Note: This Post received a major update on July 23rd 2024.
I recently Posted about this ring, which was offered for sale by a Sydney dealer in antique jewellery. All that is known about it is that the dealer bought it from someone who acquired it at an auction in Australia.
I have now created a Page called Bishop Charles Warburton’s Mourning Ring that can be accessed via Galleries – Warburton Artefacts 2. The Page states:
The following photos are of a Ring that was offered for sale in Sydney, Australia. It is hallmarked London 1824 and has a maker’s mark for Charles Rawlings. It is inscribed:
Charles, Bishop of Cloyne Ob 9 Aug.t 1826
Selina Warburton Ob 12 Mar 1826
It is described as a handmade ring in 18-carat yellow gold with black enamel, glass and woven hair, size approximately 8 1/4 or Q, weight 7.5 grams.
The family of Charles, Bishop of Cloyne is contained in the Mongan clan. Selina was his youngest daughter, who died 2 months before him. Charles was the son of a blind harpist who renounced the Catholic faith and joined the protestant Church of Ireland. In 1792 he changed his name to Warburton to aid his advancement in the Church.
The ring seems to be typical of mourning rings of the time. There are instances where someone like the Bishop bequests a ring or rings, or the money to buy one in their will. However there is no such bequest in the Bishop’s will. According to Karen “it is not unusual to see mourning rings made and hallmarked a couple of years before they were bought by grieving families and personalised, eg by adding the hair and inscriptions. So, though it wasn’t custom made for the bishop’s family, it’s likely to be hair from Charles or Selina – or both. And the black enamel marks it as a mourning ring rather than one made for any other purpose.”
The unresolved mystery is how the ring came to be in Australia. Charles had six children of his own, and he became guardian for at least three of his brother John’s children after John was killed in an accident. It is known that several of these children, or their descendants, subsequently emigrated to Australia so any of them could have inherited, and transported the ring. Further clues will emerge in the future.
The descendants of the Bishop who are recorded as going to Australia are:
Alfred Eric, born 1903 in West Hartlepool, Durham, died 1987 in Victoria. He married Doris Holden in Grimsby and moved to Australia circa 1948. There is no evidence of children. His line is Edward Augustus -> Robert Sandford -> John -> the Bishop.
George William Sandford W born 1906 in Merton, Surrey, Married Ursula Margaret Maher in Ardlethan, NSW, died 1984 Grafton, NSW. He was the brother of Alfred Eric above. George had 7 children, including Peter who took a DNA test to prove the Australian descendants of the Bishop, and the Australian Mongans are indeed related. Peter’s family have no knowledge of the ring,
Mary Warburton, born 1902 in Canada, married Sydney Ogilvie in England 1929, died in Sydney after 1939. Her line is Charles Campbell W -> Augustus Frederick -> Charles -> the Bishop. Again no evidence of children found.
The descendants of John Mongan MD who are recorded as going to Australia are:
John of the Hindoo whose descendants are the Mongan family of Yackandandah discussed in the previous 2 articles.
Three of the children Frances Susannah Mongan and The Rev. Thomas Carpenter Carr emigrated to Australia:
Charles Warburton Carr emigrated in 1854. He was a very active man who became a Police Magistrate, and had the town of Warburton in Victoria was named after him. He married Geraldine Mary Kathleen Curr in Kew, Melbourne, Australia in 1864. His belongings finished up with his spinster grand-daughters Geraldine and Nancy.
The youngest of Frances and Thomas Carr’s children were twins Sophia Mary and Selina Frances. Sophia Mary married Richard Davies Ireland, a lawyer, and they emigrated to Australia in 1853 with the first eight of their eleven children.Their eldest surviving son was De Courcy Ireland and he had a son Percy Markham de Courcy Ireland. Percy’s son John Ireland was a family historian and collector of memorabilia. He was still working on a PhD on the Ireland family when he died unexpectedly in 2011.
I am not sure if Selina Frances was the other of the children to emigrate.
There may be other unknown emigrants. The Bishop’s daughter Charlotte Ann had 2 sons and 3 daughters, but nothing is known of them.
