Du Val Family Scroll

The Beginning of the Scroll

The Du Val Family Scroll is really two documents attached together.

The first is a translation into English of a pedigree written in Latin in 1756 by John Hawkins, Ulster King of Arms at the College of Heralds. This ought to have been the best that could possibly have been done by such a senior authority, but in fact it contains many inaccuracies. The illustration shows the opening passage.

The second document, attached to the end of the first document, is a copy made by Charles Allen Du Val in 1853 of the inscriptions in a family Bible which had belonged to his grandfather John Wall Du Val. This can safely be presumed to be accurate. (There were just a few words that he could not read, which he denotes as "imperfect".) It is a genealogy setting out the descent of his family from the Wall Family of Dunmoylan in Ireland. The scroll is now in the possession of s direct descendant of Charles Allen Du Val.

A transcription of the entire scroll reads as follows:

"A Translation
Of The Original Latin Genealogy of the Family
of the Walls or De Wall Courts –

In Testimony whereof John Hawkins Esquire Ulster King of Arms wrote his Name and affixed his seal of Office at Dublin the 19th day of February 1756 –

The Genealogy of this truly Antient Brave race of the Walls or De WallCourt, many of whom we find to have flourished in very eminent figure in sundry ages in the most noted Countries of Europe, is originally deduced from Le Seignior Homo de Valinscourt, or as some have it de Wallcourt, formerly a great City of the Low Countries in the Bishopric of Liege the metropolis of Le Pais entre Meus & Sambre, descended from the great and antient Duke of Valors in the Generality of the Isle of France, from which it is said they originally derived their surname (2).

Homo de Valincourt or Wallcourt (according to Guillieme de Tuillier the famous Norman Chronologer) in 1066 accompanied [the] Conqueror into England and commanding as one of the Marshals of his army [at] the battle of Hastings did by his singular conduct and bravery greatly contribute [to] obtaining that memorable Victory in which the fate of the Kingdom of England was decided in fa[vour] of the Duke of Normandy – who bestowed on said Homo de Valincourt several gifts honors & Lordships in England and particularly in Suffolk where having seated himself in the antient City of Clare to which (in memory of his paternal seat of Wallcourt in France) he added the name of Val or Wall, by which names of Clare Val or Clare Wall it was commonly called for some ages after (and now gives title of Earl to Thomas Hallas Pelham the present Duke of Newcastle in England) – an Author who wrote soon after the conquest and left a large and accurate History thereof whose name was Ingulphus gives a large and honorable account of this gallant Leader Homo de Vallincourt or Wallcourt who in 1078 was possessed of five manors or Lordships in Suffolk and three in Essex and Vincent in his Baronage of England says that the posterity of Homo de Valincourt were for a long time [of] great note in those parts – the first laid the foundation of the honors in England which after wards his posterity enjoyed as aforementioned (3) –

In course of time many of their names were variously written as De Wall – De Val – De Vally’s – De Vallony’s – De Vallens – De Valoinguis &c (4) –

Sir Philip was the Son of Homo abovementioned –

Sir Humphry de Vallinscourt or de Wallcourt and Homo his Brother we[re] Sons of Philip abovementioned –

We learn from three contemporary writers of those times that in the year 1172 Sir Humphry and Sir Homo as abovementioned were in the number of the four hund[red] Knights Banneret that partly composed the Royal Army which was then led into Ireland by Henry the Second King of England, and that those young Knights had by their extraordinary conduct and valor greatly distinguished themselves –

In the year 1175, when Earl John the said King Henry’s second Son was governor of Ireland he granted unto the said Sir Humphry de Vallinscourt the two Baron[ies]of the Upper and Lower Connellough in the County of Limerick in the Province of Muster to be held by him and his Heirs male forever at 20 Knight’s Fee[s]

And to Sir Homo: Sir Humphry’s younger Brother he gave very considerable possessions in the Province of Leinster – In the year 1199 the said Sir Homo de Vallinscourt or de Wallcourt was Lord Justice of Ireland and at that time he granted to the Archbishop of Dublin in succession for ever 20 plow lands in a large [place?] of his near that City – (5)

The said Sir Humphry having then erected a stately and well fortified Castle at a place called Dunmoylan in the Upper Connellough did there fix his Family Seat which to this day retains the antient denomination of the great Castle of the Walls of Dunmoylan –

In the year 1272 when surnames began to be affixed among elder branches of Families this Family assumed the antient surname of De Wall or De Val after which name their Ancestors were called in France – some time after they left out [the] De and Court which according to Sir William Dugdale Vincent and many others of our Genealogical writers may be proved from innumerable instances in divers Families -

Sir Humphry De Valenys or De Vallins married Juliana Emma de Logan to whose Father, King Henry the second gave half of the Kingdom of Cork – (6)

Sir Philip De Vallins married Alicia de Roche or de la Roche whose Father was one of the especial conquer[ors] of Ireland in the year 1172 –

Richard De Wall or Wallcourt married Ellinor O’Connel (of the antient [Milisea?])

James De Wall married Leonora de Brion -

Philip De Val or De Wall married Juliana de Cordon –

John Wall or Wallcourt married Aimy Fitzgerald

Richard Wall or Wallcourt married Margarita Barry or de Barry –

Milo De Wall or Wallcourt married Juliana O’Connor

Stephen Wallcourt married Mary O’Sullivane

James Wall or Wallcourt married Catharina Mac Carthy More

John Wall de Vallins or de Vallinscourt married Alicia O’Carrol

James Wall de Vallinscourt married Catharina Daughter of O’Donaghue of the County of Kerry –
James after the death of his Brother Richard of Dunmoylan who was wickedly murdered by Richard Stephens was thro’ fear of the said Stephens forced to fly into the County of Tipperary where he purchased the Lands of N[?] Maginstown and Kilshilane as appears from the last Will and Testament of the aforesaid James dated the 12th day of February 1533.

Richard Wall de Vallins or Vallinscourt married Catharina Daughter of Cullough Mc Sweny of Ballinderry Co. Tipperary

Philip married Helena Daughter of Terentius O’Donnel of Ballybroker Co Tipperary

Richard married Margarita Daughter of Nicholas Walshe of Ballyorgly Co. Tipperary

Philip married – Alicia Daughter of Thomas Butler of the Family of Ormond

This Philip had living at the time of his death 4 Sons and 2 Daughters who all seperated one Son only remained in Tipperary – the 3 Others came to Dublin –
All of their names were Edward – Richard – Thomas – John – Margarite and Helena –

James married Johanna Cantillon

Richard married Honora Brown

This Richard although a Minor after his Father’s decease yet being of great note in his country was one of the Chiefs of Munster that in the year 1560 joined Sir Edmond Butler (the Earl of Ormonde’s Brother) Mac Carthy More James Fitzmorice and John Fitzgerald (Seneschal of Smokilly) in sending the Titular Bishop of Cashel and Emly to the Pope and to the King of Spain to solicit their [aid] for the Reformation of Religion and wresting the Kingdom of Ireland from the C[rown] of England –

The aforesaid Richard behaved with great bravery in the bloody action near Kilkenny (between Sir Peter Carew sent by the Earl of Sussex Lord Deputy with a great army into Munster against the abovementioned Chiefs) and by his extraordinary conduct & intrepidity was a great means of preventing the Munster forces from being totally defeated and cut to pieces -

In the year 1576 He was also one of the 24 Captains of their Nations of Munster (as our annals call them) who signed the famous association in favor of the great Earl of Desmond wherein they renounced God if they spared life Lands or Goods in defence of the Roman Catholic Faith and the Liberties and priviledges handed down to them by their Ancestors – which they all pursued with such a determined obstinate spirit as in the end brought most of them and their Families to a Total Catastrophe –

The said Richard on that account having forfeited one of the greatest estates & oldest Tenures possessed by any of the Strongbonian Places in Munster –

He lived to a great age and left Issue 3 Sons and 2 daughters – of the Sons he was succeeded in the title to his estates by

Richard
who married Tamasin de Lacy –

which Richard being but a very young Gentleman at the time of his Father’s d[eath] and finding that his Family Estates Titles &c were granted by Queen Elizabeth to captain Thomas Courtney a Devonshire Gentleman who commanded one of Her Majesty’s [ships?] in the Bay of Kinsale and in the year 1554 surprised and carried away the 3 Ships in which were the forces sent by Philip King of Spain who received a gift of Ireland from the Pope in order that he might reduce it again to the church of Rome – (7)

He the said Richard being easily induced to endeavour to recover his paternal Inheritance took up arms and collecting a great number of his kinsmen and natural followers joined Sir John Fitzgerald of Desmond who after the death of the famous James Fitz Morrice (one of the 5 abovementioned great men who solicited the abovementioned auxilliaries from the King of Spain) took up arms in conjunction with MacCarthy More O’Sullivane More – O’Sullivane Beare – O’Connor Kerry Lord of Kerry & several others great malcontents of Munster to recover their possessions (then mostly given by Queen Elizabeth’s Letters Patent to certain English Knights and Esquires commonly called Undertakers) and to reestablish the Religion of their Fathers – as an encouragement to this undertaking the Pope sent an Indulgence dated the 13th day of May 1580 wherein he highly magnifies the Piety of the above James Fitzmorrice laments his death and exhorts all the Nobility Clergy and People of the Land to follow the said Sir John Desmond in fighting against the heretics for the catholic cause and to encourage them further in their great and good work he grants them an extraordinary Indulgence and remission of all sins in the same extent as was granted to those engaged in the Holy Wars –

Soon after the junction of these great Chiefs this Richard Wall or de Wall-court gave a very early proof of an extraordinary courage and intrepidity in a great and bloody action at Connellough in the county of Limerick - (between Sir Nicolas Mally Commander in Chief of the Queen's forces and the said Sir John Desmond & most of the chieftains of Munster and their followers) wherein although in consideration of his Youth he was stationed in the rear yet upon the first onset he was one of the first will pierce to sword in hand through the foremost ranks of the Enemy -

The Year following Gerald the great and famous Earl of Desmond being murdered in Kerry the whole province of Munster for several years after was turned into a dreadful situation by which the Country was greatly wasted and depopulated, the Chieftains thereof maintaining their ground with great obstinacy and resolution being prompted thereto by the Pope’s thunderbolts of excommunication and eternal damnation in case they should acknowledge any other Supreme but himself - which were daily fomented and poured forth upon that them both by their Ministers at home and by his Legates from abroad – untill towards the latter end of the year 1603 when the expedition of O’Donnel and Tyrone into Munster failed & the Spaniards and Irish were defeated at Kinsale - whereupon some of the Chiefs of that province having petitioned to the Throne - who taking their distressed condition in Royal Consideration restored some in the full and some in part to their ancient inheritances and possessions

Among the latter of whom was the aforementioned Richard Wall or de Wallcourt who only got a grant of his Family Seat Dunmoylan and 15 plowlands adjacent thereto which he enjoyed in peace untill towards the latter end of Cromwell the Regicide’s Usurpation - who sent one Oliver Stephens into this Kingdom with a grant for whatever Estate he might take a liking to therein - who making a choice of the said Richard Wall’s Estate being excellent Land and a desirable situation forcibly possessed himself thereof and in order to secure it more effectually he caused the said Richard Wall or de Wall-court to be beheaded at his own Castle-gate under pretence that he favoured the Duke of Lemir’s design of becoming Protector of Ireland - although he the said Richard was by no means fit for action during those troubles in Ireland - He being at the time of his being murdered by Stephens quite Blind and worn out and having it is said lived upwards of one hundred years - (8)

In an old Manuscript written by one Shaninan surnamed Swinka a noted Irish Poet we find the following Character given of this Richard Wall or de Wallcourt -

That he was a Gentleman of wonderful generosity and bounty - mirth cheerfulness in conversation - easy of address - charitable in his deeds – a learned and profound Chronologer - an incomparable warrior - He was a great master of that kind of wit which it is said cannot be acquired - ready and humorous in his sayings in which he did not fault in the least even to his dying hour for being ordered by his murderer to fix his head upon the block he told him he might do that himself as he could see to do it [better?]

He was a very witty and ingenious composer of Irish Poetry and greatly lamented – m[an]y verses being composed on that occasion by several Poets and set by the people of Munster to a coarse melancholly sort of tune which they lettered with a long span breath and at every [place?] or stop sung a Stanza expressing his great worth, qualifications and achievements in a clear elevated melancholy voice -

Note There is an anecdote which has been repeated from Father to Son since the time the said Richard Wall or de Wallcourt of Dunmoylan was murdered that is as follows –

In the troublesome times of Oliver Cromwell's usurpation a great number of eminent Families in the province of Munster brought to their plate jewels and money to the Castle of Dunmoylan thinking themselves and their effects safer than in their own houses as it was well known that the said Richard had got a grant of the great Castle from Elizabeth but instead of finding protection there they had the mortification of seeing Richard Stephens when he forcibly entered and took possession of Dunmoylan tear the grant of Queen Elizabeth before him and hearing him ask them of what use was the grant of protection then?

It is also said he and his followers took not only these effects then in the Castle but had the cruelty to take their clothes leaving them no covering but a parcel of Sheepskins fastened upon them with scewers which condition the Gentleman and gentlewomen were seen by numerous spectators walking in the great Hall of Dunmoylan lamenting their situation

It is also said that James the Brother of Richard when Stephens entered the Castle of Dunmoylan contrived to make his escape by a postern gate and carried some small part of the effects of his Family with him with which he purchased the Lands he had after that time in Tipperary - the first night after his escape he lay concealed in the house of an old man whose family had been followers of the family of the Walls or de Wallcourts for many years but fearing he might be heard of if he remained long there he went as soon as he could to Tipperary -

(Copied)

At the office of Ulster King of Arms

Beginning of the Last Section

[Then in the handwriting of Charles Allen Du Val:-]

Copied from a bible printed in 1638, the property of John Wall Du Vall of Hatton House, Hatton Garden, London, by me, Charles Allen Wall du Val of Green Hill, Green Heys, Manchester, 1853:

Edward Wall (son of Richard of Dunmoylan Castle) born 1650
Julius Wall only son of Edward Wall Esq (major of a Regiment of Dragoons) by Elizabeth his wife (daughter of Sir Charles O’Neal, Bart was born September 10th old style 1694, married 1730 Ann Andrews (daughter of Allen and Mary Andrews of the city of Cork) by whom he had issue 7 sons and 2 daughters –

Elizabeth Wall born Aug 1. 1731 - died the same year
Edward Wall [born] Oct 10. 1732 - [died] at 2 years & 5 months
William Wall [born] Decr 21. 1735 – [died at] 3 [years]
John Wall-du Val [born] Aug ( ) ( ) (date imperfect)(probably 1738)
Ursilla Agnes Wall [born] Oct 3. 1739
Dinny Wall [born] Feb 5. 1741 - - died at 6 (imperfect)
Maynard Wall [born] June 6. 1742 - [died at] 1 year & 6 months
Barry Wall [born] May 31. 1743 - [died at] 3 months
Allen Wall [born] April 25.. 1744 [in another handwriting]: had 2 sons in the Navy, one married and had a large family)

John Wall-du Val married Ann Atkinson daughter of (imperfect) & Sarah Atkinson (of Liverpool Lancashire) August 20 1764 aged (imperfect) Ann his wife was born
23 Sept 1746 was married at 18 years of age whose issue are

John William Wall duVal born 26 June 1765 died the same year aged 5 mths & 2 days
Sarah Ann Wall duVal [born] 26 July 1766 married no issue
Julius Caesar Wall duVal [born] 12 Oct 1768 died May 4 1772 aged 3 years
Charles Allen Andrews Wall duVal [born] 22 Sept 1770 died [ ? ?]
John Arthur Wall duVal [born] 21 Oct 1773 bachelor no issue
William Augustus Caesar Wall duVal [born] 22 April 1775 soldier bachelor no issue
Juliana Wall duVal [born] 22 Feb 1777 spinster
Octavius Caesar Wall duVal [born] 22 February 1779 [? ?]
Julius Caesar Wall duVal [born] 15 May 1781 died at one year & 6 months
Elizabeth Mary Wall duVal [born] 20 May 1784 spinster
Edward Julius Caesar Wall duVal [born] Decr 1787 died in childhood

Note: It is recorded in the family of the aforesaid Julius (presumably the Julius mentioned above in paragraph 3 who married Ann Andrews in 1730) that he being a youth of extraordinary valour and martial spirit was at the tender age of 15 taken by his father the above mentioned Edward Wall into a fierce and bloody action, when the said Edward after fighting valiantly for some time fell by the hand of a cavalier, his son Julius having been previously unhorsed in the fury of battle and during the main press on, his sword still reeking with the blood of the fallen warrior, vaulted into his Father’s empty saddle and pursued with irresistible impetuosity the victor, through many vicissitudes of the fight he tracked his course with the eye of filial vengeance, till he shot him to the heart.

Allen Wall left issue 2 sons, John Holwill and Allen who were both Lieutenants in the Royal Navy. John Holwill died unmarried about the year 1827. Allen married and had a numerous family.

Of the children of John Wall duVal, Sarah Ann married John Edward Burgall and died without issue. John Arthur of Spa Mount, Drumcondra, near Dublin, died unmarried. William Augustus Caesar enlisted in the East India Company’s Service under the name of Waall (sic) and obtained a commission for his gallant conduct at the storming of Seringapatam and died a major, he was unmarried. Juliana died unmarried. Octavius Caesar assumed the name of Edward Octavius and married. Elizabeth Mary died unmarried. There is no account of Edward Julius Caesar, it is supposed that he died in childhood.

Edward Octavius Caesar married 1804 Sarah, daughter of George Eskildson Esq, Danish Majesty’s Consul General for Ireland, and had issue

John Edward Burgall Wall duVal born January 1805
George William Wall duVal born January 14th 1806
Henrietta Munsell Eskildson Wall du Val
Charles Allen Sharp Wall duVal b March 19 1810 (diff. hand: ‘well-known Irish artist’)

Charles Allen Sharp Wall duVal finding his names too numerous for signature, uses of the five, viz Charles Allen DuVal or duVal by which names he is commonly known.

John Edward married Mary Jackson and secondly Eliza Murray
George William married Clara Lodge
Henrietta married Edward Padmore
Charles Allen du Val married Mrs Elizabeth Renney whose maiden name was Gregory daughter of James & Sarah Gregory of Manchester, and had issue

Charles Allen born March 17 1835
Julia born April 11 1837
Edward James born August 14 1838
Gerald born October 27 1840 (Artist, married Kate Shimwell)
Florence born July 20 1842
Elizabeth Ellen born November 10 1844
Frances born September 11 1846
Catherine Sarah born August 13 1849
Norris Cartali born January 27 1851".

References

(1) The Ulster King of Arms (created in 1552) was a senior officer of the College of Heralds, the most prestigious genealogical organisation in the world. Their records are used in granting coats-of-arms and proving successors to peerages. There are currently only three such officers, Garter King of Arms, Clarenceux King of Arms, and Norrey and Ulster King of Arms. Norrey (dealing with England north of the river Trent) and Ulster (Northern Ireland) were merged in 1943. Scotland and the Irish Republic have their own officers. From 1722 until 1759 the Ulster King of Arms was (curiously and uniquely) two men, William Hawkins and his son John Hawkins of Rathfriland in County Down, Ireland. It was John Hawkins who affixed his seal of office to the Latin Du Val pedigree on 19 February 1756.

(2) If "Homo de Valincourt or Wallcourt" ever existed he was not an ancestor of the Du Val family. Hubert Gallwey (The Wall Family in Ireland 1170-1970 pages 8-12) assigns the ancestry of all the Irish Wall (Du Val) families precisely to Robert Du Val who came over to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror from St Aubin-le-Guichard in Normandy. The Du Val family has no connection with Valinscourt or Wallcourt, nowadays called Walcourt, the most westerly town in the Department of Sambre et Meuse in Belgium.

(3) Much is wrong with the pedigree forming the first part of the scroll. It states that the son of Homo called Sir Homo was Lord Justice of Ireland in 1199, and that he then "granted to the Archbishop of Dublin in succession for ever 20 plow lands". However from 1194 until he was sacked by King John in 1189, the Lord Justice of Ireland was actually called Hamo de Valois. When he was put in charge of Ireland, the English monarchy had no interest in Ireland, and provided no money to run the country. So Hamo de Valois proceeded to rob and plunder wherever he could. He seized the property of the Archbishop of Dublin, and the twenty plowlands mentioned were what he was eventually forced to give back. (A History of the City of Dublin by J.T. Gilbert (1854) page 103).

Hamo de Valois did in fact come from an old Suffolk family. (A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain and Ireland by R. Beatson volume 2 (1788) page 192; and The Reduction of Ireland to the Crown of England by E. Borlase (1675) page 11). But that family did not own the vast estates of the Honour of Clare. They were given by William the Conqueror to Richard FitzGilbert de Bienfaite, Count of Brionne. He was the son of a cousin of the king, and ancestor of the De Clare family.

(4) The Valois surname probably evolved not into Wall but into Walsh.

(5) The document also states that "In the year 1175 when Earl John the said King Henry’s second Son was governor of Ireland he granted unto the said Sir Humphry de Vallinscourt the two Baron[ies]of the Upper and Lower Connellough in the County of Limerick in the Province of Muster to be held by him and his Heirs male forever at 20 Knight’s Fee". And that "The said Sir Humphry having then erected a stately and well fortified Castle at a place called Dunmoylan in the Upper Connellough did there fix his Family Seat which to this day retains the antient denomination of the great Castle of the Walls of Dunmoylan". However Hamo de Valois was Lord Justice of Ireland (the king's viceroy) until 1194, not an Earl John. Nor was Henry II's second son named John - he was the fifth and youngest son, who became king in 1189. So no grant of baronies to a Sir Humphry de Vallinscourt could then have been made.

(6) The genealogy which immediately follows has no relevance to the pedigree of the Du Val family descended from the Wall Family of Dunmoylan. There other errors, such as the misnaming of Stephenson as Stephens, and so on. But clearly the first part of the family scroll has to be regarded as interesting antiquarian legend, although compiled by a distinguished officer of the College of Heralds. However the detailed account of the murder and character of Richard Wall of Dunmoylan is evidently a traditional story strongly impressed on his descendants, although it relates to an event which took place in 1580 not in 1652.

(7) The document states that "Richard being but a very young Gentleman at the time of his Father’s d[eath] and finding that his Family Estates Titles &c were granted by Queen Elizabeth to captain Thomas Courtney a Devonshire Gentleman who commanded one of Her Majesty’s [ships?] in the Bay of Kinsale and in the year 1554 surprised and carried away the 3 Ships in which were the forces sent by Philip King of Spain who received a gift of Ireland from the Pope in order that he might reduce it again to the church of Rome". However on 8 March 1587 Queen Elizabeth granted "the fee farm of the manor of Donmullyn, in the county of Limerick" to Oliver Stephenson. (Calendar of the Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland 1576-1602 (1862) page 159).

(8) The whole of this passage in the Du Val Family Scroll appears to be out of its historical context. By 1652, the Wall family had lost their estates at Dunmoylan for ever. The savage execution of Wall of Dunmoylan had taken place in 1580.