Merville House

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (April 2008)

This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This article may not meet the general notability guideline or one of the following specific guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand or rewrite the article to establish its notability. The best way to address this concern is to reference published, third-party sources about the subject. If notability cannot be established, the article is more likely to be considered for redirection, merge or ultimately deletion, per Wikipedia:Guide to deletion. This article has been tagged since April 2008.

The grand Manor House on the outskirts of Belfast, Merville was constructed circa. 1799 and was for many years a gentleman’s residence set in some 30 acres of parkland on an elevated site overlooking Belfast Lough. A small village adjoined, but it was not until the 1950's that the area began to be developed into the thriving suburbia it is now. In the 1940's the grounds of the house were used to create Merville Garden Village, a pleasant housing development with Merville House as the centre piece. The area has since been awarded conservation area status and the house itself, after suffering from lack of repair, has recently undergone a reported £1,000,000 renovation and is now an important part of local community life.

[edit] Previous residents of Merville House include:

Pre 1855; Major John Rowan, the eldest brother of Sir Charles Rowan KCB (1783-1852), the joint founding Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police.

1855 to 1887; Sir Edward Coey, politician, philanthropist and owner of Coey & Co. Ltd, Bacon and Ham Curers. The house was said to have been greatly enhanced during Sir Edward Coey’s ownership. Mr Coey was clearly a talented entrepreneur as he had many business interests throughout his career which included footwear sales and property investment. In 1861 Sir Edward Coey also made history by serving as Belfast's first and only Liberal Lord Mayor. In 2006 the Ulster History Circle erected a blue plaque on the wall of the house in recognition of Mr Coey's charity work.

1887 to 1920’s, the house is believed to have been owned by the Coey family at least until the late 1890’s and possibly beyond.

1920's and 1930's; Fred C Robinson, formally of Greenwood House, east Belfast. Akin with Sir Edward Coey, Fred C.Robinson was also a very successful Bacon and Ham curer with premises in Belfast's York Street. The family firm Fred C. Robinson Ltd[1] was established in 1905 and is still in existence today in nearby Ballyclare having changed hands in the 1980’s. The Robinson family moved back to east Belfast following the death of Mr Robinson soon before WW2. The last surviving member of the Robinson family to have lived at Merville is Fred C. Robinson’s youngest daughter Joan who has lovely memories of how the house and gardens used to look as a family home. Since the recent refurbishment, one of the first floor rooms of the house has been named after the Robinson's.

During the second world war the house and grounds were used as part of the "war effort".

[edit] From country house and village to suburbia and commerce

The landscape around Merviile House has changed dramatically since WW2. Part of the Newtownabbey Borough, besides being a popular residential area a major retail complex and sports centre are adjacent. At the time of its construction, the nearby Rathcoole housing estate was said to be one of the largest projects of its type in Europe.