Wakefield Family on the family estate began by Dr. Albert Wakefield

[fruitytooty]

Dr Albert Wakefield was an emigrant from England to Ireland and had an only son, Robert, who had a son Robert all born on the family estate on the road between Aughrim and Ballinasloe, Galway county, Connaught, Ireland. I do not know if I should be posting under Connaught, Ireland!
Robert Wakefield (Robert, Andrew) had three children, that I am aware of:
Robert, Matthew, and Andrew. All born on the family estate.
Robert (Robert,Andrew)had 4 sons:
David b1735 who married Mary Jane or Elizabeth Wade-said to be the dau of Jerimiah Wade. He escaped to America, had a role in the below referenced plot. Hid by his wife in a hogshead of clothing on a ship heading to America. Found 3 days later.
Robert beheaded for complicity in a plot against the Catholic church.
Gilbert arrested with his brother Robert, and imprisoned for life.
Samuel escaped to Scotland in a rowboat when detected in plot against the Catholic Government.
Matthew(Robert,Andrew) married Bridget Banks, emigrated to America around 1783. Had 8 children that I will not list now.
Andrew(Robert, Andrew) married Margaret Reddick, resided on the family estate listed above and he probably died there. They had 3 children.
Are there any records for David and Mary Jane or Elizabeth Wade Wakefield and I would love information on the records concerning persecution in their plot against the Catholic Church.
Thomas Wakefield(David,Robert,Robert,Alexander) was born in 1757 on the family estate. He married Elizabeth Morton-and there is a lot of conflict on their records! I believe I did a post for Antrim County, Ireland concerning Elizabeth Morton as a dau of John and Jane Peden Morton. Many of her descendants for centuries now have listed her as the dau of John Morton,a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Finnish family history stemming from New Sweden in America-1650's-and it is not true! But they are bound and determined to have a famous ancestor! It is said that Thomas and Elizabeth Morton Wakefield were married in Galway, Ireland in 1782-any records? Are there any records concerning Thomas Wakefield's birth or immigration?
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[Lisa in California]

Hi fruitytooty:

I received your pm regarding the Wakefields; thank you for contacting me.

I am replying on your thread, in order to keep information in one spot (rather than having some information by pm, and other information on threads).

According to my ancestor Jane Wakefield, and her children, Jane was born in Tuam, Ireland in 1822.  I was very surprised to find out that Jane, her parents and siblings were mentioned in the Wakefield Memorial book.  There is some incorrect information in the book regarding my ancestors.  Although if I remember correctly, it is mostly factual but has incorrect surname spellings and a couple of incorrect dates.  Jane and her husband and children left the states (settling in Ontario, Canada) prior to c1852.  If I remember correctly, her father, Edward Wakefield, born c1795, Ireland also settled in Ontario, Canada with Jane and her family.

I don't know very much about Irish records, unfortunately.  However, I might suggest if you haven't already done so to try internet searches for the Wakefields.  I've spent a huge amount of time searching the internet for my English and an Irish ancestors and actually have found information!  What I have done is to use variations of their names, such as: Jane Wakefield, Wakefield Jane, Mrs. Wakefield, Mr. Wakefield, J Wakefield, etc.  I also include places and dates of birth, death and residence.  I also search for them, typing their occupations, and street names.

I am very interested in finding out more about the Wakefields and tonight will look through your posting on this thread to see if I can help.

Again, thank you for contacting me.   

[fruitytooty]

I have not gotten any information on this family and apparently the book Wakefield Memorial by Homer Wakefield is one of the main resources for many branches of Wakefields. This book is easily assessed at openlibrary.org for free. In my research-that includes the other Wakefields in this branch that came to America supposingly to the same area- I have run across various misinformation from the book but it is a good start. One of the sons of Robert Wakefield son of Robert Wakefield was Matthew Wakefield-brother to my David Wakefield. The Wakefield Memorial states under second generation page 216  "Matthew Wakefield born __married__Bridget Banks, emigrated to America prior to 1783, and settled on the Juanitta river, Penn, and later removed to Nelson county, Ky." From the book "History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys by Franklin Ellis page 595 you will find info for a Matthew Wakefield. "Matthew Wakefield, in 1768, was assessed on one hundred acres. . . . and John Wakefield, his son, one hundred acres and in 1790 . . .He(Matthew) died in 1793 and left two sons, William and George, and a daughter Sarah who married John McVey, the founder of McVeytown, to whom the property came." This information does not correspond with the Matthew Wakefield, brother of David Wakefield who went to the same Juniata Valley. In the Wakefield Memorial page 216 Matthew Wakefield father of John Wakefield who also served in the Rev War and married Elizabeth Alexander and moved to Nelson County, Ky. I believe this the same John mentioned in the Ellis book. But the children of Matthew in the Wakefield Memorial do not match the children of this Matthew Wakefield. I have had a few posts-not just rootchat- and some of the info in the Wakefield Memorial is not matching up. So I am concerned about dates that the Wakefield families came to America-and names of children. The same book by Franklin Ellis page 602 lists the McVey family history and states"John McVey married Sarah, the dau of Matthew Wakefield, who settled below on the river before 1768." If this is the correct Matthew Wakefield, and I can follow the one son John Wakefield's history for this part of PA, coming prior to 1768 is a little earlier than I expected and he does not have a dau Sarah listed in the Wakefield Memorial. And as I stated the Juniata Valley is where the Matthew Wakefield and David Wakefield families are said to of gone in the Wakefield Memorial by Homer Wakefield. And I can find the history for the David Wakefield familes. Do you think it is another Matthew Wakefield or that his info is incorrect in the book? fruitytooty

[fruitytooty]

The information I posted concerning the Wakefields in Mifflin County, Pa from the book History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys-can be found also in Homer Wakefield's book-The Wakefield Memorial on page 255. However, it must be noted the year the Wakefield book was written and in the preface he explains he compiled info from various families. The Mifflin County Wakefields start with John Wakefield-not Matthew Wakefield as in the book on the area in PA. And I must tell you that the info from page 216 from my branch of Wakefields could very easily be the same family referenced! The state of Penna was being formed and from the 3 initial counties from William Penn-Chester, Lancaster and Bucks-all the rest were formed.Therefore for the history of my Wakefields that include a Matthew Wakefield and his son John Wakefield they also went to the same area of the Juniata Valley-as did David Wakfield and his family-they all went to this area. You can find more history in the area of Lancaster County, Cumberland County, Franklin County. And who knows if the boundaries ran in between all the Wakefield families that settled there. So you tell me how accurate the book written in the 1890's is? No one can find history for the Wakefields in Ireland. And I have researched not just this branch in Penna-to find the history you have to understand the history of Penna. The other mistake in the WAkefield Memorial concerns Elizabeth Morton who married Thomas Wakefield the claim that she is niece of the signer, John Morton. A simple google shows you the real signer of the DEclaration of Independence-he had no siblings. And for those who claim she is the daughter-this has been happening since the Wakefield book came out-even an obit in ancestry from 1899 makes this claim for the dau of Elizabeth and Thomas Wakefield. And the signers dau Elizabeth died UNMARRIED. Fruitytooty

[fruitytooty]

I found an interesting bit of history regarding the David Wakefield and Wade families of the Parrish of Aughrim and Kilconnel.
http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/history/chapter4.html

In a bio for Dr. Rev Samuel Wakefield-son of Thomas-son of David-I read that his grandmother, May Jane Wade Wakefield-was converted to Methodism by John Wesley. And in ancestry there is a quote from a letter written by Shelia MacAvoy Block that was published on Rootsweb. It tells of a book titled "The Parish of Aughrim and Kilconnel" by Tadhg MacLochlain and information from page 19 tells of Wesley's visit and tells of the Wakefields. The last sentence of the paragraph that mentions Wakefields says "The last three preachers remembered by the people were Mr Storey, Mr Walsh, and Mr. Wakefield, all natives of the parish."
Also in trying to understand what conflict the Wakefield Brothers could of had with the Catholic rule to be implicated in a plot against rule in the years 1765-1783 I have been reading about the Whiteboys and other secret organizations of that period up to the French and the year 1798-that some participated with the French in a war. A source A History of Ireland in the 187h Century by William Edward Hartpole Lecky-vol 2 addresses the various conflicts for the period.

[fruitytooty]

In reference to my previous posts regarding confusion on what Church Parish the Wakefields in the article about John Wesley could be I found this:
http://www.irishmethodist.org/about/genealogy.php and it states:
Although Methodists in Ireland have existed since 1740's-the first 70 years Methodists usually had dual membership as both Methodists and also members of the parish church. It was not until 1816 and finally authorized in 1818-Methodists were permitted to hve the sacrements of baptism and Holy Communion in their own preaching houses.
I am not sure but the Wakefield family may of been part of the Catholic parish and possibly the Wakefield family had problems with the Catholic Church because of their connection to the Methodist. Any suggestions on this?fruitytooty

[shanew147]

The 'parish Church' referred to in that article relates to the Established Church, or Church of Ireland.

just wondering about a phrase you mentioned earlier i.e. 'the Catholic rule' - doesn't make much sense to me....


S.

[fruitytooty]

The 'parish Church' referred to in that article relates to the Established Church, or Church of Ireland.

just wondering about a phrase you mentioned earlier i.e. 'the Catholic rule' - doesn't make much sense to me....


S.

I am trying to make sense out of it myself! The original post is the family tradition handed down and is in most histories I read for the Wakefield family-beginning with the Wakefield Memorial by Homer Wakefield. A previous moderator tried to help and said all the history she saw for Wakefields stem from the same book. I have been to all sites mentioned and I believe you really need to know the religion of the person to find records. Well this is quite a different take-dual memberships in parishs, isn't it? And no one has mentioned it to me. I have seen other posts inquiring about families who say they are Protestant but records are in the Catholic parish records.
I gathered the dual membership probably meant Church of Ireland-mandated Anglician Church-that would be Espicoplian at this time-1750-1783 or from the articles I have read- it is not plain? I have been reading a lot of Irish history trying to understand all the various religious problems and I am trying to understand this plot against Catholic Rule that is behind the punishments I list in my first post. At this point I believe I was trying to figure out what parish the Wakefields belonged to since the Methodist were not permitted until 1818 to have the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion in their own preaching houses. From the John Wesley article I read the Catholics were not allowed to go into a Protestant Church. And the 1st paragraph "Nevertheless the whole congregation listened to him as he preached in the open" I assumed maybe this was also a Catholic congregation and the Wakefields were part of that congregation and this possibly is what the Wakefield memorial is talking about Catholic rule. Possibly the article is referring to a Catholic Church who did not approve of their conversion. A monastry is also mentioned in the last paragraph of the same article concerning John Wesley. Was their a monastery close by the area John Wesley visited? fruitytooty

[aghadowey]

There was no 'Catholic rule' of Ireland in the period you mention so a plot to overthrow it simply doesn't make sense.

Open air preaching was not unusual in Ireland as it meant large crowds who couldn't all be accomodated in a church could listen to the speaker. Probably more common in the country and in places where a church building was only big enough to hold its own congregation.

The Church of Ireland was the Established Church (i.e. State Church) and since people had to pay tithes they were entitled to burial in the churchyard (which is why many of them have large numbers of other religions such as Presbyterians in their graveyards). As other religions were finally allowed to hold their own services and their clergy perform weddings, etc. then they would have been likely to be less contact with the Church of Ireland.

The trouble with information being spread over and over again is often tracing it back to a source. The book you mention "Wakefield Memorial by Homer Wakefield" seems to have been published in 1897 and the Victorians were well-known for embellishing family details in order to link back to a prominent family with the same surname, royalty, etc.
http://archive.org/details/wakefieldmemoria00wake