All I know is that Benvarden was bought by Hugh Montgomery in 1797..Montgomeries still live there! "On the death of John Macnaghten, in 1761 who left no children the Benvarden property was sold...." but not bought by Hugh Montgomery until 1797!! The land was originally leased in 1636 to Daniel MacNaghten by Lord Antrim . A descendant,.. John MacNaghten was hanged in 1761 for shooting wealthy heiress Mary Anne Knox of Prehen while trying to abduct her. At his execution the rope broke, in a vain attempt to avoid being forever remembered as ‘Half-hanged MacNaghten’, he climbed the scaffold for a second attempt but the nickname stuck... http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AS18750529.2.21&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-- has the hanging etc... John, married a Miss M'Manus, and died when his son, also named John was only about six years of age. This boy when at school in Dublin became addicted to gambling, which finally led to his ruin ; he was compelled to sell a part of his estate and mortgage the remainder. After the death of his wife he induced Miss Knox, of Prehen, an heiress in her own right, to read over with him the marriage ceremony and then claimed her as his wife. Mr. Knox was removing his daughter to Dublin on the 10th of November, 1760, when Macnaghten accompanied by a servant and two tenants attacked the carriage near Strabane, for the purpose, as he alleged, of rescuing his wife. Several shots were fired on both sides, when Macnagten who was wounded rushed forward, and firing at Mr. Knox, accidently killed Mrs. Knox. Two hours after the murder Macnaughten was taken, and his unfortunate tenant, and associate in crime, Dunlap, was caught in a house in Ballyboggy, near Benvarden, but the others escaped. The both were executed at Lifford. On the death of John Macnaghten, who left no children the Benvarden property was sold....but who sold it to Hugh M????? The Macnaghtens of Dunderave, descend from Edmond of Beardiville (the uncle of the last John of Benvardin); he was born in 1679, and lived to the age of 102. The Macnaghtens of Scotland elected his eldest son, Edmond Alexander, of Beardiville, and his heirs to the chieftanship of their clan, and the patent conferring this dignity was registered A.D. 1832, in the Heralds Office. On the death of Edmund Alexander in 1832, the estates passed to his brother, Sir Francis Workman, who, in 1809, received the honour of knighthood, on being appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature of Madras, and was created a baronet in 1836. He married in 1787, the daughter of Sir William Dunkin, of Clogher, near Bushmills, sometime a Judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Calcutta. The honours conferred on Sir Francis Workman Macnaughten have descended through his son to his grandson, the third and present baronet. On 01/01/2012 08:00, scotch-irish-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > Re: [S-I] The Montgomerys of 1718 > To:scotch-irish@rootsweb.com > Message-ID:<509DC7F9-C3A8-4A80-85D7-99206234CDEE@eircom.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed > > Hugh d, 1832 was the Montgomery who was known as "Split-fig > Montgomery". I'd like to know if he bought Benvarden from Cassandra > McNaghten Hardy, daughter of the famous "half-hanged McNaghten" or if > Cassandra had to sell and then Montgomery bought it from the > intermediary. Do you know the date he bought Benvarden? the Hardys > were in financial difficulties in 1791 > > Linde L >

Yes, sources say he had no children, but I think Cassandra was his daughter; perhaps illegitimate, or perhaps not? His wife is said to have met her death by a shock (of creditors who attacked him as he came into his own house) when she was pregnant, and I suppose it is possible that she went into premature labour and the baby survived to become Cassandra Hardy; who seems to have inherited , or at least was definitely living in Benvarden in the 1790s. Whether it was she and her husband who benefited from the sale or whether it all or mostly went to pay off John's creditors I don't know. Some sources talk about McNaghten jesting about an old prophecy about the downfall of the family, and perhaps or possibly that is why he would have named his daughter Cassandra, which is a very uncommon name If you are interested in the Donegal Montgomerys, Helen Meehan is an expert on them