Research by Gordon Horsfield
Updated: 12 December 2021

The objective of the research is to locate a photograph of Capt. Edward Pakenham Stewart. So far we have not been able to locate a photograph. Details of the research are in the end notes.

 

President Killiney Golf Club 1903 – 1915

According to the Irish Census in 1901 (and 1911) there was only one Stewart recorded living in Killiney. Recorded in No. 124 was an Edward P Stewart and his wife, daughter Charlotte and three servants. Occupation was listed as Capt. 78th Highlanders retired.

By the 1911 Census1 he still lived in Killiney but his wife appears to have passed away.

Details from 1901 / 1911 Census Ireland

Detail from Census of Ireland, 1901. Edward Stewart is on Line 11901/1911

Details of Line 1, Census of Ireland, 1901 showing the entry for Captions J. P. Stewart - 78th Highlanders.

What we know of Edward Packenham Stewart

Edward Packenham Stewart was born in Dublin on 27th February 1841 the son of James Robert Stewart a well-known land agent including representation for Lords Longford and De Vesci. The Stewarts resided in Gortleitragh, Monkstown. James Robert Stewart also owned 802 acres in Longford (realising a tidy £472.00 per annum in the 1850’s).

Edward P. joined the army in 1861 and in June 1869 the retirement of Captain Henry Brown Savory created an opportunity for Edward to acquire Henry’s captain’s ‘Rank’ - who from then became Captain Edward Pakenham Stewart.

When first applying for a commission in the army in 1861, Edward P. had specifically requested to be posted to the 78th Highlanders "in which regiment Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton and Captain Warren are my near connections." He came recommended by the Earl of Longford, who stated that Stewart's "relatives" in the 78th "will be useful to him". Indeed, since the latter's family name was Pakenham, he and Pakenham Stewart may well have been related.

Our Captain Stewart was indeed assigned to the 78th Highlanders who were to be posted to Halifax, Nova Scotia and before he departed, he married his sweetheart Charlotte Henriette Pim at the parish church in Monkstown, Co. Dublin on 2nd November 1869.

Charlotte Henrietta Pim was the eldest daughter of George Pim3, who built and lived in Brennanstown House, Cabinteely.

During his time in Nova Scotia the couple produced their only daughter Charlette Eva on Christmas Day 1870.

78th Highlanders in Halifax

The Halifax Citadel Society2, Halifax, Nova Scotia have a repository of historic information on the 78th Highlanders in Halifax. In Nov 2021 they stated they have many photographs of regiment members, but none of Edward Pakenham Stewart.

The McCord Museum, Montreal, Quebec, has some 75 photographs of the regiment taken during their time in Montreal and Quebec. None are captioned with Stewart's name, although, according to Craig Hyatt of Halifax Citadel it is possible he might be in some of the larger group photographs.

Unfortunately, the McCord Museum could not recover any photographs that were definitely confirmed as Edward Packenham Stewart. They have 75 portrait of members of the regiment. The following two images are typical group photographs. 

Group of Sergeants from the 78th Highlanders, Montreal, QC, 1869. The photo illustrates a group of 78th Highlanders in Halifax during the time Edward Pakenham Stewart was stationed in Nova Scotia. (Photo is reproduced courtesy of the McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1E9).

Group of 78th Highlanders, Montreal, QC, 1865. The photo illustrates a group of 78th Highlanders in Halifax during the time Edward Pakenham Stewart was stationed in Nova Scotia. (Photo is reproduced courtesy of the McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1E9).

The following information, obtained from Halifax Citadel, comes from a manuscript about the regiment's officers prepared for the interpretation programme by Cameron W. Pulsifer, a Canadian historian who has worked more recently at the Canadian War Museum.

Lieutenant Edward Pakenham Stewart2

Birthplace:
Dublin, Ireland

Birthdate:
27 February 1841

Nationality:
Irish

Height:
5 feet 10 ½ inches

Family background:
Stewart's father was James Stewart, a land agent in Dublin, Ireland

At Sandhurst:
No

Foreign Languages:
None

Career before Halifax:
Ensign, 23 August 1861 (purchase)
Lieutenant, 15 January 1864 (purchase)

Posting while in NS Command:
Halifax, 9 May 1869 to 25 November 1871

Married:
Charlotte Henrietta Pim, at Monkstown, County Dublin, Church of England, 2 November 1869.

Children:
Charlotte E. (b. Halifax, 25 December 1870)

When first applying for a commission in the army in 1861, Stewart had specifically requested to be posted to the 78th Highlanders "in which regiment Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton and Captain Warren are my near connections." He came recommended by the Earl of Longford, who stated that Stewart's "relatives" in the 78th "will be useful to him". Indeed, since the latter's family name was Pakenham, he and Pakenham Stewart may well have been related.

Stewart was appointed adjutant of the 78th just after the regiment arrived in Montreal in July 1867. He continued to occupy this position until he bought the captaincy of the retiring H.B.Savory in Halifax in July 1869. Interestingly, Stewart had been in the service longer than either Colin Mackenzie or Oliver Graham, both of whom had been able to purchase a captaincy ahead of him.This might indicate relatively more straitened economic circumstances on the part of Stewart.

While in Halifax lived with his wife at 21 Victoria Road, where a daughter was born to them on Christmas Day 1870.

 

Killiney Golf Club's badge or emblem

It is interesting that the badge or emblem of the 78th Highlanders is an elephant – as in Killiney Golf Club's crest. Maybe that is the origin of the elephant? Edward P. Stewart was our first President and likely to have had an input into our crest. Perhaps the Jack pine (below) common in Nova Scotia are the trees of the crest? The smiling crescent moon is the view year-round from the tropics – so not sure of its inclusion – all suggestions welcome?

The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons), part of the Scottish Division. The regiment was one of only two in the British Army with a Gaelic motto - Cuidich 'n Righ which means "Help the King".

78th Highlanders medal or badge. Is this the origin of the elephant on Killiney Golf Club's crest?

Is this the origin of the club's crest? The 78th Highlanders emblem and the Jack pine, native of Nova Scotia.

The smiling moon - An explanation5

We are happy with the explanation for the elephant and the trees and we are a step closer to the reasoning behind the smiling moon.

This crescent moon shape appears early in its first quarter or late in its last quarter, only a small arc-shaped section is visible and illuminated by the Sun to create the crescent appearance. The orientation of the crescent moon depends on the time of day, the season, and the viewer’s location.

During evening twilight, from January through March, the `smile` and `cap` crescent shapes can only be seen in the northern temperate latitudes (from 25° to 50° north, encompassing Canada, Japan, the United States and others).

Our first President Captain Edward Packenham Stewart would have been one of very few members to have witnessed the moon’s smile orientation in the sky when he was stationed in Nova Scotia.

Other Items of Interest

This is a plaque in St. Mattathias Church, Church Road. Edward died in 1919.

Marriages

Monkstown Church, Dublin, Edward Pakenham Stewart, Captain 78th Highlanders, to Charlotte Henrietta, eldest (daughter of George Pim, Esq., of Brennanstown, same county4.

Charlotte Henrietta PIM

Gortleitragh was originally built in the 19th century for the Stewart family who were land agents in Ireland for Lords Longford and de Vesci. The house had quite a colourful life after the Stewarts move on.

Brief History of the 78th Highlanders

Wikipedia have an extensive entry on  the 78th Highlanders covering the early history, the Napoleonic Wars and the Victorian Era.

The regiment was raised by Francis Humberstone MacKenzie, Chief of the Clan Mackenzie, as the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot (or The Ross-shire Buffs) on 8 March 1793.[1] First assembled at Fort George in July 1793, the regiment embarked for Holland in September 1794 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars The regiment saw action at the defence of Nijmegen in November 1794. In a bayonet attack there the regiment lost one officer and seven men; a further four officers and 60 men were wounded.[3] The regiment returned to England in April 1795 and then took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay in June 1795 and the landing at Île d'Yeu in September 1795.

The regiment also took part in the successful attack by a British fleet under Sir George Elphinstone on the Dutch Cape Colony, then held by the forces of the Batavian Republic: the attack led to the capitulation by the Dutch Navy at Saldanha Bay and the capture of the colony by British forces in summer 1796 After returning home, the regiment embarked for India in February 1797 and saw action at the Battle of Assaye in September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War.[2] During the battle the regiment were tasked with retaking the Maratha gun line.

A second battalion was raised in May 1804. The 1st battalion remained in India and, from there, took part in the Invasion of Java and the capture of Fort Cornelis in August 1811.

When the battalion was withdrawn from Java in September 1816 the vessel it was travelling on, Frances Charlotte, wrecked off Preparis on 5 November on the way to Bengal. There were relatively few deaths and Prince Blucher rescued most of the survivors, who it carried to Calcutta; cruisers from the British East India Company rescued the remainder. Prince Blucher carried a part of the battalion on to England.

Napoleonic Wars

The 2nd battalion embarked for the Italy and took part in the Battle of Maida in July 1806 It also took part in the Alexandria Expedition in spring 1807. Three companies of the regiment were captured at Al Hamed near Rosetta: among the prisoners was Thomas Keith who converted to Islam and entered Ottoman service. The battalion then took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809. The battalion embarked for Holland in 1813 and took part in a skirmish at Merksem in January 1814. The battalion returned home in 1815 and the two battalions amalgamated again in 1816. 

The Victorian Era

78th Highlanders Monument, Edinburgh Castle. (Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:78HighlandersMonumentonCastle-HillEdinburgh.jpg)

The regiment embarked for a tour in Ceylon in April 1826 and did not return to England until February 1838. It embarked for India again in April 1842 for service in the First Anglo-Afghan War. While at Sindh, largely due to cholera, the regiment lost two officers, 496 soldiers and 171 women and children between September 1844 and March 1845. It then moved to Persia in January 1857 and took part in the Battle of Khushab in February 1857 during the Anglo-Persian War.

The regiment returned to India in May 1857 to help suppress the Indian Rebellion. It took part in the recapture of Cawnpore in July 1857 and then took part in the reinforcement of Lucknow strongly defending the residency until it was relieved in November 1857. The regiment won eight Victoria Crosses during the campaign and its role at Lucknow was commemorated by poets such as John Greenleaf Whittier and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The regiment returned home in September 1859.

HMS Crocodile - Transported the 78th to Halifax. (Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HMS_Crocodile_(1867).jpg)

The regiment embarked for Gibraltar in 1865 and then sailed on, in the troopship HMS Crocodile on 8 May 1869, to Halifax in Nova Scotia arriving on 14 May 1869. Each summer, men from the regiment camped at Bedford to practice musketry at the military range. On their departure in 1871, a farewell ball was hosted by the Grandmaster of the Masonic Lodge of Nova Scotia, Alexander Keith.  The regiment, together with 17 young local women who had married soldiers, embarked for Ireland in the troopship HMS Orontes in November 1871.

As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 78th was linked with the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 55 at Cameron Barracks in Inverness On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 72nd Regiment, Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders to form the Seaforth Highlanders. 

Legacy

The regiment's legacy is retained through Nova Scotian institutions such as Citadel Hill, which features a living history program with animators portraying the 78th Highland Regiment and controls the 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band, a grade one pipe band formed in 1983.

Deansgrange Cemetery3

No.565. In Loving Memory of | EDWARD PAKENHAM STEWART | of Laragh, Killiney, Co.Dublin | Late Capt. 78th Highlanders | Born Feb. 27 1841 | Died
April 29 1919

 

References

1. 1901/1911 Census Ireland. The Dun Laoghaire Local Studies Collection.

2. The Halifax Citadel Society, Halifax, Nova Scotia. https://www.halifaxcitadel.ca/officers-of-the-78th-highlanders/lieutenant-edward-pakenham-stewart.html. I would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Craig Hyatt, Assistant Program Manager, Halifax Citadel Society during the course of my research. 

3. Headstones: DUBLIN Deansgrange Cemetery, Deansgrange, South Section, Pt.4, Ireland
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/copyright.htm)

4. 08 November 1869 - Clare Journal, and Ennis Advertiser - Ennis, Clare, Republic of Ireland

5. The smiling crescent moon. Additional research added by Gordon Horsfield on 12 December 2021.

Notes on the research - Gordon Horsfield

The following sources were consulted during the evolution of our research. We have also included snippets of information picked up on the way but were unsuccessful in progressing our project to obtain the coveted Photograph of Capt. Edward Pakenham Stewart inaugural President Killiney Golf Club – 1903 - 1915.

  • We knew Edward and his wife Charlotte attended St. Mattathias Church, Church Road, Killiney confirmed by a wall plaque in the church, in their memory, so we contacted the rector in case we could get further details but unfortunately no progress was made.
  • Edward and Charlotte’s marriage in Monkstown Church gave us another angle and the rector there told us that the details from that far back may possibly be in the Representative Church Body (RCB) Library in Churchtown. We did contact the library there and we have an invitation from the curator to visit when they reopen (Covid 19) and see what we can find.
  • We approached Dun Laoghaire Library again as our contact there had been very helpful in our search for details on our second President Maxwell Vandeleur Blacker Douglass. The Curator supplied some excellent results including a photograph and gave us some directions to target for our new search.
  • We discovered that Edward, as well as being a member of Killiney Golf Club, was also a member of both the Kildare Street Club, Dublin and the Royal St. George Yacht Club.
  • The Kildare Street Club closed its doors in 1977 to become a part of the Kildare Street and University Club, 17 St Stephen’s Green, in Dublin however upon contact it appears they do not have records going back that far or perhaps their reputation for confidentiality was not to be tested by my request. We felt more confident with the George as we had good contacts there – but unfortunately, we were not to be rewarded as his name does not appear in any of their photographic archives.
  • Edward appears in the 1894 Thom's Directory. He appears likely that he worked with his father as a land agent and he remained a Land Agent at least up to 1902 as he is mentioned in the Rathdown Poor Law Union Board Of Guardians Minute Book of that year.


  • We confirmed Edward was a Justice of the peace one of the Commissioners of the township of Killiney and Ballybrack acting as Chairman in 1894-95, and it was noted he had the highest attendance of all the commissioners.
  • We also discovered, to our amusement, that our Capt. Edward P. Stewart was up in court as a defendant for obstruction in 1899 for driving a 'carriage with a bicycle?' on the footpath of Rochestown Avenue. Shows you can do nothing in Killiney without being seen.


  • We were having little luck at this stage in our quest and decided to focus on Edward’s wife Charlotte as we all have wedding photos – worth a try we thought - Her maiden was Pim which had possibilities towards her family being Quakers. We got in touch with the Quaker Meeting House on Pakenham Road in Monkstown. We received a speedy reply and yes – her father George Pim was indeed a member of their church however, this is an extract from their findings:
    From - Curator,  Friends Historical Library Dublin - (Dear Gordon) “You were right about the Pim-Quaker connection. George Pim, born 1801 was disowned in 1838 for refusing 'to discontinue payment of ecclesiastical demands'.  That means he paid tithes to the Church of Ireland during the long period when this was contrary to Quaker principles.  It also means that we have no record of Charlotte Henriette who was probably baptised and brought up in the C of I - as well as being married in it.”
  • Of course, we know our couple were married in the Church of Ireland 100yds down the road from the meeting house. A record of the first meeting for worship in Monkstown Meeting House was made in a local hotel and Quaker meetings were held in a variety of hotels and private houses until they were able to build their own meeting house at the junction of Pakenham Road and Carrickbrennan Road. This was completed in 1832. Over time more Quakers moved to live in the area and again they were mainly merchants and manufacturers. The newcomers included:
    →Thomas Bewley, sugar refiner, of Rockville, Blackrock.
    →Jonathan Goodbody, stockbroker, of Pembroke House, Blackrock.
    →Other residents included members of the Jacob, Wigham and Pearson families.
  • We wrote to many people with the surname Pim in the locality in the hope they could add to our thickening folder but unfortunately, without any new material.
  • Currently we are awaiting reply from a museum in Canada with possible photographs of service men in Nova Scotia in the 1800’s and we are also trying to trace one Mr. Pakenham Pim who played hockey for Lisnagarvey and sailed with the Royal St. George – the search continues……..