I had a look at the 1861 census on 1837online for the first time the other day. I decided to have a look for my 3G grandfather, Thomas McHale, in London. Only one hit, which showed him as 60 years old - I don't know exactly when he was born, but I believe he was 10-15 years older than this.
Nevertheless, I thought I may as well have a look at the record (only 3 credits). Lo and behold! He was a "Servant" in Euston Hotel, and born in Rye, where my McHales hung out for a while. But the wife of of the hotel manager was 44-yr-old Mary Ann Wheeler, who I know is my 2G grandfather's sister, and also born in Rye.
So ... this Thomas must be an older (oldest?) brother of Mary Ann and my 2G grandfather. He can't be my 3G grandfather, because my 2G grandfather was born in Rye in 1813 (from ages given in census records) - only 12 years after this Thomas!
It creates a new mystery though. I had previously thought the McHales only resided in Sussex for perhaps 5 years or so, but they must have been there for close to 20 years. Yet they left virtually no records in parish registers. If they were Catholics (I believe 3G Thomas was from Ireland), would this explain their absence from parish records? If so, how would I track down Catholic records?
Tim
