The Ballitore Papers now available online to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Mary Leadbeater in 1826
Kildare County Archives has digitised many of the Ballitore Papers to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Mary Leadbeater née Shackleton in 1826 and the founding of the Ballitore School in 1726. It consists of letters, notebooks, diaries, and personal memorabilia of the Quaker families of Shackleton, Leadbeater and Barrington; there is extensive correspondence written between Mary Leadbeater (née Shackleton) (1758-1826) and Arabella Forbes; Anne (1759-1818) and Elizabeth Grubb (1762-1829), and Bishop Thomas O’Beirne of Meath (c. 1747-1823) and his wife, Jane. Other items in the collection include memoirs, diaries, and notebooks, such as two diaries of Sarah Shackleton, sister of Mary Leadbeater (PP1/91-2) which cover a few months of 1772 and 1774; The Ballitore Magazine 1809 (PP1/23) which contains a variety of articles, poetry and local news items; notes and letters compiled by Selina Fennell née Barrington (1833-1917) (PP1/25) relating to the life of her father, Edward Barrington; a notebook belonging to Margaret Davis née Barrington (1823-1912) (PP1/29) relating to the early years of her mother, Sarah Barrington née Leadbeater’s life, and also contains details of the last days of Mary Shackleton Leadbeater. You can find put more here. Digitised items from this collection can be found here. Further items will be digitised in due course.
A full descriptive list is available here. Some of the Ballitore Papers have also been transcribed and are available along with the digitised originals here and at Kildare County Archives in Naas, Co. Kildare. The collection has bee organised
(i) Masters of Ballitore School
(a) Abraham Shackleton (1696-1771)
PP1/1 A testimony concerning that worthy elder Abraham Shackleton, 1774.
(b) Richard Shackleton (1726-1792)
PP1/2 Correspondence between Richard Shackleton (Master of Ballitore School 1756-1779), his former pupil Aldborough Wrightson and his father George Wrightson, 1763-1771.
(ii) Sarah Shackleton (1760-1847)
PP1/9/1 – PP1/9/2 Two diaries of Sarah Shackleton, 1772 & 1774.
(iii) Elizabeth and Mary Shackleton
PP1/10 Copy of a letter and reflections of Betsy Shackleton (niece of Mary Shackleton Leadbeater), 1843 & 1848.
The Leadbeater Family
(i) Mary Leadbeater née Shackleton (1758-1826)
(a) PP1/11 Letters from Arabella Forbes, 1774-1778 and full transcription here
(c) PP1/13 Letters from Susannah and Mary Bewley, 1788-1794 and full transcription here
(e) PP1/15 Letter relating to Edmund Burke
(f) Literary Works & Interests
PP1/18 Notebook of poems written by Mary Leadbeater, 1775
PP1/19 Notebook of poems written by Mary Leadbeater, 1778
(g) Artistic Interests
PP1/20/1 Notebooks of sketches belonging to Mary Leadbeater, 1768-1769
(ii) Elizabeth Leadbeater (1791-1876)
PP1/21 Contains literary extracts, poems and an essay, (1788), 1809-1828
PP1/22 Diary of Elizabeth from 1797-1815
PP1/23The Ballitore Magazine, July and August 1809 and full transcription here
The Barrington Family
(i) Edward Barrington
PP1/25 Memoirs of Edward Barrington compiled by his daughter Selina, (1839), 1863, 1914
(iii) Selina Barrington
PP1/28 Diary of Selina Barrington, 1855
(iv) Margaret Barrington
PP1/29Notebook of Margaret, daughter of Edward and Sarah Barrington, 1851
Publications:
Cottage Dialogues among the Irish Peasantry, by Mary Leadbeater (1811)
Memoirs and Letters of Richard and Elizabeth Shackleton … compiled by their daughter, by Mary Leadbeater (1822)
The Leadbeater papers. The Annals of Ballitore Vol. I & Vol. II, by Mary Leadbeater (1862) & Annals of Ballitore (2009 edition, Kildare Library Service)
The Grubbs of Tipperary, by Geoffrey Watkins Grubb (1972)
An Irish Genealogical Source, The roll of the Quaker School at Ballitore, County Kildare, by E.J. McAuliffe (1984)
