Allens of Arklow, County Wicklow

[NeilAyers]

Hello, I am trying to trace my great grandmother Margaret Allen (born sometime between 1895 and 1901) and her twin sister Teresa (also could have been spelt Theresa) Allen. I cannot find records of their birth, but from what little I have been told by my family and what little my father knows, I have the following information.

I believe both Margaret and Theresa came from a wealthy protestant family. When Margaret Allen died in 1966, she was married in a Protestant Church and buried in a Protestant, Church of England graveyard. My Father was only 7 when she died, and he says he never remembers her ever having rosary beads, seeing any kind of religious artefacts in her house or ever being particularly religious at all. I would presume that if she was a Catholic, she would have perhaps been more religious and would not have wanted to have been buried in a Protestant graveyard and would perhaps have married in a Catholic church if she was Catholic.

During the First World War, she and her twin sister volunteered for the Queen Anne's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QUARANC) and she was at Paschendale in 1917 where she met my great grandfather Percy John Harris, who had been gassed and was also recovering from a head wound. I believe they married in about 1920. They had 4 children, William Arthur John Harris (born 1920) Reginald Edward George Harris (born 1922), my grandmother Margaret Teresa Harris (born 1924) and another brother, born 1925, whose name eludes me.

Margaret and Teresa's father volunteered for the British Army and was killed during the first world war. Their mother married a German U-Boat Captain after the war. Because of this, neither of them returned to Ireland and sadly never spoke to their mother ever again as they said they felt betrayed.

My Father has also said that the Allen family owned and ran a hotel called "The Tregarron Hotel" in a place called Tregarron in Ireland, (believed to be near Arklow or Dublin) but I cannot find any places in Ireland called Tregarron, only in West Wales.

Can anyone help me or put me in contact with a local historian?

Many thanks,
Neil Ayers

[shanew147]

It should be possible to find the births of Margaret and Teresa/Theresa on on the civil index, and being twins might help the search as their page references on the index should be the same (or possibly consecutive). See the topic 2 Minute Introduction to Irish Records for details on the BMD index, ordering certs etc.

Note that the familysearch index with the Irish BMDs is down for maintenance at the moment.

I cant think of anywhere named 'Tregarron' here in Ireland at the moment , but will see if I can find anything.

It may be worth following up the 1920s Allen/Harris marriage for details of Margaret's father.

p.s. were the Margaret & Teresa in Ireland in 1911 ? ... if so you may find them on the census  : http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/


Shane

[NeilAyers]

Hi Shane. Thanks for the reply. Margaret and Teresa were in Ireland in 1911 as far as I know. I have searched the 1911 census and come up with a 'Mary' Allen, born 1899 and she has a sister called Teresa, born 1897. However, they come from a Catholic family in Dublin, so I'm not sure if they are the right people. (area of Dublin is listed as Usher's Quay - was that a wealthy area?) It could be possible that my great grandmother was not religious at all, but maybe despite that, had a Catholic upbringing. Margaret Allen's death record states her name was definitely Margaret and not Mary. However, it could be possible she might have been known as Mary as a child.

The main problem I have, something I do wonder about; my grandmother before she passed away said that her mother Margaret Allen and her father Percy Harris were married in Throckmorton Abbey, Worcestershire. However, Percy Harris passed away in 1948, aged 54 and on Margaret Allen's death record her surname isn't Margaret Harris, it is Margaret Allen. Perhaps they were never married. I have searched and searched for a marriage certificate for them and never come up with one, but finding that, if it so exists, may give Margaret Allen's father's name.

[shanew147]

re Usher's quay, I wouldn't say that it was an affluent area, probably better described primarily commercial, with various businesses, post office , tenements and a few trade/business residents  (based on Thom's 1914). No 16 is listed in 1914 as a business - Hugh Holohan, wicker furniture and baster manuf. It is also listed as his residence.

In 1911 building return (form B1 on the census) number 16 is occupied by three families, and many of the addresses on Usher's Quay appear to be tenements with up to 7 families sharing each building, most of which consist of 10-12 rooms (39 people lived in no. 14).

There is a Hotel at number 6/7, owned by a Wilkinson Warburton.

I dont see any connection to Wicklow for that family.


Shane

[garstonite]

Well that`s good timing for you.....the Wicklow records came online recently...I don`t know anything about them so you will have to trawl through them yourself.....good luck
http://wicklow.brsgenealogy.com
allan

[aghadowey]

A couple of comments here after I've read through these posts and done some searching online.

Religion- I've never come across Teresa/Theresa in Ireland used in a Protestant family (which is not to say the family was Catholic but it does make me suspect they might have been Catholic).

Tregarron Hotel in Tregarron, Ireland- only Tregaron I can find is in Cardiganshire, Wales. Of course, by now the hitel could be closed or have changed it's name but I can't find any place called Tregarron in Ireland.

Father killed in WWI- should be listed in CWGC database but there are so many Allens killed in WWI- only first 1001 records are displayed when searching without a first initial. Any idea as to his first name?

1911 census- would expect twins to be the same age. What age is listed for Margaret on her death certificate?

Based on there being a Tregaron in Wales and many, many Irish people did move across to wales- have you tried searching for the sisters in 1911 census there?

[NeilAyers]

That's very interesting, maybe Teresa and Margaret were indeed Catholic then.
I unfortunately have no idea what Margaret's father's name was and annoyingly, I cannot find a marriage record for Margaret Allen and P John Harris (my great grandfather), with no end of searching on Ancestry and various other geneaology sites.

I have managed to turn up marriage records for everyone else but them!

Despite this, my grandmother still insisted that her father and her mother were definitely married in Pershore Abbey, Worcestershire in (about) 1920. This if it is so true, would be incredibly useful since it may have stated her father's name (even though he had died during WW1).

Next stop I guess is going directly to Pershore Abbey itself and trawling through marriage records from say 1918 to 1922. I went to Pershore Abbey almost a year ago and they said it wouldn't be a problem to have a look in the archives/records. They also suggested Worcestershire Town Hall would may have a second copy of births, marriages, christenings and deaths as well.

I also think it would probably be a good idea for me to have a look at the 1911 Welsh census as well and see what I can find, which may be a good starting point.

On the death record for Margaret Allen, she died in 1965, and it says "estimated age at death; 64" I believe this to be incorrect as she was a nurse during the first world war, and met my grandfather at Paschendaele in 1917, making her age then, only 16 (or even 15 years of age) and common sense tells me she would probably have had to be 18, or even over 21.

My father did say that Margaret's twin, Teresa (or Resa as she was known) was still living in the late 1970's, as she visited my grandmother on the odd occasion, but lived somewhere further down South towards Reading and was also married, but my father has forgotten her married surname!!

I also think going to Kew and looking at the QUARANC records might also be a good idea. They are fortunately all intact as far as I believe, unlike other first world war records, but unfortunately are not on Ancestry.co.uk to search digitally.

Looks like i'm going to be a busy man over the next few weeks!

[NeilAyers]

Also, my grandmother once mentioned that her Grandmother,  came from a place called Inishmaan, on the Aran Islands. I don't know if that helps at all or even whether any records exist for the Aran Islands.

Also, I happen to know my grandmother had relatives living in Dublin, as in 1940, she was sent away from the countryside to her aunt Teresa's in Croydon, which was bombed, then she was sent to stay with relatives in Coventry which was bombed and finally her mother decided "the safest place to go, is Dublin" which was then bombed a week after she'd been there.

[shanew147]

Some bombs were dropped on the North Strand area of Dublin City in May 1941 - see this website for some details : http://northstrandbombing.wordpress.com/

If you know possible names of the Dublin relatives you could search for them on the 1939 voters register at http://dublinheritage.ie/index.php  Note this only includes the city area.



Shane