Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1722-1840, c. 1858-c.1902, c. 1960s, 1973, 2024 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
15 items
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Monsells, of French extraction, were a plantation family from Dorsetshire, England, who had settled in Tervoe, county Limerick by the 1660s. Many of the early members of the family were prosperous merchants and landowners, most notably Samuel Monsell (d. 1735), a shipping merchant whose business extended from Ireland to England, France, Holland and Spain. Of his several sons, the eldest, William (1705-1772) became a lawyer. His second marriage in 1751 to Dymphna Pery (d. 1774), sister of Edmond Sexton Pery, MP and three-time Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, gave the Monsells not only a distinguished pedigree but considerable political influence. Their son, Colonel William Thomas Monsell (1754-1836), married Hannah Strettell of Dublin, whose father Amos Strettell was director of the Bank of Ireland. Their younger son, Thomas, became Archdeacon of Derry and was father to the noted hymnologist John Samuel Bewley Monsell and to the celebrated botanical artist Diana Conyngham Ellis née Monsell. Colonel Monsell’s elder son, William, was grandfather to and namesake of the distinguished politician William Monsell (1812-1894). His first wife, Anna Maria Wyndham Quin (1814-1855), whom he married in 1836, was daughter of the second Earl of Dunraven of Adare Manor, county Limerick, then one of the wealthiest men in Ireland. William Monsell was created 1st Baron Emly of Tervoe in 1874. The title became extinct on the death of his only surviving son, Thomas William Gaston Monsell (1858-1932), from his second marriage to Berthe de Montigny Boulainvilliers (d. 1890).
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated to the University of Limerick by Susan Donlea, daughter of Trifine Turner née de la Poer Monsell, in three instalments, on 7 June 2008, 8 March 2024 and 22 May 2024.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The collection comprises primarily letters and copies of letters by members of the Monsell family or individuals associated with them. Of particular note is a letter book kept by the shipping merchant William Monsell (P2/1/1), which contains copies of some 1,200 items of mainly business correspondence, giving a unique insight into Limerick as a maritime mercantile city in the early eighteenth century. Of equal interest is the fragment of a diary (P2/1/12) kept by his grandson, the Reverend Samuel Monsell (1743-1818), Precentor of Ardfert from 1791 to 1811, which provides an extraordinary account of the private life and innermost thoughts of a Church of Ireland clergyman struggling to stay on the path of virtue.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
All records have been retained.
Accruals
No accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
The collection has been divided into two series. Series 1 contains material pertaining to the Monsell family. Series 2 contains material pertaining to the Pery family. Within each series, documents have been arranged chronologically by date.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access to all items except P2/1/2. For transcripts of this document, see P2/1/12 and P2/1/13.
Conditions governing reproduction
Standard copyright regulations apply to all items. For photocopying or reproducing material, please consult with the staff.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Paper documents mostly in good condition. P29/1/2 requires conservation treatment and is too fragile to be safely handled.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Papers of the Monsell family of Tervoe, county Limerick can be found in the National Library of Ireland and the National Archives in Dublin. Papers of the Pery family, Earls of Limerick are held in the National Library of Ireland (https://www.nli.ie/sites/default/files/2022-12/121_limerick.pdf). Additional papers relating to the Earls of Limerick are held in the Special Collections and Archives Department, University of Limerick.
Publication note
Samuel Monsell’s letter book (P29/1/1) was used as a source by David Dickson for the preparation of his book The First Irish Cities: An Eighteenth-Century Transformation (New Haven and London, 2021).
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
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Description control area
Description identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
This description follows guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd edition, 2000; Irish Guidelines for Archival Description, 2009; National Council on Archives: Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997; and EAP Guidance on Data Protection for Archive Services, 2018.
Status
Level of detail
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Archivist's note
Papers arranged and described by Anna-Maria Hajba in August 2024.