MORE O'FERRALL query

[Shinjinee]

What is the background of this Irish family that has produced at least
two peeresses (Viscountess Allendale and Lady Beaverbrook) and one son-
in-law of an earl?

I note the following names

Dominic More O'Ferrall had at least three sons

Frank (Francis Ambrose More O'Ferrall or Francis Joseph More
O'Ferrall) d. 1976 md Angela Mather-Jackson; parents of the peeresses
named

Edward Rory More O'Ferrall (apparently brother of the same); md 30 Sep
1947 (as her 2nd husband) Lady Elizabeth Hare (b. 1914 decd?),
daughter of the 4th Earl of Listowel and widow of Viscount Elverton
(1912-1945); and mother of the 3rd Earl of Iveagh (1937-1992) and
grandmother of the present Earl.

[Lady Elizabeth More O'Ferrall, nee Hare
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp51666&rNo=0&role=sit


There is also a Rory More O'Ferrall (various links - search with his
name and diamond) b ca late 1940s. Apparently a Catholic.

According to one site More O'Ferrall was until 30 March 2007)
Director, Group External Affairs, at De Beers.

A World Bank page gives more information on him.
Joined De Beers in 1971 after six years in the British Army
(Captain). Diamond buyer in central and West Africa 1972-77.
Sales Executive in London 1978 to 1986. Sales Manager and member of
Management
Committee from 1987, seconded as advisor to De Beers Corporate
Headquarters in
Johannesburg 1989-90. Manager Banking Liaison and Consultant to the
Board of the Antwerp
Diamond Bank 1991-98. Manager Corporate Communications 1999, Director
Public &
Corporate Affairs 2000, Director Group External Affairs 2004 to date.
Chairman, De Beers'
'conflict diamonds' committee and Director, World Diamond Council.
Represents De Beers on Business for Africa, the Global Business
Coalition on HIV/AIDS and
the Council on Foreign Relations.
Knight of Honour & Devotion, Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Knight Commander of Justice, Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St
George
Honorary Life Member of the London Diamond Club & Bourse
Member of The Pilgrims, The Council for Christians & Jews, The
Catholic Union of Great Britain,
The Royal Anglo-Belgian Society, The Institute of Directors and The
Cavalry & Guards Club.


There is also a chemistry professor of that name, possibly a cousin
Rory More O'Ferrall, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology,.
University College Dublin,

[Turenne]

The O'Farrells are connected with Co. Longford. The name comes from
the Irish Ó Fearghaill, which means a man of great courage. They were
an important sept in territory known as Annaly in Co. Longford. Their
seat was the site of present-day Longford town, which itself was known
as Annaly until 1547. Longford owes its origins to an ancient castle
of the Princes of Annaly, and the O'Farrells also founded a Dominican
priory in the town in 1400. There is now no trace of either building.

When Richard O Ferrall married a Letitia More, they founded their own
illustrious sept, the More O'Ferralls, who later became prominent in
the world of television and advertising. George More O'Ferrall was an
influential early TV and film producer in Britain; the More O'Ferralls
also owned the More O'Ferrall outdoor advertising company, one of the
largest of its kind in Britain and Ireland.

O'Ferrall is a variant of O'Farrell.

Richard

[JonnyK]

The More O'Ferralls can be summed up as an illustrious Catholic Anglo-
Irish clan whose origins stretch back to 12th century Irish kings and
chiefs and are a very interesting, though confusingly prodigious
family.

To elaborate, the 4th Viscount Allendale (b. 1948) is married to
Theresa Mary Magdalene More O' Ferrall, daughter of Francis Ambrose
More O' Ferrall. Earlier Irish connections here include the 1st Baron
Allendale's marriage to Lady Margaret de Burgh, daughter of the 1st
Marquess of Clanricarde and his wife Harriet Canning (daughter of the
Prime Minister, George Canning) and then the marriage of his son the
1st Viscount Allendale to Lady Alexandrina Vane-Tempest, daughter of
the 5th Marquess of Londonderry.

The present Lord Beaverbrook is married to Susan Angela More O'
Ferrall, daughter of Francis Ambrose More O'Ferrall and his wife
Angela Mather Jackson, daughter of Sir Anthony Mather-Jackson, 6th Bt.
The Beaverbrooks' son Alexander (b. 1979) was married only last year
to Alexandra Meredyth Anne Proby, daughter of National Trust chairman
Sir William Proby, 3rd Bt., who is incidentally a kinsman of the Duke
of Abercorn and is in remainder to the marquessate of Abercorn and its
subsidiary titles. Their eldest son went to Ampleforth so was raised
Catholic, though I'm not sure if the Aitkens themselves are Catholics.

Among the more recent members of the family to rise to prominence was
the Right Honourable Richard More O'Ferrall (1797 - 1880), who was a
Member of Parliament for Kildare and Longford. In 1832 he was a member
of the parliamentary committee set up to report on the situation in
Ireland. When a Royal Commission was issued in 1833 to report into the
condition of the poor in Ireland, Richard More O'Ferrall and the
Archbishop of Dublin were its two Catholic members. He was an adviser
to the Catholic University and was a friend of Cardinal Wiseman and a
supporter of Daniel O'Connell. In 1835, under the administration of
Lord Melbourne, he became Lord of the Treasury, First Secretary of the
Admiralty and, in 1841, was Secretary to the Treasury. In 1847 he was
the first civilian to hold the post of Governor of Malta. Four years
later he resigned because he would not serve under the Prime Minister,
Lord John Russell, who had championed the Ecclesiastical Titles Act of
1851 in opposition to the Papal Bill of 1850 to restore a Catholic
hierarchy in England.

Richard's brother, John Lewis More O'Ferrall (1800 - 81), was educated
at Acton Burnell and Stonyhurst College in England. He graduated from
Trinity College, Dublin, and was called to the Irish Bar. He became
Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police on its establishment in
1871. He declined a baronetcy.

And in this century there has was George Anthony More O'Ferrall (1907
- 82), a pioneer in television. He joined Sir Phillip Ben Greet's
Shakespearean Company and later won a scholarship to the Central
School of Dramatic Art. In 1936 he joined the first BBC television
team and was joint producer of the very first television programme.
Following four and a half years of service with the Royal Artillery
during the Second World War, he was put in charge of all BBC
broadcasts to Allied Forces, including the American Forces Network.
From 1946 to 1950 he was a senior BBC television producer, but he left
when told he had reached his salary ceiling. He went into films and
directed for 20th Century Fox, ABC, Korda, Rank and British Lion. In
1959 he joined Anglia Television as Head of Drama. He had more
television plays to his credit than any other producer and was awarded
the Baird Medal for outstanding contributions to television. From 1964
to 1968 he directed for ATV. He retired to live in Spain. A pioneer
who produced and directed a series of British television firsts during
the medium's formative years, George More O'Ferrall was one of the
earliest theatre personalities to turn to television in Britain.

The family seat was Kildangan, County Kildare, which was originally a
FitzGerald castle but they sold it, in about 1705, to the brothers
Edward and Edmund Reilly, originally from County Cavan, but now
prosperous merchants in Dublin where Edmund was an alderman of the
city. In 1849, Kildangan passed into the More O'Ferrall family with
the marriage of Susan O'Reilly (1826 - 54) to Charles Edward More
O'Ferrall. She died in childbirth aged only 28, leaving a son,
Dominick. During his lifetime he considerably extended the estate,
with the advice of the eminent British landscape gardener John
Sutherland, who laid out the celebrated gardens. He dynamited the
remains of the ancient castle and used its stones to build the present
house. His brother Francis More O'Ferrall (died 1976) was a chairman
of the Anglo-Irish Bloodstock Agency in London and his youngest
brother, Rory, is chairman of the advertising firm of More O Ferrall.
Today Kildangan is more famous as a racing stud owned by Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, currently Prime Minister and Vice
President of the United Arab Emirates and himself Emir of Dubai.

More info can be found at http://www.murphy-familytree.com/page18.farrell%20coa.html

[Jan Böhme]

On 6 Jan, 16:19, JonnyK <j_kennedy1...@hotmail.com> wrote:

><snip>

> In 1849, Kildangan passed into the More O'Ferrall family with
> the marriage of Susan O'Reilly (1826 - 54) to Charles Edward More
> O'Ferrall. She died in childbirth aged only 28, leaving a son,
> Dominick. During his lifetime he considerably extended the estate,
> with the advice of the eminent British landscape gardener John
> Sutherland, who laid out the celebrated gardens. He dynamited the
> remains of the ancient castle and used its stones to build the present
> house. His brother Francis More O'Ferrall (died 1976) was a chairman
> of the Anglo-Irish Bloodstock Agency in London and his youngest
> brother, Rory, is chairman of the advertising firm of More O Ferrall.

Sorry, but whom does "his" refer to here? Ostensibly, just going by
the text, it would be the Dominick O'Ferral who dynamited the old
castle, but somebody born not later than 1854 is extremely unlikely to
have siblings living till 1976, let alone till today. Are you instead
referring to George Anthony More O'Ferrall, the television pioneer
mentioned in the previous paragraph, or who else is "he"?

Jn Böhme

[JonnyK]

Sorry Jan, didn't notice that but it's what is on the website. I'm
guess that the "his" must refer to George Anthony More O'Ferrall.