View of Chatham, Kent in 1832, where John Burke and Mary McDonnell lived from 1825–1839.

Mary McDonnell in, “The lot of the soldier’s wife” (revisited)

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…

Family history mystery: Adam & Robert Kilpatrick of Lislea

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…

In search of four children of James Huggins, jun., of Glenarb

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…

Family history mystery: Stevenson and Pattison of Edinburgh

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…

The lot of the soldier’s wife was unenviable

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…