[Arbor : Tree] + [Borealis : Northern]
Image credit: — Picturesque views in England and Wales: Chatham, Kent in 1832. (See details, below.) Since writing the first installment of "The lot of the soldier's wife" in 2015, the recent discovery of a (third) marriage record lifts Mary McDonnell out of the inscrutable murk of family history mystery. Nevertheless, Mary has led us…
Continue reading ➞ Mary McDonnell in, “The lot of the soldier’s wife” (revisited)
The children of one of our nearly related Kilpatrick families of Lislea townland seem to have disappeared from the Irish record, qualifying as another family history mystery. Two young boys hiding. Image credit. Adam Kilpatrick (IV) was born on 13th December 1834 in Lislea townland in the parish of Kilrea, county Derry, the son of…
Continue reading ➞ Family history mystery: Adam & Robert Kilpatrick of Lislea
Map of Glenarb, Dyan, Kedew, &c. Image credit. This blog is written to highlight a search for the children of James Huggins, jun., who have disappeared from the Irish records. The several children of interest were born in the parish of Aghaloo and county of Tyrone, and baptised in the parish church of St. John…
Continue reading ➞ In search of four children of James Huggins, jun., of Glenarb
In December, 1844, the Limerick Chronicle† contained a portent of the Great Famine of 1845–1852. In that edition was issued one of the earliest warnings of that looming and terrible visitation of the potato blight, famine, and disease in Ireland. A serious rot had been detected in the potato pits in several districts. At this…
Continue reading ➞ Portent of the Great Famine in December, 1844
View of Edinburgh, from Calton Hill c.1817. Image credit. This latest family history mystery item involves the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Pattison (she, the former Miss Agnes Stevenson), who lived in Edinburgh in the early 1800s. Agnes Stevenson was born c.1733-ish in Stewartstown, county Tyrone. She was the daughter of William Stevenson (c.1691–c.1765) and Ann…
Continue reading ➞ Family history mystery: Stevenson and Pattison of Edinburgh
Like so many other Irishmen from the province of Ulster, young Thomas Huggins ventured out to the American colonies in the early 1770s, to seek his fortune. It seems unlikely that a Revolutionary War was a part of the 18th century American Dream that Thomas sought—but that, indeed, is what he got. Equally, it is…
Continue reading ➞ A Huggins thorn in George Washington’s revolutionary side
The Ottawa Evening Journal, 6th December 1917. "1300 Killed at Halifax." On this day, 6th December 2015, a ceremony is underway to commemorate the Halifax Explosion which devastated the north end of the city ninety-eight years ago. Every year, people gather beside the Halifax Explosion Memorial Bell Tower, to mark the wartime marine disaster which…
Continue reading ➞ The Halifax Explosion, 6 Dec. 1917: Epitaph for Merle Huggins
So little was etched into the written record about our great-great-great grandmother, Mary McDonnell (1794–1869), the earliest known of our ancestors in this line from the county of Mayo. Of course, the system of record keeping favoured male heads of household, tradesmen, and soldiers. Women tended to fall off the archival radar. While we are…
Continue reading ➞ The lot of the soldier’s wife was unenviable
Composed by John D'Alton (1792–1867), born at Bessville in county Westmeath; lawyer, historian, biographer, & genealogist. Footnotes prepared by the editor, S. Lover: * One evil consequence of the penal laws was, that the Irish being denied the exercise of the honourable profession of arms at home, (as alluded to in the introduction to this…
Continue reading ➞ Unsung Hero: John Burke of Claremorris, regimental tailor
The red dot marks Lislea townland. Image credit. After thirteen years' study of a wide range of Irish, Canadian, and American records, I've decided, finally, that I'm as ready as I'll ever be to put quill to paper and write the Kilpatrick family history for our branch out of Lislea townland in the parish of…
Continue reading ➞ Kilpatrick family history :: Lislea, parish of Kilrea, county Derry
MacKenzie, James Hamilton. Design for a roll of honour for the First World War (1917). Image credit. Over the course of the next four-and-a-half years, I hope to undertake a Great War remembrance project. The intent of this project is to provide complete biographical sketches for each of our extended family's casualties of the Great…
Continue reading ➞ Great War Remembrance Project :: “We shall remember them”