Charles Putland
- Gender
- Male
- Place of migration
- Stayed in Ireland
Charles Putland (1785–1859), landowner,
He was the youngest son of George Putland and Constance Evans (niece of the 2nd Baron Carbery).
In 1812 he married Constance Massy (d. 1842) and lived for a time in Blarney, Co. Cork, where he gave a site and £100 in cash for the building of a catholic church. He may also have resided for a time in Rathmore House, Tullow, Co. Carlow.
In 1841, he inherited the family estates and was a committed, progressive landlord, greatly interested in agricultural improvement.
In 1845, at the start of the famine, he wrote to the Freeman's Journal reporting the results of his experiments for combating blight. The following year he was experimenting with new strains of wheat; his excellent early wheat was praised by the Freeman's Journal in 1849, as were his proposals for encouraging employment by modifying the poor law rating system.
His political views were equally progressive. When Daniel O'Connell passed through Bray in 1845, Putland (prevented by illness from being on the welcoming platform) sent his apologies to the meeting, gave all his men a day's holiday, and authorised the cutting of greenery from his shrubberies to decorate the town.
In 1849 he granted an unsolicited 25 per cent rent reduction to his Wicklow tenants; however, he failed to prevent the growth of a slum area at the strand near the boathouse on his estate.
In 1850 he disposed of the family residence, Sans Souci, which was bought by the Loreto order for more than £7,000.
The family lived in their second residence, Bray Head House.
Putland House in Lower Mount St., Dublin, was rented to a convent after 1856.
Although the Putland estates had suffered financial pressures owing to the post-1815 depression and the famine, the Putland estates remained generally intact and successive family members left sizeable sums in their wills.
Charles Putland died on 25 December 1859, leaving assets of £25,000. His eldest son, Charles Putland (1813–76) was successor.
