What to believe (3)

Whilst proof reading the final draft for “What to believe (2)”, I had a flash of insight. “Any account of events written more than 40 years later is likely to contain errors. Dates can become mixed up. Events can be forgotten. Others can be, albeit unwittingly, exaggerated. Details become blurred.” Almost all accounts of historic…

Servant in Tonlegee

As mentioned in ‘Ormsby or Armsby’, Bridget Ormsby was a servant living in Tonlegee at the time of her 1865 marriage to John Stanly. But which Tonlegee? There is a townland of that name to the west of Roscommon Town in the civil parish of Kilbride. There is another one to the east of Roscommon…

More on Brother 2

I had my suspicions that Brother 2 (see Brother 2 and Still hunting Brother 2) may have been called Michael. Unfortunately, the Michael Stanley who died in Dewsbury in 1859 was aged one. His father was Thomas. At the time, I suggested that looking for an unknown name, in an unknown place, without even a…

Kelly and McHugh in America

In “Both ends to the middle”, I referred to the two Americans with whom I share 32-34 cM of DNA. They are first cousins. Their shared Grandmother is Sue Alice McHugh. (I can exclude their shared Grandfather as his line has American roots going back over 300 years.) Her obituary is full of useful information…

Algorithms

As mentioned in ‘Sue Alice McHugh and her father, John’, there are some differences in the various trees that mention Patrick McHugh. Most agree that his wife was Catherine Kelly (1833-1909). There is general agreement that he was born in 1825. But where was he born? Sligo, Cork, Mayo, Galway and Roscommon are all offered.…

Room at the Inn

Despite living in extremely cramped accommodation in Dewsbury, Uriah Senior and his wife Catherine/Kate (nee Stanley, in Roscommon) always seemed to find room for someone else. At the time of writing (mid December) this seems particularly relevant. The family first came to my attention when I was looking for Patrick’s brother John. In 1891, they…

How far back?

In the ‘Dewsbury once more’, I referred to the identification of a common ancestor. The other researcher and I share 95 centimorgans of DNA. We are third cousins once removed. The point at which our family trees coincide is John Stanley, born sometime around 1800. His date of birth could be as late as 1807.…

Brother 2

I am picking up on the information from my researcher relative (see ‘Dewsbury once more’ https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/direct-line/dewsbury-once-more/) that two brothers came over from Ireland. I have now established that one of these was Thomas Stanley (Brother 1). He was born around 1829 and probably died in 1857. After the success of my previous speculation, I am…

Dewsbury once more

It seems that the researchers with whom I am in contact are not my relatives. (see ‘Multiple Clans’ https://www.roscommonstanley.me.uk/geography/ireland/multiple-clans/) And most of my relatives do not appear to be researchers. This all changed when the wonders of DNA threw out a solid connection to someone with a sizeable family tree. At long last! A very…

The death of Bridget, and more on Thomas

Having located a record for the death of Thomas (b 1873, d 1908), I looked for the record for Bridget. It was not hard to find. https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1909/05468/4530647.pdf Bridget, from Rockfield, the widow of a labourer, died in the workhouse in March 1909. She was 70, making her date of birth around 1839. She died of…