THE ASH MANUSCRIPTS

“The Ash MSS”, more fully described as

“The Ash Manuscripts,

written in the year 1735 by Lieut. Col. Thomas Ash,

and other Family Records,”

published for the first time,

by

Henry Tyler, Esq., J.P., Limavady.

(For private circulation.)

Edited by Rev. Edward T. Martin, Dundonald, 1890.

Printed by

Whiffin & Hart,

Bookbinders and Artistic Stationers,

34 Arthur Street, Belfast, [Northern] Ireland

Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Thomas Ash of Ashbrook House, Glendermott Parish, was an officer in the Londonderry Garrison during the Siege of 1689. According to W.R. Young’s “Fighters of Derry”, he was one of the witnesses to the Governor’s Commission of 11^th July 1689 which appointed the Commissioners who went out to treat with the Jacobite forces. He served in Col. John Mitchelburn’s Regiment at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 and was High Sheriff of County Derry in 1694. His name is among those commemorated in the memorial window for the Siege in St. Columb’s Cathedral.

In addition to his Diary of the Siege, Lt.Col. Thomas Ash left a manuscript which he compiled in 1735, when he was about 75 years old, giving an outline of the Ash family and their connections who included the Lecky, Rankin, Rainey and Tyler families.

Regrettably some pages of this manuscript have not survived. However, in 1890 the bulk of the memoire was privately published by a descendant, Hon. Henry Tyler, J.P., of Limavady, as “The Ash MSS”.

This small 78 page volume contains the Memorials of the Ash family, together with a host of other family papers including:

• The will of John Ash, of Corenerin [Currynierin], 1680

• Extracts from the “Calendar of Patent & Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland”,

• Facts on the History of the Ash Family (as supplied by Henry Tyler, J.P.)

• Commentary on the Ash family by Rev. Edward T. Martin

• Treatise on the Battles of Boyne and Aughrim

• Letter from Mr Moro Phillips, a descendant of Henry Ash, son of Capt. Henry Ash of Ashbrook, who emigrated to America, 1750

• Treatise on Finvoy Church, 1721

• Will of Jane Browning, formerly the Widow Rankin and widow of Capt. Micaiah Browning of the “Mountjoy”, 1717

• Memorial Deed dd. 1734 on the marriage of George Ash of Tamnareagh and Rachael Williamson of Newtownlimavady

• Various deeds and agreements concluded by members of the Ash, Tyler, Hewey (Huey) and associated families

• Will of George Tyler of Newtownlimavady, 1793

• Will of George Huey, 1800

• Will of Elizabeth Hewey of the Waterside, Londonderry, 1810

• Will of Mrs Martha Moore, Ballymoney, 1813

• Letter of bequest by Aaron Vansyckel, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, dd. 15^th August 1822

• Treatise on the Family of Fisher and the Defence of Derry, 1689

• Address by certain Presbyterians to King James II, dd. 1687, together with a list of persons of the City and County of Londonderry who were attainted, taken from the Rolls Office, Dublin

• Address by the Citizens and Garrison of Londonderry to King William and Queen Mary, July 29^th, 1689, including a list of all signatories

The e-Book now made available is a reproduction of a copy that was held in the Tyler family for several generations. The inside cover bears the signature “D. M. Tyler”. The original volume is in the possession of Adv. David Mitchell of Cape Town, South Africa, a longstanding and life member of the Ulster Historical Foundation’s Ulster Genealogical & Historical Guild.

An article on the early origins of the famous Ash family appeared in the Londonderry Sentinel on Thursday 22 April 2010 and is accessible online at https://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/the-early-origins-of-the-famous-ash-family-1-2101384