Desmond Rainey is a retired civil servant, having worked in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for over 40 years. He is an elder in 2nd Comber Presbyterian Church, and has in the past sung in the church choir, participated in amateur dramatics, and played badminton and tennis. He has always been fascinated by history and was a founder member of Comber Historical Society. Desmond is also an avid collector of old postcards, photographs of Comber and music of the 1960s. He is co-author of A Taste of Old Comber.

Laura Spence is a producer in BBC Northern Ireland mainly working on history and local interest documentaries. Recent projects include A Narrow Sea – a 60 part series tracing the connection between Scotland and Ireland; and Hidden History, an ongoing radio series which travels Ulster’s highways and byways, ‘rolling back time’. Laura is a committee member of Comber Historical Society and has a passion for history and genealogy. In her spare time, she works with animals from Assisi Sanctuary.

A Chronicle
of Comber

The Town of
Thomas Andrews

SHIPBUILDER
1873–1912

ÐESMOND RAINEY
AND
LAURA SPENCE

ULSTER HISTORICAL FOUNDATION

To our parents

This publication has received financial assistance
from Ards Borough Council.

Ulster Historical Foundation is also pleased to
acknowledge support given by the individual
donors and subscribers. All contributions have
made this publication possible.

COVER DESIGN BY DUNBAR DESIGN
Image of Thomas Andrews courtesy of Belfast Harbour

First published 2011
by Ulster Historical Foundation,
49 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6RY
www.ancestryireland.com
www.booksireland.org.uk

Except as otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means with the prior permission in writing of the publisher or, in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of a licence issued by The Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publisher.

© Desmond Rainey and Laura Spence
Epub ISBN: 978-1-908448-34-7
Mobi ISBN: 978-1-908448-33-0

Printed by Martins the Printers
Design by FPM Publishing

Contents

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DONORS AND SUBSCRIBERS

1   1912 – Disaster on the High Seas

2   Comber in Shock

3   The Andrews Family of Comber

4   Thomas Andrews Junior

5   Comber 1912

6   The People of Comber

7   A Diary of Comber Events 1873–1912

8   Postcript

ANDREWS FAMILY TREES

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Address by Rev. Thomas Dunkerley to the congregation of Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church on Sunday 21st April 1912

Appendix 2: ‘Robert Rollo Gillespie’ by Sir Henry Newbolt

Appendix 3: Extract for Comber from Belfast and Ulster Directory 1870

Appendix 4: Extract for Comber from Belfast and Ulster Directory 1912

Appendix 5: Comber Historical Society

INDEX

Foreword

I am honoured to be asked to write this foreword for Desmond Rainey and Laura Spence’s wonderful book which contains so much history and interesting information. They have carried out a vast amount of research on Comber at this particular period, adding to that done in the past by the late Norman Nevin. Much of the content is new to me.

The book portrays the story of Comber during the lifetime of my great uncle, Thomas Andrews Junior who was chief designer at the shipyard of Harland and Wolff during the construction of RMS Titanic. Indeed many Comber people helped build the mighty ocean liner. Unfortunately Uncle Tommie lost his life when the ship sank in 1912. So many lives lost – it was such a tragedy and was not often spoken about, either in my family circle or in Belfast. Harland and Wolff reckoned it was a bad advertisement for the shipyard and tried to have films and a play about Titanic banned. Nowadays things are different.

But this book is not primarily about Titanic. It tells of life in a little Co. Down town at a period when it had industries such as the flax spinning mill and the distilleries producing the famous Old Comber Whiskey, a town well known for cricket and for Sir Robert Rollo Gillespie. It is a town in which I grew up, spending many happy years working in the mill, which is now unfortunately closed. This book is largely about people and over the years I have come to know many Comber people. It was no different in the days of my grandfather and great-grandfather. They were all part of the community, and it was into this community that Thomas was born in 1873. This book traces the story of those Comber people throughout Thomas’ lifetime, and it is interesting to think that the stories contained in these pages, gleaned from old newspaper reports, would have been known to Thomas.

The story of Thomas Andrews and Titanic holds a timeless fascination. So does the story of Comber. I wish Desmond and Laura every success with this new book.

J.M.J. ANDREWS

Introduction and Acknowledgements

On 31 May 1911, huge crowds gathered at the Thompson Dock in Belfast to watch the largest ship in the world glide from her slipway into the River Lagan. Just under a year later even greater numbers of people listened in shock to the news that RMS Titanic had sunk with the loss of 1,500 lives.

Nowhere was the news more heartbreaking than in Ulster: in Belfast where the great ship was conceptualised, planned, built and launched; and in Comber, County Down, home of the ship’s designer, Thomas Andrews Junior, who drowned that April night in 1912 at the age of 39.

One hundred years on, the world is still fascinated by the tragic story of RMS Titanic and those who sailed on her. However, while the name of Thomas Andrews Junior is well-known, it is in the little town of Comber that he is best remembered – the town where his family still live today. Ardara, the home of his childhood years, still stands, while the North Down Club, of which he was a member, continues to dominate Ulster cricket. At the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian church where he worshipped you can see Thomas’ name inscribed on the headstone of the family grave. You will also find in the town a magnificent memorial hall, which stands as a lasting tribute to one of Comber’s best loved sons.

Comber, during Thomas Andrews’ lifetime, was an industrious mill village, shaped by the ‘gentry’ who drove its linen enterprise – the Andrews family. As we mark the centenary of the loss of Titanic in 2012, this book looks back to that time – to the town that Thomas would have known, to his family and the people who were his neighbours; the organisations and clubs he would have attended; the issues of the day which would have provided mealtime conversation round the dining table at Ardara. This is the story of a small town, a big family, a huge ship and an immeasurable loss ...

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the following people whose support has made this publication possible:

Kathleen Coulter and the committee of Comber Historical Society
Len Ball
Erskine Willis
Kim Cleland
The Andrews family, especially John, Tom and Johnny
Diane Taggart
Rev. Ian and Mrs Sandra Gilpin
Ian Shields and North Down Cricket Club
Newtownards Chronicle
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
The Newspaper Library at Belfast Central Library

Finally, a big thank you to Fintan Mullan, Executive Director of Ulster Historical Foundation, and his team of workers for their guidance in the publication of this book, and to all those patrons and subscribers who contributed to the costs of production.

DESMOND RAINEY AND LAURA SPENCE

Donors and Subscribers

The authors and publisher would like to thank the following donors and subscribers whose generosity has helped to make this publication possible. All contributions are gratefully acknowledged.

Ards Borough Council
Sam and Helen Long
Mr Desmond Rainey
Mr and Mrs E. Rainey
Mr D.E. Willis

Mr Len Ball
Comber and District Horticultural Society
Comber Historical Society
Alan Dunlop
Mr Joe Johnston
Mr Hugh A. McWhinney
Rotary Club of Comber

Mark Anderson
Anonymous
Mrs Nessie Beers
Kim Cleland
Kathleen Coulter
Trevor Cummings
Cindy Douglas
Alison Finch
Georgian House Restaurant
Winifred Glover Insurance
Adrian and Marion Hanna
David Huddleston
Loughries Historical Society
John and Donna McBride
Johnnie and Netta McBride
Sam McIlveen
Martin and Marianne Perry
Roy and Katy Spence
Cecil and Muriel Stevenson
William Suitor
Robin Thompson
Brian and Jean Tompsett
Irene Watterson
Alf and Elizabeth Whitehead

Painting of Comber, 19th century

1
1912 – Disaster on the High Seas

The year 1912 will be remembered for many things. There was war in the Balkans. Woodrow Wilson was elected as US President. Captain Robert Scott and his companions perished on their return from the South Pole, having been pipped at the post by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. And in Ulster a Covenant was signed by thousands of Unionists opposed to Home Rule by a Dublin parliament. But one event stands out above all others, an event ingrained in the global memory, and that event concerns a ship – the mighty Titanic.

RMS Titanic, of the White Star Line, was a Belfast ship, built in the shipyard of Harland and Wolff. She was launched on 31 May 1911, and left Belfast for Southampton on 2 April 1912. From there she was bound for New York, on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Belfast was justifiably proud of Titanic, the largest ship in the world, a ship that was unsinkable. Yet tragically this unsinkable ship sank. What went wrong?

Titanic set sail from Southampton on 10 April 1912 under the command of Captain Edward John Smith. She called at Cherbourg in France and then at Queenstown (now Cobh) in the south of Ireland. From there it was open sea all the way to New York – and icebergs. Some of these were the size of small mountains, and it was Titanic’s misfortune to collide with one of these off the coast of Newfoundland on the night of 14 April. The iceberg struck below the waterline on the starboard side, and water flooded into the boiler rooms through a 300 foot gash in the hull.

At first most people on board were blissfully unaware of what had happened. There was a slight bump, but that was all. However, within two and a half hours Titanic was no more. It had sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic, lights still blazing, the band playing, hundreds of passengers and crew struggling in the water. All too few made it on to the lifeboats and eventual rescue by ships such as the Carpathia. Out of a total of 2,201 souls on board, there were only 712 survivors. One man who perished was Thomas Andrews of Comber, County Down, the designer of the ship.

Thomas Andrews was a hero during the final hours. The following cablegram was dispatched by the White Star Line from its New York Office:

After accident Andrews ascertained damage, advised passengers put heavy clothing, prepare leave vessel. Many sceptical about seriousness damage, but impressed by Andrews’ knowledge, personality, followed his advice, saved their lives. He assisted many women, children to lifeboats. When last seen, officers say was throwing overboard deck chairs, other objects, to people in water. His chief concern safety of everyone but himself.

One survivor, a Mr Dick, had this to say:

We begged him not to go [down below to investigate], but he insisted, saying that he knew the ship as no one else did and might be able to allay the fears of the passengers. When he came back we hung on his words. They were these: – ‘There is no cause for any excitement. All of you get what you can in the way of clothes and come on deck as soon as you can. She is torn to bits below, but will not sink if the after bulkheads hold. She has been ripped by an underlying peak of ice, and it has torn away many of the forward plates and bolts’. He knew that he would lose his life, and yet he behaved so nobly that his heroism is worthy of the greatest praise, as he certainly knew the danger we were in, yet voluntarily sacrificed his life.

2
Comber in Shock

This is how the Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory of 1912 describes the home town of Thomas Andrews:

Comber is a market town in County Down, fourteen miles from Downpatrick, seven E.S.E. from Belfast, situated on the road from Belfast to Downpatrick. There is a large square, where fairs and markets are held, and in the centre of which stands a handsome Masonic monument, erected to the memory of General Gillespie. The River Comber, upon whose banks the town is situated, and from which its name is derived, runs into Strangford Lough, on the east side of the parish, and the tide flows to within a short distance of the town. There are two extensive distilleries, corn mills, hotels, a bleachgreen, a spinning mill, and stitching factory. The Church of Ireland is a neat little building. There are places of worship for Presbyterians, Unitarians, Methodists, and a Roman Catholic Chapel. The educational institutions are a school, founded by Viscountess Castlereagh in 1813, one under Erasmus Smith’s Charity, and Congregational and National Schools. A National School is attached to the Second Presbyterian Church, called Smith’s National School. There are two Masonic Halls and an Orange Hall. The North Down Cricket Club has been in existence for over half a century, and still maintains its old prestige. There are also hockey and football clubs. The market is held every Tuesday. Fairs – January 5th, April 5th, June 28th, and October 19th. The population in 1911 was 2,589.

That little town was now plunged into mourning for Thomas Andrews. The townsfolk joined in the grief of the Andrews family, with memorial services being held in all the Comber churches. At the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Comber, where the Andrews family worshipped, Rev. Thomas Dunkerley had some very moving words to say at an emotionally-charged morning service on Sunday 21 April, taking as his text the words of John 15:13 – ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend’.

Thomas Andrews had been a personal friend, and Rev. Dunkerley delved back into his boyhood, remembering two inseparable brothers growing up in the congregation and passing through his communicant class – Thomas and John Miller Andrews (later to be Prime Minister of Northern Ireland). He mentioned in particular an incident at a church bazaar held in 1879 when a number of kittens were to be offered for sale. One escaped, and it was the 6-year old Thomas who persuaded the frightened creature to abandon its place of refuge, inaccessible to humans. As a result he was allowed to keep it. The animal recognised where it could place its trust, and the Rev. Dunkerley illustrated how trifling incidents such as this showed indications of Thomas’ character, even at an early age. He emphasised the many qualities of Thomas – intelligent, industrious, earnest and enterprising, whose work must be good and true, satisfying his own exacting conscience. When he heard that Titanic had been lost, Rev. Dunkerley shared his reaction with the congregation; he just knew that Thomas had gone down with the ship because it was not in his nature to save his own life at the cost of that of others. And indeed this had been borne out by tales relayed from the stricken liner of his heroism to the last. Rev. Dunkerley asked for ‘blessings on his memory’, and finished by saying ‘And it may be that he, beholding us, blesses us’.

At the close of the service a resolution of sympathy with the family was passed at a congregational meeting, and a similar resolution was drawn up by all the Comber ministers. Sentiments of condolence were expressed by many individuals and bodies in the town such as North Down Cricket and Hockey Club. A copy of Rev. Dunkerley’s sermon can be found in Appendix 1.

3
The Andrews Family of Comber

Let us roll back the years to 1870. In that year, as indeed today, the most obvious reminder of Comber’s history was to be found in its Georgian Square – the monument to Sir Robert Rollo Gillespie. Many are the tales to be told of Rollo, but this book is not primarily concerned with him. Suffice it to say that he was born in a house in Comber Square in 1766, and became a famous soldier rising to the rank of Major-General in the armies of George III. He fought against the French and their allies in the West Indies, later in India and Indonesia, and finally went to meet his Maker after being struck down outside the fortress of Kalunga in Nepal in 1814. Allegedly, he is said to have exclaimed in his final moments, ‘One shot more for the honour of Down’.

The main object of our interest is with the Andrews family, and on 15th September 1870 the Rev. John Orr of Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church conducted a wedding there. The happy couple were Thomas Andrews of Comber and Eliza Pirrie. This is how it was announced in the Belfast Newsletter of the following day.

The groom would later become known as Thomas of Ardara, because he took up residence in Ardara House on the Ballygowan Road in 1871 (he greatly extended it in 1904). He had been born in 1843, the youngest of three brothers who were directors of the Comber flax spinning mill of John Andrews & Co, the others being James and John. A fourth brother, William Drennan, had gone into the legal profession and was living in Dublin. There was also a sister Frances, still unmarried in 1870.

These were the surviving children of John Andrews, whose dream the spinning mill had been. Alas, he never lived to see it in operation, for he died just a few weeks before its opening in 1864. This John had taken an active part in public affairs, eventually serving as High Sheriff of County Down in 1857. He was also land agent for Lord Londonderry, who owned much of Comber, from 1830.

But it was Thomas of Ardara himself who had personally supervised the building of the mill at the early age of 20, and all without the use of a contractor. He was described as ‘plodding and persevering by nature’. As we shall see, there was a brilliant future ahead of him, and he would father a remarkable family.

In 1870 the mill was a major employer in Comber, producing high quality yarn which was woven into linen cloth elsewhere. It gave work to over 500 people and was an impressive monument to the enterprise of the Andrews family. But it was not the only one. For the imprint of the Andrews family was deeply embedded in the physical environs of the town.

Comber was a hubbub of activity. For apart from the spinning mill, there were two distilleries manufacturing the renowned Old Comber Whiskey, although the Andrews family had not been involved in this business since 1788. But they were involved in just about everything else. In 1870 the three brothers were also partners in the firm of James Andrews & Sons, along with two uncles, William Glenny and Isaac, and their cousins (Isaac’s sons) Thomas James and John – although John was working in Liverpool at this time, and did not return to take an active part in the Comber business until 1876. There were various strands to this business.

There was flour-milling, carried on in an impressive 5-storey flour mill, built in 1771. The entrance was down Mill Lane, opposite where is now Rosie Scott’s pub. Allied to this was another large building, the grain store of 1863. This was eventually demolished in 1978 following a fire started by vandals. And there were corn mills at Laureldale (known as the Upper Mill, close to where Comber Christian Centre is today) and on the banks of the River Enler (the Old Mill). But there was to be no long-term future for flour-milling in Comber. By 1879 the firm of James Andrews & Sons would be dissolved, leaving the flour milling side of the business in the hands of Isaac and his sons. The new firm of Isaac Andrews & Sons moved to Belfast in 1883, shortly after Isaac himself had died.

There was also a linen wash mill and bleach green where large pieces of cloth would be left out in the open air to whiten. And there was a beetling mill which had been in existence since about 1762. Beetling was a process whereby heavy pieces of timber rose and fell on the linen, putting a finish on its surface and thus adding value. But by 1870 the bleach green was in difficulties – out of date and losing money. It was to close in 1872, and later became famous as the ground of the phenomenally successful North Down Cricket Club, which was to chalk up numerous victories in the Ulster Senior League and Cup competitions. In 1870 the Andrews family were already heavily involved in the affairs of the Club, which had been formed in 1857.

Much of Comber’s industrial enterprise had been the brainchild of Thomas of Ardara’s great grandfather, another John, sometimes called John the Great because in the 18th century he transformed Comber from what Walter Harris somewhat unfairly called ‘a mean little village’ into a real hive of industrial activity. When he died in 1808, his youngest son James took over. James had the entire industrial complex re-organised and modernised during the 1830s, introducing a steam engine to pump water to the flour mill and bleach green, erecting new water wheels and constructing the spring dam. He was also a founder and benefactor of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, and donated land on which a meeting house was built in 1838. James died in 1841.

Let us take a wander down to St Mary’s Parish Church, built in a corner of the Square in 1840 on the site of that of the 17th century Scots settlers. Indeed this has been an ecclesiastical site from medieval times, when there was a monastery here, but all trace of this has long since gone. Just three years previously, in 1867, William Glenny Andrews, an uncle of the bridegroom, had erected a large mausoleum, appropriately decorated with funerary urns, in the churchyard of St Mary’s. We can guess from this magnificent monument that we are in the presence of a family who have played a significant role in Comber’s history. There are no burials inside the mausoleum, but it is built over the family tomb, and plaques on the walls detail those who lie interred beneath.

The earliest name recorded is that of Thomas (born 1698). He was probably the descendant of settlers who had come over from Scotland in the time of James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery, and we find a Thomas and Robert Andrew mentioned in the 1630 Muster Roll for Mahee as tenants of Viscount Claneboye (James Hamilton). It was Thomas who established the family’s interest in milling back in 1722 when we find him working the Upper Corn Mill at Laureldale. He also made soap and candles, a business which ceased in 1788. But by then Thomas was dead, having passed away in 1743 at the early age of 45.

Other names already mentioned had also found their last resting place here. In 1870 here were the remains of Thomas’ son, John the Great (1721–1808), of James (1762–1841) and of John (1792–1864), the father of Thomas of Ardara.

The original house of John Andrews the Great had been built in 1744 in Castle Street, where Supervalu is now sited. From 1792 it had been called the Old House, because in that year a new house was built opposite for John’s son James when he married Frances Glenny. They called their house Uraghmore, the place of the big yew trees, after ancient trees in their garden believed to be hundreds of years old. In 1870 the Old House was occupied by William Glenny Andrews and two of his sisters Margaret and Mary, none of whom ever married. Uraghmore was the abode of Thomas of Ardara’s mother Sarah, a daughter of the famous Dr William Drennan, supposedly one of the founders of the United Irishmen. Thomas himself would also have lived here before his marriage.

Thomas’ uncle Isaac lived at the Big House in Comber Square which he bought in the 1840s from the insolvent William Stitt. At that time he had also demolished the house in which General Gillespie had been born, in order to extend his own house and garden. There are rumours that the workmen unearthed a hoard of gold treasure. Interestingly, Isaac’s father had left him land at Carnesure and money to build a house there, provided he married. But it was his nephew, Thomas’ eldest brother James, who eventually built Carnesure House on the Killinchy Road in 1863, and this was his abode in 1870.

And what was the pedigree of Eliza, the blushing bride of 1870? Born in 1845 in Canada, she was two years younger than her new husband. Tragically, her father James died during a cholera outbreak in New York in 1849. There is a memorial inscription to him on the Andrews grave at Comber Non-Subscribing Church. Eliza’s mother had been a Montgomery, a niece of Rev. Henry Montgomery, leader of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church movement in the north of Ireland. She now decided to return to Ireland with her young family, which by this stage also included William James, born in 1847. He was the future Lord Pirrie, who in 1874 became a partner in the shipbuilding firm of Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and in 1895 chairman. He was also Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896 and 1897. He died of pneumonia in Cuba in 1924 while on a business tour of South America. Interestingly, Lord Pirrie was a member of Comber Non-Subscribing Church, serving on its committee from 1879–93.

Eliza and her family lived at Conlig House, the home of her father-in-law, just outside Bangor. Around 1867 she had moved to a house called Aureen in Comber Square. Her sister-in-law Agnes Pirrie had lived here until her death in 1863, married to John Miller, the distiller. Eliza remained at Aureen until her children were happily married off. This would also have been the home of her daughter Eliza until 1870, although William James was in lodgings in Belfast where he already worked at the Harland and Wolff shipyard. He would have stayed at Aureen at weekends until his marriage in 1879 to Margaret Carlisle. Eliza senior eventually died in 1895.

4
Thomas Andrews Junior

Thomas Andrews Junior (or Tom as he was known) was born on 7 February 1873, the second son of Thomas of Ardara and Eliza Pirrie. Strangely, no record of his baptism has been found. We are told that he was a ‘healthy, energetic, bonny child’ who ‘grew into a handsome, plucky and lovable boy’.

Tom grew up at Ardara where he developed a very close relationship with his elder brother John Miller (born 17 July 1871). One of his occupations was that of beekeeping and he kept nine hives in the shelter of the hedge. He loved animals, and had a special passion for horses, becoming one of the most fearless riders in County Down. Even in these early days he was very fond of boats and enjoyed sailing on Strangford Lough, earning the nickname of the ‘Admiral’.

Tom attended the family church – Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian, participating in its various activities such as the Sunday School. His life was grounded in the Christian faith, and his church would remain important to him. Throughout his life he would never touch alcoholic drink or smoke a cigarette.

Until the age of eleven Tom was educated privately by a tutor, but from 1884 to 1889 he attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (Inst). Here he was one of the most popular boys in his class, but he showed no special aptitude for study and was much fonder of games, especially cricket and hockey, at both of which he excelled. Comber, of course, has great cricketing traditions, being home to North Down Cricket Club.

Tom made his first appearance for North Down in 1887 as an enthusiastic fourteen year old. But because of his work commitments he never established himself in what was a very strong senior team. Rather, he became a prominent member of the 2nd XI, making the occasional appearance for the 1st XI. He was also a founder member of North Down Hockey Club in 1896.

On leaving school in May 1889 at the age of sixteen, Tom joined Harland and Wolff as an apprentice. This necessitated a move to lodgings in Belfast during the working week, returning home at weekends.