Heaffey-Mallow

[lifes too short]

Hi Dimar and Norfolk Lady

I havent got much too add from the last time I posted as I had kind of given up going back much further on the Irish side but I did see both of your postings so got the old files back out of the cupboard! Dimar I think looking up the army files is a great idea if you have the time. If not I may be able to get to Kew in the coming months. I know its a long time ago but when Catherine senior died someone must have inherited the family paperwork/possesions but who? Norah the grandaugter was named on the death certificate so maybe she is the answer. I do not know who her parents are but she appears to never have married, any ideas?? Also what became of Catherine the daughter? I am unable to find a marriage for her. The other faint possibilty is that Victors eldest son may have had some records but I feel this is unlikely and even more unlikely that they have survived. Not promising but over the winter months I may set up a Heaffey website or family tree and see if we can get as many Heaffeys to add to it. It is such an unusual name that I am sure everyone is somehow related. That is providing my kids help me !! Never know we may find out more.

Lastly, Norfolk Lady sorry about Frank am I correct in assuming you are related by marriage to one of his sons? If you are then my hubbie knows yours but will not haven spoken for many years !!

Regards


Clare

[Dimar]

Hi Clare nice to hear from you again. Like you I cannot trace Catherine the daughter's marriage or death so god knows what happened to her. Norah must be one of Victor's children she certainly isn't Jacks. We do keep trying don't we! There aren't  many Heaffey's in Ireland even, as I said before its often spelt Heaphy and the ones still there are gangsters!!! If I could get hold Of JW's birth date and definite place of birth I maybe have a strong lead re the family in Doneraile which is only a few miles from Mallow. I have tried to find his army records on the national archives site (horrible site to navigate) but have had no luck so maybe a visit would be a good idea. Its good to talk to distant family doing the same research we get very bogged down in Ireland as we are also tracing the O'Regan's and the O'Callaghan's on our mother's side its certainly a challenge. Di

[lifes too short]

Hi Dimar

Will be away for a couple of weeks but on my return I will try Kew and see what I can find. Norah isn't Victors child that I am aware of so I will order a d cert for her and see what that reveals.  Will be in touch.

Bye for now

Clare

[drsenn]

Hi

I am attempting to try to find out more about Albert Joseph Heaffey, more specifically when he died. I have been reading all the info on the Heaffey family and have seen all the other siblings death (date and place) but not Albert's. I am looking to see if there is direct proof of when he died, as I 'may' have Albert entering the army, changing his name (a number of times) and ending up in Australia. However all my info is based on 'family' stories and some assumptions. If there is an extact year for Albert's death then this would squash my link and trail I have been following. Any help would be appreciated.

[Dimar]

Hi I think we had all but given up on the Heaffey's. I can't say that Albert was one of those we did much research on as we are more interested in Jack who is our grandfather. However, my sister has all the records so she's going to see what she has and I'll get back to you.

If you have any further info re Jack and Albert's parents we would be very interested because we couldn't even find their births. Too much travelling around and nearly all their sons died young, including our grandfather Jack.

[drsenn]

Hi Dimar,

After sending off the last message, we (my wife and I) have found further info that 'almost' confirms that Alfred Joseph Heaffey is my wife's paternal grandfather. The drama is that we believe Alfred changed his name, most likely to avoid an unwanted marriage. We know Alfred as 'Herbert Smith', WW1 veteran and father of two (legitimate) and suspected one (illegitimate). Our track (to finding the link between Heaffey and Smith) started with Herbert's war record and a court action that occurred during his war service. We found that 'Herbert' had served in the Middlesex Regiment prior to enlisting in Western Australia. We also found out that he was involved in a court case, because he had married his 2nd wife (my wife's grandmother) without having obtained a divorce from his first marriage in Singapore (while on duty with Middlesex regiment). This also (and more importantly) informed us that his real name was 'Alfred Joseph Heassey'. We hit a blank wall with 'Heassey' for a long while, but managed (very recently) to realize that the name Heassey had most likely been transcribed incorrectly and should have been 'Heaffey'. We were a bit dubious about the 'Heassey' to 'Heaffey' error until we found a number of other facts that join all the information together. 'Herbert' left his young kids when his 2nd wife died of TB (in Western Australia) and moved to South Australia and remarried as 'Smith-Harper', the maiden name of his mother!, his father was 'William John Smith-Harper' and he was from Canada! (Veteran records link my 'Herbert Smith' and 'Herbert Smith-Harper' as the same person). Also the Attestation records for 'Alfred' and 'Herbert' both describe exact significant features - the basics: brown hair and eyes, same height and weight, but more importantly distinctive tattoos that occur on both his arms - ship on right arm and girl on left arm. 'Alfred' served in the Middlesex regiment in Singapore at the time of the alleged marriage and was discharged while in Singapore, were (according to a newspaper article about court case) he travelled to Perth, Australia. Which is where he enlisted in the A.I.F. It has been a long trip to connect the two and we are now 99% sure Herbert is Alfred. We now are trying to find 'Alfred/Herbert' on a ship to W.A., marriage certificate in Singapore (when we can afford it - $120US) and also looking at how to gain access to the court records at the National Archives in Kew, to add more detail to the big picture.

Regarding the rest of 'Heaffey' family, I have the military record for William John, Alfred, Robert and possibly at least one record of their father, John William showing his Attestation and Discharge dates, which seems to match with his marriage and first appearance in UK census. Starting to look further back at the parents, I know Heaffey will be almost a dead end being from Ireland, but hope to see what happens with 'Harper'.

If you want further info, let me know.

Regards, David.

[Dimar]

Hi the family certainly lead us a merry dance all over the globe! All sorts of things seem to tie in       
but I don't understand who William  John Smith Harper is,are we talking about William John Heaffey?If so I've never come across Smith as a possibility. Have you got access to ancestry.co.uk if so have you looked at the Woodburn family tree this might help. I've got the marriage certificate for Heaffey and Harper in Nova Scotia but it hasn't helped me go any further back. My sisters and I visited Cork a couple of years ago without much luck. we did visit Castlepooke - scene of the murders and people in and around Cork are certainly not keen on the name Heaffey, one cab driver even said he wouldn't have picked us up if he'd known what our name was! We've also been to the archives in Kew which we found very difficult and actually again achieved nothing. I suspect I've got the same military records you have except possibly Albert. One of the big problem for us is that because my father Arthur was only 6 when Jack Heaffey his father died he knew very little about his family history. You're right about Ireland makes it very difficult to trace anything. I thought Canada would be easier but it hasn't proved to be although I didn't try very hard. At that stage we were hitting brick walls, mostly Ireland, with not only my fathers side the Heaffey's but also my mother's the O'Regans!!! So I sort of gave up. Do keep in touch though one of us might have a break through at some point! Let me know if you can't access ancestry. Good luck Di

[drsenn]

Hi Di

Yes, we believe that 'Albert/Herbert' used his father's real forenames on the marriage certificate, calling him 'William John' Smith-Harper. We official know he changed his name (newspaper court article) to escape his first marriage, and as my wife says to create a strong lie, it is often built around the truth. So Albert was probably known as 'Bert' which is easily changed to 'Herbert'. Why the 'Smith', well, I can only go on it's a very common name and easy to change to (to hide oneself). Using his father's names and his mother's surname, shows he kept close to the truth.

I have access to ancestry, so will have a look. I will also keep you informed of anything I find out.

David.

[foreveryoung64]

Hi I have been looking into the surname HEAFFEY. My mother was PEGGY( MARGARET) JOAN HEAFFEY, her mother was NORAH HEAFFEY,not married, daughter of CATHERINE HEAFFEY not married. CATHERINE was the daughter of JOHN WILLIAM HEAFFEY & CATHERINE HEAFFEY... there were brothers ALBERT, JACK, VICTOR, ROBERT. All the brothers died young.... JOHN WILLIAM came from MALLOW IRELAND.... If anyone has anymore information please feel free to contact me.....foreveryoung64....