Peter Lunell (1652 \u2013 1720) \u2013 An Irish Huguenot and His Family<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
By James Robinson M. Phil.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Protestant Reformation, started by Martin Luther in Germany in 1517, spread rapidly to France.\u00a0 Followers of the new Protestantism were soon accused of heresy by the French Catholic Government and the established religion of France.\u00a0 Despite persecution, the new church grew in numbers.\u00a0 In 1555 the first Huguenot church was built in Paris, based on the teachings of John Calvin (1509 \u2013 1564).\u00a0 The name Huguenot is believed to be derived from St. Hugo, a Protestant saint from the time of the Reformation. \u00a0Twelve hundred Huguenots were slain at Vassey in 1562 and this started the French Wars of Religion, which lasted thirty five years and caused utter devastation in France.\u00a0 On August 24 1572, the infamous Saint Bartholomew\u2019s Day Massacre occurred, when an estimated twenty thousand Protestants were killed.\u00a0 Henry IV signed the \u2018Edict of Nantes\u2019 in 1598, which ended the religious wars, and allowed Huguenots to practice their religion.\u00a0 However, Louis XIV, in 1685, revoked the Edict and Protestant persecution began again.\u00a0 More than 400,000 fled France in the following years, until the Edict of Toleration was issued by Louis XVI in 1787. This granted religious rights to Huguenots in France.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the second half of the 17th<\/sup> Century, at least 10,000 French refugees came to live in Ireland and had a major impact on Irish life.\u00a0 Irish industries, agriculture and commerce, as well as the professions, politics, culture and the arts were all influenced by the new influx.\u00a0 Even the word \u2018refugee\u2019 is believed to trace its origin to the Huguenot migration from France; the term evolving from the French word \u2018Refugeer\u2019, meaning to take refuge.\u00a0 Huguenots were particularly skilled in a variety of crafts. \u00a0They included brewers, map-makers, glass-blowers, goldsmiths, horticulturalists, printers, silversmiths, tanners, watch-makers and weavers, to name but a few.\u00a0 They were made up of significant numbers of soldiers; sea-farers; engineers; farmers; scientists; pastors; merchants; musicians and shopkeepers.\u00a0 Some well-known Huguenots and their descendants in Ireland include: James Gandon and Richard Cassels, designers and architects; Gabriel Beranger and George Victor du Noyez, artists; the D\u2019Olier and Le Bas families, goldsmiths and silversmiths; La Touche, of the banking family; the Crommelin and De La Chervis families, linen manufacturers; Sheridan Le Fanu; Maturin; Lardner, Boucicault and Beckett, all writers.\u00a0 Particularly worthy of mention is William Dargan, engineer, who constructed Ireland\u2019s railway line, oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury and Francis Beaufort, who is known worldwide for the Beaufort Windscale.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is the story of Peter Lunell (1652 \u2013 1720), a Huguenot refugee and his family.\u00a0<\/p>\n The French spelling of the name is Lunel but the form Lunell appears to have been adopted by the middle of the 18th<\/sup> Century.\u00a0 Peter Lunell was born about 1652 at Havre, of prosperous citizens, who were strong adherents to the reformed faith.\u00a0 His parents were Nicholas Lunell (1608 \u2013 1664) and Martha Distack.\u00a0 According to tradition, Peter Lunell\u2019s grandfather, Jean Lunell, a minister, was burnt at the stake, as a martyr in Rouen on February 18 1621.\u00a0 Coincidentally, it was also at Rouen that Joan of Arc, aged 19, was burnt at the stake for witchcraft on May 30 1431.\u00a0 Educated in Amsterdam, Holland, Peter Lunell went to London probably about 1674, when many Dutch men made their way to England.\u00a0 He lodged in the Whitechapel area of the city with a fellow refugee, Anthony Sawier and through the influence of a compatriot, who became Earl of Faversham, he joined the Duke of York\u2019s troop of horse guards.\u00a0 As a \u2018Gentleman of the Guard\u2019, Lunell had pay of 4 shillings a day and saw service through the reigns of Charles II and James II, into that of William III.\u00a0 He recalled the frozen river Thames in 1684, when he bought a \u2018flint bottle covered with red leather gilt from a booth erected on the ice\u2019.\u00a0 This he carried with him throughout his military service.\u00a0 He was also present at the coronation of James II.\u00a0 After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in October 1685, Peter Lunell visited France on a pass signed by Lord Faversham.\u00a0 There, he saw several of his relatives who were imprisoned as Huguenots.\u00a0 Some wanted to leave France as his servants.\u00a0 A female relative pressed him so much concerning her escape that, at last, she offered to travel as his wife.\u00a0 Lunell said that many persons escaped in disguise.\u00a0 He saw a man driving a pig as though going to the next market town, when all the time he was trying to escape by means of the pig.\u00a0 Some even escaped in coffins.\u00a0 With these recollections, there could be no doubt as to which side Peter Lunell would fight on in any war in which religion was an issue.\u00a0 His recollections reflect the disaffection amongst Protestants in the guards after King James II\u2019s succession.\u00a0 As recalled by his grandson, \u201cAt first a monk was a curiosity and the guards would say with a kind of surprise, \u2018I saw a monk today\u2019.\u00a0 In a little time, they became common and were taken no notice of\u201d.\u00a0 Peter Lunell was part of King James\u2019 army at Salisbury, which would oppose the army of the Prince of Orange on the latter\u2019s march to London.\u00a0 Whilst in their quarters asleep, some persons rapped loudly on their doors.\u00a0 On awakening, Lunell and his fellow soldiers cried out, \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe Prince has landed\u201d, was the reply.\u00a0 This, in their hearts, they were truly glad of.\u00a0 With many other Protestants, Peter Lunell deserted the Jacobite army and joined the Prince of Orange on Salisbury plain.\u00a0 Lunell was at the latter\u2019s coronation and recalled that 1,500 pigs were killed for the banquet.\u00a0 When King William III came to Ireland, Peter Lunell was in his guards and took part in the famous Battle of the Boyne, where King William defeated the Catholic King James \u2013 two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thrones – on July 1 1690, according to the Old Style Julian calendar.\u00a0 This is equivalent to July 11 according to the New Style Gregorian calendar, although its celebration is now held on July 12.\u00a0 The battle and the Williamite victory was a turning point in King James\u2019 unsuccessful attempt to regain the crown.\u00a0 It ultimately helped to ensure the continuation of the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n In this most famous of Irish battles, Peter Lunell rode amongst the cavalry which started early to cross the Boyne at Slane and attack the left flank of the Jacobite army.\u00a0 He only knew details of the main battle at Old Bridge, some five miles away, from hear-say and consequently his comments contain inaccuracies.\u00a0 He carried with him that day in his side pocket, a little flask containing some brandy, with which he refreshed himself greatly during the heat of the action.\u00a0 This was the flask which he bought on the Thames when it was frozen over.\u00a0 It was a long and trying day and according to one who was present, \u2018exceedingly hot\u2019.\u00a0 Prior to battle, King William rode amongst his troops and when he came amongst his four Dutch regiments, he exclaimed, \u201cCome on Boys \u2013 God shall be King and I\u2019ll be his general\u201d.\u00a0 He further added to this contingent when pointing at the enemy, facing the French, \u201cBehold your enemies and persecutors\u201d.\u00a0 Just at the start of battle, an officer rode up to Lunell and entered into chat on what was likely to happen, whereupon the balls began to fly and there was a hissing sound.\u00a0 Upon this, the officer said, \u201cSir, this is no place for conversation\u201d and rode off.\u00a0 Another incident recalled by Lunell related to a man \u2013 an idiot who admired the Williamite side – who was well-known and called by the name \u2018Bag of Dirt\u2019.\u00a0 He climbed up a tree and cried out, \u201cFight on boys; fight on: they run; they run!\u201d\u00a0 On hearing this, one of the Irish army came near and shot him.\u00a0 Just as he fell, the unfortunate was heard to say, \u201cI die like a bird in a tree\u201d, and so dropped dead on the ground.\u00a0 Lunell also saw King William soon after he was wounded and observed that he moved his arm \u201cvery stiff\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Peter Lunell told another of his friends, Thomas by name, the Quartermaster of Schombergs regiment that, \u2018after the action, being fatigued, he alighted from his horse and lay down on a green bank and fell into a sound sleep.\u00a0 When he awoke, he found his horse\u2019s head on his thigh \u2013 the horse, as soon as his master went asleep, lay down beside him\u2019.\u00a0 Lunell, with his regiment, went to Dublin after the Battle and recalled Dr. King preaching before King William.\u00a0 However, Lunell took no further part in the war as, soon after the Boyne, he was seized with the small pox and in his own words, \u2018it broke out so violently, he quitted the army\u2019.\u00a0 Peter had saved 300 guineas and in 1691, he married Kiturah Low and took a farm of about 300 acres at Raharah in County Roscommon.\u00a0 The rent was about \u00a325 per year.\u00a0 The couple had five children, three daughters and two sons.\u00a0 Alas, the former all died in infancy.\u00a0 The two sons were named George and William.\u00a0 George was born in March 1694 and was named after the Prince of Denmark and William was born May 7 1699 and was named after King William III.\u00a0 The farm supplied the family\u2019s wants, but so uncertain was the market for farm produce, that it often remained unsold.\u00a0 William recalled his father saying that there was not a teapot in the house and that there was not a watch in the pocket of any of the family.\u00a0 Their house was one storey high and thatched.\u00a0 The family made butter, sowed wheat and had cattle, yet the produce of the farm scarcely paid the rent and maintenance.\u00a0 Despite the frugal lifestyle, perhaps as a former soldier, Peter Lunell hadn\u2019t the skills to prosper.\u00a0 When the lease was up, the landlord took the farm and scarcely one half of the 300 guineas remained.\u00a0 The lack of a teapot was hardly surprising, as the average price of tea at the beginning of Queen Anne\u2019s reign was 16 shillings a pound.\u00a0 Raharah lies about ten miles north of Athlone and the Lunells were fortunate to find a school for their son William.\u00a0 George probably died young, as nothing else was heard of him.\u00a0 The school, in spite of Penal Laws, was kept by Father Keoghy, who taught, amongst other subjects, Latin and Greek.\u00a0 Father Keoghy used to visit the farm and discuss the wars being waged on the continent with Peter Lunell.\u00a0 When the pupils visited the school teacher during the holidays, he treated them to bread and milk with brown sugar, which they never forgot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The school boys had a \u2018barring-out\u2019, after the manner of these days.\u00a0 On the last day of term, they shut the Master out of the school house and on his begging to enter, they made terms with him for additional holidays…\u00a0 They made everything secure and stood on the defensive…\u00a0 The Master strove to force the door, but it was without effect.\u00a0 Presently, the boys heard a noise on the roof, which was soon followed by the appearance of Father Keoghy\u2019s legs breaking through the thatch.\u00a0 The boys instantly unbarred the door and ran away.\u00a0<\/p>\n When William Lunell was older he was sent to a boarding school in Athlone, run by a Mr. Thulus.\u00a0 William\u2019s son, Peter, wrote, \u201cMy grandfather used to walk with my father to school at Athlone and when my father was tired, took him on his back; sometimes he went only part of the way and when he turned to go home, my father would look after him until he disappeared.\u00a0 My father often told of these walks when his father used to take him to school and used to say, \u2018Mind your learning William \u2013 \u2018tis all my dear child I have to give you\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n Peter Lunell also spoke Dutch but he seldom used the language.\u00a0 When he found himself angry, however, he always spoke Dutch.\u00a0 It answered his purpose and no one was the worse for it.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lunell family cannot have been sad to leave the farming enterprise in Roscommon.\u00a0 Four of the five children of Peter and Kiturah had died there, and so, the reduced family moved to Dublin, where they took lodgings in Meath Street.\u00a0 Here, Peter attempted a little business in the mercantile trade, on a joint account with Mr. D\u2019Olier.\u00a0 They made some shipments to Holland, but Peter Lunell was growing old and, having been in army life, was not suited to business.\u00a0 He had the consolation, however, of calling on his acquaintances amongst the French Protestants, many of whom settled in Dublin.\u00a0 Some had served with him at the Boyne while others were refugees that fled from France to avoid persecution.\u00a0 On the anniversary of King William\u2019s birthday, or the Battle of the Boyne, Peter felt invigorated.\u00a0 On the eve of November 4, the King\u2019s birthday, he would go to College Green to see the King\u2019s statue.\u00a0 Once, he saw a halter of hay about the neck.\u00a0 This affected him and he became depressed.\u00a0 Peter Lunell died in his sleep on June 3 1720 in the 68th<\/sup> year of his age, and was buried in the French burial ground in Merrion Row, at St. Stephen\u2019s Green.\u00a0 He was survived by more than twenty years by his wife who lived at Big Butter Lane, now called Bishop Street, Dublin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to his father\u2019s death, William Lunell, when about 18 years of age, learned the shop trade in his Aunt Fox\u2019s stuff shop in Francis Street.\u00a0 While still having his parents to support, he started in business as a draper.\u00a0 With few resources, William filled up the shop as well as he could, but had not sufficient goods to fill all the shelves.\u00a0 Hating the empty spaces, he made up packets of straw and paper, akin to his saleable items, and with the showpieces, he filled the upper shelves, so his customers saw a well-stocked shop.\u00a0 When clients requested upper-shelf items, William Lunell would whisper, \u201cThese goods won\u2019t do for you; I would not put them into your hands on any account\u201d.\u00a0 This ruse often gratified the customers, who bought something else.\u00a0 William struggled for some years in business.\u00a0 Those who were able to lend were not willing and those who were not willing to lend, were not able.\u00a0 Despite his difficulties, William Lunell married Charity Bagnall about 1721\/1722.\u00a0 Their only child, a son, died in infancy, and its mother died shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n The children of Huguenot refugees usually learned their French in the nursery, but because his mother was Irish, William had to take lessons from one Hugo Marment.\u00a0 William also spoke Danish fluently, having learned it from the crews of Norwegian vessels who used to trade in Dublin.\u00a0 It is noted that Norway was united with Denmark until 1814.\u00a0 William Lunell\u2019s motive for learning the language was to induce the Scandinavians to trade with him.\u00a0 As a further inducement, his shop sign was the \u2018King of Denmark\u2019.\u00a0 This brought most of the Danish traders to his shop to buy presents for their wives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wilson\u2019s Dublin Directory for 1801 contained an advertisement for William Lunell\u2019s business:<\/p>\n William Lunell, at the King of Denmark\u2019s head in Francis St. Dublin removed near Thomas St from ye corner of Plunkett St.\u00a0 Sells rattins Percians fine Crepes Poplins Bambozines Calimancoes, Camlets and stuffs with several other sorts of goods at reasonable rates.<\/em><\/p>\n It is noted that Poplin was amongst the produce sold by William Lunell.\u00a0 In the silk trade, this new material was a great success.\u00a0 It was made from the finest wool and pure silk and so woven that the surface is altogether pure silk with the wool giving it firmness.\u00a0 A fellow Huguenot refugee and army comrade who served at the Boyne, one David Digges La Touche, entered into partnership with a silk merchant.\u00a0 They became so successful that they set up a shop and small factory in High Street, Dublin.\u00a0 It is considered possible that they financed a new technique of combining silk and wool to make Poplin.\u00a0<\/p>\n La Touche set up a banking business \u2013 lending money at reasonable rates to the needy \u2013 in conjunction with his mercantile business.\u00a0 He was so successful that he opened a bank in Castle Street, Dublin, under the name of La Touche and Kane, in 1725.\u00a0 This was the foundation of the Bank of Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a further enterprising move, William Lunell wrapped the materials he sold to the Scandinavians around their bodies, to conceal the purchases from the Custom House officers.\u00a0 Lunell didn\u2019t consider this tax evasion, or smuggling, wrong.\u00a0 Most of the other Dublin traders felt under no obligation to obey the law, which forbade the exportation of their woollen produce.\u00a0 William Lunell\u2019s business grew to a considerable wholesale trade with the Norwegians, despite the considerable risk of detection by customs.\u00a0 He refined his evasion of customs by deferring shipping his goods until the vessels were clear of Dublin harbour.\u00a0 When informed that the ships were clear of Dublin Port, he would put the goods in a hackney coach and drive to Clontarf where, at an appointed time and place, a boat would come from the vessel and take the goods.\u00a0 With increased prosperity, William Lunell moved business to a better location on the same side of Francis Street, Dublin, at Number 15.\u00a0 There, he built a three-storey house, with attic, with a gable facing the street, as was a common feature of many Dublin Georgian houses.\u00a0 This house was still standing in 1807.\u00a0 In the new house, he carried on business with great success.\u00a0 In the years from 1733 to 1798, the population of Dublin grew by 50%.\u00a0 This must have greatly aided those in commerce.\u00a0 It is noted that the aristocracy maintained Dublin townhouses, as well as their country mansions, until the Acts of Union of 1801.\u00a0 Traders such as William Lunell availed of the demand for fittings and furnishings in this regard.\u00a0<\/p>\n With prosperity, William Lunell married a second wife, Ann Gratten, a daughter of John Gratten \u2013 a gentleman of family estate \u2013 at Clonmeen, Co. Kildare.\u00a0 Ann\u2019s sister, Mary, married William Whitmore in 1735 and their daughter Olivia married Arthur Guinness \u2013 the founder of Guinness\u2019 brewery – in 1761.\u00a0 Like his friend David La Touche, William Lunell went into banking with a Mr. Dickenson and they opened their bank on Upper Ormond Street, near Jervis Street, Dublin.\u00a0 This venture was reported in Faulkner\u2019s Dublin Journal<\/i> of March 30, 1742.\u00a0 However, the private banking house of Lunell and Dickenson appears to have had a short life (1742 \u2013 1746), due to the financial panic which was caused by the Scottish Rebellion of 1745.\u00a0 The firm preserved its business integrity by honouring its debts, as seen from the following advertisements:<\/p>\n Messrs. Lunell and Dickenson being determined to settle immediately with the public, having in their hands a large stock of undeniable good Dublin bills and notes, the greater part of a short date and none exceeding three months over and above what will discharge any demands on them, desire such as have any of their notes by them to bring them either to Messrs. Vareilliers; Hugh White; Ambrose Bancroft; Samuel Horner and Robert Jaffrey, by whom we shall return full value in bills, allowing the discount of the time they have to run.\u00a0 The printer himself will take the notes of Messrs. Lunell and Dickenson for debts books printing etc.\u00a0 (Faulkner\u2019s Dublin Journal,<\/i> October 5 1745)<\/p>\n The same advertisement appeared in succeeding weeks in the month of October in the same paper.\u00a0 A further advertisement, signed by 47 Dublin merchants, (including William and Hoser Coates) vouched for the defunct bank of Lunell and Dickenson.\u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, in 1746, the following advertisement was published:\u00a0<\/p>\n The partnership of Messrs. Lunell and Dickenson being now dissolved, they request the public immediately to send in for payment the remainder of their notes still outstanding and any other demands on the company account.\u00a0 (Faulkner\u2019s Dublin Journal, March 25 1746)<\/em><\/p>\n On August 9 1747, John Wesley (1703 \u2013 1791), the noted preacher, sailed up the River Liffey into Dublin, after a 26-hour voyage across the Irish Sea from Holyhead in Wales.\u00a0 His host was William Lunell, described as a respectable banker and cloth merchant.\u00a0 Although a Huguenot, Lunell was also a member of the emerging Methodist Society being developed by the Reverend Thomas Williams.\u00a0 The first Methodist meeting house in Dublin was erected in White Friar Street in 1752, with \u2018munificent assistance\u2019 from Mr. Lunell.\u00a0 In fact, William Lunell contributed \u00a3400 to the erection of this church.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was the first of 21 visits to Ireland made by John Wesley.\u00a0 Altogether, he spent six and a half years in Ireland.\u00a0 William Lunell had been in correspondence with Wesley with a view to obtaining protection and redress for the Methodists of Cork, through the efforts of the Countess of Huntingdon.\u00a0 The intimate and endearing terms of Lunell\u2019s letter to John Wesley, written on June 27 1748, were described as \u2018eloquent to the mutual regard of these two friends\u2019.\u00a0 It was at 15 Francis Street that John Wesley, in his own words, \u201cfirst found a home in this strange land\u201d.\u00a0 John Wesley, Anglican Cleric and Christian Theologian, together with his brother Charles are largely credited with founding the Methodist Movement.\u00a0 Indeed, Charles Wesley is generally regarded as the greatest hymn writer of all time.\u00a0 He wrote over 6,000 hymns, including his probable best-known, \u2018Hark the Herald Angels Sing<\/i>\u2019.\u00a0 John Wesley travelled generally on horseback, preaching two to three times each day.\u00a0 It is estimated that he travelled some 250,000 miles in this manner, giving away \u00a330,000 and preaching over 40,000 sermons in his long life.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ann Lunell (ne\u00e9 Gratten), wife of William, died on August 5 1748 and was buried in the Huguenot burial ground in Merrion Row in Dublin, as was her father-in-law, Peter Lunell.\u00a0 William and Ann had several children, but only one, Martha, survived.\u00a0 She was born in 1733 and married Anthony Grayson, a silk manufacturer who lived in Derry.\u00a0 Indeed, Charles Wesley (1707- 1788) also came to Dublin and stayed with William Lunell, shortly after the death of the latter\u2019s wife Ann.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n William Lunell married his third wife, Rebecca Taylor, before 1759.\u00a0 They appeared to have moved to Little Cuffe Street and remained there until 1766, when they migrated to Bristol, where they both died: William in 1774 and Rebecca in 1807. \u00a0They were both brought back to Dublin for burial and their headstone inscription in the Huguenot Burial Ground at Merrion Row reads:<\/p>\n Rebecca Lunell<\/i><\/p>\n Widow of William Lunell Esq.<\/i><\/p>\n Departed this life in Bristol<\/i><\/p>\n 10th<\/sup> March 1807 Aged 81 Years<\/i><\/p>\n Her remains were interr\u2019d here<\/i><\/p>\n At her own desire next to these<\/i><\/p>\n Of her beloved husband<\/i><\/p>\n Their second son, George, was born in Dublin in 1761.\u00a0 He returned to his native city and set up in business as a merchant on the north side.\u00a0 After living in Capel Street from 1784 to 1805, he moved in 1806 to a house in North George\u2019s Street.\u00a0 George Lunell was a Director of the Bank of Ireland from 1793 to 1811, the year he died.\u00a0 He was succeeded in that office by his son, William Peter Lunell Junior, who held the position from 1812 to 1842.\u00a0 Furthermore, William Peter was Governor of the Bank of Ireland from 1830 to 1832.\u00a0 He died in 1843, having been predeceased by his wife Robina, who died in 1835.\u00a0 They had issue of five daughters.\u00a0 Two of the daughters married, but the name appears to have become extinct in Dublin when the last unmarried daughter died in 1907.\u00a0 The 1901 National Population Census lists Adeline Lunell, aged 69 and Isabella Lunell, aged 72, both residents at North York Street, Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire).\u00a0 They are probably of this family.\u00a0<\/p>\n William Peter Lunell, born in 1757, who recorded the narrative of his grand-father Peter and father William, was the eldest son of William and Rebecca.\u00a0 He was brother of George and he remained in Bristol, living in 1793\/1794 in Brunswick Square.\u00a0 This was then a new and fashionable area of Bristol.\u00a0 He and two of his sons, George and Samuel, were prominent members of the Guild of Merchant Venturers, which still own and display his portrait.\u00a0 This is attributed to John King, who painted it in 1828.\u00a0 William Peter Lunell took an active part in the campaign to abolish slavery, which cannot have been easy in Bristol, a city whose prosperity depended so much on the slave trade.\u00a0 The decision of Lunell to oppose slavery is perhaps not surprising.\u00a0 His father, William, was a close friend of the Wesley brothers, John and Charles.\u00a0 John Wesley was a keen abolitionist and wrote and spoke against the slave trade.\u00a0 In his own inimitable manner, John Wesley declared, \u201cLiberty is the right of every human creature as soon as he breathes the vital air and no human law can deprive him of that right, which he derives from the law of nature.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 William Peter Lunell was also a friend of William Wilberforce (1759 \u2013 1835), who led the Parliamentary opposition to the slave trade for thirty years.\u00a0 A bill was successfully passed to abolish the slave trade in 1807. The Bristol Lunells prospered as merchants and ship builders, and lived to be old men, but left no descendants.\u00a0 The name apparently disappeared in Bristol with the death of Mrs. John Evans Lunell, about 1880.\u00a0<\/p>\n William Peter Lunell<\/i><\/p>\n This account of the lives of Peter Lunell and his son William, was written by the latter\u2019s son, William Peter Lunell, in 1807.\u00a0 Peter told of his adventures to William and William Peter recorded his father\u2019s story.\u00a0 While due allowance is made for inaccuracies, it is nevertheless a fascinating account of life, in his own words, from a turbulent era long gone.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To bring the story up to the present time, it is necessary to recall the marriage of Ann Gratten of Clonmeen, Co. Kildare and William Lunell.\u00a0 The Grattens were a well-connected family.\u00a0 They were related to the Smyths (clerics, merchants and architects); the La Touches (Huguenot bankers); and the Darnleys (speculative builders).\u00a0 As mentioned earlier, Ann Gratten\u2019s niece Olivia Whitmore married Arthur Guinness (1725 \u2013 1803), the founder of the brewing dynasty.\u00a0 Olivia Whitmore, a ward of William Lunell, inherited over \u00a31000 from her father, which, I\u2019m sure, didn\u2019t displease Arthur Guinness on their marriage in 1761.\u00a0 Arthur and Olivia must have thought highly of William Lunell, as they called one of their sons William Lunell Guinness (1779 \u2013 1842). \u00a0He subsequently followed his father into the family brewing business.\u00a0 Another sister of Ann Gratten, Elizabeth, married Jeffrey Jennings, a Dublin merchant.\u00a0 His shop, like William Lunell\u2019s, was located in Francis Street, Dublin, and sold a similar range of merchandise, including satins, perzians, poplins and damasks.\u00a0 These families: Gratten; Lunell; Jennings; Whitmore and Guinness all engaged in business in what was then a smaller Dublin city.\u00a0<\/p>\n From the marriage of Jeffrey Jennings and Elizabeth Gratten, descending through the families of: Norman; Moore; Adrian (another Huguenot); Bodkin and Robinson, we arrive at the present time.\u00a0 This Robinson family lived at Newberry Hall, Carbury, Co. Kildare for 100 years until its sale in 2011. This demesne features a Palladian-style house, which was built circa 1760 by Arthur Pomeroy, First Lord Harberton.\u00a0 Interestingly, the estate contains Trinity Well, the acknowledged source of the River Boyne, and is a place of pilgrimage since early Christian times.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Robinson family member who sold Newberry Hall is a cousin, six times removed, of the present day descendants of Arthur Guinness, as are also the Lunell descendents of William and Ann – if any exist.\u00a0 This is due to their common Gratten heritage.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It is fitting, then, that this study, which started with Peter Lunell\u2019s participation in the Battle of the Boyne (now commemorated on July 12 each year), should close with another connection to that historic event, the River Boyne\u2019s source at Newberry Hall, Carbury, Co. Kildare.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Martyr; refugee; soldier; farmer; draper; banker; merchant and social reformer are categories which, in succeeding generations, defined this most interesting family: The Lunells.<\/p>\n I am particularly indebted to Richard Robinson, formally of Newberry Hall, Carbury, for his encouragement and assistance in researching this article.<\/p>\n My thanks, also, to my daughter June for her word-processing skills and patience in the production of this paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sources:<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Peter Lunell (1652 \u2013 1720) \u2013 An Irish Huguenot and His Family\u00a0 By James Robinson M. Phil. The Protestant Reformation, started by Martin Luther in Germany in 1517, spread rapidly to France.\u00a0 Followers of the new Protestantism were soon accused of heresy by the French Catholic Government and the established religion of France.\u00a0 Despite persecution, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","category-genealogical-resources"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Kildare Local Studies","author_link":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/author\/localstudies\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n