Some Good News on My English Genealogy

One thing that happens when you do genealogy is that you will meet people who are related to you in a distant way. It is inevitable. I became friendly with someone who is probably a 5th cousin or so. In our many interactions, she told me that she had come across a marriage for one of my ancestors that I had never seen. It was in another town.

To put it as simply as possible, I had Ann Deacon as my ancestress and she said it was really Ann Spinks. My ancestor John Ollard, had two wives named Ann. He married Ann Deacon in Newton, had children there and then Ann Ollard died in 1737. I can be forgiven for thinking she was Ann Deacon.

I contacted the Wisbech Fenlands Museum online and asked them to check the records for Tydd St Giles for a marriage between John Ollard and Ann Spinks. Yes,  there is one, in 1716 the year before my ancestor Spinks Ollard was born. So it seems, he was given his mother's last name as his first name. There is no death recorded in either town for Ann Deacon Ollard but no doubt she died before 1716.

So another mystery is solved and now my genealogy is correct. Thank you, Heather.

Shocking discovery blows my Irish genealogy

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Of course, in genealogy, we don't believe this but I have to say, my shocking discovery has made me wish I had left well enough alone. 

Let me set the stage. In May 1995 I sent to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a marriage certificate for Cornelius Donahue and Johanna O'Connor. Did I know that they were married in Massachusetts? No, but they weren't married at St. John in Middletown and their son was baptized there in 1855 so they had to be married somewhere. Cornelius was naturalized in Massachusetts in 1854 so I took a chance sending my request and a check. 

I was rewarded with a certificate that stated that Cornelius Donihue son of Jeffrey Donihue and Johanna Connor daughter of Dennis Conner had been married in Chicopee in December 1853. This was my most spectacular discovery to date. 

In his naturalization certificate, Cornelius told me that he was born in Killarney on or about January 14, 1832,  and had arrived in the United States on July 6, 1847, at age 15. Now I knew his father's name. 

In December 1995 I went to Killarney and looked at the records at the cathedral. I found Cornelius, son of Jeffrey and Johanna Sullivan baptized in April 1833. They were from a townland about 8 miles away. I assumed it could have taken them a while to get into Killarney for the baptism. 

No other Cornelius, born to a Jeffrey was baptized in Killarney on any other date, ever. So for the last 20 odd years, I have been researching this family. Imagine how shocked I was when with the new records available online I was able to search for records relating to any Geoffrey Donoghues and I found a marriage in Killarney in 1878 for Cornelius Donoghue and Bridget Reardon and his parents are Jeffrie Donaghue and Johanna Sullivan. What the what?????

My Cornelius died in 1872 in Portland, Ct from cholera at 40 years old. So obviously, my Cornelius wasn't the son of Geoffrey and Johanna but whose son is he?   I have no clue. The only other Geoffrey in Killarney at this time having children is married to Mary Begley and they don't have a son Cornelius. They also don't seem to have the names that predominate in my family. I have to admit, I always wondered about the whole name thing with Geoffrey and Johanna since their other children also had names we never see in my family. 

So where am I? Back to where I was in 1995 before my trip to Ireland. I so wish the 1841 and 1851 censuses still existed, it would clear up this mystery for me. But they don't and so I have nowhere to go with this. 

NERGC: DNA Workshop was Awesome

On Thursday morning we spent the first two hours in a DNA workshop with Jennifer Zinck learning about what the results that we see from our Ancestry DNA tests can tell us. It was very interesting and the entire room was spellbound the entire time. 

Jenn is very good at imparting the information is a way that is both entertaining and educational. While I have been playing with this DNA site for quite a while, there was plenty for me to learn as well. 

One takeaway that will be very helpful is the use of the site PiPL to help find out who some of the people who won't respond to you on Ancestry really are. You can put in their username and you may be able to find out who they actually are.  

All in all, this was a very worthwhile workshop and well worth the additional cost. 

NERGC It's Finally Here

We are checking into the NERGC on Tuesday. We, Kathy and I,  have a room at the Marriott Hotel. On Wednesday we are attending DNA Day. We are hoping that we will learn some things about the DNA tests that we have taken. How to use the results effectively. 

There is still time to join us, the regular conference begins on Thursday and even if you can't attend until Saturday, that is okay, they have a one-day option. Hope to see you here!!

NERGC Next Week April 26-29

It is finally that time, the time we wait two long years for, the NERGC is here. There is still time to register for the full conference or for just one or two days. Visit the conference website and check out all the details. 

If you are a Genealogy Roadshow fan you will recognize two of the presenters,  Mary Tedesco and Kenyatta Barry. Enjoy all the advantages that being together with hundreds of fellow genealogists provides. Great vendors, exciting speakers and the opportunity to get help with your person brick walls will all be available. 

Stay tuned, I will be posting daily next week from the conference. Wednesday is DNA Day!!!

Ireland Census 1911

Another census in Ireland that has survived all the unfortunate events of the early 20th century is the 1911 census. It is a very interesting census and includes a little more information that the 1901 census including how long the married couples have been married. This really helped me to nail down that this was indeed my ancestor. 

What it tells you is:
Surname
Forename
Age 
Sex
Relationship to head of household
religion 
birthplace
occupation
literacy
Irish language
marital status
specific illness
years married
children born 
children living

What was particularly fascinating for me was that my relative spoke both Irish and English. There was a rumor in our family that my ancestor Johanna Connors Donahue was a Gaelic speaker and now I know it is likely true since it is likely that her husband Cornelius also spoke Gaelic since his brother did. 

The Irish census is available at the National Archives of Ireland website. 

Ireland 1901 census records

Due to a variety of unfortunate circumstances, most of Ireland's early census records no longer exist however, 1901 does exist. It is quite an interesting census and offers up some useful information to genealogists. 

I know what you are thinking, my ancestors are famine immigrants, what can this census from so many years later do for me? Well let me tell you what it did for me, it introduced me to my third great uncle. 

If you have used the National Library of Ireland parish records to find your ancestors' baptism and marriage records, you will know that they had siblings. In my particular case,  I located the marriage record of my second great grandfather's brother in 1874. How do I know it is his brother? By this time, the parents listed on the marriage record.

This is one of the most important and exciting discoveries that I have ever made. Why you ask? Because Edmond/Edward had 8 children. One at least was married by the time of the 1911 census and had children. I now know that if I see someone who is a cousin shows up with the last name McCarthy, they may actually be a descendant of Geoffrey Donahue and Johanna Sulivan like I am. 

For years I have assumed that I had no relatives who might still be living in Ireland today. I now know that it is at least possible that I have relatives and maybe they still live in the Killarney area. This is exciting stuff after so many years of finding nothing on this line.

What the 1901 census included is head of household, occupation, the age of all the household members, sex, literacy, religion, and relationship to head of the home. 

If you haven't looked at the 1901 Census of Ireland, give it a look, you have nothing to lose and a world of information to gain. The records are located on the National Archives of Ireland website.