Friday 14 July 2023

Fulton of Braidujle

THE FULTONS OWNED 2,297 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

JOHN FULTON, born ca 1623, held, in 1678, from Edward, 3rd Viscount and 1st Earl of Conway, a lease for three lives of the estate of Belsize, then already in his possession, which was situated close to Lisburn, but within the limits of the parish of Derriaghy, County Antrim. The names of himself and his brother Richard and of their sons and kinsmen occur in the vestry books of those places as churchwardens or otherwise.

His son,

JOHN FULTON, of Belsize, born about 1653, married, in 1691, Margaret, daughter of Thomas Camac, of Kilfallert (or Ballyalloly), County Down, and had issue,
James, of Lisburn;
JOHN, of whom presently;
Elizabeth; Margaret; Mary Ann.
The youngest son,

JOHN FULTON (1716-1803), of Lisburn and Calcutta, merchant and landowner, purchased property in Lisburn from his brother James and his nephew Robert, and the Ballymacash estate from his great-nephew Richard.

In 1780, he was appointed Assistant Registrar of the High Court of Calcutta, but, owing to shipwreck, he was eighteen months in reaching Calcutta, and found the post filled up.

Mr Fulton then followed mercantile pursuits, and made a large fortune.

He wedded, in 1751, Anne, daughter of Thomas Wade, of Clonabreany, County Westmeath, and Lurgan, County Armagh, and died at sea, in 1803, on his homeward voyage, having had issue,
Joseph, of Lisburn;
James, of Lisburn;
JOHN WILLIAMSON, of whom presently;
Eleanor; Eliza Overend.
The youngest son,

JOHN WILLIAMSON FULTON (1769-1830), of Calcutta, and 4 Upper Harley Street, London, followed his father to Calcutta in 1787, and was for many years an eminent merchant there, and founder of the firm of Mackintosh, Fulton & McClintock.

Mr Fulton espoused, in 1806, Ann, widow of Captain John Hunt, Bengal Army, and daughter and co-heir (with her sister Eleanor Sophia, wife of Lachlan Mackintosh, of Calcutta, and Raigmore, Inverness-shire) of Robert Robertson, of Calcutta, of the Scottish family of Robertson of Inshes.

He settled in London, 1820, and had issue,
JOHN WILLIAMSON, his heir;
Joseph Hennessey;
Eleanor Sophia; Anne; Anne; Mary Charron; Charlotte Hayes.
Mr Fulton died in 1830,  and was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN WILLIAMSON FULTON JP (1814-72), of Braidujle, near Broughshane, County Antrim, and Braidujle House, near Drumbo, County Down, a barrister, who espoused, in 1840, Matilda, daughter of John Montgomery Casement, of Invermore, Larne, County Antrim (by Mary his wife, daughter of John McGildowney, of CLARE PARK, County Antrim), and niece of MAJOR-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM CASEMENT KCB, and had issue,
John Williamson Casement (1841-55);
Edmund Casement Pollard (1843-4);
EDMUND McGILDOWNEY HOPE, his heir;
George Wade Robertson;
Josephine Mary McGildowney.
Mr Fulton's third son,

SIR EDMUND McGILDOWNEY HOPE FULTON CSI (1848-1913), of Braidujle, County Antrim, Puisne Judge of the Court of Bombay, 1897, Member of Council, Bombay, 1902, married, in 1879, Cornelia Emily, only daughter of Sir Michael Westropp, Chief Justice of the High Court of Bombay, and had issue,
JOHN HENRY WESTROPP, his heir;
Lionel Edmund;
Edmund James;
Bessie Maud; Evelyn Grace; Esme Mary.
Sir Edmund was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN HENRY WESTROPP FULTON (1880-), a barrister, who wedded, in 1905, Violet Elise, daughter of Deputy Surgeon-General Landale, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Former seat ~ Braidujle, near Broughshane, County Antrim
Former residence ~ Elmhurst, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.


BRAIDUJLE HOUSE, near Drumbo, County Down, is a Victorian house comprising five bays and two storeys.

There is a full-length, one-bay breakfront in the centre and a single-storey, three-sided bow on either side of the porch.

Historic OS Map

The corners have quoins, the roof is shallow with a parapet and paired dentils.

The house has lofty chimneys.
John Williamson Fulton and his wife went to Calcutta in 1841, where he practised as a barrister until his mother's death necessitated his return in the autumn of 1845. For a time he resided and practised in London, but on the death of his sister Ellen, he moved to her house at Rugby, for the better education of his children. 
At this period he published a letter to the President of the Board of Control on the Judicial Institutions of Bengal. Subsequently he returned to Calcutta for a couple of years. In 1854 he decided to fix his residence in Ulster, where he already had the Braidujle property, near Broughshane in County Antrim, and bought a house near Drumbo, which he named Braidujle House. 
He thenceforward devoted himself to the magisterial and other duties of a country gentleman, becoming a JP for counties Down and Antrim, and also to the personal arrangement of his estates. 
He was a zealous Churchman, and when the disestablishment of the Irish Church was mooted, he joined the Ulster Protestant Defence Association, which was constituted in October, 1867.
"Brigadje," near Broughshane, ca 1870 (historic OS map)

Mr J W Fulton's widow, Matilda, continued to live at Braidulje House, Drumbo, until 1881, when she decided to live in England.


A comprehensive history of the Fultons is published in Memoirs of the Fultons of Lisburn.

First published in July, 2015.

8 comments :

Weldon said...

Is this house still standing? I’ve found the general location but nothing specific. I’m looking for my ancestral home.

Andrew said...

Could we have some pronunciation guidance, do you think?

Timothy Belmont said...

I can merely speculate, though I'll have a go: Bray-DUJ-lay.

Anonymous said...

Is Drumbo not it Co Down, rather than Co Antrim?
VC

Andrew said...

I'm still fascinated by the name Braidujle and wonder if there might be a Dutch connection.

Anonymous said...

Seemingly the name is derived from the river Braid and an Indian word probably anglicised as Ujle.

Timothy Belmont said...

Andrew, the connection is more probably Indian, combining the river Braid near Broughshane and an anglicisation of the Indian Ujle.

Timothy Belmont said...

The residence that Fulton built near Drumbo in County Down was named after his property near Broughshane, County Antrim, called “Braidujle;” after the river Braid and the Urdu word “Ujle,” meaning bright.