Series 6 - Bernard Stuart and James Stuart Irwin letters

6pp

In 2003, Colleen McClain of the Irish Genealogical Society International appealed to her relatives for transcripts of letters to be donated to Kerby A. Miller. Transcripts of the Stuart Letters were sent to McClain by Charles Clark of New Zealand. McClain passed the transcripts onto Miller via email on 25 February 2003.

Transcripts of two letters written by members of the Stuart family as forwarded to Kerby A. Miller by Colleen McClain of the Irish Genealogical Society International.
According to McClain’s relative Charles Clark, around Christmas 1950, David Stewart-Moore, then living at Ballyhivistock, County Antrim, investigated his attic space after a chimney fire and found a box of old family letters hidden between the bedroom ceiling and roof. The collection had apparently belonged to Clark’s great-aunt Eliza, who died in 1867. Stewart-Moore sent the letters to Clark’s sister, Elsie Purser, in Dublin, who later forwarded them to him.
Among the many documents of genealogical interest, only one letter from Bernard Stuart survived. Clark believes Eliza may have obtained it from the belongings of her brother Samuel Stuart after his death in 1832, possibly through the Wray family, whose name appears on the folded letter. Samuel had lived near Dunseverick in a house known as Craig’s Cottage, which Clark suspects belonged to the Wrays. The letter itself, dated 2 May 1806, was written by Bernard Stuart to his cousin Samuel Stuart. Clark notes that no envelope survives, as letters of that period were folded and sealed directly.
Clark also included another relevant letter, written on 5 November 1863 by James Stuart Irwin from Madison, Indiana to Charles George Stuart of Ballyhivistock. In it, Irwin reports on enquiries into Bernard Stuart and his descendants in America. This investigation had likely been requested by Charles George Stuart.