Killruddery Tour

Ever fancy a tour of Killruddery..... in Gaelic?
(Don't worry, Subtitles are included)



Cé a Chónaigh i mo Theachsa? / Who Lived in my House? – Season 2 Ep 5 Kilruddery House, Co. Wicklow TG4 10pm Thurs 9th Febru from Tile Films Ltd on Vimeo.

Brabazon Landmarks - Tasmania & Antarctica

Brabazon Point  Tasmania

Brabazon Point, also known as One Tree Point  is a point on the Huon River in Tasmania. Brabazon Park is nearby. There was a township called Brabazon at the Huon River in the 1850s. Sections were advertised by the Crown for sale in 1856, 1857 and 1858.

 

Brabazon Point: Antarctica - 64°24'00.0"S 61°16'00.1"W

A  headland forming the east side of the entrance to Salvesen Cove, on the west coast of Graham Land. It was charted by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Gerlache, 1897–99, and named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1960 for John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, pioneer British aviator, the first Englishman to pilot a heavier-than-air machine under power in England (described in his Times obituary as the "first flight accomplished by any Briton in Great Britain"), in April 1909, and responsible for the R.F.C. Photographic Section during World War I and for the development of aerial photography.

Arial photographs courtesy of Google Earth.

Brabazon Landmarks - Brabazon Range: New Zealand

The Brabazon Range is located by the Rangitata River in Canterbury, in the middle of the South Island and is now part of the Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation Park. Brabazon Downs, Brabazon Saddle, Brabazon Stream and Mount Brabazon are all in the same area. They were named after John Brabazon from Co Westmeath, Ireland who was in partnership with Samuel Butler at Mesopotamia Station between 1862 and 1864. The Brabazon Range is mostly just past the north-west boundary of the property.

John Brabazon, eldest son of James Brabazon of Jamestown House near Mullingar, left Ireland in 1859 when he was about 18 years old and travelled to New Zealand via Australia. Early in 1861 he was at Mesopotamia Station as a cadet, to learn sheep farming. About March 1862 he bought a quarter share in the business, then looked after the property while Butler overwintered in Christchurch. By 1864 Samuel Butler had made his fortune and wished to return to England. The partnership was dissolved in March and the station was sold.
Brabazon Range from Crooked Spur Hut in summer, photograph by Hilary Iles. Crown Copyright: Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai.

Brabazon Landmarks - Brabazon Range: Alaska

The Brabazon Range, twenty-eight miles long, is situated in Tongass National Forest near Ketchikan, Alaska, close to the border with British Columbia, Canada. It was named in 1907 by Eliot Blackwelder for  A J (Jack) Brabazon of the Canadian Boundary Survey, who made a photographic survey of the Yakutat Bay region in 1895, and with the help of those pictures compiled the first topographic map of the area.



From the journal of Eliot Blackwelder of the University of Wisconsin 1907 https://archive.org/stream/jstor-30067852/30067852#page/n1/mode/2up
The Brabazon Range is low as compared with the lofty peaks west of it; but nevertheless it is a notable feature of the coast. It has a steep seaward front, which, although somewhat irregular in outline, plunges abruptly beneath the alluvial flat without extensive foot-hills or projecting spurs. One depression interrupts the continuity of the ridge in the area discussed — the open channel of the Yakutat Glacier. The photograph, below shows the Alsek River and the inner slope of the Brabazon Range with four small glaciers.

Alfred James Brabazon, son of Samuel Levinge Brabazon and Margaret Clarke was born 26 December 1859 in Quebec Canada and died 28 December 1939 in Portage du Fort Quebec. He played an important part in the surveys to decide the border between Canada and Alaska in 1890.

JM BRABAZON CAR OF THE FUTURE

The JM Brabazon will be Minerva Automobiles' first new car in 76 years and, if it can get beyond the pre-concept stage, it could give supercar companies a serious challenge in terms of luxury, exclusivity and performance.

Named after Lord John Moore‐Brabazon of Tara, Britain's first aviator and an all-round 19th-century polymorph, the car will be capable of accelerating from 0-100km/h in 2.1 seconds and onto a top speed of over 400km/h. But, because it will be using a hybrid petrol-electric powertrain, it will also be able to offer 100km of emissions-free motoring just on the battery.

http://motoring.iafrica.com/newmodels/964548.html
photo credit by Credit: AFP-Relaxnews

In Memory, Ann (Brabazon) Shevill 1927 - 2014

It was with great sadness that I learnt of the demise of our beloved Ann. I can only speak on behalf of the wider Brabazon Clan and leave the closer familial memories to her nearer relatives and friends, of which, I know, she has many.

I first contacted Ann a good forty years ago and since then we have together and independently contacted the many geographically scattered members of the wider Brabazon Clan. Right up to the very end Ann was a contributor to the recently established Brabazon Blog, but always more than just a technical support she brought such great heart to the Family. And it is with that deeper love that she gave her time, abilities and patience to the goal of uniting a most excellent set of near and distant relatives.

I am sure we all have our fond memories of Ann and her exploits, and mine is of meeting her for the first time in England when I took her on a trip to see the ruins of Betchworth Castle, the supposed earliest site of settlement for the early Brabazons, just south of London. As we were walking up the grassy hill situated in Betchworth golf course toward the castle I became very annoyed with the superior attitude of one of the golfers (basically, “Hey, you! Get out the way!”). I think I (heatedly) likened this person to Adolf Hitler, which made Ann burst out laughing, breaking the ice (and my indignation), and then she added, “Michael, you should come to Australia – we love a good character!”

Well, those early days of pen & paper communications and the occasional meetings gave way to electronic communications and well-organised reunions. Ann certainly led the way. Even when there was not much going on she would keep us all posted with the Newsletter, transformed from a laborious print & post exercise to a mass email. She was so very supportive when I was preparing the Brabazon Archive website and that enthusiasm in general has been key to the whole Brabazon Family Project.

Dear Ann, we shall all miss you so very much, but you will remain in our hearts for as long as there is a Brabazon Clan.

Michael Brabazon

The Bristol Brabazon Aeroplane: The World's First Jumbo Airliner

By Michael Brabazon

The Brabazon aeroplane was the last of the great turbo-props, succeeded by the jet engine, built after the end of WWII. The ‘plane was manufactured in Bristol, England, hence the name The Bristol Brabazon. An entire village was flattened to create a suitably long runway and the specially built hangar was used for the later construction of  Concorde. The Brabazon was named after the 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, John Moore-Brabazon, who had been the Minister of Aviation and had headed a committee charged with recommending a new commercial airliner. Although it never went into service it has always been remembered fondly by enthusiasts and the general English public alike. Anyone in England with the surname Brabazon was (and often still is) associated with The Brabazon, as the author of this piece can testify!

More information here - http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/the-bristol-brabazon-was-the-prettiest-piece-of-useless-1625961379