They had the following children:

Following are some gathered notes on Frances Cosbie:

Francis Cosby was killed, with Sir Peter Carew and many others, by the Irish, then in revolt, at Glenmalure, in 1580, he being then over 70 years of age. He left three sons: Henry, who died in England; Arnold, executed in 1590, for having killed Lord Bourke of Castleconnell; and Alexander, who succeeded his father. This Alexander married Dorcas Sydney, a relative of Sir Henry Sydney, Lord Deputy, and had by her Francis and Richard. Francis married Helena Harpole of Shrule, by whom he had a son, William, who died young; when Richard succeeded to the estate, and became leader of the kernes.(Hardiman's Irish Minstrelsy, II., 164.)

At the year 1596, the Four Masters relate the following:-
"Owny, son of Rory Oge, son of Rury Caech, son of Connell O'More, was at this time a gentleman (skilled) in the arts of war; and Leix was totally ravaged by him, both its crops, corn, and dwellings, so that there was nothing in the territory outside the lock of a gate, or a bawn, which was not in his power. He slew a gentleman of the English, who was (seated) at Stradbally-Leix, who possessed a large portion of the territory by authority of the sovereign, namely (Alexander) Cosby, the son of Master Franns." Mr. Hardiman has given the following account of the conflict between Owney O'More and the Cosbys at the bridge of Stradbally, from an original MS., which belonged to the late Admiral Cosby:- " In the year 1596, Owney MacRory O'More, chieftain of Leix, demanded a passage for his men over Stradbally bridge, and the request, being considered as a formal challenge to fight, was refused. On the 19th of May, Cosby, hearing that the O'Mores were on the march, headed his kerne, and proceeded to defend the bridge, taking with him his eldest son, Francis, who was married a year before to Helena Harpole of Shrule, by whom he had a son, William, born but nine weeks before this fatal battle of the bridge. Dorcas Sydney (for she would never allow herself to be called Cosby), and her daughter-in-law, placed themselves at a window of the abbey to see the fight, and for some time beheld their husbands bravely maintaining their ground. At length Alexander Cosby, as he was pressing forward, was shot, and dropped down dead. Upon this his kerne, with melancholy outcries, began to give way; and Francis Cosby, the son, apprehensive of being abandoned, endeavoured to save himself by leaping over the bridge, but the moment he cleared the battlements he also was shot, and fell dead into the river."

An Inquisition taken at Maryborough, the 17th August, 1596, finds that Francis Cosby, late of Stradbally, was seized in fee of the site, circuit, etc., of the Monastery of Stradbally, with a water-mill in the same town, and 1380 acres of land in the townland of Stradbally, Ballynowlane, Kilroury, Ballyreder, Loughell-park, Ballycolman, Ballymadok, Kilmarten, le Graunge, Garrymadok, Cloneveok, Ballyvicar, Kylmogho, Moyanagh, Corryell, Rathcrehin, Cloduff, Noghwale, Ballaghmor, Shenemollan,- 15 acres belonging to Edward Brereton excepted,- and Ballymacmanus, and the Castle of Dirrybrock, all which are held of the present Queen, in capite, by military service. The aforesaid Francis was slain by the rebels, and died after his father Alexander, who was likewise slain at Stradbally, the 19th of May, 1596. William Cosby is the son and heir of the said Francis, and the aforesaid William was aged 9 weeks at the time of the death of the aforesaid Francis. Dorcas Cosby, alias Sydney, was widow of the said Alexander Cosby; and Helen Hartpole, alias Cosby, was widow of the said Francis Cosby.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Francis <mailto:darby@nemr.net>
To: Jim Bowman <mailto:jlbowman@bellsouth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 10:22 AM
Subject: Re: Descendants of Mary Cosby (1761-1851), daughter of SamuelCosby, Jr. and Elizabeth Faure / Ford

Jim,

Thanks for your lengthy descendancy report. We are, in fact, cousins, though far-far removed. Our common ancestors look to be John Cosby (1675-1760) and Martha Garland (1690-1740). I descend through two of their children, Mary and Anne.

Bob Francis

P.S.--I visited the old Cosby estate while in Ireland a few years back. I have some pictures of the estate if you're interested.


I have no idea whether you are interested; just passing it along in case you're continuing to build your database on descendants of Robert of Cossibey. By the way, do you know anything about the ancestry of Dorcas Sydney, the wife of Alexander Cosby? I have seen some modern researchers question the identication of his mother as a member of the Seymour family, and so I wondered if Dorcas Sydney provided an alternative linkeage to English nobility or royalty.

Jim Bowman

Cherryville,NC
-----
Hi Bob,

I thought you might like to know the probable source of what you got from Charles DeMastus.

My primary source for Cosby information, and the DeMastus materials you quote appear to me to be direct quotes from this source, is Walter Garland Duke's, Henry Duke, Councilor -- His Descendants and Connections -- Comprising Partial Records, Many Allied Families: Compiled from Reliable Genealogical Sources, Family Bible Records and Authentic Information, The Dietz Press, Incorporated, Richmond, Va., 1949.

Mr. Duke relied upon the genealogy produced by or for the Cosby family which remained in Ireland, which sometime in the 18th Century began being associated with an ostensible but highly dubious line of descent from Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Lord High Chancellor of England, brother to Queen Jane Seymour, brother-in-law to Henry Tudor, King Henry VIII or England, uncle to King Edward -- I would be curious to know if the Cosby family maintained any oral tradition or written records which document the marriage of Francis Cosby and Mary Seymour, or if this was an 18th Century fabrication by a "genealogist" who meant to flatter a wealthy patron. The Cosby Family was one of Mr. Duke's allied families, and given the putative royal lineage his book contains a fairly extensive section on the Cosby lineage.

There are reasons to doubt the validity of the claim of the marriage of Francis Cosby to a Mary Seymour, daughter of the Duke of Somerset. Francis Cosby lived to be about 70 years old, was vigorous enough that he died in Ireland leading his armed forces allied to the English crown in battle against rebellious Irish factions. He may have had three wives, and one of the wives may have been a Mary Seymour, but no documentation exists of a marriage for the Duke of Somerset's daughter to Francis Cosby, and so her identity as the supposed Seymour wife has been challenged by modern researchers. I am not familiar with the documents and so must defer to those who have seen them, but if I follow the argument, further doubt is cast on this marriage because Somerset's daughter is supposed to have been living and married to another husband at the time Francis Cosby is known to be married to Elizabeth Palmer. During that period a divorce of an heiress as prominent as a daughter of the Duke probably would have generated a large pile of comments and documents, at least that is my supposition, and the void of comment is probably strong negative evidence of that putative link. A Seymour line of descent may be correct, but apparently it would not be through Mary Seymour the daughter of the Duke.

Another link which needs to be researched is the putative link to the Sydney family. Alexander Cosby, the son of Francis, was married to a Sydney who supposedly was a close relation of Sir Philip Sydney. Mr. Duke did not research that line to see if it provided an alternate line of descent from royalty. I suspect that Sydneys had a prominence and lineage which equalled or surpassed that of the Cosbys, Dorcas Sydney refused or declined to use the Cosby name, always conducting her business in her own name as Dorcas Sydney. The Loftus family also was prominent in the English administration of Ireland, and so that line is probably also of interest for anyone seeking connections to English nobility. I believe that during the early years of the 17th Century the Archbishop of Dublin was a Loftus.

Jim