2014 in review - Accentuate the Positive

As 2014 draws to a close, it seems an opportune time to reflect on the year’s blogging successes. Jill Ball from the GeniAus blog invited us Geneabloggers to ‘Accentuate the Positive’ by answering a selection of specific questions, so here goes: 

An elusive ancestor I found residing in Melbourne, Australia in 1860 was my third-great-grandfather John Radcliffe, who I had long been searching for.  With the help of my third cousin, who is a regular reader here, it was truly wonderful to finally track him down.  I wrote about the search for John and his eventual discovery last March. 

A precious family photo I found was one of my granda Kevin Wynne making his First Holy Communion, in about 1916. I didn’t ‘find’ this photo exactly, but, learning of my genealogy addiction, my Aunt Anne kindly shared it with me. Precious, wasn’t he?

 

Kevin Wynne, First Holy Communion (c. 1916)

An ancestor's grave I found belonged to my great-grandparents Patrick Wynne (1868-1937) and Teresa (Carroll) Wynne (1888-1958). They were both buried in Ashburton Roman Catholic Cemetery, in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Some lovely ‘Carroll cousins’ I met via this blog visited their grave and sent me this photograph. Sadly, the grave is looking a little neglected now. Thank you again, Brian, Rosemary and Rosalie. 

Wynne grave, Ashburton RC Cemetery, Gosforth

An important vital record I found received came courtesy of my first cousin, Aileen.  It is the memorial card for the aforementioned Patrick Wynne, who died in Newcastle on 21 December 1937. Aileen got the original memorial from Pat Fagan, Patrick’s niece.

Patrick Wynne, Memorial Card, 1937

A newly found family member shared many amazing photographs!  In truth, this year, quite a number of previously unknown family members contacted me through my blog. Many shared their family photos and stories with me. As well as the Carroll descendants in Newcastle, I ‘met’ my Wynne cousins in England and New Zealand and a Mahon descendant in Dublin. Coming from a family who saved relatively little in the way of family memorabilia, the shared photos are just priceless and have already featured in numerous blog posts here. In addition, a newly discovered Byrne cousin in England helped confirm a photo I found in the British Mariner Records was indeed taken of my maternal great-granduncle, Benjamin Byrne. 

My 2014 blog post that I was particularly proud of was ‘An Open letter to GG-Grandfather, John Wynne.’ At least, it was the most fun to write and I am still hopeful he will send a reply, someday soon. 

My 2014 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments was entitled ‘Horses and Mischief’. It was my first Sepia Saturday post and received 22 comments – the most comments any post has received so far. Again, thanks are due to my ‘Carroll cousins’ for giving me the photos used in this post. 

A genea-surprise I received was a letter written by a relative in Ireland to my Great-Grandaunt Mary (Wynne) Finnegan in Colorado. My third cousin Phyllis, Mary’s great-granddaughter, sent me a copy of the letter, which had been written in the last decade of the nineteenth century, shortly after Mary immigrated to the United States. I was able to identify the sender as Kate Tucker, Mary’s maternal aunt.  Kate was also my great-great-grandaunt. A lovely-genea-surprise! 

Seems the Black Raven Genealogy blog helped me learn a lot about my ancestors in the year. Here’s to 2015! 

Happy New Year!

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy

Dwellings in pre-famine Malahide

Ever wondered what living conditions were like for your ancestors about two hundred years ago, in Ireland? If you did, in the mid-1830s, the then government conducted a survey known as the Poor Inquiry, and it may contain the answer. Basically, they interviewed clergymen, landowners and other parish representatives across the country and sought their opinions on the condition of the labouring classes. So, to build a picture of what my ancestor’s home was like in the parish of Malahide, Co. Dublin, I consulted their report.[1]

My paternal GGG-grandparents, Patrick Mahon (c.1784-1865) and Jane Cavanagh, were married on 12 September 1819, in Swords.[2] Patrick was an agricultural labourer, and by 1848, if not earlier, he leased a small three-acre holding in the townland of Yellow Walls.[3] Their son, my GG-grandfather, James Mahon, was baptised on 10 August 1823, also in Swords, where the Catholic parish church for Malahide was situated.[4] So, Patrick, Jane and James were alive at the time of the Poor Inquiry.

‘Three farm labourers waiting to be hired for work’ 
Samson Towgood Roch (1757-1847) on Wikimedia commons

Responding to questions on the condition of dwellings in Malahide, Revd Francis Chamley, the Anglican clergyman, confirmed they were ‘mostly slated, or well thatched’… ‘in every instance having bedsteads and comfortable bedding’.  Ian Batty, Esq., a Justice of the Peace, added they were ‘clean and comfortable’.  In contrast, the Parish Priest of nearby Howth and Baldoyle, Revd James Young, said the homes in his parish were ‘generally very poor and badly furnished, the poor inhabitants often obliged to lie on straw.’ So, from this report, and in the opinion of the Protestant class, who no doubt favoured the status quo, the people of Malahide lived in relative comfort in the early nineteenth century.[5]

Looking at why this may have been so, in 1783, Col. Richard Talbot established a very successful cotton mill at Yellow Walls. It had a dramatic effect on the area, enriching the inhabitants and doubling the population.[6] However, the Talbots got into financial difficulties and in the early nineteenth century the mill was abandoned. This immediately cast the population of local weavers into poverty.[7]

Many weaver families were forced to emigrate, leaving behind their better-built cottages. Those that remained sought work as agricultural labourers - just like Patrick Mahon. In his answers to the Poor Inquiry, Revd Chamley estimated that Malahide’s labouring population included 'about sixty farmers’ men, and probably about thirty men who were formerly weavers’.[8] So, it is feasible that Patrick Mahon was originally a weaver, and his family were initially drawn to Yellow Walls by the cotton industry.

Map showing no house! 
John Taylor’s Map of the Environs of Dublin 1816, (Dublin, 1989)

I grew up in the same house, built by my Mahon ancestors in Yellow Walls. It was a stone house and, by 1901 at least, it had a slate roof. The cottage originally had four rooms, with a fireplace in each room. It is not clear when exactly it was built. Taylor’s map of 1816 shows no building on the site, but Patrick Mahon leased a house there by 1848.[9]

The 1841 census paints a somewhat bleaker picture of the housing conditions in rural Malahide, especially for the 22 per cent of families residing in 'mud cabins' with only one room. A further 30 per cent of families lived in better built cottages, also made of mud, but these had up to four rooms and windows.[10] It is therefore possible that Patrick Mahon’s house of 1848 had mud walls and a thatched roof, and our stone house was built later.

Sources:

1. Poor Inquiry (Ireland), pt i, Reports on the state of the poor, with supplements containing answers to queries, H.C. 1836 (36-37), first report, supplements to appendix D and E, accessed DIPPAM.
2. Church marriage record, accessed RootsIreland.ie.
3. Griffith’s Valuation, 1848, accessed Ask aboutIreland. 
4. Church baptism records, Swords, Mf P.6616, National Library of Ireland.
5. Poor Inquiry, Appendix E, pp 53-54.
6. John D’Alton, The history of the county of Dublin, Dublin, 1838, p. 195; Samuel Lewis, A topographical dictionary of Ireland, ii, London, 1848, p. 299.
7. D’Alton, History of Dublin, p. 196.
8. Poor Inquiry, appendix D, p. 53.
9. Griffith’s Valuation, 1848.
10. Report of the commissioners appointed to take the census of Ireland for the year 1841, H.C. 1843 (504) xxiv, 1, p. 26.

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy

Just another brick-wall

In 1892, Michael Byrne married Elizabeth Mahon and moved into the Mahon home in Malahide, Co. Dublin. One hundred years later, the Mahons still referred to us Byrnes as ‘blow-ins from County Wicklow.’ Maybe they believed our ancestors actually came from Wicklow or maybe Wicklow was advocated solely as it was the historic homeland of the Byrne sept after the Anglo-Norman invasion – it is not remembered. On the contrary though, in both the 1901 and 1911 census returns, Michael Byrne was shown as born in Co. Dublin. He completed the 1911 return himself, maybe adding some credence to this claim. Whether from Dublin, or Wicklow, or from somewhere else entirely, the ‘blow-in’ gibe clearly labels the Byrnes as ‘unwelcome newcomers’ to Malahide, so, presumably not originally 'from' the area.

We might not know where he came from, but we do know Michael Byrne loved his greyhounds. The records for Swords courthouse show he first purchased a licence for a greyhound there, three months before to his marriage, in 1892. The absence of a dog licence in Michael’s name, prior to 1892, opens up the possibility he purchased one in another district, and perhaps in the district of his birth. 

It seems slightly surreal to trace one’s ancestors using the Irish dog licence registers, but that is exactly what I attempted to do. 

In 1891, the year before my great-granddad first appeared in the registers of Swords courthouse, eighty-two dog licences were issued to men named Michael Byrne in Ireland. Only one of these was issued in Dublin, twenty-five were issued in Wicklow and the remainder were issued across the country. Not all the registers have been indexed yet, but it is still possible that one of these eighty-two licences was purchased by my great-grandfather. 

The Dublin licence was bought in Swords by Michael Byrne of Pickardstown. He owned a brown terrier. This man also purchased a licence for the dog in 1892, so cannot be my great-grandfather. Our Michael was living in Malahide by 1892. 

Of the twenty-five licences issued to men named Michael Byrne in Co. Wicklow, only one was for a greyhound – a yellow greyhound. It was purchased on 20 March 1891, in Avoca, by Michael Byrne of Ballinamona. Michael also bought a licence for a cocker [spaniel] that year, but did not buy any dog licence in Avoca in 1892. In fact, no Michael Byrne bought a licence for a greyhound in all of Wicklow in 1892, at least according to the available registers. So, like my great-granddad, this Michael may have moved in the intervening year. If it was my great-granddad, and there is no real reason to think it was, he left both dogs behind, as our Michael licensed a blue greyhound in Swords in 1892.

Michael Byrne, Dog Licence Register, Avoca courthouse, 1891

The only other potential Michael Byrne was a man from Edenderry in King’s County (now Offaly). He had two greyhounds in 1891, one was black and the other was brindle coloured. This Michael purchased a licence for three greyhounds in Edenderry in 1892, and four in 1893, so can be ruled out of the reckoning. 

So, I cannot say I found my great-grandfather this week and as my mother says, maybe he does not want to be found. A possible townland of origin may have been identified - on its own yielding nothing conclusive - just another brick wall really. Still, one day it may prove to be of interest. I’ll also check out the licences issued in 1890 and earlier years. I may need all the help I can get with this one!

Source: ‘Ireland Dog Licence Registers, 1866 – 1914’, index and images, Findmypast (subscription site).  

Dog image: From paintings by Louis Fuertes in Ernest Baynes, The Book of Dogs, National Geographic Society, Washington D.C., 1919, The Internet Archive. 

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy

See tales of further searches for Michael Byrne at: Targeting the FAN Club and Clutching at Straws.

Using Dog Licence Registers to find an elusive Great-Grandfather

Michael Byrne (c.1868 – 1927)

In most countries, genealogists rely on decennial census returns to locate their ancestors’ whereabouts, but, in Ireland, these records have mostly been lost and we've had to adopt other means of research. One of the few facts I know about my Dad’s paternal grandfather, Michael Byrne, is that he owned a ‘prizewinning greyhound.’ I've even seen a photograph of him with the dog and from the time Findmypast (subscription web-site) promised to index the Irish dog licence registers, I have hoped they would contain a clue as to my great-grandfather's origins.

Last week Findmypast published the registers for the Swords’ Courthouse, in north County Dublin, near where my great-granddad lived. He was sure to have been included!

Concerned with the number of stray dogs roaming the country, the government passed the Dog Regulation (Ireland) Act in 1865, the same decade my great-grandfather was born, and the indexed registers for Swords are now available from then until 1914.  Dog owners were required to pay a fee of two shillings per animal, plus a six pence registration fee. The registers list the number of dogs each person owned, their sex, colour and breed. In 1914, Michael Byrne of Yellow Walls owned three female dogs, two black and white greyhounds and one red Irish fox terrier.  

Irish terrier in left foreground

Michael first obtained a licence for the Irish terrier in 1912. Up until then, he only ever had one dog, or at least only one dog licence. It was always for a greyhound, usually a black and white or blue one. He purchased the licence in Swords, during the last few days of March, every year from 1892 to 1914, except 1906. It was the licence granted in 1892 that was most interesting.

Michael Byrne, Dog Licence Register, Swords courthouse, 1892

On 29 June 1892, Michael Byrne married my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Mahon, the only child of James and Margaret (McDonnell) Mahon from Yellow Walls, Malahide. Michael’s address at this time was also Yellow Walls. At some point, around the time of his marriage, he moved into the Mahon family home, and the Byrne family have lived there ever since. Their marriage certificate was the very earliest document, so far found, relating to my great-grandfather’s existence. The dog licence, purchased in 1892, was dated three months prior to their marriage - only three months - but prior to their marriage nonetheless. Michael’s address was shown as the Swords Road, the road leading from Malahide to Swords, partly running through the townland of Yellow Walls. Although he did not purchase a dog licence in Swords in 1891, or earlier, this proves Michael owned a greyhound before his marriage. 

It means: either, Michael did not own a licenced dog prior to 1892, irrespective of when he moved to Malahide and nothing else will be learned from the country’s dog licence registers.  Or, it means, he purchased his dog licences elsewhere, prior to 1892, and the dog licence registers of another courthouse might yet hold the key to his origins. The search is on...

This story is continued further at Just another brick-wall.

Source: ‘Ireland Dog Licence Registers, 1866 – 1914’, index and images, Findmypast (subscription site).  

Dog image: From paintings by Louis Fuertes in Ernest Baynes, The Book of Dogs, National Geographic Society, Washington D.C., 1919, The Internet Archive. 

Previous posts about Michael Byrne:  Terrazzo Byrne! and Black Sheep Sunday ~ an obtuse crime 

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy

A new ‘cousin’ and a sad accident

This week started out on a new ancestral trail, that of Joseph Sarsfield, a witness to my GGG-grandfather John Radcliffe’s second marriage in 1861. If you think tragedy only followed our Radcliffe lineage, think again, for poor Joseph met with a most horrific end. 

Great Lonsdale Street East (1864) by Francois Cogne (1829-1883),

with the Church of St Francis left-centre

On 5 January 1861, John Radcliffe, the son of Peter Radcliffe and Anne Sarsfield from County Dublin, married Bridget Flanagan in Church of St Francis, Melbourne. In the nineteenth century, ‘Sarsfield’ was an uncommon surname, both in Dublin and Melbourne, so their best-man, Joseph Sarsfield, was likely John’s maternal cousin, or uncle, or at least related somehow.  Identifying his roots in Ireland might just provide a clue to the origins of John’s mother, my GGGG-grandmother, Anne (Sarsfield) Radcliffe, so Joseph was worth pursuing.[1] 

Joseph Sarsfield married Catherine Buckley, on 6 November 1862, also in the Church of St Francis in Melbourne.[2] This couple went on to have twelve or more children: Emily (1863-1867), Mary (1865-1867), John Joseph (b. 1867), Michael Christopher (c. 1869-1920), Thomas (b. aft.1869), Catherine (c.1873-1962), Mary Ellen (1875-1875), Peter (c.1877-1923), Mary Josephine (1877-1933), Elizabeth (1877-1961), an unnamed male child who lived for only one day in 1878 and Joseph Patrick (1880-1945).[3] Joseph died on 7 April 1880, leaving his widow almost destitute, with eight surviving children, the youngest child being only days old. At the time of his death, Joseph worked as a porter with the Victorian Railway and was stationed at Toolamba, 180 kilometres north of Melbourne.[4] 

A search of contemporary Australian newspapers revealed just how tragically Joseph died. He was walking home along the railway, having apparently visited ‘some shanties’ nearby, when he was hit by the last train from Seymour to Shepparton, as it approached Toolamba. The driver told the station master at Toolamba he had run over something.  A search was organised and they discovered Joseph’s mutilated and decapitated body lying beside the tracks. His was the first fatal accident on the Goulburn Valley Railway. Luckily, for Joseph, he was killed instantly and did not suffer.[4] 

Death of Joseph Sarsfield, Toolamba, 1880

Bendigo Advertiser, 16 April 1880, p. 2.

It was thought Joseph may not have heard the train coming, though no further explanation as to why he did not hear it was reported in the newspapers - maybe he was hard of hearing, or just too drunk. It seems his death was not registered and there was no mention of an inquest in the newspapers, so it is unlikely we’ll ever now know. 

Joseph’s marriage certificate confirmed he was born in Dublin, Ireland, to Christopher Sarsfield and Mary Duffe, twenty-seven years previously.  I had already identified Christopher as being a potential sibling of my GGGG-grandmother Anne (Sarsfield) Radcliffe. Between 1829 and 1846, he and Mary Duff(e) had ten children baptised in Rush, County Dublin, which was less than twenty kilometres north of Anne’s home in Malahide. They had a son Joseph born in 1831.[5] Christopher Sarsfield was living on Lambay Island, off the Dublin coast, in 1847 and remained there until the 1860s.[6] 

So, it might be worth taking a closer look at this Sarsfield-Duff(e) family in Dublin!

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[1] Radcliffe-Flanagan marriage certificate, 1861, Birth Deaths Marriages Victoria. 

[2] Sarsfield-Buckley marriage certificate, 1862, same.

[3] ‘Australia Victoria BMD historical index’, Archive.org; Death notice, Catherine Sarsfield, The Argus, 27 August 1918, p. 1, Trove.  

[4] Bendigo Advertiser, 16 April 1880, p. 2; The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, 15 April 1880, p. 2, Trove. 
[5] Baptism index, Rush Roman Catholic Church, Rootsireland.ie (subscription).

[6] Griffith’s Valuation, Ask about Ireland; McCullagh-Sarsfield marriage register, 1860, IrishGenealogy,ie. 

Image credit: Great Lonsdale Street East (1864) by Francois Cogne 1829-1883, State Library of Victoria.

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© 2014 Black Raven Genealogy