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Topic: Barrister in England moved to Texas -Help (Read 420 times)
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dwyerk
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Hi,
Just started and need help finding GGGrandfather in UK. Please help me by:
1: Pointing me in the right direction in regard to resources
2: Sugestions on the next steps to dig deeper from the US
I have a records of my GGGrandfather that say:
1:
Perhaps another early immigrant at the time provides a clue to this mystery. Thomas A. Dwyer came to Nueces County in 1849. He was a barrister in Dublin, then London, but gave up the practice of law to raise horses and mules on the lower Nueces River.
In a pamphlet published in 1872, Dwyer wrote about mustangers. "At that time,'' he wrote, "many Mexicans, whose families resided at Corpus Christi . . . supported themselves by 'running,' that is, catching wild cattle and by mustanging, or hunting wild horses.''
2:Another colorful chapter is the story of Thomas A. Dwyer, a barrister in London who gave up law to breed horses on a ranch near Corpus Christi.
Dwyer came here in 1847 aboard the steamship "Fanny." He was one of the passengers who wrote a letter commending the captain for an easy voyage. Dwyer later gave the welcoming address when Henry L. Kinney returned to Corpus Christi in 1858 from his failed attempt to conquer Nicaragua.
Dwyer sold his horses and ranch on the Nueces at the beginning of the Civil War. But he stayed in Texas, somewhere. He published a pamphlet in 1872 about taming mustangs. He explained in that article why he gave up the practice of law: "Eleven years at law in London and Dublin, with few briefs," he wrote, "and just forty guineas in fees (equal to $200 of our American money) in four years' practice at the Irish bar, had given me a big disgust, not only of law but of civilization at its crowded centers, fenced in by all kinds of restrictions, conventionalities, infinitesimal etiquette, artificiality and 'red tape.' "
Here was a man who gave up his life's training to move to a strange new land. Here was a man of true grit. What happened to Dwyer - failed lawyer in London and successful mustanger in South Texas?
Both of these accounts are from newspapers in Texas.
Any help would be a great help. Also, How would I find out what ship and what port did he use to depart the UK for the US. I can find no record of him in on-line immergration lists and no record of a "Fanny" in ship registers.
Thanks,
Ken Dwyer
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grub
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Xander
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Hi Ken
I have found "a" Thomas A Dwyer on 1850 census, b c 1819, Ireland, living in Rio Grande Valley, in Counties of Cameron, Starr and Webb.
Might this be your Thomas?
Valerie
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Bayley, Dorset, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire and others. Antrobus, Somerset/Glouster Skelton, Heslington, Yorkshire James, Norfolk, and London Delasalle, London area Gravett/Grevet, Surrey Also searching the above in Australia “Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk” |
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dwyerk
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That is him. An irish cowboy. The problem is that I can not find any info of his life before moving to Texas. All I know is that he was a lawyer before moving to the US.
Ken
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dwyerk
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Jorose,
Thanks for the info, Thomas came to Texas in 1847, so that make sense, his being on the 1844 register and not on the 1850 register. So, that may be a lead. I have to assume that him being Irish, he received his degree at Trinity College in Dublin. He was born about 1817, so he attended college sometime between 1830 and 1840.
According to a letter I have he states that he spent "eleven years at law in London and Dublin, with few briefs," he wrote, "and just forty guineas in fees (equal to $200 of our American money) in four years' practice at the Irish bar.
So I need to find someone willing to search Trinity college records to see if a Thomas Dwyer went to school there.
Ken
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avm228
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Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Hi Ken,
There's no sign of him either as Counsel or as an attorney (what today would be called a solicitor) in London between 1843-1846, according to the Law List.
I also can't see any sign in the Times archive of an announcement of his being called to the English Bar.
It may be that in those days Irish advocates were permitted to practise informally at the English Bar without being formally called etc - which doesn't help much with tracing him!
I'll see if I can think of any more Bar-related sources and come back to you.
Anna
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Ayr: Barnes, Wylie
Caithness: MacGregor
Essex: Eldred (Pebmarsh)
Gloucs: Timbrell (Winchcomb)
Hants: Stares (Wickham)
Lincs: Maw, Jackson (Epworth, Belton)
London: Pierce
Suffolk: Markham (Framlingham)
Surrey: Gosling (Richmond)
Wilts: Matthews, Tarrant (Calne, Preshute)
Worcs: Milward (Redditch)
Yorks: Beaumont, Crook, Moore, Styring (Huddersfield); Middleton (Church Fenton); Exley, Gelder (High Hoyland); Barnes, Birchinall (Sheffield); Kenyon, Wood (Cumberworth/Denby Dale)
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