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The firm of Robert Perry & Co. originally began life in Clara, King’s County. Henry Robert Perry took a lease of the Street Mill in Clara and formed the company Robert Perry & Co., Clara Mills in the 1840s or 1850s. The company was named after his father, Robert Perry, who founded Rathdowney Brewery in 1831 which brewed Perry’s Ale. In 1859, Henry Robert purchased Belmont Mills from Captain John Collins for the sum of £3275. The mill complex was located beside the site an earlier 18th century mill complex situated south of Belmont Village on the right bank of the River Brosna. The company now traded as Robert Perry & Co., Clara and Belmont Mills but by 1865, Marcus Goodbody controlled all the mills at Clara so that Robert Perry & Co. became exclusively attached to Belmont and thereafter known locally as Belmont Mills or Perry’s Mills. Henry Robert’s brother, Thomas Perry ran the mill at Belmont during the 1860s and acquired full ownership of it in 1878. He converted the adjoining derelict corn and rape mills to an oat mill and a granary. Business was brisk, much of this owing to its advantageous location. Distribution was aided greatly by both the Grand Canal, which connected Dublin with Limerick via the Shannon, and also by the Clara-Banagher railway, which had opened in 1884. There were three major fires at Belmont Mills, the first of which occurred in 1879, the year after Thomas acquired outright ownership of the mill.

Rebuilding commenced immediately and innovative machinery was installed during this time such as ‘roller mills’ as well as the traditional millstones. In 1893 the company was restructured as Robert Perry & Co. Ltd. and upgrading continued. Ernest Perry took over in 1900 on the death of Thomas Perry. A new maize mill was added between 1906-09 for the production of animal feed and a turbine was installed in 1908 to provide electricity to the mill and the village of Belmont. The mill then passed to Wilfred Perry on the death of his brother, Ernest, in 1924. Another disastrous fire in 1925 destroyed the flour and maize mills. Insurance was paid out but after a couple of years, it was rebuilt and re-opened in 1928 under the name Robert Perry & Co. (1927) Ltd. producing flaked maize, wheatmeal, oatmeal, and flaked oatmeal. The mill subsequently passed to Wilfred’s son Philip, who continued to produce oats and animal feed until his death in 1967. His wife continued the business for many years and the oatmeal mill was used to produce ‘Groato’ flaked oatmeal until c.1974. On her death in 1980, their son, David Perry took over the business. In 1982, the mill was devastated by fire for the third time. This time it was not rebuilt, but demolished, except for the granary, which had not been damaged. David Perry began work on the installation of a hydro-power station at the site to generate electricity for the national grid. Animal feed production continued in the maize mill granary and did not cease until 1997 when the entire operation was sold to a new owner, Tom Dolan.

Rector of Clongowes

Rockfield was built some time after 1798 by a man named Higgins who had leased the land from the Fuller Family. It wa reported that he was an informer and received bribes from the government. This likely lead to his death, as he was found dead beside his horse on the road. His son, Harry, ran though all of his money and was reduced to poverty. Captain Adam Henry Fuller purchased Rockfield with money paid for him by Marcus Goodbody for the lease of Gurteen.

When Doctor Dalkeith Holmes Plunkett-Johnston died at Streete, in Somerset, Mrs Maria Blanche Plunkett-Johnston took her daughter Constance Charlotte, to live with her mother Mrs. Lizzy Fuller at Rockfield. Mrs. Fuller died in 1902, and Ms Plunkett-Johnston went to Dublin to stay with her uncle the Reverend Abraham Stritch Fuller DD. Rockfield became the property of Abraham Augustus Fuller, who let it to a man named Griffiths. When the estate was sold, Griffiths retained Rockfield, and later sold it to a man named Walsh.

Anne Mary Somers, daughter of Richard Somers and Mary Roe, was born in Castletown, County Westmeath, around the year 1871. She married Richard Westropp Roe (1868-1914) at Christ Church, Norwood, Surrey, England, on 23 June 1907. They had two sons: Richard Henry Somers Roe (b 1909) and James Lewis Westropp Roe (1911-1986). By 1911 the family had taken up residence at Streamstown House, County Westmeath, three years before the death of her husband. Anne Mary Roe died in County Westmeath on 6 January 1934.

Eleanor Grace Watney Roe, only daughter of Thomas Henry Roe (1858-1927) and Eleanor Jane Watney (1863-1897), was born 1 August 1885 in Norwood, Surrey, England. She was as suffragette. In 1915 served as chief organiser of the 'Women's Right to Serve' procession in London. She was arrested, and a photograph of her was printed in the 'Daily Mirror'. After World War I she studied theosophy. On 10 August 1921 she arrived in Detroit, Michigan, with her close friend Christabel Pankhurst. Both women settled in California. During the 1930s, Grace was became involved in social work. After the Second World War Grace Roe ran a book shop and metaphysical library in Santa Barbara, California. She acted as literary executor for Christabel after her friend's death in 1958. In 1961 she was vice-president of the Suffragette Fellowship of London. Grace Roe died in Tonbridge, Kent, England in 1979.

Grace Odell Westropp, youngest daughter of Edmond Odell Westropp (1778-1864) and Jane Gibbings (c. 1789), was born in Ballysteen, County Limerick, around the year 1831. She married Peter Henry Roe in Askeaton, County Limerick, on 14 October 1856. They had seven children: Thomas Henry Roe (1858-1927); George Roe (b. 1862); Peter Henry Roe Junior (b. 1864); Edmond Westropp Roe (b. 1865); Richard Westropp Roe (1868-1914); Mary Elizabeth Milly Deane Roe (b. 1869); and Elizabeth Henrietta Emily Florence Roe (1872-1944). Her husband, Peter Henry Roe died 6 August 1893 in Lambeth, London, England. Grace Odell Westropp died 1 October 1909 at 99 Gypsy Hill, Norwood, Surrey, England.

James Lewis Westropp Roe, second son of Richard Westropp Roe (1868-1914) and Anne Mary Somers (1871-1934), was born 9 July 1911 in Mullingar, County Westmeath. He proposed to Alice Blanche Anna Lamb (1905-1932) in August 1932, but they never married due to her untimely death in November 1932. Lewis Roe died 19 January 1986 in Chichester, England.