Lest we forget - Private John Fitzhenry 9956 of the King's Shropshire Light Regiment

The post about the Fitzhenrys who died in the Great war prompted Sara Murphy to write to us.
She is the great great, granddaughter of John Fitzhenry of the King's Shropshire Regiment. (For our overseas readers, Shropshire is a county in West of England next to the Welsh border.)

I'm very grateful to her for sending us the following information which she has given her permission to post here.
John was the only surviving son out of 9 children. (His father was also called John and originally came from Ireland.)
John's daughter, Dorothy (Sara's grandmother) was born around 7 months after John was killed and gives her name on her birth registration as Dorothy Fitzhenry. His widow Elizabeth Lila Smith (formerly Fitzhenry) was quoted to have said "if I ever had a son l would cut his legs off before sending him to war".

Sara has sent a link which shows that John is listed on the Oswestry park gates War memorial, right hand-side 3rd from the top.

http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/roots/packages/war/war_r04c.htm

Sara would be very pleased to hear from any descendant of this Fitzhenry branch. If you send me an email, I'll pass it on to her.

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Lest We Forget - Peter Fitzhenry AIF Killed In Action

A recent post was a timely reminder of those Fitzhenrys who gave their lives fighting for their country. Amongst them was the name of an Australian, Peter Fitzhenry who died thousands of miles from home in the fields of Belgium in October 1917. I thought it might be appropriate to give some more details about this fallen Fitzhenry, so that he doesn't remain simply a name on a plaque.

The National Archives of Australia (NAA) is a wonderful repository, holding amongst many other documents, the service records for Australian service personnel. It is their longterm goal to have all documents digitalised allowing free internet access viewing. In the interim, where someone requests a file, and is prepared to pay a nominal fee (usually around $20 AUD) it is assessed for privacy issues, and if deemed appropriate for open access is immediately digitalised,' jumping the queue" so to speak. In the case of the surname Fitzhenry 1914-1920 seven files are listed, ALL of which are digitalised (I suspect that thanks are due to our North Queensland Fitzhenry rsearcher??). Much of the following was gleaned from the details included in the service file of Private Peter Fitzhenry, which helps to fill in some details relating to this fallen soldier.

Peter Fitzhenry was born in Ultimo, near Sydney in New South Wales the second son of Matthew Fitzhenry, a plumber, and his wife Catherine (nee Nelson). Although Peter had 7 brothers and sisters, and one could imagine many happy times as he played with his siblings, the fact was that for much of the time, life must have been pretty hard for young Peter. When he was only 3 his baby sister Ellen died, and the next year his big brother, Stephen, who was only 6 died. This must have been an awful tragedy for the family and for Peter. Stephen's death made Peter the eldest son, with responsibilities for helping his parents and looking after the younger children - and these responsibilities would have been substantial since his father's drinking became more and more of a problem. Money was scarse, but became even more so as he "drank all he earned' ( Catherine Fitzhenry). Eventually, in 1906, when Peter was only 16, his father Matthew finally deserted the family. Although Catherine, Peter's mother had a warrant issued for his arrest for desertion, it was still outstanding 16 years later.
Army documents describe Peter's mother Catherine as a "respectable woman, living with her daughters". Peter must have had a strong sense of responsibility for his mother and younger siblings though, as he lived all his life with her, even after his marriage in 1912 to Janet (nee Murdoch).
The family stayed close to Sydney, living in Redfern, an inner Sydney surburb. In its earlier days Redfern was described as a "neat workers suburb", but by the second decade of the 20th century it was considered more rough. John Tierney (1892-1972) author and teacher described it thus ..." it was a depressing place. It was nasty, hot, dusty. There was the grind and rattle of trams in Castlereagh Street and Redfern Street; the ceaseless clomping of horses' hooves, and the jarring accents of lorry wheels. Two of the largest carrying firms had their headquarters in Redfern, and the very air smelt stale of horses and was filled with specks of dried manure whenever a breeze stirred along those drab streets."

Given the importance of the carrying businesses in the area it is not particularly surprising to discover that Peter's occupation in 1917 was Carter!!

When he enlisted, on 23 January 1917, Australia had been at war for nearly 3 years. Whilst many young men had raced to join up in 1914, no doubt thinking of glory and a short stay overseas, (whilst other- older- men had joined up to escape unhappy marriages!!) Peter did not rush to enlist. At 26, he was no child, and had in fact been married for nearly 5 years, though he had no children. We will probably never know what prompted Peter to join H M forces in that January of 1917, but a poignant - even tragic - hint lies in a document included in his service file. Although initially reported "Missing In Action" 4 October 1917, his body was never located. He was only reported "Killed in Action" after a Court Of Inquiry held in March of 1918. In 1922 the Graves Service Unit was still doing its best to try to identify bodies of deceased sevicemen who were lacking any form of identification. Peter's surviving family was contacted and asked if they could furnish any information regarding the last known sighting of him, or if they had been notified by other groups of a place of burial, or anything that might give a precise location of his death. The response was provided by his youngest brother William * .
" Dear Sir,
the late Private P Fitzhenry was killed just outside the trench where A Company of the 1st battalion hopped over on the 4th October 1917 for Broodseide [?] Ridge. He has been posted missing but that is the exact locality as I happened to be with him,
Yours faithfully
W'm Fitzhenry "

In 1917 William turned 18.

The fact that William was in the same unit as his brother suggests that they joined up together. Is it possible that a young William full of youthful bravado decided to join up, and that Peter felt he should be with his baby brother, to try to protect him in what was to come? Again, we will never know.

Yet despite this, and having no known photos of Peter, we still know a surprising amount about him. For instance, we know that he had brown hair, and blue eyes, was 5 ft 4 inches tall and weighed 120lbs ( or 8 and a half stone). The little toe on his right foot was slightly raised, and he was a Congregationalist. We know that when he arrived in Plymouth England he was deployed to Durrington in Wiltshire for training. We know he overstayed his leave by 3 days in May 1917, and as a consequence he lost a weeks pay. We know that this wasn't an isolated incident because on the 4 August 1917 he was AWOL from 6.45am (and missed Parade) and that cost him 4 days confined to barracks. Sadly, Peter's story doesn't last much longer. He embarked for France at Southhampton arriving at Havre 5th September, and was listed as being available for fighting in France 15 September. He was reported Missing in Action 3 weeks later, in Belgium 4 October 1917, although only listed as Killed In Action after the Court Of Inquiry was held in March 1918. His body was never found.

In a surprising and sad addendum to Peter's story, I discovered that at the time of his own death, Peter was a widower.On 26 March 1917, just 5 weeks after Peter embarked on H.M Osterley in Sydney on his way to England and the front, his 24 year old wife Janet died. She never lived to hear of the death of her husband, but it is probable that he heard of hers. It is just so sad....

RIP Peter Fitzhenry 1890-1917


* I have been unable to locate a service record for William, but a service record has been located for a Walter J Fitzhenry, living at the same address as Peter and his family and listing his next of kin as Catherine Fitzhenry. He lists his age as 21 and 3 months at the time of enlistment. A view of the signature suggests that the soldier started to write Wi.. but then rounded the i to an a (of Walter) so I think it highly probable it is William putting his age up and assuming a different forename.

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Nerdy stats update

We've now broken into double figures with our blog subscribers - Feedburner tells me there's a grand total of 11 of you out there receiving our blog updates. Well done chaps. We now have two more people subscribing to the blog than there were at the first Queen gig back in 1972.

So as always I'll sign off with the strapline....

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In Theory Anything Is Possible

It is commonly recognized that the surname FitzHenry was first recorded for the illegitimate child of King Henry I, the youngest son of William the Conqueror and Princess Nesta, the daughter of King Rhys of Deheubarth. The child born in 1104 was known as Henry FitzHenry. He was literally named the “bastard son of Henry.” What an auspicious way to get “our” start! (King Henry I is pictured at right.)

It has always been thought that certain FitzHenry families may be descendents of King Henry I. The theory sounds reasonable, but how could it be proven? Our recent DNA result could be the first step in that direction. It certainly provides more information than we’ve ever had before.

According to Prince Charles biographer, Anthony Holden, His Royal Highness can claim King Niall of the Nine Hostages as an ancestor. Does this also mean that King Henry I was a descendant of Niall as well? If so, our FitzHenry Y-chromosome match to Niall could be the first evidence that the story is true. Is Niall a common ancestor to King Henry I and our DNA participant?

What do you think?

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Under the heading 'Other Random Stuff"

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Earlier in this blog, Jo made reference to one of her other great loves - cricket!
With this in mind I did a search of Australian sports hero's in the hope that we could come up with a Fitzhenry descendant - even historically - who excelled in the field. Sadly, no such luck! We did have a Daniel Fitzhenry from NSW who was a minor international star in Rugby circles, ending up signing contracts with both English and French rugby teams!
However, my recent surf and search for South African Fitzhenrys finally hit pay dirt.,,, a cricket playing Fitzhenry!!
Please note: Russel Fitzhenry, born 1963, playing with Eastern Province Country District League, right handed batsman, and right arm offbreak bowler.

OK, so it's not at exactly international level, but it's nice to see the Fitzhenry's giving it the good old fashioned try, and love of the game is not solely devolved to a lone Fitzhenry descendant in Nottingham!!
(and yes, the rather desultary results of the recent Aussie tour of India, passed without comment, for a reason!! lol)

Lesley in Australia (who will be watching the Boxing Day test on TV, not attending like 2 of her brothers!)

The Mystery Ladys of Brompton Cemetery: Identities Revealed?

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After Jo's sojourn at Brompton Cemetery revealed two mystery Fitzhenry ladies, I was able to claim the first as my gggrandmother Elizabeth Fitzhenry (nee Kemp) the widow of Michael Fitzhenry.(see attached Death certificate). However , rather surprisingly, the identity of mystery lady number two, Ann Fitzhenry, may also link into my Fitzhenry family grouping.

Elizabeth's daughter-in law was a lass named Ann Elizabeth Fitzhenry (nee Currey). Ann had married Elizabeth's eldest son, George c 1864. Ann hailed from Essex, and George, who had joined the 12th Lancers whilst still a teenager, ended up being posted to Ireland, where their two eldest children, Ann[ie) 1866 and William 1868 were born. By the time of the 1871 census, the family was back in England - or more precisely, Aldershot, Hampshire. Younger son George was born whilst they were posted near Hulme, Manchester in 1875, and baby Laura was born (and sadly passed away) in 1877 Canterbury, Kent. No wonder it took a while to connect all the siblings - a name like Fitzhenry, children born Ireland and Manchester, doesn't at first glance seem to connect to a London born and bred Fitzhenry family!! However, enough on the background!!

I have been unable to locate either George or Ann Fitzhenry in the 1891 census. I believe that George may have died, aged 39 in 1879, London (certificate pending). However, I HAVE been able to locate two of George and Ann's children in 1891 - living at 32 Falcon St BATTERSEA !! It would appear (if I am reading the census correctly) that Falcon St intersects with Duffield St, Battersea, the address listed for the mystery Ann Fitzhenry buried at Brompton. Despite the fact that mystery Ann is listed about 6 years older than I would have expected for my Ann, the circumstancial evidence does seem suggestive that they are in fact the same woman. Given the relative rarity of the surname Fitzhenry, surely it would be an extreme coincidence to have two completely unrelated family groupings living so close together in the same time frame. Consequently, I think it more than likely that the mystery lady is in fact Elizabeth Fitzhenry's daughter-in-law, Ann.
However, if anyone reading this can shed more light on the mystery, please drop us

The Secret: Revealed!

In an earlier post I discussed the second participant’s DNA results. I am disappointed that the American FitzHenrys descended from Enoch do not appear to be related to the other families noted in this blog. However, I am very grateful for our connection to these individuals and the pursuit of studying the surname around the world. It’s something special and unique to claim the name, FitzHenry.

I am pleased to report that the DNA results unlocked another secret. They revealed a significant relationship with our second participant and Niall of the Nine Hostages. Niall Noígíallach was a 5th century warlord whose dynasty dominated Ireland for six hundred years. He quite literally left his mark in populating Ireland. High King Niall may have left as many as three million modern day descendants! DNA Ancestry Project

According to information provided by Family Tree DNA, a recent study conducted at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, found that a striking percentage of men in Ireland (and quite a few in Scotland) share the same Y chromosome, suggesting that Niall may be the ancestor of one in 12 Irishmen.

In the study scientists found an area in northwest Ireland where they claim 21.5% carry Niall’s genetic fingerprint, says Brian McVoy, one of the team at Trinity. The same area of Ireland has previously been the subject of anthropological study…and has shown a strikingly high percentage of men from Haplogroup R1b (98%) versus 90% in southeast Ireland. According to McVoy this area was the main powerbase of the Ui Neill kings, which literally translated means "descendants of Niall". McVoy says the Y chromosome appeared to trace back to one person. Following the genealogists' trail McVoy comments: "There are certain surnames that seem to have come from Ui Neill. We studied if there was any association between those surnames and the genetic profile. It is his (Niall's) family."

Modern surnames tracing their ancestry to Niall include (O')Neill, (O')Gallagher, (O')Boyle, (O')Doherty, O'Donnell, Connor, Cannon, Bradley, O'Reilly, Flynn, (Mc)Kee, Campbell, Devlin, Donnelly, Egan, Gormley, Hynes, McCaul, McGovern, McLoughlin, McManus, McMenamin, Molloy, O'Kane, O'Rourke and Quinn. Family Tree DNA

If our DNA result is any indication, they may need to add the name FitzHenry!

My next post will take us back to where it all began. Joining the discussion will be the lovely Princess Nesta, King Henry I, the current Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) and my new acquaintance, Niall.

In theory, anything is possible………………….


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South African Connection??

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Whilst trying to track the descendants of George Fitzhenry (the son of the Brompton lady) - William, Annie (Puddle) and George, I came across the following outgoing passenger entry, that suggests that the younger George migrated to South Africa.
Name: George Fitzhenry
Date of Departure: 13 October 1930
Port of Depature: Southampton
Destination Port: Cape
Destination Country: South Africa
Date of Birth: 1875
Age: 55
Married
Occupation: Lithographer

Others travelling with him were Daphne and Laura Fitzhenry.

The ship was USARAMO of the Deutsche-Ost-Afrika line. and the ships ultimate destination was Durban, Port Natal, South Africa.

I had heard that there were Fitzhenrys in South Africa, but wasn't aware of how they might connect to the other Fitzhenry groups.

If you have a South African connection, why not drop us a line, and fill us in on this mysterious branch??

Road Trip - the Brompton Cemetery

I spent most of last week in archives of one sort or another in the south of England. It's given me enough material to write several posts, so this is the start of the "Road Trip" series.

I regard a cemetery as an archive too - all your ancestors are neatly filed away there and if you're lucky they are also indexed correctly on the headstone above them.
I went to the Brompton Cemetery in Kensington, West London in search of the grave of Joseph Henry Fitzhenry.

Joseph was well known in his later life as an extremely wealthy art collector. In fact, he used the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as an overflow storage facility for his huge collection of silverware and fine art, much of which can still be seen at the museum today. But his origins are shrouded in mystery and even his obituary in The Times of London could only hazard a guess that he had been born in France. He never married. I didn't have a date of birth for him, but I did have his Times obituary, and armed with that I made my way to the cemetery.

For those who haven't been to Brompton Cemetery, it's well worth going even if you haven't got a grave to visit. Established in the 1850s to relieve the overcrowded inner London burial grounds, this 16 acre Victorian cemetery is now managed as one of London's Great Parks and is a haven for wildlife, as well as being beautifully atmospheric and fully of lovely architecture and history. The official website for the cemetery is here, and a selection of the photos that I took on that day are here in one of my Picasa webalbums. (Editor's note April 2015 - I've fixed the broken link to this album, but you may have to be logged into your Google account to view it)

Jay, the wonderfully helpful chap in the cemetery office, was able to look up Joseph FH on his computer database and drew me a map - Joseph was buried in the highly desirable inner circle of the burial ground. Jay also found me two other Fitzhenrys that I hadn't been expecting and ran me off their details too.

I don't really know what I had been expecting for Joseph's gravestone, but certainly something more elaborate and "arty" than the very plain flat grave cover that I found. But at least it gave me that all important birthdate detail that I was looking for.
In lead lettering on granite, the text read:

JOSEPH HENRY FITZHENRY
BORN 21st SEPTEMBER 1836
DIED 14th MARCH 1913

If any of you art lovers out there have any more information about Joseph Henry Fitzhenry, then please drop me an email.

So who were the other Fitzhenrys buried at Brompton Cemetery? The details that are held in the cemetery registers are entered below. Both women were buried in common graves rather than private plots. This meant that their family paid for the burial in the cemetery, but didn't have exclusive right to the plot, and in theory up to 8 people could be buried in the same plot. It also meant no headstone, so there were no further details to be found about them.
Elizabeth Fitzhenry of 38 East Street, Red Lion Square, Parish of St George the Martyr, Holborn.
Buried 4 April 1877 aged 65 years.
Ann Fitzhenry of 61 Duffield Street, Battersea, London.
Buried 3 May 1889 aged 53 years.

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Wexford to Liverpool to Forest Creek Australia - another Fitzhenry migration

Sandra Fuller has written from Australia with her Fitzhenry tree (welcome Sandra!) She would be very pleased to hear from anyone who recognises any of the people below.
As usual, responses can be made by leaving a comment to this post, or send me an email and I'll forward it to Sandra.
She writes:

My AUSTRALIAN Fitzhenrys originated from Edward born in Wexford IRE around 1797 where he married Ellen Kavanagh who was born around 1804.
One of their 10 children, Stephen (my great great Grandfather) was born 1826 in Liverpool ENG. He came out to Sydney, NSW, Australia in approximately 1850, most probably as a Merchant Seaman but not sure. We think he was the only child from the family to venture out of England to Australia.

Stephen married Mary Davies in 1851 in Sydney, Australia. Mary was born in Dennyloanhead, Stirling, Scotland in 1853.
Soon after marrying Stephen and Mary went to Forest Creek, Victoria, Australia in search of Gold and what would be very harsh conditions in which to live.
My Great Grandfather Edward was born in 1853 at Forest Creek Vic, Australia. His mother and my great great grandmother Mary Davies is a mystery with not a lot of information on her family or how she arrived in Australia.

My great grandfather Edward Fitzhenry married Eliza Mary Reed in Sydney NSW in 1874. My grandfather, Daniel Fitzhenry was born in 1889 in Ultimo, NSW, Australia but died in 1922 of pernicous anaemia. He was one of 10 children. My Father, Frank Fitzhenry was born in 1919 in Drummoyne, NSW, Australia.


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Another "deviant" spelling and hello to the Volante family.

I was very pleased last week to get an email from Michael Volante, the son of Mrs Betty Volante, the lady who had contacted Bev Kronk all those years ago.
Mrs Volante herself is not on email, so we're conversing via Mike at the moment (thanks Mike!) but she sent me an entry from the 1851 census that I hadn't already got.
The reason I hadn't got it is due once again to the notoriously bad transcription on the Ancestry site.

So at 9 Griggs Court, St Mary's Whitechapel London we have:
Mary Fitzhenry head widow aged 60 laundress Ireland Kilkenny
James Fitzhenry son married aged 32 gunmaker St Georges East, Middlesex
Caroline Fitzhenry daughter-in-law married aged 30 Bishopgate Street
Thomas Fitzhenry son of head umarried aged 26 cigar maker Wapping Middlesex

Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 1546; Folio: 24; Page: 42

If you want to see the census sheet for yorself on Ancestry, you have to search under Fitchenny and poor old James is transcribed as Jane.

But at least that clears up where Mary was in the 1851 census - I had speculated in a previous post that she may have been the unmarried house-servant in the house of Rebecca Loosnig, lodginghouse keeper and claiming that she was 53 years old. But this is definitely the right Mary, my great-great-great-great - grandmother.

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Surprises!

Thanks to a kind volunteer in Indiana I had this magnificant photo in my email today.

Allen FitzHenry was the grandson of Enoch FitzHenry (the patriarch of most American FitzHenrys) and the son of William Fortune FitzHenry. You might recall (or not) that William Fortune was the only relative Enoch ever saw once he left Ireland. Enoch named one of his children, William Fortune FitzHenry, in his honor.

William Fortune FitzHenry married Delilah Anne Pierce on June 12, 1827. According to my records William and Delilah had 10 children. Allen was born November 21, 1840. He married Sarah Elizabeth Wormoth. She died at the age of 39. They are buried in the Valley Cemetery in Jefferson, Indiana.

If anyone has additional information about this branch of the FitzHenry family tree, please contact us.

I love surprises!

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DNA Results!

The first twelve markers are in!

Unfortunately, the two FitzHenrys in the study are not related.

However, the results tell us that there are at least two unique instances of the FitzHenry surname.

I'll have more on the subject once the DNA results are complete.

In the meantime, encourage your FitzHenry male relatives to consider DNA testing. Please click on the Fitz-Henry DNA Project on the sidebar for more information.

Who knows what we might discover!

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"Orphan Entry" Patrick Fitzhenry marriage 1750

While searching for other things I came across this lone entry for a Fitzhenry marriage...can anyone claim him or know anything about the couple??

Married at St George's Chapel Mayfair, Hyde Park Corner
3rd January 1750 Patrick Fitzhenry and Mary Burt, of St Giles in the Field, Middlesex

Lest we forget - the Fitzhenrys who fell in the Great War

As we approach Remembrance Sunday, we remember with gratitude those Fitz(-)henrys who died in battle and as a result of wounds received in the First World War. Each Remembrance Sunday, we will publish the story of another soldier and their name will link to their story on this blog.

My source for the first thirteen casualties is the excellent Commonwealth War Graves website with extra details referenced. The names are in alphabetical order.

Sapper Arthur Fitzhenry 18684 of the Australian Engineers ( 8th Field Company) died 14 October 1920 aged 25, buried at Sydney Waverley General Cemetery.

Private Charles Edward Fitzhenry 1126, of the Australian Infantry,A.I.F died 21 August 1918, buried at Mont Huon Military Cemetery, Le Treport. He served as DOYLE. Son of Michael Herbert and Elizabeth Fitzhenry. Native of Richmond River. New South Wales.

Serjeant Charles Joseph Fitzhenry 5905 of the Royal Fusiliers, died 14 November 1916 aged 26. Commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial for the missing soldiers of the battle of The Somme. Son of Harry and Martha Mary Ann Fitzhenry, of 7 Satanita Rd., Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex.

Sister D A Fitzhenry of the South African Military Nursing Services died 1 December 1918. Buried at the Dodoma Cemetery.
(From the "Great War Forum" website, her forenames were Daisy Aletta)

Private Edward Fitzhenry 10285 of the 4th Battalion of the Worcester Regiment died 28 April 1915 at Gallipoli and commemorated at the Helles Memorial, Turkey.

Private E Fitzhenry 41581 of the Yorkshire Regiment died 5 April 1917 and is buried at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood, Belgium.

Private John Fitzhenry 9956 of the King's Shropshire Light Regiment died 25 September 1916 aged 26. Commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial for the missing soldiers of the battle of The Somme. Son of John Fitzhenry, of Welshpool, Montgomeryshire; husband of Elizabeth Lila Smith (formerly Fitzhenry), of 6, Southalls Buildings, Willow St., Oswestry, Salop

Sapper J Fitzhenry 5964 of the Canadian Railway Troops died 4 April 1917 and buried at the Highland Cemetery, Roclincourt, France.

Gunner James Fitzhenry 13140 of the Royal Field Artillery died 5 April 1917 aged 30 and buried at Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France. Son of Thomas and Mary Fitzhenry, of Fair Gate, New Ross, Co. Wexford.

Private Michael Fitzhenry 4423 of the Royal Irish Regiment died 8 May 1915 aged 21. He is commemorated at the Menon Gate Memorial at Ypres, Belgium. The son of Edward and Margaret Fitzhenry, of Kilmannon, Cleariestown, Co. Wexford.

Rifleman Patrick Fitzhenry 7395 of the 6th Royal Irish Rifles died 6 August 1915 at Gallipoli and is commemorated at the Helles Memorial. Husband of Catherine Fitzhenry of 11, Banner Street., St. Helens, Lancs. (He is mentioned in the Wexford casualty list as being from New Ross Wexford.)

 Private Peter Fitzhenry 7246 of the Australian Infantry AIF, died 4 October 1917 and is commemorated at the Menon Gate Memorial at Ypres, Belgium.

Private T Fitzhenry 7110 of the Irish Guards died 18 August 1918 aged 22, and buried at Vevey (St. Martin's) Cemetery, Switzerland. Son of Annie Carty (formerly Fitzhenry), of 3, Johns Gate St., Wexford, and the late Robert Fitzhenry. Under an agreement with the neutral Swiss government, some wounded prisoners of war from Britain, France and Germany were interned in Switzerland. A total of 88 British and Dominion service personnel are buried there. (From the "Irish Guards in the Great War" website, his forename was Thomas)

And from the United States (American Battle Monuments Commission)
Lewis F. Fitz-Henry 1st Sergeant US Army 101st Infantry Regiment
Entered the Service from: Massachusetts Died: November 6, 1918Buried at: Plot A Row 19 Grave 12 Suresnes American Cemetery Suresnes, France

If there are any other Fitzhenrys that I have missed, please let me know so I can update this posting before Sunday.

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Ann Fitzhenry - convicted at the Old Bailey and transported to Australia

So far all the Australian Fitzhenrys I've met have been descendants of British or Irish emigrants who went to Australia of their own free will.
I've now also found Ann Fitzhenry who was transported to Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) in 1826 at the direction of Her Majesty.
.
Ann was convicted of being a pickpocket at the Old Bailey (officially called the Central Criminal Court) in London. The Old Bailey website has a great searchable index and the information about her case is here.

On 6th April 1826, she stole:

1 half-crown, 13 shillings, and 6 sixpences, the goods of Thomas Ashton , from his person.

At her trial on 26th April, she said in her defence that her husband gave her the money (but no husband is recorded as speaking up for her) and her age is given as 40 years. She was sentenced to seven years transportation.
Ann had previous "form" - she was up before the judge on the same charge in 1809, but was acquitted at this trial.
She was transported on the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" which sailed on 31st August 1826, and until then was held in Middlesex Gaol. Some of the women transported with her had been waiting almost a year in prison before transportation.
Her fate is recorded in the "Nominal Return for Female Convicts shewing how each is appropriated for the year ending 31st December 1832" and similarly for 1833.
Ann Fitzhenry is convict number 53, and in the "How appropriated" column is written "Married to Joseph Burns". Married seems to have been a fairly common fate awaiting these women. The other options listed are died, freed (rare!), missing, "House of Correction" and the most common "assigned to (insert man's name here)" presumably as a servant.
I've not found the record of Ann's marriage to Mr Burns yet, nor her death. Can anyone help out with this?


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Edward and Mary Fitz-Henry (Ireland to London)

Bev has also sent me the details of a couple of letters she received from a Mrs Betty Volante back in 1998 who was also researching the Fitz-Henrys. It turns out she was looking for information on my branch, so if Mrs Volante is still researching this tree I would be very pleased to hear from her (or from any other person who recognises these Fitz-Henrys).

Edward Fitz-Henry was born in Ireland in about 1788, place unknown. He is my great-great-great-great-grandfather. He was a labourer according to the marriage certificate of his son Michael (my great-great-great-grandfather) or a carpenter according to the death certificate of his wife. He died in the Whitechapel workhouse (London) in 1833 and was buried in St Mary's graveyard in Whitechapel according to the Findmypast.com website parish records collection.

Edward married Mary (surname unknown) some time between 1804 and 1816 according to Mrs Volante's letters. Mary apparently was born in about 1790 and came from County Kilkenny. Mrs Volante was looking for the death of Mary in Australia, as family legend had it that her son Thomas went to Australia and was shot dead there.

I have Mary in the 1841 census living at Fives Court in Mansell Street, St. Mary's Whitechapel with two sons James (a gunmaker) and Thomas (a cigarmaker). Both sons are born in Middlesex and Mary is recorded as being Irish. She is a charwoman and has a given age of 45 years, although in this census the age was rounded down to the nearest 5 years. This would give her birth year from 1791 to1796.

In the 1851 census I have a Mary Fitzhenry, a servant unmarried aged 53 born Sligo Kilkenny.
She is living at 22 Craven Street, St. Martins in the Fields in the house of Rebecca Loosnig (widow) lodging house keeper. This is gives her year of birth as 1898. This may or may not be the correct Mary but it would fit with her previous occupation as a charwoman and her assumed place of birth. She may have told her employer she was younger to make it more likely she got the job!

Mary died in the Wapping Workshouse on 6 May 1859, the widow of Edward Fitzhenry, carpenter. Her age was given as 73, which puts her birth year around 1786.

There are four sons from this marriage that I know about:
John born before 1810.
Michael born 1813-1816 - my ggg-grandfather. At least 12 children!
James the gunsmith born 1818 died December 1858 - one son James survived infancy. I don't know what happended to James junior.
Thomas born about 1823 - emigrated to Australia - a Thomas Fitzhenry fitting his description was admitted to the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum in 1881 - no known marriage or children.

It would be great to hear from anyone who has these people in their tree, or has any more information about them . Edward and Mary are my brick wall!

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Yet another Jumnetta!

Bev's "Jumna" passenger list for that maiden voyage has turned up another baby girl born on board.
A baby girl was born to Samuel and Agnes McKinstry on 23 September 1886, two days after the Jumna left port in London.
This child must have been the one that was mentioned in the cutting from the Brisbane Courier, as (you've guessed it) she was also named Jumnetta by the time the family embarked.
Her birth registration was sent back to London in an earlier report than the other three babies that we've already found.
That's three Jumnettas from one voyage.

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