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The Lighter Side / Family stories rooted in some truth.
« on: Tuesday 12 March 24 13:19 GMT (UK) »
In a small follow up to my "Myths debunked when doing family history" thread, we often have heard family stories that either prove to be true or prove to be wrong, or have some basis in truth.
My paternal gran always said there was some Irish in the blood on her Oxfordshire born mother's side. For years I have tried to find a link but none obvious so far.
In 1819 one of her ancestors James Smith married Sarah Inkpen and one of the 2 witnesses was Andrew Carney, which sounds Irish but he may have just been a friend of James who worked in similar trades as both worked in the tin/gilder making business. James died in 1849 and in 1841 in Oxford city he said "Not born in county". Other witness to the 1819 wedding was Hannah Hawkes, whose aunty married a Smith in Buckinghamshire in 1786.
But I think I may have found out why my gran thought there was Irish in the family. Her maternal grandfather James Edgington was buried in Rose Hill cemetery in Oxford in July 1927, and was buried with a woman named Anne Bough who died in 1912, who I have found was born in Wexford, Ireland. As far as I know she was not a relative, her maiden name was Delaney. It was quite common for people to be buried in a grave with a stranger, and James Edgington and Anne Bough are the only 2 people buried in this certain grave. Maybe my gran knew about this and assumed she was related, unaware that 2 or more unrelated people can be buried in the same plot.
My paternal gran always said there was some Irish in the blood on her Oxfordshire born mother's side. For years I have tried to find a link but none obvious so far.
In 1819 one of her ancestors James Smith married Sarah Inkpen and one of the 2 witnesses was Andrew Carney, which sounds Irish but he may have just been a friend of James who worked in similar trades as both worked in the tin/gilder making business. James died in 1849 and in 1841 in Oxford city he said "Not born in county". Other witness to the 1819 wedding was Hannah Hawkes, whose aunty married a Smith in Buckinghamshire in 1786.
But I think I may have found out why my gran thought there was Irish in the family. Her maternal grandfather James Edgington was buried in Rose Hill cemetery in Oxford in July 1927, and was buried with a woman named Anne Bough who died in 1912, who I have found was born in Wexford, Ireland. As far as I know she was not a relative, her maiden name was Delaney. It was quite common for people to be buried in a grave with a stranger, and James Edgington and Anne Bough are the only 2 people buried in this certain grave. Maybe my gran knew about this and assumed she was related, unaware that 2 or more unrelated people can be buried in the same plot.