| GENERAL NOTES |
| Ireland, Civil Registration Birth Indexes
Name: William Smyth Registration District: Banbridge Registration Quarter and Year: Apr - Jun 1912 Volume Number: 1 Page Number: 133 Index Number: 460 [RFSS Nov 2011] William was the eldest child of Wilson and was born on 11th February 1912. He spent all his working life in Brookfield factory and during the Second World War met a girl named Joan Scott, whose family lived in Malone Park, Belfast and whose father was a Senior Director of the Northern Bank. Joan had come to Ashfield House, home of William's cousin Gwen Coey, to help run the estate after Gwen's husband, Captain Coey, had suddenly decided to join the Army on home service. Gwen's children, Mary and William, were at boarding school at the time so Joan also provided company for Mrs Coey. William often visited Ashfield House during this period and it was on such a visit that he met Joan, whom he was to marry. Carrying on in the tradition of his father, William was also a great golfer and Captained Royal County Down Golf Club in 1959, acting as Honorary Secretary from 1956-1977. He represented the club on senior teams for many years. He was also Convenor of the Green Committee. William served as Master of the Iveagh Harriers for a time. He had a very keen interest in shooting and partook in pheasant drives in places like Castlewellan Forest, the estate owned by his good friend Gerald Annesley. He was also an expert snipe shot. Bobby Blakely, who was boiler man in the factory, often acted as his beater, whilst Pringle Fleming was his driver and worked his Labrador dogs. He was also a keen fisherman. Before succeeding to Brookfield House in 1953, William lived at 'Rosemount' on the Scarva Road, now the site of St Teresa's Chapel. He was an ardent Unionist and held many positions in Unionism. He was also a Justice of the Peace. William and Joan had three children - Brice (9) Wilson, born on 26th May 1947; Gordon, born on 22nd January 1950, and Heather Moira, born on 20th December 1952. Brice (9), known as Wilson in the family, worked as an engineer in the Postal Depot in Tomb Street, Belfast, where he was murdered in a car bomb attack on 26th October 1988 aged 41 years, leaving a wife Jennifer and three children - Susan, David and Alastair. Gordon, when young, was given the then new whooping cough vaccine from which he developed an allergic reaction, resulting in him being permanently mentally and physically disabled. It was for Gordon that the outdoor heated pool was built at Brookfield House. Heather married Norman John Senior from Midlothian, Scotland in Scarva Street Presbyterian Church on 21st September 1974. She trained as a Veterinary Surgeon, as did her husband with whom she resides in Scotland. They have three children, two boys and a girl. William Smyth died on 5th March 1990 aged 78 years, the last in the male line of Smyths of Brookfield House. Joan remained on in Brookfield House, a house she loved dearly and the gardens of which she did so much to transform, until 1993 when she sold the house. She moved to Blackskull where she died in 1999. Her ashes were placed alongside her husband in the family grave in the Municipal Cemetery, Banbridge. Information extracted from 'Smyths Of The Bann' by Paul McCandless [RFSS Dec 2006]  Headstone in Banbridge Municipal Cemetery, Co. Down© 2011 Sinton Family Trees IN LOVING MEMORY [RFSS Nov 2011] DAVID WILSON SMYTH BROOKFIELD BORN 12TH NOV 1876 - DIED 24TH AUG 1953 AND HIS WIFE VERA BORN 6TH JANY 1881 - DIED 15TH FEBY 1966 THEIR SON WILLIAM SMYTH BORN 11TH FEBY 1912 - DIED 5TH MAR 1990 THEIR DAUGHTER MOIRA GORDON SMYTH BORN 14TH MAY 1914 - DIED 26TH FEBY 1990 WILLIAM'S SON BRICE WILSON SMYTH BORN 26TH MAY 1947 - KILLED 26TH OCT 1988 |
| SOURCE |
| [ s2130 ] | Cemetery Marker - Headstone - Municipal Cemetery, Banbridge, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom - H1990-05-03-WS |
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