Sir Walter Synnot

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Sir Walter Synnot (1742–1821), baronet, son of Richard Synnot, settled in the parish of Ballymoyer, County Armagh in 1778.

According to Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837): "The lands were heathy and barren previously to 1778, when Sir Walter Synnot erected a house and became a resident landlord; scarcely a tree or shrub was to be seen, and the agricultural implements were of the rudest kind. He constructed good roads in the vicinity, planted forest trees to a considerable extent, and by his example and liberal encouragement of every improvement both as to their habitations and system of agriculture, affected a great change in the habits of the peasantry, and in the appearance of the country, which is now in an excellent state of cultivation, yielding abundant produce; the cultivation of green crops has been introduced, and is practised with success."

Sir Walter Synnot became the High Sheriff of County Armagh in 1783. He married Jane Seton (a relative of the American Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and her grandson Monsignor Robert Seton). They had three children, Marcus, Walter and Maria (who died aged 18). These children are featured in the painting by Joseph Wright, of Derby, which was formerly at Ballymoyer but is now in the possession of the National Gallery of Victoria. An etching was made in 1782.

The second son, Captain Walter Synnot, became a colonist in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) with his children, including Monckton Synnot and the family were prominetn pastoralists in the Colony of Victoria.

After the death of Jane Seton, Sir Walter married Ann Elizabeth (nee Martin) and had three more children, including Richard Walter Synnot (whose children were the subjects of the portrait by George Richmond). Sir Walter lived with his new wife and family in Italy for some years and died in Rome in 1821, where he was buried in the same tomb as his daughter Elizabeth (from second wife). His wife's sister Selina Martin wrote Three Years In Italy which covers this period.

Ballymoyer, the house and estate, is a National Trust property open to the public.