Rosalie Hart Priour Autobiography "Adventures of a Family of Emigrants" with notes and commentary by historian Frank Wagner (indicated in green).
Chapter 2 When my father and Lord St. Lawrence were fifteen years old [1812], the teacher employed by Lord Howth punished the two young gentlemen. They became so angry with him that they whipped him shamefully, and broke all the benches in the schoolroom. To punish them for this act of insubordination, Lord Howth decided to send them to college [a secondary school] in England.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "College in England" meant a secondary school. The Relief Acts of 1792 and 1793 permitted Irish Catholic schools, but few were in existence. Trinity College in Dublin was a first class university, and Catholics were permitted to attend and graduate, but could hold no paid position or administrative office. It appears clear from the context that Tom Hart and his half-brother Lord St. Lawrence were comparatively immune to education. Thomas St. Lawrence, the younger brother, was known for his scholarship, doubtless part of the reason for his rise in the Irish Anglican Church.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - When he announced his intention to my father and commanded him to be ready to start the next day, my father begged him not to send him, but Lord Howth was firm in his resolve and when father found all entreaties were vain, replied, "Well, my Lord, if I must go, I will go." That night he packed up some clothes in a bundle, and went on board of a whaling vessel belonging to one of his cousins that was ready to start on a three year trip.
When they came back at the expiration of that time [1815], the vessel anchored in the harbor of Belfast. His cousin, Mr. Griffin, was captain of a steamer running between Dublin and Belfast, and as he looked towards the ship he saw someone dancing on the deck, and he exclaimed, "If Tom Hart is alive, it is him I see, dancing on the deck of that vessel."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Little mention is made of Tom Hart's relatives. A cousin was a sea captain, and another, was an officer in the Water Guards. It is possible the two were brothers. The Captain Griffin, called "a cousin," may have been Tom Hart's brother-in-law. The relatives of Elizabeth Hart are not much better represented. Her father, James Leary had three daughters: one married a Mr. Griffin (possibly a relative of Tom Hart), one Mr, Car (perhaps Mr. J. B. Carr, an Irish sea captain who later migrated to Louisiana), and Rosalie married Hart. (Cf. Chapter X)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - At the same time, he resolved to take my father back to Howth. In order to gain his point, he went on board the vessel and invited father to go aboard his steamer and see her as she was the first in that part of the country. Father told him he would not go for he was afraid he might want to take him back home, that he saw that the steam was up, he must be ready to start.
"No. Tom," he said, "you will have plenty of time, just come aboard and examine her machinery. It will be interesting to you.
He replied. "I will, on condition that you will not deceive me." They then started -- as my father thought -- to inspect the steamer. After looking at the works, Capt. Griffin invited him into the cabin, where a table was prepared with wine and cards, where he was invited to play a game, and drink to the success of the steamer. He became so interested in conversation and cards that the steamer was some distance from the quay before he was aware of it, and on his way to Howth.
On his arrival there, he went to his mother's home. She lived, at that time, in a house that Lord and Lady Howth had given her as a present at the time of my grandfather's death. It is next to the Catholic church, and separated from it only by a fence. As soon as his lordship found that my father had come home, he called to see him, and almost the first word he said was, "Well, Tom, are you done sowing wild oats?" and he answered "No, my Lord, I have a few more to sow yet."
Soon after his arrival, he heard there were bids for opening the new quarry at New Ross.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It appears Tom Hart obtained a contract to remove the overburden for a granite quarry at New Ross. There are many outcroppings of granite in the region along the River Barrow, but the best quality granite is obtained from stone covered with a foot or two of soil. The New Ross quarries were operated off and on for over a century. They have now been largely abandoned since the early l950s. Lord Howth may have been a substantial owner in the new quarry.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - He succeeded in getting the contract, but at the expiration of some months his health failed, and he was compelled to go home. As soon as he recovered his health, he took the contract for opening the harbor of Howth.
One day, as he was going down to the harbor [at Howth] after dinner, he met young Lord St. Lawrence, who had just arrived from England in company with Mr. Lynch, a gentleman who kept store in a part of my grandmother's house.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Steaming from Dublin to Belfast takes a vessel directly past the harbor of Howth, overlooked by the great quartzite peak, Ben Howth, over six hundred feet high.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - They were overjoyed to see him, and Lord St. Lawrence wished to detain him, but he said, "My Lord, I am in a great hurry, see the bell is hanging over the bow, and the men can do nothing until I go down."
"Tom,'' said his lordship, "shal-work [breaking up stones] is too hard for you. Would you not like to go in the Water Guards?"
He said, "No, my Lord, I will never accept of any employment where I will be under the command of inferiors."
He replied, "Oh! I do not want you to go as a common Water Guard. I wish you to go in as a commissioned officer. Father then said, "If you get me a Commission, I will go, but on no other condition.''
In two weeks from that day, he had his commission, and the first station he was sent to was Ballymoney in the town (sic) of Wexford.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ballymoney is a village on the coast of County Wexford, due east of Gorey, about 4 miles. Little trace now remains of the village there in the 1820s.
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