Ware's of Ireland

John Burke states, "According to Walter Harris who had access to Sir James Ware's diary and manuscripts, Christopher Ware, descended from Roger de la Warre, Lord of Isefield, and was an early convert to the Protestant religion in the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558), settled in Yorkshire, having been brought over from popery by the zeal and labors of the famous John Fox, the Martyrologist, then lately returned from Germany, whither he had fled from the persecutions and cruelties of the government of Queen Mary, as great numbers of the Protestant profession had done.”  Harris also states, “Christopher had two sons; of the elder I have nothing to say.  James, the younger son, and father to our author, was liberally educated, and when he came to maturity was sent to seek his fortunes in the court of Queen Elizabeth, where he soon distinguished himself in such manner as to obtain the favour of the great men then at the head of affairs."

We know the spouse of James I, was from Maidstone, Kent, England, and many of the original settlers of New Kent Co., Virginia were from Kent.  John Ware of Greenwich, whose son Anthony's Armorial Bearings were confirmed in the 1634 visitation, was from Kent.  From this, it appears Greenwich, Kent, England was the ancestral home of Christopher Ware.

The Ware family had been Roman Catholic for generations. According to heresy laws, it was a religious and civil offense amounting to treason to believe in a different religion from the Sovereign, and church attendance was mandatory. John and his wife were married under the rule of King Henry VIII, and their son Christopher was born 1538, nine years before the death of King Henry VIII. Henry, reigning 1509-1547, was titled "Defender of the Faith" by the pope for his writings in support of Rome. His wife Catherine of Aragon, was the daughter of the Catholic King of Spain and aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles. She had four sons and three daughters in twenty years of marriage, but only one daughter, Mary, survived infancy. Henry, obsessed with having a male heir, requested an annulment from the pope. After being denied, he withdrew his kingdom from the Church of Rome and obtained an annulment. This began the Protestant Reformation in England. In Germany, Luther’s Protestant movement had begun with Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament. People were discouraged from kneeling to images of saints, from lighting candles and monasteries were closed. Soon every church in the diocese was using one of the newly printed Bibles. 

Henry’s next five marriages produced two heirs, Elizabeth and Edward, and several divorced or beheaded wives. Later Henry, still a Roman Catholic at heart, decried that only nobles and the gentry might read the Bible. As a young man, Christopher's father, now Protestant, was given a copy of the Bible to read aloud to his family. In 1547, Henry died leaving his sickly ten-year-old son to inherit the throne as Edward VI. Edward was fiercely Protestant, in 1549 he had, "The Book of Common Prayer", replace Roman Catholic Latin services, and the marriage of clergy allowed. John was 43 and Christopher was 15 when young King Edward died from tuberculosis in 1553. Mary I, daughter of Henry and Catherine was now Queen, and she set about to return England to the Roman Catholic faith. During the next three years over 300 Protestants were burnt for refusal to change their beliefs, giving Mary the nickname "Bloody Mary." She died when John was 48, leaving the crown to her half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of the beheaded Anne Boleyn. Again, England was a Protestant Sovereign and Elizabeth managed to secure order, reigning 1558-1603. John, his wife and children, were now attending Protestant services.

Christopher was born in c1538, and it was only a generation earlier, in 1492, that Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sea captain, sailed westward from Spain, seeking a shorter route to Asia (until he died in 1506, Columbus believed he had reached Asia). It’s probable that Christopher was named in honor of this great explorer. The Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci first recognized the new continent, thus giving it his name. This discovery began the rapid integration of the two hemispheres that had evolved separately for millions of years. They exchanged plants and animals that vastly improved life, but also exchanged devastating diseases that wiped out most of the American Indians. 

One plant first believed to have beneficial medicinal effects was tobacco. Smoking or chewing the "Indian Weed" became a fad in England. King James I pronounced that smoking was "loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the Lung," but its popularity formed the basis for the prosperity of the first successful English colonies in North America. 

SIR JAMES WARE I

BORN 1568 Yorkshire, England died May 17, 1632 Dublin, Ireland - lived during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I (35 years), King James I (22 years), and King Charles I (7 years) FATHER: Christopher Ware MOTHER: Russell? _____ WIFE: Lady Mary Briden born 12/23/1566 St. Edmundsburg, England died 12/3/1632 Dublin MARRIED: About 1589 Dublin, Ireland W. FATHER: Ambrose of St. Edmundsbury Briden born 1550 Suffolk, England died Dublin, Ireland W. MOTHER: Lady Anne Briden born c1550 Suffolk, England died 12/5/1632 Dublin.

CHILDREN:

1.  Anne Ware, b. 1592-10/23/1621 Dublin, m. 1/7/1614 Emanuel Downing, immigrated to Essex Co., MA
2.  James Ware II b. 1594 d. 1666 m. 1) Elizabeth Newman 2) Elizabeth d/o Henry Windsor (5th Lord Windsor) in the line of Queen Elizabeth
3.  John Ware, b. 1596 d. 1640 murdered by Holliwood of Artaine
4.  Joseph Ware, b. 1598 d. 2/26/1648 BA Trinity College, a Clerk in Holy Orders m. Katherine Dunville
5.  Arthur Ware, b. 1600 d. 1648 Master of Arts of Trinity College, Dublin
6.  Mary Ware, b. 1604 d. 7/6/1620 m. Christopher Conway
7.  Russell Ware, b. 1609 m. Humphrey Reynolds
8.  Martha Ware, b. 1612 m. William Piers
9.  Cecilia Ware, b. 1614 d. 1666 Dublin m. Sir Dudley Loftus

James attended the best schools in England, and gained access to the position of Secretary to the Lord Lt. of Ireland. Once a man became a Justice of the Peace and helped the community, or sat in judgment of his fellow man, he was considered a member of the gentry. Thus achieved, the next step was to sit as a Member of Parliament by being chosen as one of the knights of the shire, passing in rotation amongst the families of the gentry, or by obtaining a citizen or burgess seat, held by wealthy gentlemen. 

Worburton’s, "History of the City of Dublin", states the first of this old French family de le Warre settling in Ireland in 1588, was James Ware, age 20, of Yorkshire, he was Secretary to Sir William Fitzwilliam, Lord Deputy of Ireland. In 1593 James was appointed Clerk of the Common Pleas in the exchequer. When Queen Elizabeth died childless in 1603, James I, King of Scotland, was crowned King of England, and both shared a single monarch. King James was the son of the beheaded Mary Queen of Scots. King James was Protestant, to everyone's joy who remembered the times of his mother "Bloody Mary." 

On 6/17/1610, at age 42, James was knighted by King James I, and granted a reversionary patent of his office as auditor-general. This office continued almost a century in the family. The dynasty of King James witnessed such glories as Shakespeare’s greatest plays performed in London, and the opening of trade with the newly found continent of America. King James was an able theologian, and he ordered a new translation of the Bible that became known as the Authorized King James Version of the Bible. On 5/18/1613, at 45, Sir James Ware became Member of Parliament at Dublin for the Borough of Mallow in the County of Cork.  

Following the death of his daughters, Mary and Anne, he made benevolence for a new Bible and Services book in 1621, to St. Werburgh's Church in Dublin. He died suddenly in 1632 while walking home through Fishamble St. to his mansion on Castle Street. His will mentions estates in the county of Lonford at Cloughred, in Tipperary at Jamestown, and at Macetown at Couth Meath.  

The following is a letter written by Bluemantel Pursuivant of London dated 16 Oct 1975:

I write to inform you of the outcome of the investigation I have made among the official records of the College of Arms for the family of Ware. 

In the first instance, I have examined records relating to the Office of successive Ulster Kings of Arms in Ireland, copies of which are maintained here. Unfortunately, I find no trace of any Ware pedigree registered therein. 

However, there are several Irish Funeral Certificates with Armorial Bearings at respective funerals, which enter details of the families of the deceased. One such funeral certificate is that of Sir James Ware, Knight, Auditor to His Majesty's Revenue, who died 14 May 1632 and was buried at St. Werburghs Church, Dublin. The Certificate states that he married Mary, the daughter of Ambrose Brydon of Bury St. Edmunds in the county of Suffolk, and by her had four sons and five daughters. The four sons are given as Sir James Ware, Kgt., who married Elizabeth the daughter of Jacob Newman, John Ware, who married Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry Pierce, Joseph Ware, a Clerk in Holy Orders, who married Mary, the daughter of Gilbert Dunville, and Arthur Ware, a Master of Arts of Trinity College of Trinity College Dublin. 

The Armorial Bearings established in favor of the elder Sir James Ware may be blazoned as:-- Gold two lions passant azure a bordure also azure charged with nine escallops gold. No chest was allowed. 

You will note the absence of any reference to a son Robert Ware who might be identified with an American emigrant of that time. This absence would seem to indicate that W. M. Wilder was incorrect in his assertion that Sir James Ware had a son Robert. 

This fact is further born out by the funeral certificate of Dame Mary Ware, the widow of Sir James Ware who died 3 December 1632. This certificate again lists her children and this listing is identical with the details given at the funeral of her husband earlier in the same year. 

There are later funeral certificates relating to the younger Sir James Ware, who died 27 November and was buried 3 December 1666 at St. Werburghs and for his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Jacob Newman, who died 11 June 1651 and was buried at the same place. Again there is no reference to any emigration to America.

Sir James Ware II (pictured), eldest son of Sir James Ware I, was known as the Irish antiquary and historian.  He was born in Dublin, Ireland on 11/26/1594, and entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1610. James graduated with a M.A. in 1616 taking honors. He married after leaving the university, Elizabeth, daughter of John Newman of Dublin. Encouraged by the celebrated Usher, Archbishop James Usher, Bishop of Meath, to pursue his antiquarian and scholarly interests, he saw his propensities for archaeological pursuits and procured him facilities for consulting valuable records of Ireland and its metropolis. He collected manuscripts and charters and became acquainted with some Irish men of letters, such as Duald MacFirbis.

In England in 1626 he was introduced to Sir Robert Cotton, who gave him access to his valuable library, and his "Annals of Ireland" appeared afterwards. He was created DCL of Oxford University in 1644. James' life seems to have been devoted to writing about Irish history and Irish writers, even turning down an offer of Viscountcy to devote all his time to historical pursuits. He was attached to Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (1593-1641), leading advisor of King Charles I, to whom he dedicated his manuscript 'De Scriptoribus Hiberniae' in 1639. His manuscripts are now in the British Museum, the Bodleian Library and the Cambridge University Library. 

In 1629, James received the honor of knighthood from the hands of the Lord Justices, Sir Adam Loftus, Lord Chancellor, and Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, Lord Treasurer.  The latter of who had a great friendship for him, and by his last will and testament wrote, "as a testimony of my affection and love bequeathed to my worthy friend, Sir James Ware, a gelding of his own breed".

King Charles I believed, as his father had, that a monarch’s power came directly from God and that his subjects had no alternative but to obey him. After his subjects revolted, Charles was condemned to death by Parliament and beheaded on January 31, 1649 in front of Whitehall Palace, for waging war against his own people. Subjects who remained true to King Charles I were known as Royalists, and those who revolted were called Parliamentarians.

As a Royalist, Sir James' life was turbulent due to his fidelity to Charles I, and his penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In 1644 he was sent by the Marquis of Ormonde with Lord Edward Babazon and Sir Henry Tichborne to inform Charles I upon the state of Ireland. On the return voyage, a parliamentary ship captured his vessel, but he had first thrown the packet of the king's letters for Ormonde into the sea. 

He and his fellow envoys were imprisoned for the next eleven months in the Tower of London. Upon his returned to Dublin he was again taken hostage and returned to England until its surrender to the Parliament. In June 1647, he returned to Dublin to live until he was expelled in 1649 by General Michael Jones, the parliamentary governor. He went to France and stayed at St. Malo, Caen, and Paris for a year and a half. In 1651 he went to live in London, where he remained till the Restoration, and became the friend of John Selden, Sir Roger Twysden, William Dugdale, Elias Ashmole, and Edward Bysshe.

Well-documented atrocities such as the general massacre at Bolton in June 1644, perpetrated by the troops of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, or the fearful Sack of Drogheda in 1649, where Cromwell slaughtered the entire population of an Irish town, were accompanied by the less-publicized practices of killing prisoners and razing villages.

From 1649-1660 England was a republic without a king, and the country rulers tried, in vain, to establish a constitution without a monarchy. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England until his death in 1658, refused the throne. King Charles’ exiled son, Charles II, was crowned after Cromwell’s death, and in 1660, James was re-installed in his auditor-generalship. He was also twice Member of Parliament for Dublin University in the Irish Parliament Mallow. Lord Clarendon calls him the "Camden of Ireland". He was known throughout Ireland as a great historian. He died at his house in Dublin, on 12/27/1666, and was buried in a vault beneath the St. Werburgh’s Church in Dublin. It is proposed to restore his tomb, now crumbling to decay in St. Werburgh’s.

LINEAGE TO WARES OF IRELAND

SIR JOHN WARE

BORN c1565-c1625 FATHER: Christopher Ware MOTHER: Russell? _____ WIFE: Mary Owen c1568 MARRIED: c1588 W. FATHER Owen ap Hugh W. MOTHER: Isabella Griffith  

CHILDREN: 

1.  John Ware II, c1589 m. Miss Newman d/o Jacob Newman
2.  William Ware, c1591
3.  Walter Ware, c1593
4.  Mary Ware, c1595 m. Mr. Rourk
5.  Sarah Ware, c1597 m. Mr. King
6.  Russell Ware, c1599 m.  Mr. Nevin
7.  Elizabeth Ware, c1603 m. Cornet William Fuller son of William grandson of Ralph
8.  James Ware, c1605

The English have been in Ireland, both as peaceful settlers and conquerors, since the 12th century. It was not until King Henry VIII (reigning 1509-1547) that English interference took its toll on the Irish people. In order to subdue and rule Ireland, Henry sent Protestants to "plant" or colonize Ireland and gain control of her from the Gaelic and Catholic native population, land was confiscated from Irish lords who resisted England's authority and leased estates to the English.  Additionally, non-conforming Protestants often went to Ireland where they could worship as they chose with minimal interference from the Anglican Church. 

According to the History of Bandon, in 1585 a group of well-to-do men from Somersetshire Co. England were granted acreage on condition they bring over settlers to work the land.  The name Ware was among the first group, as they had been early converts to the Protestant religion. This is most likely the date John Ware arrived in Ireland, followed by his younger brother James, who arrived in 1588 at the age of 20.  In 1620 a second group of Protestant settlers came to Bandon, principally from Taunton and Kingston in Somersetshire Co., England.

The, "History of Bandon", chapter XXII, states, "Cornet William Fuller was the son of William Fuller, treasurer of the Bandon Corporation in 1636, and grandson of Ralph Fuller (son of the original colonists of Bandon), who married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Sir John Ware, by his wife, Mary, eldest sister of Sir Hugh Owen, of Orielton, Pembrokeshire".  John Ware was elder brother of Sir James Ware.   

Subsequent kings and queens, notably Elizabeth I, increased the efforts to install plantations across the island, claiming land for England and forcing the Irish to rent their own land back from their conquerors. This effort to "re-colonize" an already thriving civilization was largely successful, particularly in the area around Dublin and in the province of Ulster, and this began the period in Irish history known as the "Protestant Ascendancy".  All action on the part of the Irish to resist the incursions were soundly defeated by English forces.

When the "planting of Ireland" or shire system was imposed upon the remaining areas of Ireland, a rebellion broke out with an unsuccessful attempt to seize Dublin in 1641, and many of the British and Scot planters were massacred. This event was to be remembered by Oliver Cromwell and after he was in power, he took what he called just vengeance at Drogheda in 1649, killing some 3,500 people, men, women and children.  Under Cromwell and his lieutenants, the whole of Ireland was reduced to submission.

From a handwritten pedigree chart among the Crookshank papers in the British Genealogical Library in London, it shows Christopher Ware had two sons.  The eldest son, John, settled in County Cork, Ireland, and married Mary Owen, eldest sister of Sir Hugh Owen of Orielton Co., Pembroke, Wales.  Their descendants were known as the Wares of Woodfort located in the Parish of Kilshanick, Barony of Duhallow and County of Cork.

Woodfort is noted in Samuel Lewis' 1837 work,  "A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland", as located in Kilshanig, a civil parish of central Co. Cork and states the following: "The principal seats are Woodfort, of T. (Thomas) Ware, Esq., the grounds of which is a thickly planted conical hill with a turret on its summit, commanding a fine view of the rivers Blackwater and Clydagh, the town of Mallow, and the numerous seats in the vicinity."

Pictured is an ancient Gazebo located on the property, as well as an ancient map of the Woodfort property.

John Ware II, son and heir, inherited the estate of his father.  From him it was handed down to John III, Thomas, Nathaniel, Thomas (as mentioned by Samuel Lewis), Nathaniel Webb, and finally George Stawell Ware who sold the property around 1870.  George Stawell was the Master of the Hounds at Duhallow Hunt, as was his father. George's brother Thomas Webb Ware, born in 1828, removed to Australia and founded the Ware line in that area.  The Ware Coat of Arms can be seen in a stained glass window in the Great Hall of Sydney University. 

Woodfort Manor (below) and its surrounding property was shown in the 1876 census to consist of 1,717 acres and to have been owned by Nathaniel Webb Ware.  The restored manor is currently being used as the Nurses Quarters for the Psychiatric Unit of Southern Health Board's Hospital, one and one-half miles southwest of Mallow.  

The photo of Woodfort Manor is courtesy and copyright © of John Caplice of The Mallow Archaeological and Historical Society.  An overlay of a modern map with an 1804 map identifies Woodfort Manor in the same location, and matching the description by Samuel Lewis.  Photos of the Woodfort map, and Gazebo were courtesy and copyright © of Howard Ware, a descendant of George Stawell Ware.

Pictured are various Coat of Arms associated with the Ware family, these include the hand drawn Ware Coat of Arms which once belonged to George Stawell Ware, also courtesy of Howard Ware; the three remaining similar Coat of Arms are from unknown sources.  

Mary Owen's family were considered another powerful and ancient family of South Pembrokeshire, Wales, known as the Owen family of Orielton.  She descended from Owen ap Hugh of Bodowen, Anglesey and his second wife Isabella Griffith, daughter of Sir William Griffith of Penrhyn and his second wife Jane Puleston. Their eldest son, Sir Hugh Owen, was High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1583 and inherited the Orielton Estate by right of his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of George Wyrriot of Orielton by his wife Jane Philipps of Picton Castle. The arms of Owen of Orielton are blazoned "Gules a chevron between three lions rampant Or." with the motto "Honestas optima politia", which means honesty is the best policy.

The following was taken from pages 192-193 of "The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants", by Gary Boyd Roberts, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1993. 

1. Edward III, King of England, d.1377 = Philippa of Hainault
2. Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York = Isabel of Castile
3. Constance Plantagenet = Thomas le Despencer, Earl of Gloucester
4. Eleanor Holand  = James Touchet (or Audley), 2nd Baron Audley
5. Constance Touchet (or Audley) = Robert Whitney
6. Eleanor Whitney = John Puleston
7. Jane Puleston = Sir William Griffith 

Mary Owen's mother was Isabella, the daughter of Sir William Griffith of Penrhyn. The Griffith family of Penrhyn were one of the most powerful families in North Wales at the time, and were a branch of the Tudor family descended from Ednyfed Fychan (d. 1246) and the Welch royal and princely house, including Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great) (d. 878) and Cadwaladr the Blessed (d. 688). The parents of Sir William Griffith were Sir William Griffith, and Joan Troutbeck, Lord of Penrhyn Castle; Chamberlain of North Wales.  

John Burke states in, "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland", "The individuals whom Sir James Ware, the historian, mentions in his will as his cousins are, Sarah King, Russel Nevin, and Mary Rourk."  Source, "The Whole Works of Sir James Ware", (Dublin, 1739-64, 3 vols.) - London 1705