Celebrating Killyleagh’s famous son

Celebrating Killyleagh’s famous son

4 April 2012

THE birth of Hans Sloane in April 1660 will again be celebrated this year in Killyleagh.

Sir Hans was a physician and became the President of the Royal College of Physicians. He treated Kings and the landed gentry and also the poor and was interested in the discovery of new medicines.

He invented milk chocolate the recipe being passed to the Cadbury Brothers. He was also a great scientist and took over as President of the Royal Society from Sir Isaac Newton.

He was a great collector of natural and man made objects and having invested wisely was wealthy enough to buy a large house and associated farmland of Chelsea then just outside of London. The house was to hold his vast private museum, which was subsequently bequeathed to the nation.

The British Museum was built originally to house that collection, the natural objects later going to the Natural History Museum and books to the British Library.

His start was in a humble house in Frederick Street/Back Street in Killyleagh.

To mark the event Cameratino, the chamber music ensemble of Camerata Ireland, will perform at St. John’s Church, in Killyleagh, at 7pm on Thursday, April 12.

Cameratino feature the internationally acclaimed Eimear McGeown, on flute, Gerald Peregrine, on cello, Lynda O’Connor, on violin; and Lisa Dowdall, on viola. They will play works by Mozart, Breval, Handle, Bach and Mercadante.

Tickets are £10 and available from the Picnic Deli, Killyleagh, Down Arts Centre, Downpatrick or telephone Liz on 028 448 28229.

The following evening, at 6.45 for 7.00pm the traditional Sloane Public Lecture will take place in St. Mary’s Hall, Irish Street.This will be on Sir Hans Sloane’s collection and how that has influenced the development of science. It will be given by Dr Tim Littlewood of the Natural History Museum, London, which houses Sloane’s natural history collection.

Two major events will be held in early autumn. On Friday, September 21, the Chocolate Fundraising Ball will take place within the Castle grounds. It will feature the Four Tops from the USA and supporting bands, in a magnificent setting and with the finest food and chocolate. We are confident that all who attended last time will wish to repeat and places should be booked early. Tickets and information from Liz at 028 4482 8229.

The huge marquee for the ball will then be available to hold a family oriented Chocolate and Fine Food Festival with a host of activities for children and adults on Sunday, September 23. Our first event attracted vast numbers and was widely acclaimed. The event this year will be larger and even better. These events could not go ahead without the marvellous support from Dennis Lynn of Finnebrogue Foods and Down Council.

For details of these events and more information on the history of Sloane see: www.hanssloane.com