Loyalty, Tenantry, and the Living Estate
Introduction
On 14 May 1834, the tenants of the Ecclesville estate gathered at Sherard’s Hotel to honour their landlord, Charles Eccles.
This was no ordinary dinner.
It was a public expression of loyalty, respect, and shared identity between landlord and tenantry—captured in a contemporary report published in the Londonderry Sentinel.
What survives is a rare and vivid glimpse into the social fabric of a working estate, decades before the upheavals of land reform.
Full Contemporary Report
DINNER TO CHARLES ECCLES, ESQ.
(From a Correspondent.)
Londonderry Sentinel – Saturday 31 May 1834
On Wednesday, the 14th inst., a number of the tenantry of the Ecclesville estate entertained their esteemed landlord, Charles Eccles, Esq., at Sherard’s Hotel. At six o’clock about sat down to a plentiful dinner, served up in a style highly creditable to Mrs. Sherard—the wines were excellent, and the “mountain dew” could not excelled. The chair was taken Charles Robert Lucas, Esq., supported by James Hamilton, Esq., who acted croupier. the cloth being removed the following toasts were given:—
“The King, God bless him, may still be found to reign in the hearts of his people.”—(Drank with the usual honour.)
The chairman now desired the company fill their glasses. He said, as they had met for a particular purpose, he would not occupy their time by going through the list of toasts generally drank at public dinners, nor would be detain them by pronouncing a panegyric the gentleman whose health he was about to propose; was well known to them all, and would, therefore, without further comment, give “Charles Eccles, Esq., may he follow the example of his late father.”— (Loud and long continued cheering.)
Mr. Eccles returned thanks in an animated speech, of which the following is a faint outline.—He said that the marks they had given of the warmth of their friendship, not only on this but on former occasion, had made an indelible impression on his heart, and imparted home a charm which no other place could possess. When I look, said he, around me, and see myself surrounded by such a numerous and respectable body of friends and neighbours, and including many of own tenantry, I feel a glow of lofty and laudable ambition animate my bosom, for who, let me ask, would not be proud of having such a spirited and truly independent tenantry. However, when I reflect that these flattering tokens of your esteem have not been earned by me, but by one of whom it would not be my place to speak here, a feeling of gratitude awakens in my breast emotions I cannot find words to express. (Applause.) l am now come to reside among you and, being young and inexperienced in the world, what a gratifying prospect it is for me to find that I have the open and honest-hearted friends of my lamented father to assist me by their kind advice. (Applause.) The old maxim, “live and let live,” has long been the motto of the family to which I have the honour to belong, and on this principle I shall also endeavour to act. The town of Fintona has improved rapidly within the last few years—to encourage this spirit, and promote the welfare of my tenantry at large, is a duty which I trust you will find me using every possible effort to perform, so that the bond of union which has hitherto existed between landlord and tenant on the lands I possess may pass out of my hands in the same unbroken, mutual, and indissoluble chain. Mr. Eccles sat down amid loud and reiterated cheers.
A Living Example of Estate Society
Taken together, the dinner reveals:
- A landlord aware of expectation
- Tenants willing to publicly honour him
- A shared belief in reciprocal obligation
This was not yet a system in decline.
It was still:
Working, visible, and believed in
Editorial Note
This page is based on a contemporary report published in the Londonderry Sentinel, 31 May 1834.
Selected excerpts have been lightly modernised for clarity, while preserving the meaning and tone of the original report.