In September 1913, the staff and pupils of Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School took possession of new, purpose built premises on Dyke Road. In August 1914 they were forced to return to their old home. The building had been requisitioned. It became 2nd Eastern General Hospital. The building still exists. It is now a…
All posts by Keith Stanley
And so to France
Patrick reported to the Manchester Regiment’s Headquarters (at Ashton-under-Lyne) on 5th August 1914. Britain had declared war on Germany the day before. He was posted to join the 2nd Battalion in France on 30th August. When the war started the 2nd Battalion was based at the Curragh Camp in Ireland. They arrived in France on…
Sixty days in 1914
Patrick joined the Army on 2nd October 1902. At that time Britain kept a relatively small regular army. The armies of other major European powers were much larger. Britain’s army was entirely made up of volunteers and numbered a quarter of a million. (France, Russia and Germany had well over 1 million each.) Half of…
Middleburg and Middleburg
As covered in “Manchester Regiment – Initial Service” (https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/direct-line/manchester-regiment-initial-service/) , Patrick transferred to the Third (Line) Battalion on 7th February 1903. He was one of a party of 157 men sent out to South Africa. Some of them were detached at St Helena. There is no way of knowing whether Patrick was one of these.…
From Roscommon to Liverpool
In addition to finding Roscommon Stanley members in Birmingham (https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/possible-relations/from-roscommon-to-birmingham/), I also discovered one in Liverpool. The 1851 census shows John Stanley (yet another one!) in Allerton, West Derby. John was born in 1813 (but 1815 on later census returns). His occupation was garden labourer. He married Jane Griffiths on 15 February 1843 in the…
From Roscommon to Birmingham
I have looked high and low for members of the Stanley family. In the 1851 UK census I came across the following family: Jane Stanley, born 1811 in Roscommon. She is a lodging house keeper in Newhall Street, Birmingham, England. Two children are with her. Both were also born in Roscommon. John, born 1832, is…
From Islands to America
On the post “Island Lower and Upper”, (https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/geography/island-lower-and-upper/ ) I referred to American records as providing answers to the question about what happened to the rest of the Stanley/Kenney line. (Bridget, Thomas, Mary and John) Bridget Stanley married William Simpson on 29th June 1887 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He was born in Darnford, New York in…
Island Lower and Upper
The 1901 census reveals that there are only 17 people carrying the Stanley name living in County Roscommon. The population at that time was 102,000, only 40% of what it had been prior to the Great Famine of the late 1840s. They group into just four families. (There is also a Governess, born in Cork,…
Kilbride to Canada
In my efforts to understand more about my Roscommon ancestors, I have looked at Parish records. There are many gaps. It is not possible to track people from birth to marriage to death. Kilbride Parish Church, at Four Mile House, features in my family’s records. I have found another family with the Stanley name on…
DNA: the magic bullet?
Posted on Author Keith StanleyPosted in Brighton, Direct line, Geography, Ireland, North America, Unresolved questions
I was given a DNA testing kit as a Christmas present (2018). The results were pretty much as expected. I received a list of people with whom I share some DNA in descending order of overlap. The closest matches suggest that we might be fourth cousins. This means that we share a great, great, great…