Martin de Winton Corry, Esquire, Owner and Extender of Yateley Hall

Martin Wilkins Gell de Winton Corry, Esquire of Straw Hall, Carlow, Co Carlow, Ireland

(ARMS:..Gules (red), a saltire Argent (silver), between two trefoils Or (gold), in chief a rose of the second (i.e., silver).

CREST:..A cock, in its beak an ear of wheat, Proper (natural color).

MOTTO:..VIGILANS ET AUDAX...(Watchful and bold). )

Straw Hall was a substantial house at Carlow, Co Carlow, Ireland.

He was born in London (according to the 1871 census), about 1822, and was Found dead on February 4 1885, aged "about 64", at 64 Elm Park Rd Chelsea London, a very fashionable part of London.

He married Margaret Lucy Fortescue on 22 Jan 1846 at St Mary’s church Donnybrook, Co Dublin, Ireland, the ceremony being performed by one of her relatives: Rev J F G Fortescue.

Margaret Lucy Fortescue was born 24 Nov 1824, Fifeshire, Scotland, and died 18 Mar 1909, and was the 3rd daughter and 5th child of Matthew Fortescue (1786-14 Aug 1852), of Belvedere, Dublin and his wife Erskine (dau of James Christie Esq by Mary-Turner Maitland )

Matthew Fortescue was the 1st son of Hon Matthew Fortescue (b. circa 1764, d. 19 Nov 1842), 2nd son of the Matthew, 2nd baron Fortescue (b. 31 March 1719, d. 10 July 1785). (The Hon Matthew Fortescue was the younger brother of Hugh Fortescue (b. 12 March 1753, d. 16 June 1841), 3rd Baron Fortescue who became 1st Earl Fortescue.)

The had one daughter Margaret Louisa Catherine Harriet Hugh Erskine de Winton Corrie (1859- 26 Dec 1943). All three of the family are buriesd in Yateley churchyard.

The family was well connected, and appears to have moved about a great deal, probably visiting their friends, and for some extended periods he sub-let Yateley Hall to other people. There is no evidence that Martin de Winton Corry Esq, either was, or needed to be, employed. His death certificate records that he was "of no occupation". In Eighty Years’ Reminiscences, John Anstruther-Thomson refers to "Martin de Winton-Corry (Spicey Bill) and his wife" (p 152), which may well refer to his unpolished (Irish?) manners, since Spicey Bill was a popular song about someone who gave great attention to his "toggery but wiped his nose on his sleeve".(Popular Culture and Performance in the Victorian City, by Peter Bailey, p 122, CUP, 2003).

Martin de Winton Corry never owned Yateley Hall, as his daughter did after his death, but instead took a lease on Yateley Hall about 1871 and employed architect Richard Norman Shaw to partly rebuild and extend the southern end of Yateley Hall between 1871-1872, and provide a grand staircase. The result was one of Shaw's early developments in his new "Queen Anne" style.

Andrew Saint, Shaw's biographer writes "Two other enlargement jobs in the country develop these ((Queen Anne style)) ideas, germane to Shaw's appraoch to the town house..... The other work, Shaw's extension to Yateley Hall, Hampshire (1871) is a model of tact. Essentially the job was not so different from Willesley: additions on the right hand side of a house of true Queen Anne date. But instead of a defiant tile-hung gable, Shaw pushes the new drawing room out with three closely spaced sashes and carries the modillion cornice round. On the other side, overlooking the old moat, he repeats the same idea more irregularly for the stairs and dining room. It is a delightful job, done with evident afffection. Houses like Yateley were to grow upon him year after year. / Shaw therefore had plenty of command of a plain brick and sash style when he started his London career in 1871..." (Richard Norman Shaw by Andrew Saint, 1976, p133).

Page created by RHJ 11 May 2008