Yet again I've failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion
to the following speculation,but I think it has enough merit
to present it in the hope that somebody can make more of it.
I started by looking at other data relating to Burkes at Clontarf
at
www.irishgenealogy.ie,around the 1850 marriage,in the faint
hope that they might be related.
The first record(Nov 1843) is for the burial of Walter Burke
,given as of Deansfield(sic)Clontarf.The address is actually
Danesfield,and not,I think,to be confused with Danesfield
in Galway,though there may be a Co.Galway connection.
This Walter only born in August,was the son of another
Walter Burke,who married Elizabeth,daughter of John
Campbell,a merchant from Clonmel,who was the occupier
of the Dublin Danesfield.
I think he is the Walter Burke listed in Shaw's 1850 directory
as of 93 Abbey Street and 10 Nelson Street,merchant and
foundry coke manufactory.
Throughout the early 1800s there are a number of Burke
(merchant) entries in Abbey Street.I can also find reference
to Walter Burke,being of Templeogue House,the same
address given for Francis Burke in Shaw's 1850.
Slightly surprisingly,I believe this Francis died(possibly
suicide) in Galway in 1849,but he also has listings at 57 Abbey
Street Dublin in relation to a company called Burke and Dixon
and Dumbarton Crown Glass(he is also described as a wine merchant
and has a number of bankruptcy references).
It is James Dixon,son of William,below,who appears to be Francis' partner.
This latter company has it's roots in Dumbarton,Scotland with
William Dixon(married to Margaret Swan),the patriarch.There is considerable
relationship between these two families,perhaps the start being the
record of the marriage of John Walter Burke of Galway to Helen Dixon,
(daughter of William,born 1782,Dumbarton),at Rutherglen in 1804.
There is also the possibility that Francis married
another daughter,Margaret(born 1787) and amongst other siblings
he has a son called James born in 1829 in Rathfarnham.This doesn't
qualify him,of course,and there is some data from the tree of a David Burke
that he may be a James Louis Burke.What I cannot find is what
happened to John Walter Burke and Helen-could they have had a son
called John who was the father of James Francis?Could he,or a son
be the John Burke,merchant of 45 Abbey Street?
Further,in the 1862 Dublin Directory,sandwiched between two refs.
to Walter Burke at 91 and 93 is a company called Ross and Murray
(who also have a branch in Ballinasloe).The patriarch of the Ross family
is William,reputed to have married a Miss Murray,but whether a Jane or not
I don't know.There is a record for the death of a Jane Ross in Dalkey
in 1863,given as wife of William Ross Esq.,and William's sons both have
addresses in Dalkey at some point,but I can't positively link her to them.
Just to add to the general confusion and frustration there are
records for Burkes(including a Walter) in the woollen trade in Chamber
Street(and a record in Shaw's 1850 for a Jane Ross in Chamber Street!)
This is all a bit rambling without linked references,but I felt the need to get
the core of the speculation outlined.
Regards
Roger
