Identifying the 'Australian’ Wynnes, back in Dublin #5

With all the information garnered from Australian records, it was easy to locate our target Wynne family - the potential DNA cousins of my great-great-grandfather - back in Dublin. And, like many semi-skilled workers in nineteenth-century Ireland, this ‘cousin’, also named John Wynne, moved from one tenement dwelling to another, while remaining in the same general area of the city.

His identified addresses between 1821 and 1851 are reflected by the red stars on the map below.

Wynne residences, Dublin City, 1821 – 1851 (click on image to enlarge)[1]

We know from the record of John Wynne’s death in Australia in 1872, he married Ann Doyle, in Dublin, about 1823, and had six children with her – James (dead), Richard (1826), Henry (1828), Thomas (dead), Edward (1835) and Jane (dead). Other sources indicate, John married a second time, to Mary Brodie, with whom he had a son, John William, in Dublin, about 1841.

And, for the most part, although some dates were misremembered, there is supporting evidence of this in the records of Dublin city.

John and Anne Wynne lived in Werburgh Street in 1821, when their son James Thomas was baptised. Then, the family spent some years in St Mark’s parish, just over a mile to the east, where Richard, Elizabeth and Jane were born. Henry, Thomas and Edward were probably born in St Mark’s parish too, but their baptism records have not been found. The register of Jane’s baptism provides the family’s address as Denzille Street, as well as confirming John Wynne’s occupation - as a slater - increasing the likelihood this is the right family.

While most sources indicate the family were of the Protestant persuasion, Elizabeth and Jane were also baptised in St Andrew’s Roman Catholic church, suggesting their mother may have been Catholic. This view is perhaps confirmed by the insertion of the letters ‘R.C.’ in the burial register next to Anne Wynne, who died aged forty-two years, in August 1840. (St Andrew's R.C. parish covers much of the same district as St Mark's Church of Ireland parish.)

Burial register, Anne Wynne, 1840, St Mark’s Parish, Dublin

In 1841, 1842, and 1843, John Wynne, a slater, was recorded as living at 8 Peter Street. Only the fairly well-to-do were named in the Dublin city street directories, so perhaps John's business was doing particularly well around this time. But, from 1844 onward, he was no longer listed, suggesting he probably returned to tenement-type accommodation.[2]

Although no record of the event has been found, it would seem, soon after Anne’s death, John married Mary Brodie. No record of John William was found, but the baptism of a James Wynne, son of John Wynne and Mary Broody [sic], took place in St Nicholas R.C. parish on 2 September 1844. Nearly three months later, on 26 November, the three-month-old James Wynne died at home, in Whitefriar Street, and was buried in St Peter’s COI parish.

Sadly, it seems, John Wynne lost his second wife at an early age, too.  Mary Wynne of Whitefriar Street, aged thirty-six years, was buried in the graveyard at St Peter’s, on the 5 January 1846. Within a week, a second infant, James Wynne of Whitefriar Street, was buried in the same graveyard. And, in 1851, a surviving extract from the Irish census confirms John Wynne headed the only Wynne household in Whitefriar Street.[3]

John Wynne of Whitefriar Street was the only man of that name recorded as resident in Dublin’s south city, in 1851, apart from my own great-great-grandfather, who lived in Thomas Street.

[1] Excerpt from map of Dublin City, Pettigrew & Oulton, Dublin Almanack & General Register of Ireland, 1840, accessed at SWilson.Info.

[2] Pettigrew & Oulton, Dublin Almanack & General Register of Ireland, 1840 to 1844, various online sources.

[3] David Chart, ‘Dublin city, Head of household extract from 1851 census of Ireland’, National Archives, accessed on (€) Findmypast.ie. 

[4] Dublin birth and death details from the church baptism and burial registers, accessed on IrishGenealogy.ie.

Note: The Wynne surname, although spelled consistently in this article, was subject to numerous spelling variations (including Wynne, Wynn, Winne and Winn) in the nineteenth-century records.

See start of discussion about this DNA match, here. 

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