to become a goldsmith
and became an innkeeper as well?.
Is it also reasoable to assume that George had also another
son called George (From Swanzy-1) who became the main inheritor of Corglas?
If this is the case I have documentary evidence from this George to the
present day
I consider the Wilton ancestry here in Ireland
to be in the shape of the letter Y.
The base of the letter I think is George Wilton who came with Cromwell.
The main stem of the Y is from approx
1650 to the junction with Roger(my
g,g,g,g,grandfather)and George, sons of John.(as mentioned in the
1753 marriage settlement)The left branch is John Wilton of the Flatt(
my g,g,g, grandfather)and "Capt"
George in Canada, the right branch is the Kildrumferton Wiltons who are
still present in the area to this day
. It thus follows that George ( A above) had at least one son called John (from 1720 marriage settlement). John had two sons George and Roger(from the 1753 marriage settlement and 1773 Deed of Assignment of Eliz his daughter)
Firther evidence of their existance is to be found in the list
of voters in 1761:-
a) George Wilson Corglass 10 votes
b)John Wilton Corglass 10 votes
c)Roger Wilton Corglass 2 votes
Maxwell objected to a) because of undue
influences and to b)and c) because of bribery and corruption
We have now reached the fork of the Y
I thus feel this is the descent of the Wilton's
from approx 1650 to the early 1800's and from here to the present day
in Ireland and Canada.