RootsChat.Com

Hello, Casher.
On the off-chance that you receive this note, via this bulletin board, four years later, I am interested in this family from the parish of Aglish, county Mayo. They seem to have occupied Annagh and Cloonkeen townlands when the 1901 and 1911 censuses were enumerated.
I am trying to find the parish and townland of origin in county Mayo for my 3rd great-grandmother, Mary McDonnell (1794–1869). Her father was John McDonnell, a smith by trade.
I have found a small DNA match, 13cM on one segment, with a young man who descends from one of these McDonnell families. If you have tested, perhaps we could compare shared matches? and if you haven't, could we share notes, please?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Alison Kilpatrick

Hello, "hallmark" –
Are you suggesting that the Rev. William Hamilton b.1794 is somehow related?
regards,
Alison

Hello, again.
I see that the original poster, Emma from Spain, was asking why Maria would be living in Falkirk, and where was her father, James Colvin, throughout the course of her living there and getting married and then going off to Edinburgh with Thomas Gibb.
If you look at the profile for Mary Gibb, née Colvin, on WikiTree:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Colvin-1639,
her year of birth, 1798, predates her father's marriage to Maria Jackson by four years. Mary appears to have been a natural daughter of James Colvin (1768–1847). There was another natural daughter, Helen, born in 1794, but unlike Helen, for whom there was a baptism record (in the India Office records online at FindMyPast), a similar record has not been found for Mary. In fact, all we have to go by is Mary's repeated assertion (upon marriage, and in her will) that she was the daughter of James Colvin, merchant, of Calcutta. Even so, I believe it is safe to accept this claim.
As to why she was living in Falkirk at the time of her marriage to Thomas Gibb in Falkirk: I would hazard the guess that James Colvin sent his daughter home to Scotland sometime before his 1802 marriage to Maria Jackson. James' brother, George Colvin, had died in Dunipace in 1798, leaving his wife, Margaret Renny. Margaret died at Falkirk in 1838 (though her body was buried at Dunipace), suggesting that she was living in Falkirk after the death of her husband. In fact, Margaret was born at Falkirk; her late father, John Renny (d.1773), had been the bailie of the town. In any event, it seems plausible in the circumstances that a widow, whose husband had had financial difficulties in business and did not leave a will, could use the income that would accompany guardianship of a child (her niece) of a wealthy East India merchant.
Just my 2¢.
cheers,
Alison

Excellent news, Brad -- thank you for this information. I have other ancestors from Devon, so the membership will be well worth the fee. cheers, Alison Kilpatrick

Thank you for your notes.
The spelling variants for this surname are numerous.
There were so many Daniel and Archibald McListers (et al) that perhaps the best result will come from a family Bible or another family historian's research. I made the post on this off-chance.
Cheers,
Alison