Joynson-Wreford Family – McClintock of Seskinore

Later Custodians of Seskinore

The Joynson–Wreford family became associated with the Seskinore and Ecclesville estates in the twentieth century, representing the final stage in the succession of families connected to the property following the Eccles and McClintock lines.

Origins of the Family

The Joynson–Wreford family was of English origin, with established roots in Devon and the west of England. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, members of the family were connected to military and landed circles, bringing them into the social world of the Irish gentry.

Marriage into the Eccles–McClintock Line

The family’s connection to Seskinore arose through the marriage of:

Captain Wilfred Heyman Joynson–Wreford

Amelia (“Leila”) Isobel McClintock

Leila was the only child of:

Through this marriage, the Joynson–Wreford family became directly linked to both the Ecclesville and Seskinore estates.

Captain Wilfred (Tony) Heyman Joynson–Wreford

Wilfred Heyman Joynson–Wreford, later associated with the Seskinore estate through marriage, was born on 30 July 1896 at 18 Belsize Grove, London. His birth certificate records his name as Wilfred Samuel Joynson Wreford, the middle name Samuel later being replaced with Heyman.

He was the son of Dr. Heyman Wreford, MRCS, LRCP, and Catherine Hannah Guerrier.

Family Background

Wilfred came from a family of both commercial and professional standing:

His father, Dr. Heyman Wreford, originally worked in the Wreford family drapery business in Exeter before entering the medical profession at the age of forty.
His mother, Catherine Hannah Guerrier, was the daughter of Henry John Guerrier, a corn merchant.
Through his maternal line, he was also descended from William Joynson, owner of the Joynson paper mills at St Mary Cray, Kent — from whom the Joynson name was later adopted.

The family lived for a time in Brighton before settling in Exeter at “The Firs,” Denmark Road.

Siblings

Wilfred had two elder siblings:

Bertran William Heyman Wreford, who was killed in action in France on 17 April 1917 during the First World War
Christabel Emma Catherine Wreford, who married Alan Maurice Gladwell in 1921

Name and Identity

In later life, Wilfred was commonly known as Anthony or “Tony” Joynson–Wreford. The reason for this change is unclear, and his name was never legally altered. His formal documents continued to be signed as W. H. J. Wreford.

First Marriage

On 12 December 1918, at the Chapel Royal, Savoy, London, Wilfred married:

Frances Agnes Parker, widow of Captain Alan Foggett Parker.

Frances had a daughter, also named Frances, from her first marriage.Seskinore in the Twentieth Century

By the early twentieth century, the great landed estates of County Tyrone were undergoing profound change.

The Joynson–Wreford period reflects:

The decline of large estate systems
The effects of the Irish Land Acts
A shift from traditional landlordism to a more modern social structure

Although the scale and influence of the estate had diminished, the house and its history remained closely tied to family memory and identity.

Legacy and Memory

The Joynson–Wreford connection represents the final generational link in a chain of succession:

Perry → McClintock → Eccles → Joynson–Wreford

Through this line, the history of Seskinore and Ecclesville extends from the seventeenth century into the modern era.

The family’s later associations, particularly through descendants such as Xenia Joynson–Wreford, contributed to the preservation and rediscovery of the estate’s history in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.