John Griffin and Catherine Bellett of Ennistymon *Completed thanks*

[Belconnen]

John Griffin and Catherine Bellett lived in Ennistymon in ca 1840 and had a daughter Bridget Maria Griffin born in 1846.  Bridget subsequently married and settled in Australia in Queensland.  I believe Bridget had two sisters, Catherine and Honor.  The Australia record I have shows Bridget's mother's maiden name as "Bellett" but I am told that the spelling sometimes varies.  I would be interested to hear if others have these names in their family tree from that period of time - or otherwise have heard of the family from that period.  The Australian record I have says that John Griffin was a farmer.  Thanks.  Belconnen.

[agho]

Unfortunately, Clare parish records are not available online. Civil registration didn't start until 1864 in Ireland, except for non-catholic marriages which started in 1845. Clare library have a lot of records of genealogical interest on their site here http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm

Good luck with the research in Clare, it's difficult, my GGgrandfather came from Clare and he's my brickwall!

[Belconnen]

Thanks for the prompt response "agho".  Regards and the best of luck with your Clare ancestry.  Belconnen.

[jarnefeldt]

Hello Belconnen-I'm Paul from Melbourne and I am 92,000 words into a novel based on my great-grandfather, whom we knew as Frank Williams. He was an American Indian scout who was imprisoned by the Confederates before escaping and making his way to Australia. Needing more information on the girl he married here (my Great grandmother Mary Griffin) I was astonished to find the information I wanted jumping out at me from the page with your post) and to see that her name was Bridget Maria. Not having known much about her, but being highly aware of the powerful anti-English feeling which persisted through to my late Aunt, I am pretty sure I now know where it came from. I presume that the Australian document you have is the wedding certificate-incidentally, Frank's real name was Ira Coan and he was the great grandson of Palatine refugees from the Rhineland to New York in 1710. We doubt that he really was a widower as stated on the certificate; his father's name was indeed Sylvanus, but not Sylvanus Williams, the Welsh cooper whom we had always believed in, but Sylvanus Coan, a cooper, Magistrate and preacher from Parish, New York. I would dearly love to know more of the knowledge you have of our Mary Griffin's parents, John and Kate and anything else at all...with best wishes, and many thanks already   Paul Coan Wiliams

[Belconnen]

Hello jarnefeldt - you have an interesting family history.  I hope your novel is published.  The Griffin/Bellett line in my ancestry has been a challenge.  I received some professional assistance from Ireland and I found out that my ancestor Bridget Maria Griffin had two sisters, Catherine (named after her mother Catherine Bellett) and Honor.  The two sisters were baptised in the Parish of Liscannor, County Clare.  The parents, John Griffin and Catherine Bellett are listed but there is no listing of a "home address".  Details for Bridget's baptism are not shown in that Parish but her registration of death (1907) shows that she was born in Ennistymon, County Clare.  Her father was shown as John Griffin a "farmer".  From other helpful Rootschat sources I am told that John Griffin is a common name in Clare.  My ancestor, Bridget Maria Griffin, married a fellow who was born in the nearby County of Limerick and they settled in North Queensland when it was just developing.  I have what I take to be reliable information on her husband, my great grandfather.  His family name  was not Williams or Coan.  On Catherine Bellett (Bridget's mother), I only have speculation that she may possibly have been from the family of Michael Bellett, a farmer who lived near Ennistymon in County Clare but that is unconfirmed. My family history is still a draft - a work in progress and open to correction.  I wish I could be more helpful but I have not come across any Williams or Coan in my own family research.   Good luck with your research.  Those early settlers were courageous.  Belconnen 

[jarnefeldt]

Thank you Belconnen for your prompt and informative response. I feel I am not far off the mark however, because there are a few things I didn't mention in the first letter. My Great Grandmother, Mary Griffin, was the daughter of John Griffin and Kate Bellett...so as she does not appear to be your Bridget Maria, she must be Catherine (that name is in the next two generations), or maybe another sister. She born in 1843 in Ennistymon annd died in Mackay North Queensland,  in 1913. I can see that Honor died at the age of 7 in 1850, and that 26 or so Griffins died in that area in that year. 
I hav been puzzling as to why my G Gfather, having gone back to California as Frank Williams in 1872, and farming 40 acres and owning 160 acres, should have returned to Mackay in 1884. My mother, Mary Gribbin (yes) went there with me new born in 1945 and my Dad, Griff, of course. She hated the climate there...hot sticky, snakes, spiders, toads...she longed for the Melbourne fogs. My Ggmother had Llewellyn in 1868, Arthur (my gpa) in 1870, Llewellyn died  (diphtheria 1871) Mary born 1872, they went to California 1872, Kate and Charlie were born there. Why did they return? But if Mary had a sister in Qld that would explain something. Also I have seen a website with CBC schools with a Griffin boy marked "gone to Queensland" maybe 1857, and address given as Gregory St., which is where Frank/Ira had his first cooperage. These families I presume had a connection, and I'd love to know the surname of your Bridget's husband. Best wishes
Paul Williams (www.madmusic.net.au)..needs updating but useful.

[Belconnen]

That is helpful information, jarnefeldt.  It does seem likely that we have the same great great grandparents.  I have found that birth names (especially first names) in some of the older generations are not necessarily the same as that used day-to-day by that person and their relatives.  So any variation in the use of first names is unremarkable.  Also, to find siblings as emigrants to the same area is quite common, in my view (certainly true in my ancestry in all lines).  I will send you a private message with the name of Bridget's husband.  No mystery why I did not put it on the public website.  It is also my surname.  I regard this line of my ancestry as the most incomplete mainly because, from what I can gather, they were comparatively small in number for the times.  It was sad to hear of Honor's death as a child but the timing indicates the years of the Great Famine (but I am only guessing there).  Even after settling in Australia, the little ones faced great challenges.  In any of these family histories regardless of whether they are relatives or not I find the tragedies involving children painful.     I really appreciate your contact and help.  Belconnen

[Belconnen]

Jarnefeldt - I meant to add a little speculation as to why your ancestor may have returned to Mackay.  You may already have this knowledge of Mackay.  After the introduction of a sugar crop in Mackay in the mid 1860s, the district seemed to prosper and it has in time become the biggest sugar producer in Australia.  Perhaps the area appealed to your ancestors and it suited them to return from the USA to be near their sister and her family.  I would like to think that is the case.  Nowadays it seems to also prosper with the inland coal deposits as well as the tourism for the Great Barrier Reef.  It really is a beautiful place.

Good luck with the family history.     Belconnen.

[trish58]

How nice to see a real family connection on the site, both are quite new members, so the story goes, "never give up"

Well done

Trish