Page 105 - Greystones Archaeological Historical Society

GREYSTONES ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 8

St David’s was later the home of Stella Kate Dempsey and
then John David Digges La Touche who was in the Chinese
Maritime Customs and was Deputy Commissioner of Customs
at Chinwangtao. His is best known for writing A Handbook of the
Birds of Eastern China, which was published in two volumes. St
David’s was later acquired by the Sisters of the Holy Faith, and
later demolished to accommodate St David’s School which still
occupies the site today.

Pretoria House

A detached two storey, three bay gentleman’s house, with
two storey bay window built circa 1895. It was located where the
Supervalu supermarket on Church Road is situated today. The
original owner was Alexander Buckley and it remained in the
Buckley family, who were prominent victuallers on Church Road.
It was demolished in the 1980s prior to the building of Supervalu.

Verdella Cottage

A single storey house built around 1890, with central door
flanked by bay windows. It was built by Patrick Flynn, who built
six houses in Greystones including Waverly and Menlo on
Church Road. In 1894 it was the home of Thomas Jefferson
Thomson CE, who was the son of Ross Thompson of
Greenwood Park, County Down. Thomas was the Assistant
Engineer on the Armagh and Monaghan railway. He was made
Superintendent and Chief Engineer of the Bahia and Sao
Francisco Railway in Brazil. Between 1881 and 1885 he was
involved in the construction of the Denver and Rio Grande and
other railways in America. He returned to Ireland and worked for
the Board of Works on various harbour works, prior to retiring in
1897. He also lived in a house in the Burnaby.

In 1906 Verdella was occupied by a Mrs Ferrar, though by

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