Cassandra MORE-MOLYNEUX [8222]

   Cause of her death was breast cancer.

  General Notes:

Cassandra is buried at Clogh Church of Ireland, Roslea (The present Rector in Clogh is Revd Edwin Kille, phone 048 67 751 206). The inscription on a tablet in Clones Church of Ireland, dedicated to Cassandra Hand reads:
'This tablet is erected by the parishioners of Clones, to the memory of Cassandra, the beloved wife of the Revd. Thomas Hand, Rector of this parish who died the 21st day of October 1868. During the Famine of 1847, and subsequent years she contributed largely to relieve the distress then prevalent, and was the means under God of bringing comfort to many families. To posterity she has left enduring monuments which testify to her zeal and self-sacrifice, in promoting the moral and spiritual well-being of the people of this district, by whom she was held in high estimation, and who now deeply deplore her loss.'
Clones lace supplied markets in Dublin, London, Paris Rome and New York. By 1910 Clones was the most important centre of crochet lace-making in Ireland, its produce worn by royalty and gentry throughout the world The coronation dress worn by Queen Mary in the 1940's was made by local women of Clones. As the present day marketing blurb reads: "This beautiful and intricate hand craft has been passed on from mother to daughter and from generation to generation since then". (*)
Ref Bishopscourt, Co. Monaghan: http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_houses/hist_hse_bishopscourt.html
*See an account of the Great Famine in Clones, published in the Clogher Historical Society's 2000 Clogher Record, which makes some reference to the Hands and includes a photograph of a memorial to Cassandra Hand in Clones Church of Ireland (contact Ivor Lendrum, Clonboy, Clones for records).

The letters below were written in 1854, when Cassandra, feeling the weight of responsibility for the burgeoning enterprise she had started, was considering her future role in it.
Address to Mrs Hand,
Rectory, Clones.
Madame,
We, the undersigned, beg your acceptance of the accompanying Piece of Plate as a small token of the very sincere respect and gratitude we feel towards you for your unremitting kindness. On your coming to Clones, you found us in a state of the deepest distress, utterly destitute of any employment, unskilled in any art. By your unaided personal exertions you introduced, and had us instructed in, the manufacture of crochet lace - a work before then unheard of in this neighbourhood. You patiently bore with our ignorance, kindly encouraged our efforts, liberally rewarded us for a labour, and now you have the satisfaction of knowing that you have been the means, under God, of enabling 1500 individuals (a least) in this parish to earn a respectable living. Dear madam, we are not skilled in writing addresses, but we beg you will accept this effort on our part, to evidence in some manner that we are conscious of your goodness. We entreat you not to retire from the work you have so successfully carried on, although others are engaging in it, when all the difficulties attending its establishment are overcome. We feel assured that we will be the losers if you do so.
Praying that He who will not overlook "even a drop of cold water" given in His name may abundantly reward you.
We remain your obliged and grateful workers.
Signed on behalf of the rest of the workers by a good many girls.

My Dear Friends,
I have received your kind address with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction, conveying me your grateful sense of the exertions which God has enabled me, successfully, to make in your behalf since I came to reside among you. To Him be all the glory and all the praise. To have received such an expression of your esteem and gratitude would have amply repaid me for all the trouble and anxiety which I have had, and I cannot help feeling sorry that you should have thought it necessary to accompany those expressions with so handsome a proof of their sincerity. But believe me, I gladly accept it as a token of the warmth of the Irish heart, which, unless misdirected, always beats in concert with kindly feelings; and you're beautiful and costly flower-stand will be a happy emblem, I trust, of our continued regard and mutual love to Him who is the "Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley." I need scarcely add that I shall bequeath it to my children as a memento of my residence among you, when I and their father shall have run our course. Too true it is, that I found you in deep distress, and am only thankful that God devised means in some measure to remove it in this parish, and make me the happy instrument in that removal. Indeed had it not be for the sewed muslin work, which my and your friend Lady Lennard introduced some years ago, and the employment I have been able to afford, the fearful visitation of famine would have been still more severe and more disastrous.
Permit me to add, in answer to your requisition, that I shall continue, if health and strength be given me, to carry on the work, and I trust that you, by increased diligence and attention, will feel no difficulty in keeping up the credit of the Clones Lace, and preventing its falling into disrepute among the higher classes, in consequence of competition and the production of an inferior style of work.
Praying that the Lord will prosper your handiwork, and enable you to derive all other good, and as little of the evil which is incident to every human undertaking,
I remain, your sincere Friend,
C Hand.
Ref: The Lacemakers by Susanna Meredith, Pub. Lon.1865

Death Source: Marie Treanor - Clones Lace (book).

  Research Notes:

  Other Records

1. Lace making.
Cassandra Hand introduced the making of crochet lace to Clones. She worked in conjunction with a crochet teacher from Co. Kildare; their technique was a less time-consuming variation of Venetian Point Lace. The lace-making tradition became particularly popular in the Roslea area of South Fermanagh during the post famine period of the 1850's. In a few years about 1,500 people were employed through crochet work, and a cottage industry was born.

The image is of Clones Lacework showing various doily's and the Clones Knot on the collar on the green background.
Courtesy Patricia Tubb - 2012

2. Census: England, 7 Jun 1841, Bulphan ESS. Cassandra is recorded as aged 30 not born in Essex

3. Census: England, 8 Apr 1861, 4 Promenade Tce Cheltenham GLS. Cassandra is recorded as a wife aged 51 married born Guildford SRY

4. Memorials to Cassandra Hand.
The inscription on a tablet in Clones Church of Ireland, dedicated to Cassandra Hand reads:
'This tablet is erected by the parishioners of Clones, to the memory of Cassandra, the beloved wife of the Revd. Thomas Hand, Rector of this parish who died the 21st day of October 1868. During the Famine of 1847, and subsequent years she contributed largely to relieve the distress then prevalent, and was the means under God of bringing comfort to many families. To posterity she has left enduring monuments which testify to her zeal and self-sacrifice, in promoting the moral and spiritual well-being of the people of this district, by whom she was held in high estimation, and who now deeply deplore her loss.'

Memorial to Cassandra Hand.
Rededicated 12th of October 2013
By The Rt Rev John McDowell Bishop of Clogher
In Recognition of the Important Contribution Made by
Cassandra Hand
In Introducing the Craft of Clones Lace/Irish Crochet
As a Famine Relief Scheme in 1847
Restoration Assisted By the International Fund for Ireland.

Cassandra married Rev Thomas HAND [1591] [MRIN: 2704], son of Rev John Staples HAND [360] and Mary VANDERZEE [353], on 17 May 1831 in St Nicholas Compton SRY. (Rev Thomas HAND [1591] was born on 9 Oct 1805 in Billericay ESS, baptised on 10 Feb 1806 in Gt Burstead ESS, died in 1874 in Guildford SRY and was buried on 4 Aug 1874 in Clogh Churchyard Co Fermanagh IRE.)

  Marriage Notes:

Thomas & Cassandra were married by Licence by George her brother who was Rector of Compton