Biography
William Robert Adair was born 1728 in Ballymena Castle, Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom to William Robert Adair (1690-1762) and Catherine Smallman (1701-1752) and died January 1798 Ballymena Castle, Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom of unspecified causes. He married Anne McAuley (1735-1798) 25 March 1753 in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
Ballymena Castle
From a postcard of the early 20th Century.
Ballymena Castle was a large estate located in the village of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The land was first given to the Adair family by King Charles I in 1626, with a right to hold two annual fairs and a free Saturday market in perpetuity. As of 2018, the Saturday market still runs.
The Adairs were active in helping Scotch settlers settle the "Ulster Plantation" in Northern Ireland. In the 1600s Sir Robert Adair (d. 1655) built Ballymena Castle as a centre for their Irish estates. But a great portion of the Adair Family continued at their main residence in Kilhilt Tower in Wigtownshire, Scotland. For time Ballymena was renamed "Kinhiltshire".
In 1865, one of the key descendants, Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (2nd Baronet Adair) made extensive modifications to the castle. But in the 20th century, the placed was little used, becoming victim to vandalism and arson before being sold and demolished in 1957. The Adairs sold much of the surrounding landholdings to their tenants.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| William Adair (1754-1844) | 9 February 1754 | 6 May 1844 Newton Abbott, Devon, England, United Kingdom | Camilla Shafto (1756-1827) |
| Robert Adair (1760-1837) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Katherine Adair (1725-1725) | |||
| William Robert Adair (1728-1798) | 1728 Ballymena Castle, Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom | January 1798 Ballymena Castle, Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom | Anne McAuley (1735-1798) |
| William Adair (c1730-) | |||
Residences
See Also
- William Adair
- Adair Family
- Adair Family Ancestry
- Adair in County Antrim
- Adair in County Dublin
- William Adair at thePeerage
- Robert Adair - Geni.com
- Adair of Ballymena Castle and Flixton Hall, Baronets - Landed Families of England Blog.
- Adair of Heatherton Park - Landed Families of England Blog