Bryan Higgins Everard.

Bryan Higgins Everard was the son of Ignatius Everard and his wife Bridget Higgins. His siblings have been identified as Patrick Everard and Richard Higgins Everard, born c. 1775 and 1780 respectively. Bryan's birth year, or the existence of further siblings, has yet to be discovered.

Thanks to the records of Trinity College, Dublin, we know that Bryan had at least two sons:

IGNATIUS HOUSTON EVERARD: born c. 1809. From Registers of Admissions to Grays Inn 1521-1889: April,28, 1834: Ignatius Houston Everard, Senior Sophister, Trinity College, Dublin, Aged 23, eldest son of Brian H Everard., of Dublin, Esq.
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns.

RICHARD HOUSTON EVERARD: born c. 1811. Attended Trinity College, Dublin, also and became a surgeon in the Royal Navy.

I can find no mention of a marriage for Bryan Everard...perhaps the 'Houston' which appears as a middle name for both of his sons is a clue as to the family of their mother, just as Bryan Everard's middle name of 'Higgins' is the maiden name of his mother.

Bryan Everard was noted in an article about his mother's family as being a 'gentleman farmer', but I have found mention of him being a merchant and also a 'labour agent' responsible for recruiting Irish labourers to send to Canada.

In the latter occupation, Bryan Everard was the recruiting agent for Thomas Selkirk, an English aristocrat who in 1811 tried to establish a new colony in what is now south Manitoba. Selkirk purchased 300,000 square km of land from the Hudson's Bay Company ( an old and established fur trading company), and brought in settlers from Scotland and Ireland to populate it. Bryan Everard, based in Sligo, was appointed as Selkirk's Irish labour recruitment agent, and had also worked for the Hudson's Bay Company in the same capacity. The settlement only lasted several years, as existing settlers who were exclusively fur traders resented the farming lifestyle of the new settlers, as well as the latter encroaching on their fur business. In 1815 the fur traders burned down the settlement and forced the new emigrants to flee.

Bryan Higgins Everard was declared bankrupt in London in 1817:
“Bankrupts: Bryan Higgins Everard late of Sligo in Ireland, merchant, but now of the city of London, merchant.”- London Gazette, May 31, 1817.

We know that Bryan's financial problems were serious, because he ended up in a London Debtor's prison, and was resident there in 1822 when he was called to give evidence at a court trial.
The trial concerned the legitimacy of a marriage between Henry Higgins and widow Mrs Isaacs (maiden name Donovan) that Bryan had supposedly witnessed at Versailles, France, in 1818. Bryan’s credibility was a witness was questioned as he had written letters to the plaintiff’s attorney offering to withdraw from the country so as to avoid appearing as a witness if they paid him fifty pounds. The plaintiff was Mrs Lacon,a dressmaker, trying to get Mrs Higgins to pay an account worth over 400 pounds.In reference to Bryan Everard, it was stated in an article from the 'Times newspaper', London, Dec 23, 1822 that “The witness, who had come up from Whitecross Street Prison..”.

I have located no death for Bryan Everard in any country.

Of his two known children, Ignatius and Richard, the following has been discovered:

Ignatius Everard: graduated from Trinity in Law. Found references to an Ignatius Everard from Sligo in the Irish Wills Index regarding a will made in 1839. This is far too late to be the will of Ignatius Everard, merchant from Sligo, who died in 1823. The executor of the will was JWO Richards, who by the time of the Griffiths Valuation in 1856-57 possessed all of the former Everard lands. This Ignatius Everard from 1839 could possibly have been the son of Bryan Higgins Everard, who would have been aged about 28 years at this time. Bryan's eldest brother Patrick Everard is an unknown quantity at the moment, so it is also possible that he may have married and had children, including a son named Ignatius. My bet, however, would be with the 1839 Ignatius Everard being Ignatius Houston Everard...as soon as I figure out how and where to purchase a copy of this will, I will do so and hopefully solve the mystery!

Richard Houston Everard: studied Medicine at Trinity and became Senior Assistant Surgeon of the 54th Regiment. Hart's Army List for 1840 reads:
"54th (West Norfolk) Regiment Of Foot serving in the East Indies.
Assistant Surgeon: Richard Houston Everard, M.D., 19 June, 1835."

The Freeman's Journal from November 2, 1838, carried the following article:
" The Army: Doctor Everard, senior assistant-surgeon of the 54th Regiment, on the Madras Presidency, has the entire medical charge of the Corps, which suffered severely from influenza, but under his very judicious care and treatment the regiment enjoyed excellent health and spirits in July last. The 54th was to leave Trichonopoly and to be in Madras in September last to embark in December for England."

Richard Houston Everard came to a sad end in Kent in 1841. From 'The Gentleman's Magazine', 1841:
"KENT, DECEMBER. At Dover, Richard Houston Everard, M.D., Assistant Surgeon of the 54th Regiment(1835). He met with his death from the violence of two sailors, against whom a verdict of manslaughter was returned. His funeral took place at the new cemetery at Dover, and was attended by nearly 7000 spectators."



NOTE: There was another Richard Everard in the Army around the same period as Richard Houston Everard. He was Richard Nugent Everard, youngest son of Thomas Everard Esq. of Randalstown in Meath. He was captain of H.M's 86th regiment. On June 17, 1843, at St. James Church, he married Arabella Mathilde, youngest daughter of George Henry Alexis, Viscount d' Amboise.