Fonds P29 - The Monsell of Tervoe Collection

Identity area

Reference code

IE 2135 P29

Title

The Monsell of Tervoe Collection

Date(s)

  • 1722-1840, c. 1858-c.1902, c. 1960s, 1973, 2024 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

15 items

Context area

Name of creator

(c. 1660s-)

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

  • Béarla

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)

    Access points

    Name access points

    Genre access points

    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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      Script(s)

        Sources

        Archivist's note

        Papers arranged and described by Anna-Maria Hajba in August 2024.

        Accession area