Sir Richard Johnston, 1st Baronet
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Sir Richard Johnston, 1st Bt.1 (M) b. 1 August 1743, d. 22 April 1795,
Sir Richard Johnston, 1st Bt. was the son of Richard Johnston and Catherine Gill.1 He was born on 1 August 1743.1 He married Anne Alexander, daughter of William Alexander and Mary Porter, in October 1764 at Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.2,3 He died on 22 April 1795 at age 51.1 His will (dated 10 December 1794) was probated on 24 June 1795.1 He held the office of High Sheriff of County Down in 1765.1 He held the office of High Sheriff of County Armagh in 1771.1 He was created 1st Baronet Johnston, of Gilford, co. Down [Ireland] on 27 July 1772, for his sevices against the insurgents.1 He held the office of M.P. for Kilbeggan [Ireland] in 1776.1 He held the office of M.P. for Blessington [Ireland] between 1783 and 1795.3
Children of Sir Richard Johnston, 1st Bt. and Anne Alexander: Sir William Johnston, 2nd Bt. b. 18 Jul 1765, d. Feb 1841 Mary Anne Johnston+ b. 17 Jan 1769 Catherine Johnston b. 20 Aug 1777
Citations 1. [S15] George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume V, page 381. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Baronetage. 2. [S1322] David Arathoon, "re: Nicholas Acheson." 3. [S15] George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Baronetage, volume IV, page 213.
Richard Johnston Richard Johnston had come into ownership of the Gilford estate on the death of his father in 1758. The estate had been founded by Captain John Magill in the 1660s when he was given leases for the creation of a small village beside an important ford in the River Bann. The village took Magill's name and was known first as Magill's Ford, then Gillford and eventually Gilford. The Magill family soon died out on the male side and passed to the Johnstons on the distaff side. Richard Johnston was descended from the Johnstons of Annandale in Scotland, famous border reivers whose motto was Nunquam Non Paratus - Never Unprepared, a motto which he lived by in a convincing manner. He was described by his contemporaries as energetic, zealous and implacable; epithets which were well deserved in his relationships with the Hearts of Steel. As a magistrate he was most unwilling to tolerate the development of the Steelboy movement in the Gilford district,this antipathy resulting in him being the recipient of a number of threatening letters from the movement. In a characteristically energetic response to these letters he formed a local defence force or militia comprised of his friends, neighbours and tenants. There were about fifty members in this force and an ex-army sergeant, Alexander Adamson, was employed to train them so that they would be able to resist any attack by the insurgents. This training began on 24th February 1772 and along with the other recruits was one somewhat unlikely member - the Rev Samuel Morrell (Morrel, Morrel or Morelle), Presbyterian
http://www.geocities.com/craigavonhs/rev/mcelroymagillsford.html
On the afternoon of the 6th March 1772 a force of two thousand Hearts of Steel, many of them armed with guns, attacked Gilford Castle, the home of Richard Johnston. The castle was defended by a militia of Johnston's friends, neighbours and tenants and the defenders held off the attack for over an hour before the attackers forced an entry and overran the castle.
Verses concerning the death of Rev Samuel Morrell which circulated in the Gilford area shortly after the event.
http://www.geocities.com/craigavonhs/rev/mcelroymagillsford.html
The moon shone down with a glancing beam On valley and wood by Banna's stream, Whilst the Fairy Queen with her Elfin train Made the wild woods ring with unhallow'd strain, "Woe to him who with sneering word The wrath of the Elfin race hath stirred, Who hath dared to mock the mystic power They long have swayed o'er rath and bower. For an early tomb and an evil doom Shall wait in his path like the tiger grim To snatch his life in his hour of bloom, And none at his bier shall weep for him." The old and the wise have warned in vain, For his shirt is red with the bloody stain And tomorrow's sun ere it leave the sky Shall see his corpse on the cold earth lie For his hand hath torn the fairy thorn, And flung on the earth its fragrant bloom, And the Fair Queen for his deeds of scorn Hath damned his life with a fatal doom. And when by the stream the children play They shall hush their glee as they pass this way, And none shall pluck from the fairy ring The flowers that forth from the green leaves spring. For the old shall tell the fate of Morrell, And the woeful fate of the hawthorn spray, And warn the child of its mystic spell, And the Queen of the Fairies'potent sway. The sun shone down with a joyous beam On valley and wood by Banna's stream, And their depths re-echoed the sounding horn And its notes were borne on the breeze of the morn; Whilst the sentinel cried at Johnston's home, "’Tis the 'Hearts of Oak', they come - they come." The proud Sir Richard had mocked their power, And dared their might in an evil hour, But turret and tower were armed in vain For the oakmen came like the foaming main, When its breast is torn by the howling blast, And its angry waves roll fierce and fast. But a form was seen on the Castle wall, And a prayer for mercy was heard by all, But alas! no prayer could then assuage The savage flame of the rebel rage. For ah! from the Castle the young Morrell Who had sued for mercy, lifeless fell. The fairies laughed with unearthly glee As they danced that night round the fatal tree, And they twined in its shade a wreath of flowers, To deck the Queen of their Elfin bowers.
