THE ODLUM FAMILY IN IRELAND
INTRODUCTION
The Odlum name is best known in Ireland for their Flour Milling business, yet they date back to the late 1660’s, when the first of the Odlum’s is listed as a soldier. Later family members acquired large tracts of land for farming by rental. Many of the later family members were also farmers with some of the family members going into flour milling which ultimately led to the establishment of the Oldum Flour Milling business. Other family members went into ‘Finance’ ‘Pub Landlord’ and various other business activities.
ORIGINS
Thomas Odlum came to be in Ireland in the 1660’s, but where had he originally come from and how did he come to be named Odlum is still something of a mystery.
Duke of Ormonde
It is believed that Thomas came to Ireland before 1662 as a trooper under the Duke of Ormonde, the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and was one of 29 soldiers disbanded from that militia in that year. This was the first reference to the name of Odlum on Ireland
Family tradition believes that the family name was originally “Oldham” from Lancashire in England
According to Douglas Graham’s notes “the confusion in the original document of Thomas’ disbandment, between Oldham and Oldum a spelling of Oldham found in Lancashire Parish records, leads me to think that Thomas Oldham/Oldum found himself by some slip of somebody’s pen now called “Odlum”.
Oliver Cromwell
The family tradition is that we “came over with Cromwell” but if Thomas Odlum found himself in the Duke of Ormonde’s troop, he would not have been part of the pro-Cromwell lobby. As the Duke had fought on the Royalist side in the Civil War, Cromwell confiscated all the Duke’s lands when he came to power and the Duke was exiled
King Charles II
However, with the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, the Duke was back in favour again and his estates restored to him. He set about settling the country and one assumes that Thomas was rewarded with grants of land once the troop was disbanded, yet records show that they were renting land not owning land
The fact that Thomas stayed in Ireland leaves one to conclude that he married an Irish girl reputed to be a Miss Waller. Whether this is true remains in doubt as the Wallers were an aristocratic family who came to Ireland in the early 17th century. Would Miss Waller marry an ordinary trooper?
By the time we meet Odlums in the documents of the 18th century, they are well established tenant farmers.
THE ODLUM NAME
Odlum: The older form of this name, Adlum, has been recorded in comparatively recent times in Co. Offaly and in Co Laois. This, as Adlem, later Adlam, is on record in England since the twelfth century: it is derived, according to Reany, from the old German Adelem Noble protector.
The Odlum name is not listed in “A Dictionary of British Names”
As Odlum, it appears in Ireland in the seventeenth century: The family settled in Co. Offaly. There are many Odlum wills listed from 1735, the testators up to 1800 being variously decried as farmer and gent of that county. Three Odlums are in the Earl of Charleville’s King’s County rental of 1763.
Before the burning down of the Public Record Office in 1922, the late T.U. Sadleir made an abstract of all Adlum and Oldum Wills. He found 28 Odlum Wills between 1707 and 1845 and only three wills, all in the 1820s, of a family called Adlum in Co. Longford. All the Odlums belong to the King’s County family, and there is no connection between them and the Co. Longford Adlum family who had a very different set of Christian names.
The Adlums seem to be a Roman Catholic family, while the Odlums were originally all Protestants,; some of them were members of the Orange order, which had lodges in many places in the South of Ireland: a few favoured Methodism and some, by intermarriage, were Quakers.
The great majority, however, were firm members of the Church of Ireland .There are today, however, many Roman Catholic Odlums, particularly in the U.S.A and Australia. The Catholic records of Tullamore have many Odlum entries.
These Catholic Odlums are due to: Religious Conviction, of which only one certain case is known of intermarriage, and in these cases the Protestant Odlum was probably cut off by and from his family.
The name Adlum and Odlum do get confused, particularly as some Oldums pronounced their name with a very open vowel sound, e.g. Ahdlum; some indeed with a very closed vowel e.g. Awdlum. In the 1770-1772 British Army Lists a King’s Co. Ensign Odlums appears as Adlam the second year but reverts to Odlum in the third year. This is probably due to Adlam being a not uncommon surname in England and Odlum an otherwise unknown one. In the general Registry Office, London, among the births, marriages and deaths which are completely registered from 1837, the 400-500 Odlum entries down to 1980 are all of families originating in Ireland, and the very great majority are known as of-shoots of the King’s County Odlum family. Briefly, Odlum is not an English name, and Adlum is probably a corruption of the English Adlam.
One other firm family tradition which the Odlum family have stuck to is that they were originally Oldhams from Lancashire; a silver spoon, hall-marked Dublin 1750′ with the Oldham crest, an owl a pun on the Lancashire pronunciation ‘Ouldham’ has long been in the family possession- but that proves nothing, as it could have been bought any time between 1750 and 1850.
What is certain is that 1662 is the date of the first occurrence of the name Odlum in Ireland The name, either for a place or for a family, has not been found in any other European country; searches have been made in Holland and the Scandinavian countries by the Odlum family.
KEY ODLUM FAMILY MEMBERS
Thomas Odlum, 1662. It is assume, without any proof, that Thomas Odlum of 1662 is father of the three brothers. As a trooper under Ormonde, the Lord Lieutenant, Thomas is likely to have been an Englishman and one of twenty-nine soldiers disbanded from Ormond’s own troop. The fact that he chose to stay in Ireland leads us to think that he had married an Irish wife. “The only information I can find, is a copy of a letter written to Mrs. W.H. Odlum of Ardmore, from Ambala, India by Lt. Col. W.H. Odlum, I.M.S. 1871-1920, dated 31 August 1913 held by the family”.
John Odlum of Ballyduff 1871-1954 hailed from Kildare and that there was originally only one family. This man!! came over with Cromwell and married an Irish girl named Waller….. The Odlums, were a very clever family, but as a rule got to fond of the bottle and lost all energy and ambition.
The Ballyduff branch was indeed the nearest to Co. Kildare and the original Richard did marry, as her second husband and his second wife, a Mrs. Sale of Coolcor, Co. Kildare, but we just do not know where Thomas Odlum settled after 1662; he seems to have been an ordinary trooper, not an officer, and is unlikely to have married into the aristocratic Waller family who did indeed come to Ireland in the early 17th century.
Lord Digby
His three sons are listed as tenants of Lord Digby at Geashill, King’s County, where they rented considerable farms from 1690 onwards.
The eldest of these brothers probably was Richard of Ballyduff because, as his son Thomas was born in 1674, he himself, therefore, would be born circa 1653; his will is dated and proved 1707.
Henry was born in 1661 his tombstone was not visible in 1978 but had been recorded in Irish Memorials for the Dead vol.12, p.265.
Edward dated his will 3rd November 1733 and it was proved 5th June 1735. His death is dated as 1734. He left a young family, his eldest son and heir being only 11. That would make him the youngest of the three.
As well as the evidence in the wills, various deeds of 1772, 1727, 1728 and 1765 show the existence of the three sons. In these documents, the Odlums are already in possession of farms leased from the Digby family, and are renewing leases. In a letter within two years before his death, from Richard Odlum, the son who succeeded Henry above as tenant of Ballymooney, Lord Digby in London is told I have settled my eldest son in Ballaghmooney, where my father and I have lived ever since ye wars of Ireland
In addition to these brothers born in the 1650s and 1660s, there is an entry in the Parish Register of Geashall, of the burial on 8th July 1713 of “Alice Goodwin alias Odlum” i.e. nee Odlum. This Alice it is assumed to be a sister to the three, but she could well be a daughter of any of them.
The Odlums prospered and had large families; in fact, a former rector of Geashall, Canon D R.C. Hillard, said in mid 1970s” it used to be said that one couldn’t spit in the Geashall parish without hitting an Odlum”. Now they have all gone.
There was a certain amount of intermarriage between cousins, second, third or fourth and the Odlums on the whole were fairly clannish.
The Three Odlum Brothers of Geashall
Richard of Ballyduff, (circa1650-1707)
His descendants lived in: Ard, which is the only Articonnor, Westmeath Ballybrittan Castle Ballyduff Ballyteague Ballymorane Kilmurry Rathdrum Tubberleheen
Ard: now the only Odlum house still inhabited by a descendant Ballyteague; site of Odlum’s Bridge over the Grand Canal
Richard’s descendants founded families in: Rathdowney, New Zealand California Lancashire England and Victoria Australia
I: Richard (circa 1650-1707), Ballyduff, Geashill had a son:
II: Digby (1675-1719). Pallas, Maryborough had a son:
III: John (circa 1705-1766), Derrinturn, Co. Kildare, married twice.
IV: (1) A: John of Harristown and Grange, Queen’s County, married in 1756 Elizabeth (died 1807) of Ballycoolad, Queen County. B: Frances Ann married in 1758 Joshua Goodboby (died 1762), Summer Grove (2) married Elizabeth……..2 sons and 5 daughter
The younger son of John and Elizabeth, Humphery (1768-1830) of Kilcock House, Rathdowney, farmed 156 acres and owned a malting business and is described in the 1821 Census as “Gentleman Farmer” with his wife, 8 children and 5 servants, In 1815 came a disaster to farming when prices collapsed after the war with Napoleon, ended at Waterloo. Humphrey’s family disintegrated after his death.
Three of the children went to Lancashire (England) where one was a policeman, one a painter and one a cotton worker. Families of Odlums descended from these still exist in Liverpool, Warrington and Preston.
The children of another son emigrated to the U.S.A. where there was of a family of their descendants in 1930 in San Francisco. A fifth son became a shopkeeper / farmer in Mountmellick, County Laois, and the grand-daughter of the last of the three Odlums’ died about 10 years ago in Dublin.
V: Samuel (1756-….) of Grange, married Lettitia (1761-1828) and had seven children: Arthur (1793-1793), John (died 1803), Elizabeth (born 1801), Thomas (born 1803-circa 1805), John (born 1804) and Thomas (born 1806).
Samuel was a prosperous farmer as were the generations before him. His youngest son, Thomas, was 17 when he joined the 31st Foot on 10th December 1824. In 1846 after 21 years of service he was discharged from the army for medical reasons. In1846-47, during the first Maori war in New Zealand the Governor, Sir George Grey, enrolled the Royal New Zealand Fencibles (or Pensioners) in Great Britain from British soldiers and sailors chosen on the basis of good conduct and physical fitness. They were settled around Auckland. The first Detachment of New Zealand Enrolled Pensioners in the ship Ramillies under Captain Keey, Staff Officer, embarked on 14th April 1847 and landed on 5th August. No. 40 was Thomas Odlum, late of 31st Foot @ 1/= per diem, no family, six and a half weeks later Thomas married Elizabeth Grace Piper at the Wesleyan Native Institute on 20th September 1847.
A listing in Freeholders of New Zealand, 1882 showed some of the descendants of Thomas Odlum and Elizabeth Grace Piper:
John, a labourer in Hamilton, total valuation £200
John Jesse, settler in Auckland, acreage worth £2000
Margaret, Waitemata, 40 acres £20.
By 1854 Thomas was a gardener & freeholder in Ponsonby and later Auckland (1862).
In 1859 when drunk he burned down his own house and was jailed for one-year arson. He died in Colonial Hospital; Auckland, of liver failure on January 26 1863 aged 56, and was buried in Symonds St. Cemetery on 26th January 1863.
Henry of Ballymooney (1661-1728)
His descendants lived in: Anaharvey, Aughnavilla Ballymooney Ballydownan Cloneygowan Croghan Kilcooney
Henry’s descendants had Odlum families in: Birr and Roscrea Ireland, S. Australia, Staffordshire England, Canada, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Edward of Cappincur, (…..-1733) His descendants lived in: Cappicur, S. Kilkeeran Old Connell, Co. Kildare
Edward’s descendants founded families in: Tullamore, Canada, South & West Australia, New SouthWales, St. Lucia, West Indies.
Notes
3. In 1929 Mr. William Odlum of Ardmore, Bray, Co. Wicklow got in touch with Mr. Arthur Allen Odlum of 40 Gripps St. Balmain, N.S.W. Austraila and received a letter in December that year which states:
My father’s father Mr. Odlum was born in Denmark, and his wife was born in Ireland, they lived at Onehuga, New Zealand.
How Denmark came into it is inexplicable Arthur Allen Odlum then gave the above family tree of the descendants of Thomas Odlum and Elizabeth Grace Piper.
The Odlums of Offaly Rev. D. L. Graham
The Odlum Name & Origins
In his Supplement to Irish Names Edward MacLysaght, late Chief Herald of Ireland writes.
Odlum: The older form of this name, Adlum, has been recorded in comparatively recent times in Co. Offaly. This, as Adlem, later Adlam, is on record in England since the twelfth century: it is derived, according to Reany, from the old German Adelem (Noble protector).
As Odlum, it appears in Ireland in the seventeenth century: Thomas Odlum was one of twenty-nine soldiers disbanded from Ormond’s own troop in 1662′. The family settled in King’s County, now Co. Offaly. There are many Odlum wills listed from 1735, the testators up to 1800 being variously decried as farmer and gent and “that entire county”. Three Odlums are in the Earl of Charleville’s King’s County rental of 1763. Later they were found also in Co. Leix, but Griffith’s Valuation of the 1850s and modern voters’ lists confirm that they are definitely of Co. Offaly ever since they first came to Ireland. The name is very well known in the flour milling industry.
I doubt MacLysaght’s derivation of the name for the following reasons.
Before the burning down of the Public Record office in 1922, the late T.U. Sadleir made an abstract of all Adlum and Oldum wills. Copies of those abstracts are now in The National Archives. He found 28 Odlum wills between 1707 and 1845 and only three wills, all in the 1820s, of a family called Adlum in Co. Longford. All the Odlums belong to the King’s County family, and there is no connection between them and the Co. Longford Adlum family (who had a very different set of Christian names).
The Adlums seen to be a Roman Catholic family, while the Odlums were originally all Protestants, and ‘strong’ Protestants, as they say, at that; some of them were members of the Orange order, which had lodges in many places in the South of Ireland: a few favoured Methodism and some, by intermarriage, were Quakers.
The great majority, however, were firm members of the Church of Ireland. There are today, however, many Roman Catholic Odlums, particularly in the U.S.A and Australia. The Catholic records of Tullamore have many Odlum entries. These Catholic Odlums are due to:
Religious Conviction, of which only one certain case is known Intermarriage, and in these cases the Protestant Odlum was probably cut off by and from his family. Straight forward seduction (? or rape) of a Catholic peasant girl by a wealthy member of the Protestant Ascendancy.
The name Adlum and Odlum do get confused, particularly as some Oldums pronounced their name with a very open vowel sound, e.g. Ahdlum; some indeed with a very closed vowel e.g. Awdlum. In the Irish Telephone Directory there is one Adlum entry and 29 Odlum entries; of the 29, one Oldum, to the best of my knowledge, is of Adulm descent; he is Cornelius Odlum of Co. Cork. In the 1770-1772 British Army Lists a King’s Co. Ensign Odlums appears as Adlam the second year but reverts to Odlum in the third year. This is probably due to Adlam being a not uncommon surname in England and Odlum an otherwise unknown one. In the general Registry Office, London, among the Births, Marriages and Deaths which are completely registered from 1837, the 400-500 Odlum entries down to 1980 are all of families originating in Ireland, and the very great majority are known of-shoots of the King’s County Odlum family. Briefly, Odlum is not an English name, and Adlum is probably a corruption of the English Adlam.
For over a century, the Odlum family has believed that they originated with two or three brothers who received grants of land in the 1690s when they were disbanded from William 111’s army. Deeds from the early seventeenth century show three brothers renting good farms from the Digby family, of Geashill Castle, and I suspect that these three are probably sons of the Thomas Odlum, disbanded in 1662. I assume that he got land in King’s County, married and prospered; and whether or not his sons fought at the Boyne and got land as a reward, (as the family tradition is), at least they are well established tenant farmers, when we meet them in documents of eighteenth century.
The other firm family tradition is that they were originally Oldhams from Lancashire; a silver spoon, hall-marked Dublin 1750′ with the Oldham crest, an owl (a pun on the Lancashire pronunciation ‘Ouldham’) has long been in the family possession- but that proves nothing, as it could have bought any time between 1750-and, say, and 1850. On the other hand, the confusion in the original document of Thomas’s disbandment between Odlum and Oldum (A spelling of Oldham found in Lancashire Parish Records), leads me to think that Thomas Oldham/Oldhum found himself, by a slip of somebody’s pen, called Odlum and that having to accept a tenancy and to live in Ireland kept the name Odlum because it was more Irish in sound than the obviously English Oldham; an Englishman working Irish land was not popular. Perhaps, too, his original grant or tenancy was made out in the name of Odlum, and it would have been risky to query the name.
What is certain is that 1662 is the date of the first occurrence of the name Odlum. The name, either for a place or for a family, has not been found in any other European country; search has been made in Holland and the Scandinavian countries.
Notes
1: In one place the name is spelt Oldum, presumably a mistranscription.
2: Records in the Friends Library in Eustace St., Dublin; of Burials in Friends cemeteries at Tinneal, Rosenallis and at Ballymurray, Roscommon. See also the first page of chapter 8 of Never No More by Maura Laverty; London, 1942.
3: I suspect that, in the Penal Days and later, (18th and early 19th century) there was a considerable amount of this. Compare, with due allowances for different circumstances, the relation in the Southern States of America between owners of plantations and their slaves. (b) & (C) above mainly account for a very large number of the Irish Catholic families with obviously un-Irish names.
Date of Arrival in Offaly of the Odlums
The N. Ireland P.R.O. holds an Exchequer Bill of 1735, which concerns a dispute over a lease taken by a Digby Odlum, a son of Richard Ballyduff, in 1708 of the farm of Pallas and Lahardan, some 200 acres, near Marybrough, Queen’s County (Laois). This Digby died intestate, 16th August 1719, leaving six children, all minors. The youngest was still a minor in 1735, although the three girls were all married. In order to take out the lease, he must have been at least 21 in 1708 (Probably setting up on his own on order to be married).
Thomas Odlum, 1662
We assume, without any proof, that Thomas Odlum of 1662 is father of the three brothers. As a trooper under Ormonde, the Lord Lieutenant, Thomas is likely to have been an Englishman and one of twenty-nine soldiers disbanded from Ormond’s own troop. The fact that he chose to stay in Ireland leads us to think that he had married an Irish wife. The only information I can find, is a copy of a letter written to Mrs. W.H. Odlum of Ardmore, from Ambala, India by Lt. Col. W.H. Odlum, I.M.S. (1871-1920), dated 31 August 1913.
John Odlum of Ballyduff (1871-1954) told me that the Odlums all hailed from Kildare and I believe that there was originally only one family. This man, my father told me, came over with Cromwell and married an Irish girl named Waller….. The Odlums, I am sorry to say, were a very clever family, but as a rule got to fond of the bottle and lost all energy and ambition.
Comment: The Ballyduff branch was indeed the nearest to Co. Kildare and the original Richard did marry, as her second husband and his second wife, a Mrs. Sale of Coolcor, Co. Kildare, but we just do not know where Thomas Odlum settled after 1662; he seems to have been an ordinary trooper, not an officer, and is unlikely to have married into aristocratic Waller family who did indeed come to Ireland in the early 17th century who came over with Cromwell, but he was in Ormonde’s Troop. Doughtless some Odlums tippled freely, but most did not, and as I survey the Odlums of the last three centuries, I see a good genetic heritage of intellect. Very clever is a fair description.
His three sons are first as tenants of Lord Digby at Geashill, King’s County, where they rented considerable farms from 1690 onwards.
The eldest of these brothers probably was Richard of Ballyduff because, as his son Thomas was born in 1674 (T.G.), he himself, therefore, would be born circa 1653; his will is dated and proved 1707.
Henry was born in 1661 (T.G) this tombstone was not visible in 1978 but had been recorded in Irish Memorials for the Dead (vol.12, p.265).
Edward dated his will 3rd November 1733 and it was proved 5th June 1735. I have dated his death as 1734. He left a young family, his eldest son and heir being only 11, so that I consider him to be the youngest of the three.
As well as the evidence in the wills, various deeds of 1772, 1727, 1728 and 1765 show the existence of the three sons. In these documents, the Odlums are already in possession of farms leased from the Digby family, and are renewing leases. In a letter within two years of his death, from Richard Odlum, the son who succeeded Henry above as tenant of Ballymooney, Lord Digby in London is told.
I have settled my eldest son in Ballaghmooney, where my father and I have lived ever since ye wars of Ireland.
In addition to these brothers born in the 1650s and 1660s, there is an entry in the Parish Register of Geashall, (PR G) of the burial on 8th July 1713 of “Alice Goodwin alias Odlum” (i.e. nee Odlum). This Alice I assume to be a sister to the three, but she could well be a daughter of any of them.
The Three Odlum Brothers of Geashall
Richard of Ballyduff, (circa1650-1707)
His descendants lived in: Ard, which is the only Articonnor, Westmeath
Ballybrittan Castle Ballyduff Ballyteague Ballymorane Kilmurry Rathdrum Tubberleheen
Ard: now the only Odlum house still inhabited by a descendant Ballyteague; site of Odlum’s Bridge over the Grand Canal
Richard’s descendants founded families in: Rathdowney, New Zealand California Lancashire
Victoria
I: Richard (circa 1650-1707), Ballyduff, Geashill had a son:
II: Digby (1675-1719). Pallas, Maryborough had a son:
III: John (circa 1705-1766), Derrinturn, Co. Kildare, married twice.
IV: (1) A: John of Harristown and Grange, Queen’s County, married in 1756 Elizabeth (died 1807) of Ballycoolad, Queen County. B: Frances Ann married in 1758 Joshua Goodboby (died 1762). Summer Grove (2) married Elizabeth……..2 sons and 5 daughters
The younger son of John and Elizabeth, Humphery (1768-1830) of Kilcock House, Rathdowney, farmed 156 acres and owned a malting business and is described in the 1821 Census as “Gentleman Farmer” with his wife, 8 children and 5 servants, In 1815 came a disaster to farming when prices collapsed after the war with Napoleon, ended at Waterloo. Humphrey’s family disintegrated after his death.
Three of the children went to Lancashire (England) where one was a policeman, one a painter and one a cotton worker. Families of Odlums descended from these still exist in Liverpool, Warrington and Preston.
The children of another son emigrated to the U.S.A. where there was of a family of their descendants in 1930 in San Francisco. A fifth son became a shopkeeper / farmer in Mountmellick, County Laois, and the grand-daughter of the last of the three Odlums’ died three or four years ago in Dublin.
V: Samuel (1756-….) of Grange, married Lettitia (1761-1828) and had seven children: Arthur (1793-1793), John (died 1803), Elizabeth (born 1801), Thomas (born 1803-circa 1805), John (born 1804) and Thomas (born 1806).
Samuel was a prosperous farmer as were the generations before him. His youngest son, Thomas, was 17 when he joined the 31st Foot on 10th December 1824. In 1846 after 21 years of service he was discharged from the army for medical reasons. In1846-47, during the first Maori war in New Zealand the Governor, Sir George Grey, enrolled the Royal New Zealand Fencibles (or Pensioners) in Great Britain from British soldiers and sailors chosen on the basis of good conduct and physical fitness. They were settled around Auckland. The first Detachment of New Zealand Enrolled Pensioners in the ship Ramillies under Captain Keey, Staff Officer, embarked on 14th April 1847 and landed on 5th August. No. 40 was Thomas Odlum, late of 31st Foot @ 1/= per diem, no family, six and a half weeks later Thomas married Elizabeth Grace Piper at the Wesleyan Native Institute on 20th September 1847.
A listing in Freeholders of New Zealand, 1882 showed some of the descendants of Thomas Odlum and Elizabeth Grace Piper:
John, a labourer in Hamilton, total valuation £200
John Jesse, settler in Auckland, acreage worth £2000
Margaret, Waitemata, 40 acres £20.
By 1854 Thomas was a gardener & freeholder in Ponsonby and later Auckland (1862).
In 1859 when drunk he burned down his own house and was jailed for one-year arson. He died in Colonial Hospital Auckland, of liver failure on January 26 1863 aged 56, and was buried in Symonds St. Cemetery on 26th January 1863.
Henry of Ballymooney (1661-1728)
His descendants lived in: Anaharvey, Aughnavilla Ballymooney Ballydownan Cloneygowan
Croghan Kilcooney
Henry’s descendants had Odlum families in: Birr and Roscrea S. Australia Staffordshire Canada
Connecticut, U.S.A.
Edward of Cappincur, (…..-1733)
His descendants lived in: Cappicur S. Kilkeeran Old Connell, Co. Kildare
Edward’s descendants founded families in: Tullamore Canada South Australia New SouthWales
St. Lucia, West Indies West Austraila
The Odlums prospered and had large families; in fact, the recent rector of Geashall, Canon D.R.C. Hillard, said in mid 1970s it used to be said that one couldn’t spit in the Geashall parish without hitting an Odlum, and now there is only one Odlum left. He too has gone since then.
There was a certain amount of intermarriage between cousins, (second, third or fourth) and the Odlums on the whole were fairly clannish.
Notes
1. The will of Humphrey Odlum of Kilcock House is in the Public Record Office.
2. From a publication of the Armorial and Genealogical Institute of New Zealand.
3. In 1929 Mr. William Odlum of Ardmore, Bray, Co. Wicklow got in touch with Mr. Arthur Allen Odlum of 40 Gripps St. Balmain, N.S.W. Austraila and received a letter in December that year which states: My father’s father Mr. Odlum was born in Denmark, and his wife was born in Ireland, they lived at Onehuga, New Zealand.
How Denmark came into it is inexplicable Arthur Allen Odlum then gave the above family tree of the descendants of Thomas Odlum and Elizabeth Grace Piper.
Today Odlums continues to produce premium flour products for traditional home bakers, novice cooks and retailers nationwide.
Odlums has been an integral part of Irish baking and cooking for generations. Consumers instantly recognise the brand’s distinctive cream packaging and famous Owl logo. As a core ingredient in baking, the brand’s Cream plain flour and self-raising flour are sure to be found in kitchen cupboards throughout the country. Catherine Leyden, Odlums resident Home Baking expert, has been providing consumers with simple, easy to follow recipes for over 30 years and has helped to make home baking a fun and enjoyable task for all ages.
FLOUR MILLING
The Odlum’s in Ireland seem to have been mainly farming stock throughout the 18th. Century and are listed as either tenant farmers or yeomen. The19th. Century saw the family diversify into flour milling, with 4 Odlum brothers from the same family going into the business
1924 saw the first advertising of flour with the top prize going to the Odlum group for its advertisement.
In 1934 Sean Lemass performed the opening ceremony at the National Flour Mills in Cork for the Odlum Group
Cork Mill
Johnston Mooney & O’Brien Mill Dublin
Having taken over the Johnston Mooney & O’Brien Mill in Dublin it suffered a dust explosion in 1961 the damage to the building was so bad that it never reopened
Odlum’s has been milling and packing flour in Ireland for over 160 years. The business was originally established by the Odlum family in 1845 when they opened their first flour mill in Portlaoise.
Michael 1802-1871 who ran his own mill in Kilmallogue, King’s County on the River Barrow from 1827-1852.
William 1817-1881 the first of the Odlums in a dynasty that was to become the biggest name in flour milling in Ireland
Richard 1819-1889 and Michael George 1821-1876 were initially partners in a flour mill in Clara.
The second generation of William’s 2 sons then followed: William 1843-1922 and Richard E. 1845-1924 developed and expanded the business.
The third generation saw 6 members of the family working in the business; 2 of William’s sons and 5 of Richard’s, Algernon 1886-1953, Claude William 1884-1979, William 1878-1950, Frank 1879-1916, Digby 1882-1955, Richard 1883-1961 and Arthur 1884-1959
The fourth generation witnessed the advent of competition and a gradual rationalisation of the business with 7 members taking part during this period: Peter P.D 1915-1983, Norman 1919-2007, Kenneth 1915-1980, Cyril 1918-1997, Douglas 1911-1992, Richard 1922-2002 and Loftus
The fifth and current generation saw the sale and transfer of the business from family owned business into a plc. The ownership was completed in 1991.
Philip, Stephen, Timothy and Nigel were the last of the family that worked in the business.
Having taken over the Johnston Mooney & O’Brien Mill in Dublin it suffered a dust explosion in 196, the damage was so severe that the mill never reopened.
Other Mills included Maryboro (Portlaoise) built 1865 rebuilt in 1911 after a fire.
Portarlington built 1880
St Mullins Kilkenny
Leinster Mills Naas Co Kildare
Sallins Mill Co Kildare.
Grain mills, for the grinding of cereals into meal and flour, are the earliest and most prevalent type of mill in Ireland. Although mills first appeared in Ireland during the Early Christian period 500-1000AD, the vast majority originated in the 1700s and 1800s when cereal growing particularly oats and wheat was at a peak throughout the country. At one stage Ireland had over 2,500 individual single stone mills in operation. Many were owned by the landed gentry where tenant farmers were forced to use the estate mill for flour production.
Recently a total of 89 grain mills or former mill sites were identified in Co Laois. At 88 sites of the identified mills, 78 were powered by water 88%. The rest relied on wind i.e. windmills. Such a high percentage is not surprising, given that most were built alongside running water (rivers) before reliable engines became readily available.
Water Mill
Wind Mill
Compared with wind power, water is reasonably reliable at all times of the year, and is also storable (in millponds) and relatively easy to control (by means of sluice gates). Its only drawback is its susceptibility to freeze in winter, and backwatering. The latter occurs at times of high water when the river causes the tailrace level to rise, thus impeding the rotation of the waterwheel. Barrow (005-035) and Eglish Mill, on a tributary of the Erkina River (027-019), were both prone to backwatering. The distribution of the county’s watermills shows that all but the county’s smallest watercourses were harnessed (fig 2.2).
They are fairly evenly distributed along the foothills of Slieve Bloom and the Castlecomer Plateau, and on the lower ground in the catchments of the Nore and Barrow Rivers. There are evident concentrations on the Owenass River around Mountmellick, on the Triogue at Portlaoise, at Mountrath, and along the Stradbally River.
Given the Odlum family interest in land as farmers, one farm they owned was in Coolnacrease in County Offaly which they eventually sold on the open market. This farm was bought by the Pearson family much to the objection of the locals. The Pearsons were a strong religious family and good neighbours but during gthe troubles of 1922 the local IRA shot a number of the male Pearsons. Eventually the family abandoned the land and emigrated to Australia.
FAILURES
One major failure which still haunts the Odlum family is Euro Glass. This was a factory set up in the 1970’s to manufacture fibre matting in Newbridge Co. Kildare in which the Odlum family invested heavily. This investment turned out to be a monumental disaster and tghe business failed after three years. The location is now the site of the Newbridge Cutlery Company Newbridge Co Kildare.
Odlum Oatmeal Mill Sallins Co Kildare – This mill I understand was part funded by the English Army in order that they would have a continuous supply of ‘Oatmeal’ for the English troops.
Twenty-six jobs are to go in Co Kildare with the closure of the Odlums milling and packaging plant in Sallins. (2008)
Union officials have been told that the packaging operation will close within six months while the milling will cease within a year and a half.
SIPTU has blamed the closures on the decision by Odlums owners, Origin Enterprises, to sell off its McCann’s cereal brand name in the United States and has been told by the company that the decision was made because of the weakening dollar.
Leinster Mill Naas Co Kildare – This Mill I understand was the sole supplier of ‘Flour’ to the Jacob’s Biscuit Factory in Dublin.
Members of the Odlum family who were Presidents of the Irish Flour Miller’s Association
Algernon A. Odlum 1921/2 1934 1941 1953/4
Peter D Odlum 1961/2 1976/8
Claud A. William Odlum 1978/9 1981/2
N. D Odlum 1987/9
Books
‘that could never be’ A Memoir by Kevin Dalton from RCB Library Dublin December 2012 January 2013 published by The Columba Press Dublin
Irish Flour Milling A History 600-2000 Published by The Lilliput Press Dublin. Edited by Andy Bielenberg from Bray Library December 2012 January 2013
Irish economic and social history: Volumes 31-32; Volumes 31-32 books.google.com Economic and Social History Society of Ireland, Economic and Social History Society ofIreland – 2004 – Snippet view
TABLE 1 EXAMPLES OF SOME SECTORS WITH NUMEROUS RECORDS Industry/Sector Archive Companies Retailing Grain Milling Food manufacturers Hospitals NAI PRONI NAI Arnotts, Switzers, McBirneys, Pim Brothers Odlum’s, Ranks Ireland.
Irish economic and social history: Volumes 31-32; Volumes 31-32 books.google.com
Economic and Social History Society of Ireland, Economic and Social History Society of Ireland – 2004 –
TABLE 1 EXAMPLES OF SOME SECTORS WITH NUMEROUS RECORDS Industry/Sector Archive Companies Retailing Grain Milling Food manufacturers Hospitals NAI PRONI NAI Arnotts, Switzers, McBirneys, Pim Brothers Odlum’s, Ranks Ireland.
Reports of cases argued and determined in the Court of Exchequer. – Page 170 books.google.com
Ireland Court of Exchequer, Thomas Jones – 1838 – Full view
Joy, CB In this case the question, which arises upon the will of John Brereton, is whether the estate of Mrs. Odlum is exclusively liable for the payment of a mortgage debt, which rides over her landed property as well as that of her …
The Grand Canal of Ireland books.google.com D Ruth Delany – 1973 – 255 pages – Snippet view
Odlum’s, millers in Portarlington, said that they had been offered a freight of 4s per ton with a railway … The freight by water was 5 s $d z6p per ton and the board told Odlum’s that itwould not be possible to lower this.
The socketed bronze axes in Ireland: Part 9, Volume 22 – Page 90 books.google.com George Eogan – 2000 – 362 pages – Preview
Mus. of Ireland 1931:332 [formerly in the coll. of Miss Helen Mary Odlum, Cloneyquinn, Portarlington, Co. Laois]. — Rept. NMI 1931-32, 13. 689. Baltimore, Co. Cork. — Found in a small bog at Rath Hill, Baltimore in Jun. 1940,
From an Irish Market Town – Page 29 books.google.com Joe Rogers – 2011 – 314 pages – Preview
The principle industries of the area, apart from agriculture, were flour milling by Odlum’s Mills and the manufacture of cloth by the Irish Worsted Mills. There was a market in the town on Thursdays and fairs were held on January 1st, …
WILLS & LEGAL
Obituary: H. B Murray, W. H. Odlum, T. L. Sweetmam. Citation: The Dublin journal of medical science, Vol. CXLIX, p. 500, December, 1920 Format: Journal Article Published: December, 1920 Subjects: Murray, Henry Buchanan Odlum, William Henry Sweetman, Tomas Long At the NLI: Call number: Ir 6105 d 6 See Main Catalogue entry for The Dublin journal of medical science.
Copy of confirmation of arms to the descendants of William Odlum of Clonygowan in King’s Co. and to his grandson, William Henry Odlum of Ardmore, Bray, Co. Wicklow, only son of Michael George Odlum, Dec. 15, 1928. Format: Manuscript Subjects: Odlum, Michael George Odlum, William Odlum, William Henry Clonygowan County Offaly Ardmore, Bray County Wicklow Offaly Location Dublin: National Library of Ireland, Genealogical Office: Ms.111c. fol.111
Papers in the Chancery case, 1900, of Odlum v. Odlum, relating to the estate of Edward Odlum deceased, especially in Cloneyquin, Offaly. Format: Manuscript Subjects: Odlum, family of Odlum, Edward Estates Manuscripts Dublin 1900 1900 Offaly, County Estates Cloneyquin Ireland Offaly Location Dublin: Public Record Office, M. 5715 1-8
Copy of lease by Samuel Lucan, of Estcourt, Co. Offaly to Richard Odlum of lands in Ballymurrin, Co. Offaly, June 9, 1745. Format: Manuscript Subjects: Lucan, Samuel Odlum, Richard 1745-06 1745: June Ballymurrin Estcourt Ireland Offaly Location Dublin: National Library of Ireland, D 18,657
Settlement on the intermarriage of Thomas Mangan of Piercetown, Co. Kildare and Elizabeth Odlum of Old Connell, Co. Kildare, Nov. 27, 1781. Format: Manuscript Subjects: Mangan, Thomas Odlum, Elizabeth 1781-11 1781: November Old Connell Piercetown Ireland Kildare Location Dublin: National Library of Ireland, D 9790
Genealogical abstracts relating to the Odlum family of Co. Offaly, 18th and 19th c. Format: Manuscript Subjects: Odlum, family of Estates Manuscripts Dublin Offaly, County Estates Offaly Location Dublin: Public Record Office, T. 10,993
Papers relating to the Leinster Mills, Co. Kildare, the property of Messrs Odlum and Pemberton, c. 1896. Format: Manuscript Subjects: Leinster Mills Odlum and Pemberton > Messrs. Mills and Millers Mills Manuscripts Dublin 1896 1896 Location Dublin: Public Record Office, Hoey and Denning, parcel 38
A Dictionary of British Names by P H Renee published by Routledge & Keegan Paul London 1968 Edition
Edward Odlum 2nd Generation wrote in his will the following: To Henry my farm provided that he does not marry a papist, otherwise the farm goes to his second son and Henry would get 1 pound. Will not dated
Richard Odlum 2nd son of Thomas. His will states: a bequest to his wife Mary my dwelling house etc. Also my two farms during her natural life dated 30th June 1707.
The will of Humphrey Odlum of Kilcock House is in the Public Record Office.
Digby Odlum 3 the PRONI hold a Exchequer Bill of 1735, which concerns a dispute over a lease taken out by Digby a son of Richard of Ballyduff, in 1708 on a farm in Pallas & Lahardan near Maryborough
Records in the Friends Library in Eustace St., Dublin; of Burials in Friends cemeteries at Tinneal, Rosenallis and at Ballymurray, Roscommon.
Wills in PRONI Belfast
Title: Mr Date of Death: 29 May 1928
Surname: Odlum Date of Grant: 30 May 1929
Forename: Richard William Reseal Date:
Registry: Belfast Effects: Effects £107 4s 0d
Full Abstract: Odlum Richard William of Rostrevor county Down gentleman died 29 May 1928 at Trevor Hill Nursing Home Newry Probate Belfast 30 May to Emily Margaret Drought married woman. Effects £107 4s.
Title: Mr Date of Death: 16 June 1929
Surname: Odlum Date of Grant: 11 October 1930
Forename: William Reseal Date: 7 January 1930
Registry: Belfast Effects: Effects £109 10s 0d
Full Abstract: Odlum William of Mountrath Queens County I.F.S. died 16 June 1929 at Adelaide Hospital Dublin Administration London 11 October 1929 to Ellie Wilhelmina Odlum the widow. Effects in Northern Ireland £109 10s. Re-sealed Belfast 7 January.
Odlum Memorials & Grants
William Odlum Canal Co Sweetmont Lane Naas 1919 No of File 54 Memorial No161
Fanny Odlum a grantee of lands in Clonghill Barony for Ballybrit 1918 No 43 Mem 127 from James Murray
Thomas Odlum of Moneygall barony of Clonlisk a release from Roberta Hodgins of Monegall 1916 no 10 Mem 213
William P Odlum Grantor to Patrick Lawless of Geashill 1917 19 278
Co Offaly
Richard Odlum a grantee of Mary Harvey of Maryboro 1913 58 176
William P Odlum a grantee of Des Voeuss Sir Charles of Derrycush barony of Portnahinch 1911 95 98
William P Odlum Grantor to Algernon A Odlum of Kilnacourt 1912 8 215
William H Odlum Grantor of Townparks Mountmellick
William H Odlum Grantor of town parks to Percy La Touche 191023 100
William H Odlum Town parks 2222 1910 111 n210
Copies of the following Wills/Probate were provided by Maria Dillon of J D Scanlon & Co Solicitors of Tullamore Offaly:
1, 2nd Jun 1981 Probate Will of Rachel Muriel Odlum of St Vincent’s House Mountmellick Co Laois. Will dated 25th July 1978. Date of Death 15th March 1981.
2, 15th December 1934 Wll/Probate Marion (in will Mary Anne) Odlum of Kilcooney Portarlington Co Offaly widow. Date of Death 11th April 1934. Residence Annes Place Mullingar Co Westmeath.
3, 9th March 1929 Probate of the estate of Elizabeth Odlum late of Ballyteague Ballycommon Co Offaly widow. Date of Death 18th January 1929 in Ballyteague. Granted to her son Albert H Odlum of Ballyteague (a farmer).
4, 12th January 1921 Will/Probate of Henry Odlum of Ballyteague Ballycommon Co Offaly Date of Death 1st September 1920. To be administered by his son Albert H Odlum of Ballyteague.
5, 6th April 1888, Indenture. Assignment of Lease between Mary Rowley of Whitefields Portarlington Co Laois a widow and William Perry Odlum and Richard E Odlum both of Portarlington
6, 24th August 1885. Indenture between James Brophy of Edenderry Co Offaly and William Odlum of Portarlington Co Laois.
The Boers declared war on 12 October 1899 and invaded Natal and the Cape Colony.
On the 20 October the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers took part in the first major battle of the war at Talana Hill when the Boers fired a few artillery shells into the town of Dundee from the hill. The Battalion charged the hill and removed the enemy after some fierce fighting. However, the British withdrew from Dundee to the garrison town of Ladysmith shortly after, only to be followed by the Boer Army. On the 29th /30th October the Dublin Fusiliers were involved in the fighting about Ladysmith at Pepworth Hill and Lombard’s Kop. They actively took part in the efforts to lift the Siege of Ladysmith, which lasted from 30 October 1899 to 28 February 1900.
Mabel Samon’s mother Mary Odlum nee Boer of Utrecth Netherlands father Digby Odlum
“The information provided on the Odlum family is based primarily on the work of 3 individuals.
W.H. Odlum 1862-1934 was the first to start the research in the early years of the 20th Century. This work was continued by his son, Captain Julian Odlum 1886- 1973 who started his research in the 1920’s and the main proponent, Rev. Douglas Graham 1909-1991, who worked on the project for more than 25 years from 1960 to the mid 1980’s.
The work has been carried on by Stephen Odlum, in a rather desultory fashion for a decade but in particular, by Brenda Dailey in the US who has compiled a database of Odlums around the world and is the current expert on matters relating to Odlum genealogy.
This account is based on the research by his forebears and is as accurate as the information that they were able to extract from the records available to them. Fortunately this work commenced before that great event that has been the scourge of research into family records in Ireland – the attack and subsequent burning of the Four Courts building in Dublin in 1922 during the Irish Civil War.
It is interesting to note that despite being originally immigrants to Ireland, there is a remarkable diaspora of Odlum’s around the world who can trace their origin to the original Thomas Odlum and his 3 sons, Richard, Henry and Edward
There are thriving branches of the Odlum family in Ireland, UK, USA, Canada, Australia and in New Zealand ”
Author’s Notes: My grateful thanks to Stephen Odlum & Brendan Daly of the USA for allowing me access to their research on the Odlum family.
Thanks also goes to the staff at the RCB Library Dublin.
Phyllis Davies of Bermingham whose father was an employee along with my late father (Billy Stewart) in the Leinster Mill in Naas Co Kildare.
Andrew Wallace of Abbeyleix who worked in Sallins, Dublin Port & Portarlington Mills.
Mabel Samon’s whose mother was Mary Odlum nee Boer of Utrecth Netherlands father Digby Odlum
Details confirmed in an interview with Mabel Samson of Edenderry Co Offaly 22nd January 2013. Mabel’s mother wasa Mary Odlum nee Valentine who was married to Digby Odlum. Mary’s mothers name was Boe whose family originated in Utrect in the Netherlands and they had connections with South Africa.
Thomas Billis Beach 1841-1894. He infiltrated the Irish Revolutionary movement in North america for a quarter of a century under the name of Henri Le Caron and was known in Canada, America and British Intelligence Services by a series of aliases that included, Informant B. Thomas McKay, and Dr Howard. Braidwood Illinois, a small mining community on the outskirts of Chicago. Irish Nationalist John Devoy grudgingly called his “The Champion Spy of the Century”. Henri Le Caron kept the information flowing to the three governments on the activities of the Fenian movement in America who wanted to annex Canada abd then use this as a bargaining tool with the British on the basis that if they left Ireland they would get Canada back, a similar situation was being mooted in Australia, neither of which came to anything.