| Revision as of 21:15, 8 July 2013 edit82.7.124.150 (talk) →Notable residents← Previous edit | Revision as of 11:12, 15 August 2013 edit undoMurry1975 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users21,042 edits →Notable residents: rm nonnotable, no article no blue linked name byeNext edit → | ||
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| *Sir ] KBE FCA DSc, Former head of ], ], ], Lamont Holdings Plc and Ulster Garden Villages Limited{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Lieutenant-Colonel John F Hunter MC OBE ARCA (Lond) RUA, Decorated soldier, landscape painter and wood engraver, past-president of the ] of Art (RUA) (1943–47) and first Inspector of Art Education in Northern Ireland (1923){{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Sir ] KBE CBE RA, 20th century British artist and the ]'s official war artist (1939–45) | *Sir ] KBE CBE RA, 20th century British artist and the ]'s official war artist (1939–45) | ||
| *Margaret Cahoon Rodden MBE, League of Pity Organiser, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (Northern Ireland) | |||
| *Reverend A P Black MA, Cleric of Castledawson Presbyterian Church, Co. Londonderry (1910) {{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} | |||
| *Major Hugh Alexander, Veteran of the Far East campaign during WW2 and recipient of the ] medal{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Arthur C. McKee APAGB, Photographer | |||
| *Captain Clifford Macdonald Ashe BA (QUB) H.Dip.Ed (Oxon), Army Captain 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (1939–45), and later Schoolmaster of CCPS{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} | |||
| *Rosemary Faith, Actress{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *John Mason, Magistrate{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}} | |||
| *Brian Durkin, One of the original presenters at the historic launch of ] on 31 October 1959{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *J. Ralph Brew, Jazz musician{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Reverend Dr Douglas Frazer-Hurst, Cleric and author{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Dr J P Alexander, Senior Consultant Anaesthetist, Department Clinical Anaesthesia, Belfast City Hospital{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Dr Alastair N J Graham, Senior Cardiothoracic Consultant, Cardiac Surgical Unit, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Professor Bill Ellis, Director of Veterinary Sciences Division, Department of Northern Ireland Agriculture and Rural Development{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Gordon R. Irwin OBE, Chief Executive of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners (1986–2003) and formerly board member of the Laganside Corporation and United Kingdom Major Ports Group Ltd{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Tim Loane Actor, Director, Playwright and currently Lecturer in Creative Writing at Queen’s University, Belfast. Co-founder of the independent Tinderbox Theatre Company in Northern Ireland. Director of the Oscar-nominated Short Film '']''<ref></ref> | |||
| *Dr Mervyn Gifford, Senior healthcare professional specialising and lecturing in Public Health Medicine at the University of Skövde in Sweden. He has undertaken research into diet and inflammatory processes in coronary heart disease.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Peter Martin, Businessman with interests in the UK & Republic of Ireland and a former radio presenter{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Denis Robb, London-based qualitative consumer market research expert. Joint founder of The Research Practice, London{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Mark Pepper, Artist{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Belinda Larmour, Violinist, current lecturer at the QUB School of Music, ex-BBC Northern Ireland television director and portrait painter{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Damien Coyle, Artist and Vice Chairperson of the ]{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Gerry Simpson QC, Barrister{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Denis McBride, ] player{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Jeremy McWilliams, Motorbike road racer{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Jim Neilly, ] Broadcaster and commentator{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Jeanie Johnston, Ex-Ulster Television (]) broadcast journalist and features editor. She is currently Head of Communications for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Reverend David J. Kerr MBE, President of the ] (1998–99){{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *David Olver, Formerly ] presenter and ] continuity announcer{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Professor William J. Hatton, Department of Pharmacology of the ], School of Medicine{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} | |||
| *Councillor Billy Webb, Mayor of Newtownabbey (2011-12){{Citation needed|date=June 2013}} | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 11:12, 15 August 2013
Merville Garden Village is a housing estate located at Shore Road, Whitehouse, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland created by structural and landscape architect Edward Prentice Mawson. It was completed in 1949.
Historical background
Merville was originally a private house, the modern-day Merville House, and estate built in 1795 by the Belfast banker and merchant John Brown (c.1740-1808). It was intended as his country retreat. Other fêted people would come to reside at the sprawling 24-acre shoreline manor.
Between 1849-1887, for example, it was the home of Sir Edward Coey (1805–87), noted as the first and only Liberal Party Mayor of Belfast (1861) and prominent wealthy businessman, who helped make Belfast one of the most prosperous manufacturing centres in the world during the 19th century.
However, between 1947-49 the Garden Village, the first such housing development in Ireland, was constructed. It was the idea of Lurgan-born builder Thomas McGrath who had established his company, Ulster Garden Villages Limited, in January 1946. Merville was designed with a French architectural twist, which initially influenced McGrath when serving in France as a Royal Engineers' soldier in the First World War.
English architect Edward Prentice Mawson, eldest son of the garden designer Thomas Hayton Mawson, became McGrath's choice of architect for the project after being introduced to him by his site manager Jesse Williams who previously worked with Mawson in England. Mawson was the consultant architect of all of McGrath's ambitious Garden Village schemes in Northern Ireland. Apart from Merville these were at Abbots Cross, Fernagh, Prince's Park, King's Park, Muckamore and Whitehead, all in County Antrim. The Merville development was of 256 apartments, 28 cottage flats, 146 detached and semi-detached houses and a row of 14 shops. The building work was completed in 1949.
Conservation Area designation
Merville Garden Village was designated a conservation area on 23 June 1995 because of its unique architecture and landscape and is the only neighbourhood in the borough of Newtownabbey to have this protection.
Merville House restoration
In April 2000 Patricia Pepper, Jackie Thompson and Brian McNally began the restoration of Merville House when they met Belfast Regeneration Office officials, amongst others. The meeting with potential funders was initiated by local North Belfast MLA Fred Cobain after a chance meeting with MRA committee member Barbara McPhee. However, Stephen Hamilton, another Merville resident, joined the committee and formally set up Merville House Limited in February 2002 to help garner funding for the project. Other key players in the Merville House team included the late Jackie Thompson, and Carol and Colin Simms who assisted with grant applications. The scheme was ultimately funded by Ulster Garden Villages Limited, International Fund for Ireland, Newtownabbey Borough Council, Newtownabbey Local Strategy Partnership and Belfast Local Strategy Partnership and a private donor. The house was officially re-opened on 27 April 2006 by Baroness Blood, a well-known community activist in west Belfast. Today Merville House is utilised by the whole community.
60th anniversary celebration
On 25 September 2009 a celebration was organised by Merville Residents' Association to mark the 60th anniversary of the completion of the village with guest of honour Thomas Prentice Mawson, the son of Edward Prentice Mawson. Thomas was a member of the original Merville design team led by his father. Other dignatories at the event included Alderman John Scott, Mayor of Newtownabbey, and Tony Hopkins CBE, the head of Ulster Garden Villages Limited. Merville Residents' Association will provide a definitive account of Merville's history in its upcoming new website.
Notable residents
- Sir Stanley Spencer KBE CBE RA, 20th century British artist and the UK's official war artist (1939–45)
References
- Northern Ireland Planning Service website - conservation area map and documentation: accessed 12 July 2010
- Thomas Prentice Mawson at the Mawson Kendal archive
See also
54°39′21″N 5°54′46″W / 54.65583°N 5.91278°W / 54.65583; -5.91278
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