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Irish Arts Review
The Wyses of WaterfordAuthor(s): Rosemary RyanSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 21, No. 1 (Spring, 2004), pp. 108-111Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25503015 .
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PORTRAITURE
THE WYSES OF WATERFORD
WATER 10 8 IRISH ARTS R II V I K W S P R I \ (; 2004
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The Wyse family were intimately linked with the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation movements and with the Catholic struggle
for equality. Like other city-states Waterford's trade and politics
were monopolised by a few families. By 1375 the Wyses were sub
stantial landowners and merchants and by the 1460s their influence was such
that Maurice Wyse was elected mayor in 1478. In the 1490s his son John held
important posts in both the Dublin and the Waterford administrations. John's
I ~~
son William was actually brought up with the future King Henry VIII at the royal court and had a distinguished career.
In 1534 as Mayor of Waterford, William allowed the landing of royal troops, crucial to quashing Silken Thomas' rebel
lion. While Waterford's emissary to court in 1536, William received on behalf of the city 'an evident token of our
[Henry's] favours: we have sent you a cap of maintenance and a bearing sword to be borne at times thought fit by you,
our mayor, being our officer of our said city.' These are magnificent objects: the oldest surviving cap of maintenance in
Europe and the only piece of Henry's wardrobe to survive, it is made of red velvet from Lucca and embroidered with
Tudor roses and marguerites (for Henry's grandmother Margaret). Both objects are displayed in Waterford Museum of
Treasures, their conservation generously sponsored by the Heritage Council (Figs 3 6k 4). Following Henry's suppression
o{ the monasteries, William acquired the Benedictine priory of St John's in the suburbs of Waterford (hence the Wyses
of the Manor of St John's) and its substantial lands. William remained 'the king's servant, who hath always been prone
Later this month, a history of the
Wyse family of Waterford by Olga
Bonaparte Wyse is due to be
published by Waterford Museum
of Treasures. The Wyse family
were central to the history of
Waterford for almost 500 years
and have left their mark on the
city's art and architecture, its
politics and commerce.
ROSEMARY RYAN recalls some
of the outstanding members of
this remarkable family.
and ready to do the king's highness his most diligent service' and deliv
ered adherence in Waterford city and county to Henry's 'reforms'. He
was knighted in 1543, was made a member of the Irish Council - the
advisory body to the Lord Lieutenant - in 1546 and died in 1557.
The religious and political turmoil that followed the Reformation
during the reigns of Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth I saw Wyse may
ors steer a tricky course of loyalty to the crown while remaining
Catholic. The extension of (Protestant) royal control in Ireland and
resistance to that campaign in the form of rebellion followed by con
fiscation seriously affected Waterford's trade and prosperity. But the
city was not always willing to facilitate government suppression - in
1569 it refused to send soldiers to assist the Lord Deputy. To placate
the government, the city council blamed the refusal on 'three or four
private persons' - one was George Wyse youngest son of Sir William.
George was not perturbed, claiming that 'when all Ireland rose in
support of the pretender to the throne of Henry VII, Waterford
alone stood fast' adding that 'the best of the citizens were abroad on
their voyages and that in any case poor merchants are not for the
field; it is not their profession'.
Almost a century later, Waterford City fell to the Cromwellians,
and the Wyse lands were confiscated but restored in 1660. Thomas
Wyse was the last Catholic mayor of Waterford to serve a full term in
1688/89. James II's defeat at the Boyne in 1690 saw a
Protestant city council restored and a Catholic
would not be a member again until 1829 when a
direct descendent, another Thomas, was elected.
We can take up the story of the Wyse family
1 George Mullins
(fl. 1763-75) Interior
of Newtown House, Waterford oil on
copper, 60.5 x 71cm
showing John, Francis and Mary Ann Wyse, children
of 'Bullocks' Wyse seated in the print room of Newtown
House
2 The imperial eagle of the Bonaparte
family carved by John Carew of
Waterford in the
mid-19th century, which hung on the
Wyse family home
3 The Cap of
Maintenance, a gift from Henry VIII to
the Mayor of
Waterford in 1536
4 Bearing sword, gift of Henry VIII to the
Mayor in 1536
Ij^^^^^^^^mn
FOR SPRING 2004
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^B PORTRAITURE THE WYSES OF WATERFORD
5 Artist unknown
Portrait of Thomas
'Bullocks' Wyse (1701-1770) oil on
canvas 92 x 79cm
6 George Mullins
(fl. 1763-75) Portrait
of Francis Wyse in
the library of
Newtown House
oil on copper 54 x 65cm
again with Thomas 'Bullocks' Wyse (1701
1770) who because of being an only son of
an only son, inherited the entire estates,
thereby outmanoeuvring the penal laws
(Fig 5). Excluded from participation in the
political life of the city, he turned to trade
and industry and reopened the Bunmahon
copper mines in Co. Waterford in 1750.
His nickname derives from his using bul
locks instead of horses to draw his carriage,
in protest at the penal law that obliged a
Catholic to accept an offer of ?5.00 from a
Protestant for his horse. In 1756 he was
instrumental in setting up the Catholic
Committee, the first body to represent
Catholic commercial interests. Bullocks
did not live to see the 1793 Repeal Act that
restored many of the rights of Catholics,
although they were still excluded from sitting in parliament. He
did however commence the Green Book of the
Wyses, which contains the muniments of the
family from 1199.
'Bullocks' had three sons yet the estate was
not broken up: Richard the youngest con
formed to the Church of Ireland but died with
out issue; John inherited the lands at Newtown
and commissioned the Waterford architect
John Roberts (see page 102) to build Newtown
House, which in 1798 was sold to the Quakers for the famous school there. John overspent on
building and other schemes and also died
young without issue, leaving Francis, Bullocks's
oldest son, to inherit the entire estate, again
outwitting the penal laws. Two very important
paintings (rare Irish interiors) of these Wyses
survive, painted by George Mullins on copper
from Wyse's mine, showing Newtown before
changes by the Quakers. One shows Francis,
John and Mary Anne Wyse (who holds a lute), seated in the print room (Fig 1) and the second
shows Francis Wyse wearing a turban, seated in
his library atrium (Fig 6). On a paper in his
hand is written 'Arts &. Science' and items
relating to those pursuits are shown, including
a globe, some on the decorative plasterwork in
the niche behind. Mullins 'worked at Mr.
Wise's manufactory at Waterford 6k
painted snuff-boxes and waiters in imita
tion of the Birmingham ware'. Francis
had a son (Fig 8) Thomas ('Gentle')
(1770-1835) who in turn had a son Sir
Thomas (1791-1862). Educated at the Jesuit College of
Stonyhurst and at Trinity College Dublin, where he won a gold medal for oratory, this lat
ter Thomas then went on the Grand Tour, where he had an intro
duction to Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, younger brother
of Napoleon. After two years touring Greece, Turkey, Egypt and
the Middle East in the company of two Englishmen, he returned
through Rome and a marriage was contracted between Thomas
and Letitia 'the Venus of the Bonapartes', daughter of Lucien,
with a promised dowry of ?10,000 that Thomas hoped would
help to alleviate the debts of the family estates in Waterford (the Casino at Viterbo became part payment). They married in 1821
in Viterbo, Italy and it was around this time that Thomas was
painted by his sister Harriet who visited the newly-weds (Fig 7). The marriage was doomed by the time of the birth of the first
child, Napoleon Alfred and Thomas' father-in-law had, at
Thomas' request, his wayward daughter committed to a convent,
with Vatican approval. When Thomas indicated that he was
returning to Waterford, the Bonapartes were anxious that he
bring Letitia who gave birth to a second son William Charles.
Back in Waterford Thomas played a leading role in the final
phase of the struggle for Catholic Emancipation. In the famous
His nickname derives from his
using bullocks instead of horses to draw his carriage, in
protest at the
penal law that
obliged a Catholic to
accept an offer of ?5.00 from a Protestant for his horse
w
1826 Co. Waterford election he was the agent
of the Protestant pro-Emancipation candidate
Villiers Stuart who inflicted a dramatic defeat
on Lord George Beresford. O'Connell's success
in the Co. Clare election in 1828 followed, the
first Irish Catholic to be elected to parliament
since the late 17th century. As Thomas' politi
cal star rose, his marriage finally collapsed and
Letitia fled Waterford. The volatile, beautiful
and extravagant Princess Letitia was until her
death, an embarrassment to Thomas, having
three further children by other men. Marriage
to the serious-minded, politically-ambitious but
impoverished Thomas was hardly conducive to
the happiness and expectations of a French
princess brought up in Italy's sunnier climes.
In 1830 Thomas was elected MP for Co.
Tipperary making him the second Irish
Catholic MP. Elected to Waterford City Council in 1829, he was MP for the city 1835
47 when he lost out to a more radical Young
Irelander. In 1829 he wrote a history of the
Catholic Association but he never supported
the campaign for repeal of the Act of Union.
True to his origins, he remained a Catholic
Unionist committed to the English connection.
As a supporter of the British Whig
(Liberal) government Sir Thomas threw his
energies into educational reform and was
instrumental in the setting up of the
National School system and chaired the
secondary education committee which rec
ommended the setting up of inter-denomi
national state-financed secondary schools. He
also mooted the establishment of four provin
cial colleges or universities again to be inter-denom- D
110 I
IRISH ARTS REVIEW SPRING 2004
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I
6.?-'- - .
t i'??-,?. 1
inational to offer a curriculum similar to that in the University of
London. Sir Thomas advocated that model because he had a keen
interest in the economic and industrial development of Ireland.
However religious divisions in Ireland ensured that the colleges
would never be established as he envisaged. He was one of the
commissioners for the building of the new Houses of Parliament at
Westminster in London, putting him in touch with Pugin whom he
later commissioned to build the new Manor of St John's.
The offer of the post of ambassador to the new kingdom of
Greece by the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, in 1847 may
have been engineered by Letitia who had influence with
Palmerston, at a particularly opportune time for France. Two years
later Palmerston instantly recognised Letitia's cousin Louis
Napoleon as Emperor of France, causing a serious crisis between
Palmerston and the Queen and Prince Albert.
Sir Thomas' securing of Greek neutrality during the Crimean
War earned him a knighthood in 1856. On his death in 1862 he
was given a state funeral by the King and Queen of Greece.
Sir Thomas disinherited both his sons to prevent any
Bonaparte claim whatsoever on the Wyse estates. However when
it was being sold under the Encumbered Estates Act, Napoleon
Alfred bought it. The Waterford News reported in 1862: 'Mr. N.
B. Wyse, J.P. 6k his mother have taken up residence in the family
~~~~~~~~~~~" I
mansion of Roanmore. Over the
entrance door the Imperial Eagle has
been very elegantly cut in stone by
Mr. M. Carew sculptor of this city'
(Fig 2). 'Napo' went on to become a
Justice of the Peace, Deputy
Lieutenant and High Sheriff of
County Waterford like his ancestor
in 1539. Although improvements to the Manor were extravagant,
'Napo' eventually retired to Paris where he died.
Thomas' second son, William Charles, made a reputation as
a Proven?al poet and as leader of the revival of the Proven?al lan
guage, married and had four sons. He bought the Manor from his
brother rather than see it leave the Wyse family. His Unionist
sympathies at a time of unrest and Land League activity quickly
involved him in disputes with the Church and with Nationalists.
He died in Cannes and is buried there. His son Andrew, was one
of the last commissioners of Education in Ireland under British
Rule, in 1922 becoming head of the Education Department in the
new Northern Ireland goverment. Andrew's son William, was
ADC to Charles de Gaulle during World War II, married Olga Clive Rollason and had two children, Frances and Henry, both
living today in Cornwall. Henry has very generously loaned some
of the family artefacts to Water ford Museum of Treasures.H
ROSEMARY RYAN is Education Officer of Waterford Museum of Treasures
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF WATERFORD MUSEUM OF TREASURES
PHOTOGRAPHY: Terry Murphy
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I am indebted to Olga Bonaparte Wyse (author of the forth
coming history of the Wyse family, a limited edition, to be published by Waterford Museum of Treasures, March 2004) and to Henry Bonaparte Wyse. For this article I am indebted to Eamonn McEneaney, Julian Walton and Anne Crookshank and the
Knight of Glin's Ireland's Painters 1600-1940, Yale University 2002.
7 Harriet Wyse
Sir Thomas Wyse (1791-1862) oil on
canvas 106 x 91cm
1821
8 Artist unknown
'Gentle' Thomas
Wyse (1770-1835) father of
Sir Thomas Wyse oil on canvas
91x 79cm
SPRING 2004 IRISH ARTS REVIEW |
111
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