Sunday 5 May 2019

Family size matters!

My parents had five children, which might have been considered more than most, even when we were younger. But they only have two grandchildren. Previous generations were larger still, and increasingly so the further back into the nineteenth century you go. Colleen, at the Leaves and Branches blog, says what constitutes a large family ‘depends on the year, the generation,’  which is probably the general perception. 

So, how large were my family in preceding generations?


My grandparents

James Byrne and Lena O’Neill
2 children
Kevin Wynne and Annie Byrne
9 children


My great-grandparents

Michael Byrne and Elizabeth Mahon  
4 children *
Charles O’Neill and Mary Agnes Donovan
9 children
Patrick Wynne and Teresa Carroll     
8 children
James Byrne and Christina Devine    
8 children
Elizabeth died aged only 34 years.  
              
My great-great-grandparents

John Byrne and Alicia Leahy    
2 children *
James Mahon and Margaret McDonnell
1 child
John and Margaret O’Neill       
Unknown
John Donovan and Maryanne Coyle  
7 children
John Wynne and Bridget Hynes
10 children
Maurice Carroll and Anne Ratcliffe   
10 children **
Francis Byrne and Margaret McGrane
14 children
John Devine and Maryanne Keogh    
7 children
* Alicia died aged about 29 years. John also had 5 children with his first wife. 
** Maurice also had 5 children with his first wife. 


My great-great-grandfather, Maurice Carroll, claims the prize for having fathered the most children – 15 in total – 10 with my great-great-grandmother, Anne Ratcliffe, and 5 with his first wife, Mary Anne Frazer. 

Maurice's children with Mary Anne were David Carroll (born 1857), Robert Carroll (1860-1942), Catherine Carroll (born 1862), Thomas Carroll (born 1863) and James Carroll (1865-1943)

His children with Anne were Mary Carroll (1871-1941), Thomas Carroll (born 1873), Anne Carroll (1875-1926), Maurice Carroll (1877-1877), John Carroll (born 1878), Maurice Carroll (born 1882), Peter Carroll (1884-1888), Teresa Carroll (1888-1958), Joseph Carroll (1891-1896) and Margaret Carroll (born 1895). 

I've written about my great-grandmother Teresa before, and about her half-brother, James, and her sister Anne (see links to these articles above). But, although some of Maurice’s children died in childhood, I've lost track of others who I know survived. 

Maybe, it’s time to revisit their stories…

Updates:
19 May 2019: What happened to Margaret Mary Carroll? here.
16 Jun 2019: Great-granduncle John Carroll ~ a Black Sheep? here.
30 Jun 2019: Robert O'Carroll (1860-1942), here.
14 Jul 2019: Annie Carroll - a tale of betrayal, here.
28 Jul 2019: What happened to Maurice Carroll, here

12 comments:

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    1. This is so interesting , Dara. Going back and writing down the number of children per family in each generation makes for interesting comparisons...I am going to do that too! It is also interesting that the numbers don't seem to go up geometrically in the following generations due I suppose to changes in social conditions...

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    2. In my case, it appears some of my 'grannys' died prematurely. Let me know if you find anything interesting, Holly.

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  2. Hi Dara (from Stephanie in Samoa)
    Great to see you posting again - I enjoy your gleanings so much. One lead about Maurice Carroll's offspring in adulthood is Margaret Mary. Annotation in baptism record suggests she married Christopher Penrose 9 May 1923 at St Joseph's, in Gateshead, Durham and died 15 Nov 1949 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. May be worth checking?

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    1. Lovely to hear from you, Stephanie, I hope you are doing well. Are you still researching our family history? Have you made any good discoveries? I'm actually looking at Margaret now, with a view to writing about her :-)) I read the register that she remarried in 1949? I'll check it again, thanks.

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  3. Hi Dara, Yes, all's well here in my South Sea island paradise. And yes, I'm still puddling away on the tree, in fits and starts, although I must admit I've been neglecting my paternal side a bit because you're so much better than I at following those elusive Irish threads.
    I do so enjoy reading your blog and especially love it when you post a pic of one of the ancestors. The one of your granddad with his pipe looked so much like my dad! I'll email you Dad and Mum's wedding pic separately and you'll see what I mean.
    Can't think of anything interesting that I've discovered that you don't already know about, but I too have been looking at Maurice Carroll's prodigious brood, especially trying to work out what happened to children of Mary Anne Frazer after she died. Wondering if Catherine and Thomas both died in November 1864 - there are death regs about the right age (although one Dublin South, one North). Also maybe even second Thomas died in infancy (Oct 1874)? If so out of Maurice's 15 kids maybe 7 (or even more) died as infants.
    Anyway, if I do find anything juicy I'll let you know.

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  4. As interesting as large families are, I am just as interested in the many couples in my family who had NO children.

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    1. I never forget the collateral lines with no descendants either, Wendy. Someone has to remember them!

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  5. It is very interesting to see those numbers assembled. I also have some who had small families because a spouse, usually the wife, died young. I think it had more to do with help on the farm than any particular religious beliefs.

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    1. That probably played a part, Colleen. Although many had no real choice, at least in Ireland - it was illegal to sell contraception until about 1980.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!