Raphoe, Co Donegal Ireland was the home of the Right Reverend John Leslie D.D. He was the grandson of William Leslie 4th Baron of Wardis and was born in Crichie Aberdeenshire in 1571, the second son of George Leslie of Crichie and his wife Janet Innes. He studied at Marischal College Aberdeen, and after his studies there, he went to Oxford and France.

In 1633 he was sent as Bishop to Raphoe Co Donegal Ireland. He had to enter into litigation to recover the church lands, which had been seized by "lay usurpers". He had to fortify the Episcopal mansion with the help of his cousin, Colonel James Leslie who supervised the fortification and defences. In 1641, the Irish rebellion broke out and unspeakable atrocities were carried out on both sides and more than 500,000 people lost their lives until the rebellion was finally crushed by Oliver Cromwell. The Rev James Leslie managed to hold out with the help of his cousin Col James Leslie. After the execution of Charles I in January 1649 he left London to return to Raphoe and had to defend his Palace against the Cromwellian forces. His friendship with Oliver Cromwell's son, Henry, ensured that as the only surviving Anglican Bishop his outspoken royalist views were tolerated.

He is reputed to have ridden the 200 miles from Chester to London in a single day, when he was aged 90, to greet Charles II on the restoration. Charles II rewarded his loyalty by restoring him to his Raphoe see and in 1664 gave him the bishopric of Clogher and £2000. He bought a property in County Monaghan that he called Castle Leslie, afterwards called Glaslough.. He then married 18 year old Catherine Conyngham and had six sons and two daughters.

He died at Glaslough, five weeks short of his one-hundredth birthday, having been a Bishop for fifty years. His youngest and only surviving son, Rev Charles Leslie, born 17th July 1650, who married his cousin Jane Leslie, succeeded him in the Glaslough property.

At Prospect, Ballymoney Co Antrim, Ireland stands a lovely old home built about 1750, by one James Leslie on the site of an older Leslie Castle. The present owner, another James Leslie, is directly descended from Henry Leslie, Chaplain to King Charles I. [Bishop of Down & Connor in 1635] and back to the 4th Earl of Rothes by his marriage to Agnes Somerville. Leslie Hill, and the old castle have been occupied continuously by the Leslie family.

In 1778, while the United States was trying to retain the Independence it had declared in 1776, the American frigate "Ranger" under John Paul Jones, opened fire on the Castle if Carrickfergus [Belfast] and attacked the British warship "Drake" putting it out of action. This attack by John Paul Jones and the fact that the French had allied themselves to the colonists in the American revolution, caused alarm in Ireland which at that time was practically bereft of British forces. This led to a demand for the local volunteers, a citizen's militia, recruited mainly from the protestant middle class and led by the aristocracy, at their own expense, to defend the coast of Ireland and guard life and property. Leslie Hill was used as a bivouac and for drilling purposes. The estate was of considerable acreage and a progressive farm, but much of the land was sold to the tenants under the Act of 1903.

Not all the Leslie's of Northern Ireland remained there, in 1718 a James Leslie of the Coleraine area came to New England to settle with the Scots Presbyterians in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Later in 1729, another James Leslie and his wife Margaret Sheerar, left Coleraine to settle in Topsfield, Massachusetts, he also is a lineal descendant of the 4th Earl of Rothes and his wife Agnes Somerville. There is a book published by the Essex Institute about the members of this family.

It is of some significance that another James Leslie, and his wife Agnes Ramsay and their children left Ballymoney for the long voyage to America. They left the linen mills of Balnamore, near Leslie Hill to join forces with the large working world of the great Amoskeag Cotton Mills of Manchester, New Hampshire.

Agnes Leslie, one of these children, was my mother and it was because of the memory of her childhood at Balnamore that I became interested in the history of Leslie Hill.
Agnes Grady. Courtesy of Clan Leslie Charitable Trust.
The Griffin Reprints, First Series No 2.

The family of Leslie of Glaslough, Co Monaghan, Ireland is descended from the Barons of Wardis. George Leslie of Crichie, Aberdeenshire was the second son of William 4th Baron of Wardis and his wife, Janet Innes of the Innermarkie family, and their eldest son, John, was the founder of the Leslie's of Glaslough. Interestingly enough, their third son, Henry, had a son who became the Right Rev John Leslie DD, Bishop of Dromore, and who was translated to the See of Clogher in 1671 and his daughter; Jane married the Rev Charles Leslie of Glaslough.

The Rev Charles Leslie was the sixth and only surviving son of the Right Rev John Leslie of Glaslough [see Raphoe Palace] who went to England to study law, but found it rather uncongenial and after further studies on the continent to decided to return to Ireland, where he married his cousin, Jane. They had two sons, Robert and Henry. Henry went to Spain and married, but died childless, Robert succeeded his father as 3rd of Glaslough and married Frances Rogerson. They had two children, Charles Powell and Annabella and when their father died 17th December 1744, Charles Powell Leslie succeeded his father, as 4th of Glaslough.

Charles Powell Leslie, 4th of Glaslough married Prudence Penelope Trevor 22nd May 1765 and their first son and heir was another Charles Powell, while their second son was the Right Rev John Leslie, D.D. Bishop of Dromore. Charles Powell undertook the education of the fourth son of his wive's sister, who became the great Duke of Wellington, of Waterloo fame. Charles Powell Leslie, 4th of Glaslough was the member of Parliament for the County of Monaghan until 1800, when he died and was succeeded by his son, Charles Powell Leslie, 5th of Glaslough.

Charles Powell Leslie, 5th of Glaslough, represented Monaghan during seven successive terms and was also the High Sheriff of Monaghan. He married secondly, Christiana Fosbery of Clorane and had a son, Charles Powell Leslie, 6th of Glaslough, who was born 13th September 1821. Charles Powell Leslie, 5th of Glaslough, died 15th November 1831 and was succeeded by his son, Charles Powell Leslie, 6th of Glaslough, who also represented Monaghan in the Parliament.

John Leslie, 7th of Glaslough, later 1st Baronet rebuilt Castle Leslie as it is today. He married Constance, the daughter of Minnie Seymour, reputed to have been King George IV daughter by Mrs Fitzherbert. Sir John Leslie 2nd Baronet of Glaslough met and married Leonie Jerome, sister of Jennie Jerome, Winston Churchill's mother. Winston spent many hours at Glaslough, but the Leslie's were considered to be the "poor relations".

Sir Shane 3rd Baronet was a poet, author and an ardent speaker as well as an passionate Irish nationalist. He turned Roman Catholic and retreated into a monastery. He then met Marjorie Ide, daughter of Henry Clay Ide, Chief Justice of Samoa and married. He found that he was not interested in running the Estate and made it over to his eldest son John, who became the 4th Baronet on his father's death. John's health was not very robust from spending five years as a prisoner of war and he made the Estate over to his younger sister Anita, the famous author. He then spent 40 years in Rome but returned to Glaslough, where he now lives. You will remember that he kept the secret of Sir Paul McCartney's wedding very quiet, until he asked the waiting news media to keep it secret.

The daughter of Sir John's younger brother, Desmond, who was a wartime fighter pilot and well-known author, now runs the Glaslough Estate. He co-authored the book " Flying Saucers Have Landed". Desmond's daughter Samantha Leslie runs the Estate as well as an equestrian centre on the Estate.