1851/61 William Donovan

[quirk_cantwell]

Hello Adey, 
Great to make contact. How very interesting abt the Colston name. It makes it very unique.
We are definately connected to the same family as is the rootschatter Vandkgene above who descends from Catherine Connolly Mary's sister. He has a lot more info than I have and was very helpful. Discovering when the Connollys came to Wales is a hard one. My family story is that he was a ferryman from Cork but whether it was Jeremiah or his father I do not know. I will send you a PM with what I have but you may like to contact Vandkgene as well.
Cheers
Shauna

[TinaBW]

Greetings to previous posters of info on William Donovan.  I just found this resource so I'm a RootsChat newbie. I am also a descendant of William and Mary Donovan, thru their daughter, Catherine.  William is my G-G-G Grandfather.  I just now discovered this connection because I received his daughter Catherine's death certificate.  I know it's been awhile, but is there anyone out there still monitoring this chat regarding William??  Shauna, Mum44, Ambers, quirk_cantwell, halfasheep, or adey??? I hope, I hope.  William & Mary Donovan's daughter Catherine Donovan married Michael Donovan (I think the correct registration was in Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales, Q4, 1872).  Regarding the 1881 Wales Census, Glamorgan, Gwmdu, Dist 10 showing William & Mary Donovan living at 12 Company Row (which I now understand was previously called Maesteg Row, so thanks tons for that info).  Also living with them is their daughter, Ellen, age 3, born Ginmede (I still haven't figured that out...any help with Ginmede??).  Well, William & Mary Donovan's other daughter, Catherine (my G-G Grandmother) was living just a few doors away at 4 Company Row with her husband Michael, & kids Mary C (my Great Grandmother), Ann, John, Ellen, & Michael.  Boarding with them is a John & Mary Donovan (unknown connection so far).  At 5 Company Row, Michael Donovan's parents, John & Mary Donovan & married daughter, Mary Coleman.   The Michael & Catherine Donovan family immigrated to Pittsburgh, PA, USA in May, 1889.  Have more info, but out of room for now, hope to make a connection!! TinaBW

[halfasheep]

Well firstly welcome to the board TniaBW.

I hope you saw that I'm not actually related to the Colstons/Donovans, but simply live in Maesteg (or at least did - I'm just over the hill now).

Maesteg (Company) Row was traditionally where all the Irish immigrants lived.

The Coleman surname also rings a bell - not sure why though. Gwmdu is actually Cwmdu as well by the way  It would be in the Bridgend district for birth, death, and marriage registration

My offer stands to scan and e-mail you some parts of the book I refer to if you want? You'll have to send em a PM (personal message), but I think you have to make at least three posting for it to activate on your account.

So long as everyone else who posted previously still uses the same e-mail address on their profile, then they should all get alerts about your posting on this subject, so you may have a few new messages shortly!

Chris

[TinaBW]

Hi Chris!  Thanks for the reply.  I am very excited to meet my first friend from Wales!!  I have been tracking my direct family lines and started noticing that several of these lines (Donovan, Shea, Flaherty, O'Leary, Marshall, & Powers) were born in Ireland, immigrated to Wales, and then later immigrated to the USA where they all settled in Pittsburgh, PA (near where I live).  Yes, of course, you are right about the spelling Cwmdu (my typo error).  Do you know or have any info on the city of Ginmede thing?  Several of us have been wondering about that one.  I also have another question...I found a 1851 Wales Census record for my family, there was a listing for my relative's name as "Michael".  In the 1861 Wales Census for the same family, there was a listing showing the name "Miles".  The dates match up so I'm wondering if it is possible that "Miles" might have been a nick-name for "Michael"??  Have you ever heard of the name "Miles" being used as a nick-name for "Michael"?? Lastly (for now), if you don't mind another....many of my family is from Merthyr Tydfil & Dowlais.  Forgive my ignorance, but is Cwmdu, Maesteg, Merthyr Tydfil, & Dowlais all in Glamorgan Co???  Is Glamorgan Co the same as Glamorganshire Co?  I'm confused!  Thanks for any info, TinaBW

[halfasheep]

Back home now - I think I've figured out Ginmede. On the Mormons 1881 site, it states that Ellen was born in Maesteg!!! Not entirely sure where Ginmede has come from though  

Regarding the connections to the other Donovans boarding with them, that's going to require a lot of research I suspect.

As previously mentioned on this thread, the street they lived in was basically all Irish. My lot (also Irish), ended up marrying boarders, they boarded with other families who were distantly related, etc.

I'm sure one of your other relatives involved in this thread will be of more help there!

[halfasheep]

You posted as I was typing away, so here goes again. Always nice to chat and help someone on the other side of the pond - got my Buckley's scattered to the four corners of the USA (Alaska, Florida, LA, and New York, including another in Colorado somewhere - God bless Facebook!).

Funnily enough, some of my Buckley family descendents ended up in Pittsburgh, but moved back to New York (they originally arrived in 1925).

Locations - Merthyr Tydfil and Dowlais are a reasonable distance from Maesteg and Cwmdu (Cwmdu is essentially next to Maesteg, a small hamlet (not sure if hamlet is quite correct though)).

All would have been classed as Glamorgan back then, but the counties have all gone bonkers here since - I'm not sure how it works anymore in all honesty! I still say Mid Glamorgan, but others would say Bridgend County (for Maesteg).

The Irish (as a generalisation) largely emigrated to South Wales and Liverpool around the time of the potato famine (they generally start to appear in numbers from 1851 on). It wouldn't surprise me if almost all your descendents lived within a 15 mile radius of Maesteg/Llangynwyd - they seemed to congregate here because of the coal industry. They seemed to have landed in Swansea/Briton Ferry, and Maesteg was en-route to most of the other valleys.

And always feel free to post up requests on this site - I can guarantee that 99.9% of the time, someone out there will know the answer, or will likely be related to  you 

[TinaBW]

Genius!  Thanks, for the clarification of cities, counties, & I'll correct Ellen's birth location to Maesteg.  Looks like you are in London Time Zone, is that correct?  I'm in the Eastern Time Zone, USA.  I placed a "clock" on my computer desktop showing "London Time" !!  

Any suggestions for expanding the "reply box" size.  Seems like I have a very limited amount of space to reply before I run out of characters.  This site "limits" how much I can type.  Maybe because I'm I "newbie??

Yes, you're right.  I will work on the "boarding" Donovans at a later date.  That's going to take some digging & I don't think they are in my "direct" line (but you never know, right?).  Think the "boarding" extended relatives accounts for my Catherine Donovan marrying Michael Donovan  

I'm still working full time during the day, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your response, help, & suggestions.
TTYL, TinaBW

[halfasheep]

Not a problem at all - this is how it works on here. I've had far more help than anything I've been able to do for people. It's a very two-way street here. I will take photo's of local graves where people want one, and other's will do the same.

That's the thing with genealogy, you're often taken well away from your locality - my ancestors (generally) are at least all from the UK, but that can still seem like a million miles away if you're unable to travel due to work, etc

The beauty of Rootschat is that you have a lot of like-mided individuals living in the area your relatives came from (or still live in without you knowing about it). Whilst I may not have access to a lot of databases, I'm pretty mobile (when I'm not working), and have a reasonable amount of local knowledge.

No idea about the reply boxes - just split the reply (although this can get confusing if two people are trying to post at siimlar times!).

London (or Greenwich Mean Time) is correct - the UK has one time zone (I think....) - about 9pm here at the moment.

Anyway, happy hunting - feel free to drop me a PM if you need anything specific about the Maesteg/Cwmdu area (such as photo's, graves locating, etc) and I'll see what I can do for you

Chris

[adey]

Hi Tina or distant relative!
I am still trying to get to the bottom of the Donovans, I wish I had the time to do more research.
In relation to the msg on ancestry re Mary Dononvan, I did a census search on Dale Pembrokeshire and there was a Mary Davies there same year of birth. Incidently I am in Maesteg but did visit Dale on Marys trail in the summer and it is a beautiful place.