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Our Talbot
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This historical information was provided by my aunt Agnes to my brother James Silas Cole, Jr., who subsequently provided the information to me. I have deleted all the personal asides, and have left the interesting historical aspects.
The original source of information was "Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles" by Stefan Zweig, published by the Viking Press in 1935. In the prologue, the author, being partisan neither to Mary nor to Elizabeth, set forth his goal to write an objective, well researched history.
Zweig listed the "Dramatis Personnae" in the front of his book. Scanning down the list of historical figures involved in the events of the period is George Talbot, Sixth Earl of Shrewsbury and Guardian of Mary, Queen of Scots for fifteen years.
Our first emigrant to America from this line was James Talbot, who emigrated from Ireland about 1860. He is shown in this book as a Shrewsbury (England) Talbot. He and his brothers, John, a Major in the US Cavalry, and Thomas came to the Territory of Wyoming in the mid-1860's and all made their permanent homes in Cheyenne.
My grandmother owned a small red leather-bound volume entitled "The Heraldic Achievement of The Ancient Family of Talbot", which had been given her by her Uncle, Edward A. Talbot, son of James Ethelbert Talbot, one of the three Irish immigrant brothers. (subsequently given to my aunt Agnes).
The book was prepared especially for Edward, or Ned, as he was affectionately called by the family, and is beautifully printed on parchment and exhibits the Talbot Shield of Arms in full crimson and gold with a touch of azure. Among other facts, the book revealed that "In Ireland the settlement of a branch of the family is coeval with English rule, Henry II having granted Malahide to Richard Talbot, whose lineal descendant, Lord Talbot, writes himself "of Malahide" to this day.
Another book on the subject is "The Story of the Irish Race" by Seumas MacManus. In the Index is the entry "Henry II, Invader of Ireland, 319, 320, 325 ff". Henry II invaded Ireland in 1171, having received a Papal Bull from Pope Adrian to bring the barbarous nation within the fold of the faith. Irish defenders deny the charges of corrupt morals presented to the Pope. And that is how the Talbots came to be in Ireland. Malahide was granted as a boon for faithful service to the King in a successful campaign.
A family member went to London in the 1970s or 80s and visited Westminster Abbey. At the Abbey, she had toured various chapels and was ready to retrace her steps and leave, when one of the choir seats in Henry VII's Chapel caught her eye. She stopped for a closer look - and found the family shield and the name "Geo. Talbot, VIth Earl of Shrewsbury" inscribed on it.
Unfortunately, there was no time to look further. However, she was determined to go back to the Abbey and to try and find more information before her trip ended. She wrote to the Abbey and explained her interest, and in turn received a cordial reply from the Receiver General. He advised her he was passing her letter on to the Keeper of the Abbey Monuments, in the Library, the Cloisters, Westminster, and invited her to telephone this gentleman, Mr. Nicholas MacMichael, and see whether he could help her.
She made a hurried trip to the Abbey before catching her plane home. When she arrived, she was greeted most cordially, and when she explained her mission and showed the copy of the Talbot volume, they became quite excited. They took her into areas where the ordinary tourist is never shown, and had three volumes set out for her to peruse.
In the very brief time she had, she scribbled as much information about the genealogy as she could. The most surprising fact she learned was that the Peerage listing of Talbot family lineage shows that the three Talbot brothers are listed and are shown as having emigrated to America and specifically to have gone to Cheyenne in the Territory of Wyoming.
In addition, she was shown where Edward Talbot, the VIIIth Earl of Shrewsbury (d. 161?) and his wife, Jane, are buried in the Chapel of St. Edmund in the Abbey. Their monument is of recumbent figures of husband and wife with a little daughter kneeling near her father. The monument was executed by Maximillian Colt. Their robes are in color, and she found it quite beautiful.
Malahide Castle shows up in tourist travel brochures, and on the list of "Houses, Gardens and Castles" to visit. The map of Ireland shows Malahide about 10 miles north of Dublin, located on an inlet on the Irish Sea.
In Fodor's "Ireland, 1983" it states the estate was in the family until 1976. It was then sold, but was opened in 1978 as what we would call a national historical monument and it is here that the National Portrait Gallery is housed. Portraits in the castle when it was sold remain there and form the nucleus of the Gallery.