ATKINSON & JOHNSTON families, Ballina Co Mayo c1800 - completed

[yt2]

Seeking information on the ATKINSON family of Ballina Co Mayo. Family included several prominent military surgeons over several generations.

At present I have:
Alice Maud ATKINSON, b. c1850, Exeter England, m. Denis Joseph CANNY in 1871 Ballina, d. 1938 Melbourne, Australia. Denis CANNY was a Military Surgeon.

Alice was d/o

Thomas ATKINSON, b. c1800, Ballina, m. Harriet Lydia WILLIAMS 1Feb1834,  d. 26Nov1875 Ballina. Thomas was Inspector General Hospitals for British Army and served widely around the world.

Thomas had a brother Robert ATKINSON, b. c1784, d28Jan1878 Ballina. Robert was also a Military Surgeon.

Thomas and Robert were sons of Robert ATKINSON, m. 1792 and Letitia JOHNSTON chr 17Oct1770 Kilmoremoy, Mayo.

I also have a Thomas Johnston ATKINSON, Military Surgeon,  m. 5May1858 Dublin to Eliza MOSTYN. I am unsure of the family connection but the Mostyn name was used elsewhere in my family (d/o Alice Atkinson and Denis Canny - Marie Mostyn Canny - my Grandmother)

I am interested in any snippet no matter how seemingly trivial - I have particular interests in my family's military medicine connections and would also love to find something definitive about the Mostyn connection.

[Ebch]

Hello - I use a site for my Irish side mayo-ireland.ie.  On there is a request from a lady in New York who is looking for information re her husband's grandfather, a Thomas Atkinson who emigrated from Ballina to PA in 1885.  I'll pm you her email in case you have any difficulty.

[mamev1]

I found a few Atkinsons  and Johnstons in the Ballina Church records. I don't know if they are apropos, but here goes:
1856 - Mary Ellen for James Corcoran and Bridget Atkinson;sp. Anthony McLaughlin
1858 -Mary for Francis McDonnell and Cate Johnston, Garden St.; sp. Thomas McDonnell and Fanny Hallinan
1858 - James for Michael Atkinson and Mary Melvin, Ardnaree; sp. John Quinn and Mary Atkinson
 To backtrack -
1823 - Owen for Thomas Johnston and Mary Gillespie, Breaffy; sp. James and Bridget Gillespie
1826 - Pat for Pat Gillespie and Mary Johnston, Breaffy; sp. Pat Walsh and Bridget Gillespie
!826 - John for Pat Gallagher and Jane Johnston, Ardaugh; sp. Henry Gavin and Mary Ruddy
1829 - James for Pat Gillespy and Mary Johnston, Breaffy; sp. James and Ellen Gillespie
 It doesn't appear that many of either family actually belonged to the RC church. I have the records up to 1859. Perhaps the established church?

[hello567]

We are definately related. Do you know who Thomas's dad was? I have some glitches in my family tree. It is a bit of a dogs breakfast at the moment because it goes back to the 1500's and there were a few cousins that married and hell I feel like deleting the whole damn tree but there is close to 500 people.

My GG Grandfather George Atkinson (1825-1907) came to Canada from Ballyshannon, Donegal, Ireland and is related to the Thomas Atkinson's, Esq's  of Cavangarden. My whole family here are lawyers so we follow that line. I know I saw some Dr's in the mix and one of the relatives (cant recall who at the moment) ended up in Queensland, NSW.

[wicklow way]

Hi yt2,

Another rootschatter passed this on to me a while ago -

Cantwell Memorials show Rathdrum COI, Co. Wicklow

Robert Atkinson 08/05/1809
erected by his father, Sergt. in North Mayo Militia

Wicklow way

[oishiidesu]

There are headstones for a number of Atkinsons (including military surgeons) in St Michael's church in Ardnaree, Ballina.  Photos of the headstones are posted at
http://goldenlangan.com/graves-sm.html

[yt2]

Thank you all for your contributions - it all helps.

oishiidesu - I already had a couple of those pictures, but not with anything like that level of clarity. Thanks very much - it's good to see what was really said rather than having to guesstimate.

This segment of my family (and the shortage of firm family connections) remains a conundrum for me. Who the heck were the Mostyns and the Johnstons?

It's not like Surgeon General Thomas Atkinson was just another soldier ...... he seems to me to have been quite a notable person in military history  (and military medicine in particular) not just for his connections to Australia's notorious convict days, but also recognising his involvement with British garrisons in Jamaica, Gibraltar, India, Ceylon and elsewhere.

Atkinson played a role in the British exploration of southern Africa and was the surgeon on Sir Harry Smith's 1847/48 expedition over the Orange River fighting the Boers. He was present at the battle of Boem Plaats, and was formally recognised (MiD) for his actions on the field with the wounded, while the troops pursued the enemy onwards. He was left in sole charge of the Garrison Hospital and the Garrison of Graham's Town during the Kaffir and Hottentot Rebellion from January 1851 to March 1852.

I am now retired, but I have a  significant professional background  in military medicine and I can assure you that military commanders rarely had/have sufficient confidence in their medical officers to leave them in charge of things outside purely medical matters, let alone leave them in in charge of an entire garrison town.

I'm sure there are people out there somewhere with connections to this interesting family and perhaps with better documentation than I have. I will spend some time looking at the information provided by "hello567 " to try and firm up a connection, but it's not immediately obvious to me at the moment. But then .... things often take a bit of jigsaw work before they fall into place.

Once again, thanks everyone for your contributions.

Whitey

[John Atkinson]

Hi to hello567,
George Atkinson 1825-1907 from Donegal is my Great Grandfather.
He immigrated to Ontario in 1842.
His mother and 5 sisters immigrated also.
I am interested in his Irish family etc
I have his family bible
Can you help?
John

[hello567]

Hi to hello567,
George Atkinson 1825-1907 from Donegal is my Great Grandfather.
He immigrated to Ontario in 1842.
His mother and 5 sisters immigrated also.
I am interested in his Irish family etc
I have his family bible
Can you help?
John

I had no idea he had 5 sisters. Can you  fill me in? I only knew about the two sisters.