CONFLICTING CLAIMS
There is a difference of opinion as to where Betsy Gray was born.
According to W. G. Lyttle, author of the main story of this book, she was born near the Six Road Ends, between Newtownards and Bangor, and was the daughter of Hans Gray.
But there is a tradition in the Dromara area that she was born at Tullyniskey in a house which still stands on the outskirts of Waringsford village in the Parish of Garvaghy. Evidence in support of this claim has been collected by Mr. Colin Johnston Robb, a well-known local historian, who resides near Spa, Ballynahinch.
THE TULLYNISKEY THEORY
Mr. Robb states that a Mr. John Gray, "whom one may describe as a very careful and painstaking antiquary," interviewed Lyttle at the time his story appeared, to query his authority, but "the best authority he could produce was the testimony of an old man called Hans Gray Macartney, who asserted that he heard his father say his mother was a near relative of Betsy Gray."
Mr. Robb points out that the Rev. W. T. Latimer, B.A., in "A History of the Irish Presbyterians" relates that a James Gray, who claimed to be a grandnephew of Betsy's, declared her to be a daughter of John and Rebecca Gray, who lived in the town land of Tullyniskey.
This John Gray (states Robb) appears on the rental of the Waringsford Estate, dated 1788, as a holder of 15 acres in Tullyniskey, and according to the marriage register of Garvaghy Parish Church, he married, in June, 1774, Rebecca Young, daughter of John Young of Tullyniskey. And the baptismal register records that Elizabeth Gray, daughter of John and Rebecca Gray, was baptized on 14th January, 1780. John Gray died in September, 1795, and his wife in October, 1813. They were both interred at Garvaghy. According to an estate map and rental attached, dated 1822, Jane Gray resided on the same holding occupied by John Gray, but what relation she was of his is not known.
Rev. James Birch Black, in a letter dated Marybrook, Dromara, Thursday, July 9th, 1818, states: "As to the rebel girl Gray, my uncle knew her well. He says she was a pretty lass with golden curls, a fair daughter of humble parents." Marybrook is a little over a mile from Waringsford.
In a letter written by James Sprott, of Ednego, Dromara, bailiff to the Knox estate, dated May 10th, 1799, and addressed to Captain H. W. Knox, York Place, London, he states, among other business-"As directed, sir, James Graham has now builded and slated the house of the poor widow Gray, whose daughter Eliza was buried at the Battle of Ballynahinch."
Miss Mary Ann McCracken, sister of the famous Henry Joy McCracken, tells us that Betsy came from Killinchy. But Robb holds that Miss McCracken lived in Belfast and got her information second hand, and that as there is a similarity in rhythm between the words Tullyniskey and Killinchy, "it could well be understood how the confusion arose."
Mr. Robb adds that "it could be possible that Hans Gray Macartney (referred to by Lyttle), who resided at Granshaw, near Bangor, was a relative of the Grays of Tullyniskey, for in 1765 Gilbert Gray, of Tullyniskey, became bailiff under Henry Waring, of Waringsford, at Bangor."
THE CASE FOR THE SIX ROAD ENDS
Now for the evidence in support of Mr. Lyttle's story regarding Betsy's birthplace.
Miss Betsy Gray Macartney, a direct descendant of the George Macartney who married Mary Boyd, a niece of Hans Gray, was interviewed at her home in Belfast by the head of the firm of publishers of this book.
Miss Macartney produced the last will and testament of Hans Gray, of Granshaw, the framed oath of allegiance which he signed in 1797, and an indenture of conveyance of his lands at Granshaw for the furtherance of George Macartney, who had married his niece (who it appears had come to keep house for Hans Gray after the death of Betsy and George).
This conveyance dated 1803, mentioned that the farm had been leased on 13th June, 1764, by James Crawford to Elizabeth Gray, Hans Gray and John Gray (presumably mother and two sons ).
In his will, dated 19th September, 1806, Hans Gray left his property in trust to his sister, Eleanor Boyd, and at her decease to George Macartney. Hans died, 13th October, 1807, and the lands were registered by George Macartney on 6th January, 1831, after the death of his mother-in-law, Eleanor Boyd.
The Oath of Allegiance, which may or may not have been signed under duress, is dated 20th June, 1797, and is as follows:
Hans Gray, do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Third, and that I will faithfully support and maintain the laws and constitution of this Kingdom and the succession to the Throne in His Majesty's illustrious house. So help me God."
The "family tree", compiled by Miss Macartney from entries made in A History of the Bible," showed that George Macartney, who married Mary Boyd, niece of Hans Gray, had a son born on 19th August, 1895, who was named Hans Gray Macartney, and his eldest son, born 22nd February, 1844, was named George. This George remained a bachelor, and along with his brother William (who married late in life but had no issue) resided in the Gray homestead (After their deaths the house was bought by the Wardens of Newtownards, which family still own it).
James, another brother of William and George, who was born on 16th September, 1847, and died on 23rd April, 1919, had a son Hans Gray Macartney, who was the father of our present Miss Betsy Gray Macartney, and her brother George Gray Macartney (who also lives in Belfast).
"I am the first girl to have been christened Betsy Gray", said Miss Macartney, "but a daughter of our first George Macartney and Mary Boyd was called Eliza, which may have been short for Elizabeth. A tradition of the family has been for the eldest male of the succeeding generations to be christened Hans Gray and George Gray alternately."
Heirlooms which have been handed down to Miss Macartney include a set of pewter plates belonging to Hans Gray, with "H.G." engraved on them (it is believed they were engraved by his son George), Hans Gray's sugar tongs, a set of Georgian silver spoons, a Georgian glass, a brass guinea box dated 1684 and a pistol of the Rebellion period.
There was only one thing lacking, that was direct mention in the records of Betsy or George Gray, who were, according to Lyttle's story, the children of Hans Gray. Miss Macartney considered this understandable, since both were dead when Hans Gray made his last will, and also that it would be prudent to keep the names quiet for a long time after the ill-fated Rebellion.
"But it has been handed down direct from generation to generation that we are the descendants of the same family," she said. She pointed out that her great grandfather, Hans Gray Macartney, who was born in 1805, was the person referred to by W. G. Lyttle as "a farmer aged 80 years" occupying Betsy Gray's cottage at the time Lyttle was writing his story around 1885 for the "North Down Herald" and "whose mother was a cousin of Betsy's".
A LETTER FROM AMERICA
Strong support for the claim that Betsy was born at the Six Road Ends was forthcoming in a 77 years old letter which is in the possession of Mr. H. J. Macartney, of Groomsport Road, Bangor, an uncle of Miss Betsy Gray Macartney.
The letter, dated 20th July, 1891, was written from Sandwich, Illinois, America, by Mrs. Sanders (whose mother was a Macartney), to her cousin, Mr. George Macartney, who was at that time residing in the Gray's house.
Mrs. Sanders was born about 1840, and her mother in 1806.
The relevant part of Mrs. Sanders' letter is as follows: --
"Yes, I had learned of the story of Betsy Gray, and had sent to the Author, Mr. Lyttle, for a copy and it arrived a few days ago. Our mother had often told us all about her. I had also read about her in the `History of Ireland'. Our grandmother, Mary Boyd Macartney, had the stockings and kerchief that was taken off her after she was dead I saw them when I was at grandfather's when I was an infant. Mr. Lyttle sent me the `Sons of the Sod', his almanac. and also `Robin's Reaching' which we enjoyed reading, but I liked `Betsy Gray' the best. I did not remember until I had read the book that she was born in your home, but she was."
A recent picture of the Gray's Cottage at Garvaghy.
FURTHER PROBINGS
The present publishers carried out further investigations, and discovered from an old photograph that the memorial which was erected on the grave of Betsy and George and Willie Boal at Ballycreen, Ballynahinch, on one side bore the inscription "Erected by James Gray, grandnephew of Elizabeth and George Gray, 1896."
This James Gray is presumably the same person who asserted to Latimer that Betsy was a daughter of John and Rebecca Gray, of Tullyniskey.
But what was James Gray's lineage? Mr. Robb informs us that he was a grandson of a Mr. Gray who was coachman to the Herons of Altafort, between Dromore and Dromara.
Mr. Robb remembers him coming to see his (Mr. Robb's ) grandfather around 1908, and he was told he was a Londoner. Mr. Gray appeared to be well off, and paid several visits to the late Thomas Gray, of Tullyniskey, who also claimed to be a distant relation of Betsy Gray's family. This is all that is known of James Gray. If he was an imposter he carried his claim to considerable length when he erected the granite monument on the grave at Ballycreen. Of course, he may have been aided in this by public subscription. (When Lyttle first published his book he solicited subscriptions, to be received at Walker's Hotel, Ballynahinch, for the erection of a memorial on the grave)
WHAT TEELING WROTE
That Betsy came from the Ards direction is supported by the following passage from Teeling's account of the Battle of Ballynahinch in his history of the Rebellion, published in 1810:
"The men of Ards were distinguished for their courage and discipline, and their division bore a full share of the disasters of the day. In this division were two young men remarkable for their zeal, attachment and continued friendship. They were amongst the first to take up arms and from that moment had never been separated. They fought side by side, cheering, defending and encouraging each other as if the success of the field solely depended on their exertions. Monro had assigned on the 12th a separate command to each, but they entreated to be permitted to conquer or perish together.
"One had an only sister; she was the pride of a widowed mother, the loved and admired of the village, where to this hour the perfection of female beauty is described as it approximates in resemblance to the fair Elizabeth Gray."
Lyttle in his book "corrected" Teeling's statement that Betsy was the daughter of a widowed mother, and said that it was her mother who was dead.
A HEADSTONE
Writing on the history of the Parish of Garvaghy in the Banbridge Household Almanac of 1914, J. M. Macrory draws attention to a rudely cut small gravestone (18in. x 11in. x 2½in. ) in the Parish Churchyard. It is to a George Gray, who according to the inscription died on 24th March, 1434. "It is very likely the date was originally 1724," states Macrory, "the 7 having been made with an acute angle, and a horizontal line having.got worn in the stone, the seven was recut into a 4. There are six graves in this plot, in which is another headstone of date 1823."
"Tradition has it", writes Macrory, "that the remains of Betsy Gray, the County Down heroine of '98, who was foully done to death by Yeomen after the Battle of Ballynahinch, were quietly brought from their resting place at Ballycreen, when matters had somewhat calmed down, and interred in the consecrated burying ground of her relatives, the Garvaghy Grays. The truth or otherwise of his tradition cannot be vouched for by the writer, but it is not only possible, but very probable that it is founded on fact."
As for James Macrory, we have a letter from Mr. M. Laverty, of Whitehead, stating that about 50 years ago he visited Macrory, then an ex-bank official residing at Rockwood, .Waringsford--"a refined old gentleman with a profound knowledge of the local history and antiquities of the district, about which he wrote various articles."
"He informed me," says Mr. Laverty, "that his grandfather, who was the baronial constable for the area early in the last century, knew "Betsy" Gray (as he called her) well, who was killed by the Yeomanry after the fight at Ballynahinch in 1798, and described her as an Irish beauty of her time. The high constable also spoke of her painting in Waringsford Castle, the home of landlord Captain Knox. I see according to Burke's Landed Gentry; there was a noted family called Gray in Garvaghy and key, and, if as tradition says, she was a genteel farmer's daughter, she was, no doubt, related"
The only additional information of a factual nature we could glean came from a Mr. Samuel Bradshaw, a native of the Garvaghy district. Mr. Bradshaw recalled an old woman named Miss Mary Ann Porter, of Garvaghy, who died around 1949, oft relating that Betsy Gray was born at Tullyniskey, and that she was taken away from there when she was a child of three years old.
If, as stated previously in Robb's investigation, Lyttle was questioned on the authenticity of his articles when they were appearing in the Press (that is "The North Down Herald"), he not only maintained his version when the story was published in booklet form, but added notes confirming his source of information and stating that he had visited Betsy's birthplace. In the preface to his book, he stated that the incidents related "were collected from reliable sources", relatives of the sufferers in '98 were interviewed, and the places written of were all visited by him.
Dr. Charles Dickson, in "Revolt in the North" says: "In 1957 I was shown, in the house of the great-grandson of this BoydMacartney marriage, a grandfather clock which came from the old home, and a brass candlestick and some pewter utensils; also a grandmother clock from the house of a neighbour named Boala relative of Willie Boal".
In relatives' homes around the Six Road Ends, Belfast, Newtownards, Bangor and other places are other relics pertaining to Betsy Gray, or the Gray family, but so far we have not learned of any from Tullyniskey. This, of course, is not conclusive evidence.
Another point in favour of Mr. Lyttle's story is that most of the insurgents at the Battle of Ballynahinch hailed from the northern part of the county.
CONCLUSION
We have presented to readers both claims as to Betsy's birthplace. Despite our exhaustive enquiries, we have not been able to prove either beyond doubt.
A clue to the solution may be in the passage by Macrory that, according to tradition, Betsy's remains were brought from Ballycreen "and interred in the consecrated ground of her relatives, the Garvaghy Grays". This implies that Betsy's family resided elsewhere and that there was a relationship between the two families.
Taking an overall view, it would seem probable that, at some period, a branch of the Gray family left Garvaghy and went to Granshaw in the Ards, and that there were comings and goings between the families. This is the only compromise solution we can offer.
THE END.
