Boy with wicker basket

Boy with wicker basket. Victoria House in background.

Photo courtesy Mrs D Mullen

RIC policeman outside House

RIC policeman on duty in the square. In the background is Victoria House.

Photo courtesy Mrs D Mullen

Victoria House

Victoria reigns in Edenderry

Queen Elizabeth 11 may be on the throne but Victoria reigns supremely in Edenderry. Victoria house has been part of the local scenery for so long townspeople could be forgiven for overlooking the 170 years of history behind its walls.
The builders moved in over 20 years ago and completely remodelled the interior to bring it up to modern day standards to provide 6 luxury flats. The old chimney pots were replaced and timber frame windows with uPVC, and other than this work the exterior is no different to when it was built in early Victorian days.
The earliest records of the House go back to Christmas Eve 1859 when Elizabeth, Cornelious and Thomas Carleton leased the property to Andrew James Lutton for 500 years.
Lutton was a linen manufacturer and the House was an appropriate residence for him as it overlooked his factory across the road in Watson Street. It later became the munitions factory during the second World War and in 1946 was bought by the Wade Pottery Group.
Lutton died in January,1870 and the property was transferred to his two sons,John and Thomas. In 1901 they transferred it to Andrew James Lutton and Son Limited and the company mortgaged it to Robert G. Glendinning to secure a loan. Apparently they could not meet the payments on this loan, and in December 1918, Robert Glendinning sold the House to David H. Warnock for £300.
Warnock died the following year and his daughter Martha Jane inherited the House and she sold it a year later to John Gilpin a coachbuilder of Bridge Street, Edenderry for £1,050.
Gilpin died in January, 1929 and his widow and son sold the House to Robert Brown in 1935 for £1000. Robert Brown was the grandfather of the present owner Miss Maureen Brown. Her own father Sammy Brown, the well known Edenderry business man also lived in the House.
Over this past 170 years it has seen numerous changes in the Edenderry area. It has witnessed two World Wars, births, deaths, prosperity and recession and Edenderry’s significance to the growth of Portadown..
Lets hope that Victoria reigns for another 170 years.
We thank Maureen Brown & the Portadown Times who enabled us to record the above.


We understand that the garden to the rear of the House may have been used to take wedding photos, if so we would like to see sight of the old photos or any others of the interior or exterior.


We would also like to hear from any one who can remember - John Gilpin a coachbuilder operating from premises in Edenderry.

We can be contacted on our website www.edenderry.co.uk or Cardwell McClure 07789550738 or Merle Edgar 028 38 334602