Famous People

MAJOR ARTHUR ROWLEY HEYLAND
BALLINTEMPLE HOUSE
GARVAGH.

Born in Belfast in 1781 Arthur Rowley Heyland joined the army in 1801 as an Ensign in the 49th Regiment and very soon made history by placing his commanding officer on a charge for striking a private soldier on parade. The charge was upheld at the ensuing court martial, but Heyland was transferred to the 14th regiment as a Lieutenant. In 1804 he was given command of the 40th Regiment with which he was to have a life long association. It was while leading the 40th Regiment in a bayonet charge during the Battle of Waterloo, on the 18th June 1815, that Major Heyland was killed. The story of that historic event is told on a memorial tablet in the north wall of St Patricks Church, Coleraine.

 

Below this memorial is a second tablet of white marble on which is inscribed the following:- Arthur Rowley Heyland was the son of the late Rowley Heyland of Glenoak in the County of Antrim and of Mary, his second wife, the daughter of Alexander McDonald, Annadale, Dublin and the grand daughter of the Rev Alexander McDonald of Cashel, County Tipperary. He was born on the 27th of September 1781 and in 1805 married Mary, the daughter of the Rev John Kiffin of Bangor in North Wales, by whom he left five sons and two daughters.

Professor John Perry 1850 - 1921

John Perry was the son of Samuel Perry a painter and glazier of Bridge Street Garvagh. Born in 1850 he moved with his family at the age of 10 to Belfast where John continued his education. These were tough times for a working class family and John had to earn his living so he left school and joined Rowans Foundry. But his desire for knowledge was such that he continued his studies at night. As a consequence of his eagerness to acquire knowledge John Perry started to lose his sight and was told by his doctor to stop his intensive study or he would become blind.

To compensate John got his sister to read the text books for him and in this way qualified. John Perry was particularly interested in electricity. In this he was to become an expert, at a time when this was a new science. He became a professor at Yeddo University in Japan where he taught the Japanese the principles of electrical energy. Like his father Samuel, John was also interested in steam power and in this respect wrote a text book which for many years was used by the US navy.

This was a remarkable family. His brother James became a pioneer photographer and a qualified engineer; he was appointed county surveyor for Galway. He had a daughter who became a doctor, at a time when medicine was for the most part very much a male preserve.

Denis Hempson 1695 - 1807

Denis Hempson was born in 1695 some four miles west of Garvagh in the townland of Craigmore. At the age of three he lost his sight as a result of smallpox; when he was twelve, he began to learn to play the harp, which was not unusual for a blind person at that time.

His training continued over a period of years under various tutors, all of the old school. These included Laughlin Fanning from Connacht, an area famous at the time for the quality of its harp music. In 1713 two residents of Garvagh, Doctor Bacon and Mr Gage, purchased a harp from Cormick O'Kelly of Draperstown and presented it to Hempson. This he treasured for the rest of his life. Hempson's harp is now known as the Downhill harp and is in the Guinness museum in Dublin. In 1745 Denis Hempson played before Bonny Prince Charlie in Scotland. He attended a great harp meeting in Belfast in 1792 at the age of 97 and told someone afterwards, that when he had played his piece the others harpers refused to play as a mark of respect. It was said that he was the only harper there who had the traditional long finger nails, associated with this profession.

 

Denis Hempson died at Magilligan on the 5th November 1807 aged 112. He had lived in three centuries and was one of the last great Irish Harpers who played in the traditional way. Just beside the museum, visitors can see the memorial stone, erected in 1992, in what was the garden of Lord Garvagh where Hempson began his musical career.