Ref. this other new info,
Lyn has some oral history passed down in the family, and it goes like this:-
"This is the story that we were told about my grandmother's family. Count de Burgh left Russia after the assassination. He set up stables in Dublin, and his daughter 'fell' for one of the stable lads. She ... married her stable lad and was disowned. She left Dublin for Anglesey with only her silver christening presents"
these thoughts come to mind:
1. Is Lyn able to recall whose "the assassination" was said to have been? If in Russia, presumably not as late as Alexander II's in 1881 (let alone his grandson's during the revolution).
2. As the sources available online clearly show, these Husseys and (de) Burghs had been well established in Ireland for many generations. They had no handles to their names, let alone being "counts". They could in no sense have been Russian refugees in Dublin, reduced to being ostlers or to setting up a livery business. But . . .
3. Wilcoxon's Reply 16 above does demonstrate how the seed could have been sown for a story linking Russia to the family branch that came to live in North Wales: ca. 1841-42 Walter Hussey de Burgh's wife -- at the least -- was in Russia, giving birth to her son Albert (per 1861 census). It seems plausible that if those two were in Russia then the whole family would likely have been there too. Intriguingly, this is not far off the time of Margaret's mysterious birth. Could her mother have been (say) a lady's maid who accompanied the household to Russia -- so, despite the Cernioge/Pentrefoelas version, giving birth to Margaret outside the UK? That would neatly explain why the birth record is so elusive. But the idea is rather weakened by the fact that the next Hussey de Burgh child, Victoria, is recorded in the census as born back in Ireland, and only about a year later -- so the dates, insofar as known to us, do not really quite tie in.
*4. It would nevertheless clearly make sense to try and discover what Walter Hussey de Burgh and his family were up to in Russia, and (if possible) to clarify the dates of their stay. Could he have been in the Foreign Office -- or a military attaché? Are any passport records available? London Gazette or other press mentions? Was another family member living over there, perhaps married to a Russian? (Etc, etc . . . )
Much to chew on. I wish I had more time to help with the necessary mastication!
Rol
* Added 19.09.10: However, Victoria's birth is not really much of a litmus test for the family's return from Russia -- especially as she was actually the child born
before Albert, and the child
after him (Fanny) did not come into the world until three years later (see Wilcoxon's summary of the 1861 census entry in Reply 16). The Irish press (via Gale) provides a much better way of showing that the Hussey de Burghs were probably back in Ireland by early 1843:
15 March 1843 -- Freeman's Journal, Dublin:
Walter Hussey Burgh among those sworn onto the Co Kildare grand jury at Naas on 12 March.
25 Sept. 1843 -- Freeman's Journal, Dublin:
"Mr. W. Hussey Burgh and family" among those reported to be staying at hotels near the Killarney Lakes.
