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Harry Ferguson's birthplace

S

samn40

Well-known Member
A few nights ago I posted some pics of Harry Fergusons home in England. This was the mansion he bought BEFORE the lawsuit with Ford....remember Harry was a very sucessful car saleman in Belfast Northern Ireland before he made any tractors. He was the main importer of Austin of England cars into Ireland plus he sold the Waterloo boy tractor. His car dealership was huge by standards of the time and it was very modern even by todays standards in some garages.
This was his Birthplace here in Northern Ireland, only about 23 miles from my place...as you see he did not start out poor, this farmhouse is nearly exactly as it was when he was born.Most Irish people were very poor and lived in thatched cottages worse than the one I posted. The statue is what we erected in front of the house in his memory.
Sam
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Sam
Was the part on the left end of the house added on later. I looks like it wasn't part of the original house. Servants quarters maybe?
Irv
 
The part to the left was what we call an out house....not the same as your out houses but instead it was a farm building, maybe a byre with a loft above or even a meal/grain store.
Sam
 
Thank you for posting. I am guessing at one time the tax on his house would be double that on a house with 10 or less windows due to the window tax.
 
Didn't have much front yard to mow did he? I would very much dislike having to live where my house was directly adjacent to a street or road. Interesting photos, and a bit of history. I, personally have always found it fascinating to read about those men who developed all the vehicles and equipment that put us where we are today. And they did it without computers as well. Thanks for posting.
 
Shadetree....Our country is so small and compact that quite a number of houses have only a small front lawn....ground is very expensive here so why waste it on lawn?? When I remember I will take some more general pics of houses here...people have got more wealthy and with the advancement in lawnmower tractors, lawns have got larger. but still we live a lot closer to the road than you all do!
Sam
 
Us American guys, we just don't know. Some years ago I visited an English couple, and the wife asked later if I wanted to see her garden. Sure I said. She was so proud, she led me out the back door, she had a garden about 4' x 10'. The entire back yard was about twice that. They just do not have land over there.
 
Thanks for the pics and the story Sam, I've only gleaned a little information about Ferguson from tractor books and they sure didn't give us the details that you provide.
 
Was the gray two story house at the family farm known as "Growell" in Ballykeel? Also, Harry was a race car enthusiast and builder of race cars and was the first Irishman to fly an airplane which he had designed and built himself. A savvy businessman, too. He definitely pulled the wool over Henry Ford"s eyes with that handshake agreement but the two needed each other. That little Ford N would be worthless without the famous "Ferguson System". But, it caused his early death. Age 76. Barbiturate overdose. The lawsuit with Ford, which cost him about 4.5 million to pursue, caused a great deal of stress. His legacy lives on, though. No question about it.
 
Argh, living into your 60's in the 1950's was impressive. How many people don't want to live past the last US election? Hey, atleast he didn't use a nice Webley to add to evil statistics.
The last time I saw this all bronze Harry, he was admiring a fine example of US Ferguson design... an F40...with power steering... magic!
 
samn nice pic's. My daughter is getting married in Ireland this summer.[ My wife is of Irish decent]So all the family is going over there. We will have about four days to spend after the wedding. What would be some good places to see in Northern Ireland? My wife wants to go to the Titanic museum. I want to check out the pubs.I have not been out of the country in about 36 years so I'm looking forward to the trip. Dale
 
Walk through a cemetery sometime and look at the dates on those old headstones. Loads of people made it into their 90s and 100s. What held the "life expectancy" rate so low was young people dying of diseases that we vacinate for now and don't give it another thought. Childbirth took its toll as well. Both young mothers and infants. That really wacked the life expectancy rate down. If you made it to 60, you stood a darned good chance of making 90.
 
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