Mrs Joy Maxwell

A RESPECTED matriarch and well-known equestrian identity, Mrs Joy Maxwell, formerly of Ballee House, Downpatrick, passed away just before Christmas after a long illness.  She was 90.

Born Joy Cleland Warnock in 1925, she was the youngest of three daughters of the former Attorney General, Minister of Home Affairs and prominent QC, the Rt Hon Edmond Warnock, and his wife, Jessie.

As a child, Joy was able to indulge in what would become a life-long passion — her love of horses.  She was one of the first members of the North Down Pony Club and her association with the Pony Club would later see her being the first person in Northern Ireland to receive the coveted Cubitt Award presented to her for 50 years of voluntary service.

During the Second World War Joy served with the ATS for three years, having joined up when she was 17. Like so many others from that era, she was proud to have been able to serve her country.

In 1946 she married the one true love of her life, Frank Maxwell. Frank firstly managed Murland’s in Annsborough and later was Managing Director of the Durham Street Weaving Company in Belfast. 

The couple lived at Osborne Park House, Malone, throughout the 1950s and had four children, Jeremy, Michael, Jessica and Nicola.  

In 1963, the Maxwells purchased Ballee House and 112 acres. It was a 20-year labour of love using skilled local craftsmen which brought the property back to its former splendour. 

Joy was a knowledgeable stockwoman and her lovely Charolais cattle often topped the local sales. She also bred or owned some very useful racehorses.  She purchased her best horse, Park Avenue, for the bargain price of 500 guineas at Goff’s Sales and he went on to win eight races in her green and black colours.

She was a loyal supporter of the neighbouring Ballee Parish Church, being a glebe warden, serving on the select vestry for many years and also a long-standing member of the Mothers’ Union.

Her faith was important to her and it is fitting that she is now laid to rest with loved ones just over the wall from her beloved Ballee House.

After 62 years of happy marriage, Frank died in 2008. She is survived by Jeremy, Michael and Jessica, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.