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1
Mayo / Herward or Hereward of the Hollymount/Roundfort area
« on: Tuesday 13 September 11 18:40 BST (UK)  »
I'm trying to research my GG Grandfather Patrick Herward or Hereward.

I can't find his marriage or death on family search - Irish Civil Registration Index.


He married Mary Conroy, I don't know when they married but she was born in 1836 in Frenchbrook, Lough Mask, Ballinrobe.

She died 9 May 1916, she is buried beside her husband at the old Kilcommon Cemetery, Roundfort, County Mayo.

Patrick died 13 Mar 1875 and was aged around 40 when he died in tragic circumstances.



Patrick had a brother, John. I'm thinking this may be John: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.2/MFCT-Z9W/p1



Patrick and Mary had four children:

 
James HEREWARD
Birth 12 Dec 1865 in HOLLYMOUNT,MAYO,IRELAND
Death 23 January 1927

Patrick HEREWARD
Birth 1867 in Roose, County Mayo
Death 31 Mar 1954

Bridget HEREWARD
Birth 03 Jun 1870 in HOLLYMOUNT, MAYO, IRE
Death 1942 to 1943, [not sure about this!] Buried in the old Ballinrobe Cemetery

Mary HEREWARD
Birth 26 Jul 1872
Death 1941

I know the spouses and other info of the above children but I don't think it's needed in this thread.



The following information has been provided by a member of the Hereward family who has long-since died. He wrote a general biography of the entire extended family. Many of the dates are out by a few years as he must have been writing from memory but in general, the information seems to be correct.


Patrick's death: There was some sort of fight taking place between neighbours of Patrick's at the crossroads of Scaurdaune, Claremorris, in 1875. Patrick attempted to break up the fight and was struck in the head with a stone by one of his neighbours which resulted in his death. Apparently, he did not die immediately but his date of death is 13 Mar 1875.


I have searched through several newspapers covering that time period and did not see any mentions of the fight, or Patrick's death.

I cannot find his death on the civil register. But his gravestone reflects this as his date of death also.


In this family biography, it is believed Patrick and John Hereward had come from Scotland. He believed Patrick had come to Ballinrobe as it was a garrison town.

[I would think Hereward is more of an English name.]

Patrick resided in Davros, in a place called Capaquila. He seems to have had a different relationship with the landlords compared to the average Irish resident at that time. He was living on land owned by Landlord Lindsay Fitzpatrick of Hollymount but then had to leave that property as Fitzpatrick wanted to make a bigger farm of the land in Davros. I do not know what year this happened.

He was instead given a piece of land by Charles Ben Jennings of Mount Jennings, the Landlord over the land of Roose. He had to build his own house. John, Patrick's brother, was working for Charles Ben Jennings and he had a two-storey house in the yard of the Jennings' estate.

John was described as a good worker by Charles Ben Jennings, and managed the stock and farm well. Because of this, Jennings provided him with the two-storey house. John was buried by Charles Ben Jennings when he died.

I guess John had no wife or family of his own?



The subsequent Hereward family are all Roman Catholic, but Hereward certainly isn't an Irish Catholic name, so I would expect a change from the Protestant denomination somewhere along the way, perhaps this happened when Patrick arrived in Ireland.


The surname of Herward or Hereward is extremely rare, so I thought it would be easy to research but I couldn't have been more wrong. 

There are other Herwards showing up in Oughterard and Clonbur, Galway; I don't believe they are any relation.


I really just want to find a marriage record or death record for Patrick in the hopes that it may state his father's name, or where he came from, or something like that.

If anyone could offer any information or advice, I'd much appreciate it.

2
Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Two paragraphs on death cert I can't make out
« on: Wednesday 31 August 11 19:04 BST (UK)  »
Date and place of death: It's 1952, and the last word is 'Claremorris' [a place in Ireland]. I think I see a 'sixth' in there also, but can anyone tell me what the rest says?

And I can't make anything out of the cause of death.

I really am hopeless when it comes to reading handwriting, as always any help much appreciated!

3
Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Another basic one, but what are the names?
« on: Thursday 25 August 11 11:38 BST (UK)  »
I'm trying to make out these names, it would open another branch in my family tree if I can find these people on family search.

"Your niece Mary, MRS "??? ?????" [is it Jim Fenner?]
Anna's oldest daughter, she sure looks like you."


"And your great niece [Marcaline Finner??]
She is just 15 years old. She is a cute kid. Haven't one of the boy just now. Wil send it later. He is 20 years old."

Help greatly appreciated.  :)

4
Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone could read the handwriting in the attached photo.

It is on the rear of a very old portrait photograph of a male family member.

It's probably quite clear what this says to some people, but not to me unfortunately!

I can identify a few words here and there but if someone could write out what the whole thing says, it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks!

5
Galway / Kate Martyn / Martin, born circa 1839, from County Galway, but where?
« on: Tuesday 26 July 11 17:47 BST (UK)  »
I'm trying to work out where in County Galway my great-great grandmother, Kate [Katherine] Martyn or Martin, came from.

I have two different newspaper articles which give birth years, one states she was born in 1839, the other in 1843.

Her father's name was Thomas Martyn, and he had involvement in the Land League somewhere in County Galway.

She is described as being from a 'wealthy background'.

She died 28 Apr 1916 at her residence of The Square, Claremorris, County Mayo, Ireland.

She was married to Irish Land Leaguer and patriot PJ Gordon [b. 25 Jan 1839 in Tuam, Galway, died 10 Jun 1899 in Claremorris, Co. Mayo] and she was also very involved in politics herself.

The attached article gives some more info on Kate. 

The information I have gained on her comes from various newspaper articles but none state exactly where she came from, simply stating "Galway woman Kate Martyn"..
 
Is a death cert likely to tell me where she was born or who her mother was?
I got her husband PJ's death cert but his parents and birth address were not listed on it.

Her husband PJ was from Tuam but moved to Claremorris. I don't know when he moved, it is possible that he met Kate in Tuam and perhaps she was from there?

They married in Claremorris Catholic Church on 9 Feb 1863.

She possibly had a sister named Bridget Martyn in Clare.

The surname Rush is connected to her someway, Kate's children mention their relations with the surname Rush on Kate's side of the family but I'm not sure that tells me much.

I can list all of her children if necessary.

Can anyone advise me what the next step should be?

Thank you!

6
Mayo / PJ Gordon of Claremorris, but where was he born?
« on: Friday 03 June 11 09:27 BST (UK)  »
I've come to a bit of a dead end while researching my great great grandfather, a Mr Patrick Joseph (PJ) Gordon who lived at the Square, Claremorris, County Mayo.
 
I'm trying to figure out who his parents were, and after many months investigating PJ's very interesting life, I've still not been able to trace back to the previous generation.
 
Facts about PJ:
 
He married Kate Martyn (from Galway) at Claremorris Church, County Mayo on 9 Feb 1863. The Church located this entry for me. Unfortunately, it is one year too early to be on the marriage registers. Or perhaps some marriages were registered in certain parishes in 1863?
 
PJ was very well known for his involvement in the Irish Land League, he was a friend of Parnell and Davitt and worked alongside them, he was a Fenian and did 7 prison sentences that I am currently aware of - there may be more out there that I haven't yet read about.

PJ was partially paralysed in his last couple of years alive, apparently due to his time and the treatment he received in harsh, cold prison cells. He was in the following prisons: Galway, Castlebar, Mountjoy, Portlaoise, Kilmainham and Tullamore.

He died on 10th of June 1899 from Peripheral Neuritis. He died at the Infirmary in Claremorris Workhouse. He was not living in the workhouse, he was just taken there after slipping on the street in Claremorris [due to his medical condition] and banging his head and he died shortly after. 

PJ and Kate had ten children that I know of. Their most well known child was Delia Gordon who was the first cure at Knock.   http://www.irishidentity.com/extras/clergy/stories/knock.htm

Their children were as follows:

> Mary Honora Gordon [I don't have any dates]
> Anna Maria Gordon [1863 - unknown]
> Bridget Gordon [1867 - unknown]
> Delia Gordon [1867 - 1930]
> Joseph Gordon [1870 - unknown]
> Sara Mary Gordon [1875 - unknown]
> Thomas M Gordon [1876 - unknown]
> Michael Joseph Gordon [1878 - 1957]
> Winifred [Cissy] Gordon [1881 - 1896]
> Elizabeth Gordon [1886 - unknown]


Some of them emigrated to the US. I can provide more info on them if necessary.

That is the information I DO know about PJ. What I do not know and cannot seem to figure out is where he was born, when, and who his parents were.


His wife was Kate Martyn (I believe from Galway). Her father's name was Thomas Martyn. This information is contained in the attached document, 'article sara'.

Kate died on 28 Apr 1916.

I had thought PJ may have been born in Tuam. (see attached article written by his daughter, Sara, who mentions PJ coming from Tuam, but perhaps he just worked there.)

PJ ran several businesses which include being a bootmaker, he ran a very successful shoe-making company in Claremorris that employed 11 people. He also operated carriages to take people to and from Knock from Claremorris. He and his wife also kept tenants in their house. But he is generally described as 'shoemaker' or 'bootmaker' on documents.

I have paid for two baptism certs from rootsireland. They were the two best matches.

One is for 1839 for a Patrick Gordan born in Tuam. (that's GordAn)
It mentions that he is a twin. The date of birth is 25 Jan 1839.
Address is not recorded. Parish/District is Tuam, Co. Galway. Father is James Gordan, Mother is Mary Fury. Sponsors are William Ash and Mary Kigan.


The other is the only Patrick Gordon in Mayo for 1841 (which would make him 58 at death as his cert states). That tells me that he had an address of Ballyloughan, Crossmolina, County Mayo. He was born/baptised on 17 March 1841, his father is Anthony Gordon and his mother is Winnie Moran. Sponsors were Thomas Leonard and Mary Commons.
Now PJ named one of his own daughters Winnie,  so perhaps after his mother? 

So.... how can I ever figure out which one he is?

There's only one other clue I can follow. I know that PJ had a brother called John M Gordon. All I know of him is from the attached article. He is a police officer in New Jersey, USA, in 1891.

I've found someone in the US census that I believe may be him. The John Gordon I found was a police officer in New Jersey and he married a Bridget Garrigan at Saint James-Catholic, Newark, Essex, New Jersey on 16 Aug 1881, and he died 24 Feb 1894 in Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA, age 54, so that puts his birth year as 1840. Having searched for him on rootsireland, I couldn't find any John Gordons in the region for that year. 

So... what do I do now? If I could have found John Gordon's baptism record, I'd see who his parents were and match up with PJ. But no such luck.

At this point, I'd appreciate any kind of info at all, it gets pretty frustrating when you can't trace back any further after finding endless articles on PJ's life, but none mention where exactly he came from.

Thanks for reading!

Images removed

7
Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition / Can't read some of the words on death cert
« on: Thursday 02 June 11 14:49 BST (UK)  »
I'm trying to decipher my great great grandfather's death cert, but not having much luck with a couple of the columns.

First we have the year and place of death. The year is 1899, then there are two words I can't read, and lastly "Claremorris" (a town in Ireland).

His name is "Patrick Joseph Gordon". He's "male". He's "married". He's I believe "58 years", though that could be 59? It's been transcribed elsewhere as 58.
He's a "bootmaker".

I cannot read the cause of death column so hopefully someone can make that one out. "Peripheral.. ???"

Then "Bridie Gordon, daughter.. ???? " I can't read the next line, then it mentions Claremorris again.

I can read the last two columns okay.

Hopefully someone can tell me what the others are! Thanks.

8
The picture of my Great Great Grandmother Kate was taken in Ireland in 1869 (it's dated on the rear). I assume she's standing next to some kind of Christmas Tree?
I don't know the history of decorating trees in the home in Ireland at Christmas, but this definitely seems to be a decorated tree.

Or perhaps this is an outdoor garden shot, it's hard to tell when it's so faded.

Hate to bother you all again so soon but I would absolutely love to see this one in colour. I was so impressed by your work on my picture last weekend.

Thanks so much again!

9
Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / Please date and restore my photo
« on: Saturday 28 May 11 00:06 BST (UK)  »
According to google, the photographer Thomas J Wynne was operating in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland, from 1838-1893, so I guess the photo fits somewhere within that time frame, but can anyone put a more specific year on it?

This picture is on card, it's about 5 inches tall.

I haven't managed to identify which member of my family she is yet (most likely either Great Grandmother, or one of my Great Grand Aunts), I'm hoping a more specific year on this might narrow it down a little for me. 

I think she is very beautiful looking, and would love to see this picture with some colour added if at all possible.

I have two separate scans attached. If they're not good enough to be coloured, I can try re-scanning next week and attach a better version, just let me know.  :)

Thanks so much for any help!

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