A happy New Year - and the 2009 "State of the Nation" address

Dear Readers
We've had another great year here at Fitz(-)henry Towers and Ann, Lesley and I would like thank all those who wrote to us and shared information and stories, much of which we've been able to share with you here.

Big highlights were

• the results from our Fitz(-)henry DNA study which linked the US line of Enoch Fitzhenry with a branch of the family in Australia who have a documented link to Wexford.
• Enoch Fitzhenry gets a memorial in Dublin Ohio to commemorate his part in the American War of Independence.
• the discovery of the marriage certificate of Michael Fitzhenry and Anastasia Welch (Lambeth, London)
• the trip around Wexford to find some of the Fitzhenrys of the Ballymackessy area.
• the link between Rodrigo Palacios Fitz-Henry's Chilean branch and an ironmonger in South London.

We're now up to 35 regular subscribers, double the number this time last year.

I'd like to say a big hello and thanks for their help this year to:

• Brit Kavli from Norway (descendant of Michael Fitzhenry and Anastasia Welch) who is 80 years young and still researching when she can fit it in between her walking holidays!
• Wendy Rutter - What a star - with all her beavering away behind the scenes - thank you Wendy.
• Sid Rodger - again, a mine of information
• Ann Harris from Boston
• Rodrigo Palacios Fitz-Henry for the photographs that linked his family to the South London Fitz-Henrys
• Debra Mort for the Fitzhenrys of Dedham Massachusetts
• Lenard Baldy and his huge family of Fitzhenrys in Pittsburg
• Alan Hagenson for his information about his sister's Fitzhenry family of Queensland Australia
  
• Paul Fitzhenry, of family group 20 (Australia and New Zealand) who showed that the DNA of their family was the same as that of the family of Enoch Fitzhenry in the USA.
• Brian Bouchard for his assistance with the Winchester-Ashtead Fitz-Henry families.
• Gary Wemyss of the Anglo-Indian Fitzhenry line
• Michael Volante for his photos of my own line from the docks in East London

and everyone else who's emailed us or left a comment to the posts.

And if you need (another) resolution for the New Year - send us even more of your Fitz(-)henry stories old and new!

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Miles the Cowkeeper - an update

Earlier in the year, a random search through the Birmingham Directory of 1869 led me to Miles Fitzhenry who was variously a cowkeeper and gardener in Birmingham and Worcestershire.

Debra Harris wrote to us from Boston Massachusetts after seeing the post . She is Miles' great-great-grandaughter through her mother's side of the family. Her great-grandfather was Albert Miles Fitzhenry born in 1874, the thirteenth of fourteen children born to the Irishman Miles and his wife Betsy Young from Worcestershire.

Albert Miles married Mary (also known as Polly) in about 1894 (another of those elusive marriages that aren't in the GRO indexes - estimated to be about 1% of the overall total in England and Wales during the Victorian era). In the 1901 census he was a bicycle polisher - Birmingham having a florishing bicycle manufacturing industry at this time, and the couple had already had 4 of their 8 children. Debra tells me that Albert later owned a pet shop in Birmingham.

So who is the dapper looking chap in the photo with the natty suit? He's Debra's grandfather Percival Albert Fitzhenry (1897- 1995 and known as Henry) the third of the eight children.
He enlisted for army service in WW1 and his service records have recently been released as part of the digitisation of the records badly damaged during bombing in London during WW2. We know he was 18 years old when he enlisted in Birmingham in 1915, was 5 foot 8 inches tall, a machinist by trade and he gave his mother Mary as next of kin.

Thanks to Debra for the photo. If you think that you are descended from this family, then Debra would love to hear from you and she can be contacted be an email to the Blog or via the comments section. Considering Miles and Betsy had 14 children, there's bound to be some of you out there....

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Missing persons adverts from the University of Boston

Quite randomly I found the "Information Wanted - a database of advertisements for Irish Immigrants published in the Boston Pilot" on the Boston College website.
Here's their description which I've copied verbatim as I couldn't put it any more succinctly

From October 1831 through October 1921, the Boston Pilot newspaper printed a “Missing Friends” column with advertisements from people looking for “lost” friends and relatives who had emigrated from Ireland to the United States. This extraordinary collection of 32,793 records is available here as a searchable online database, which contains a text record for each ad that appeared in the Pilot.

There are 3 Fitzhenry mentions in the database - two as "lost" and one as seeker, although two of these appear in the same advert.
Here's the extracted information - well done to Boston College for such a great resource. Now I've just got to work out where they fit....

Edward Fitzhenry
Home county: Wexford
Parish: Chapel
Townland: Chlobone Near Ennniscorthy
Barony: Bantry
Poor-law: Enniscorthy
Occupation in US: Farmer
Emmigrated in 1835
Location after Emmigration: PEI (assuming Prince Edward Island)
Person seeking information: John Doyle - nephew
Date of Advertisement: 28 January 1860
Contact: M D Hart, in Lawrence Massachussetts

James Fitzhenry
Home county: Wexford
Occupation in US: Farmer
Emmigrated in August 1854
Location after Emmigration: Benton, Maine
Person seeking information: Philip Fitzhenry - brother
Date of Advertisement: 26 May 1855
Contact:James Keogh in New Orleans, Louisiana

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The new Y- DNA testing prices for Christmas!

In October we were very excited when due to the marvels of Y-DNA testing, we found that Ann's Fitzhenry family in the USA (the descendants of the legendary Enoch) was related to Wendy's Fitzhenry family (originally from Oulartwick, Wexford and now in New Zealand and Australia).

So far we've got three men from three separate family groups tested - but we need more men! And up to the end of the Christmas holiday period our testing company FamilyTreeDNA are offering the following reduced prices for Y-DNA tests done within a one-name study.
To qualify, the test has to be paid for in full by 31st December 2009, but this isn't the deadline for doing the test and returning it, just in case anyone was thinking of surprising their nearest and dearest with a cheek swab on Christmas morning!

For the purposes of our study we only need a 37 marker test, but there are more detailed tests available and the purposes of these are described below each test name on the FamilyTreeDNA website.

Here's the prices in American dollars:

• Y-DNA37 – promotional price $119 (reg. price $149)
• Y-DNA67 – promotional price $209 (reg. price $239)
• mtDNAPlus – promotional price $139 (reg. price $149)
• SuperDNA – promotional price $488 (reg. price $665)

And here's the link to the Fitzhenry/Fitz-Henry surname study to get the special discount prices.

Due to some research I've been doing recently, any man with the surname Fitzsenry is also welcome to join our study.

To participate, you have to be male (only men have the Y-chromosome which is tested) and have the surname Fitzhenry or Fitz-Henry or Fitzsenry which you inherited from your father.

If you're going to participate, or thinking about it, drop us a line. We're more than happy to answer any questions about the testing process that you can't find on the FamilyTreeDNA website.


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Lest we forget - Lewis Frank Fitzhenry 1899-1918

In the "Lest we Forget" series of posts last November to commemorate Remembrance Sunday, we remembered the sacrifice of

Lewis F. Fitz-Henry 1st Sergeant US Army 101st Infantry Regiment.
Entered the Service from Massachusetts
Died November 6, 1918
Buried in Plot A Row 19 Grave 12 at Suresnes American Cemetery, Suresnes, France

Lewis was aged just 19 when he was killed in action only 5 days before the end of hostilities in Europe. I couldn't find out that much more about him other than what was given in the above transcript from the American Battle Monuments Commission, but it did lead me to a fascinating story of an inventor, his machine and a trans-Atlantic marriage.

According to the 1860 US census, the well travelled Edward Fitzhenry (a farmer and currier, born about 1829 in Maine) and his wife Sylvia (born about 1931 in Vermont) were living in Tualatin, Clackamas County, Oregon with their 3 children,
Walter (born Massachusetts 1852)
Marian (born California 1856) and
Lewis F Fitzhenry (born Portland Oregon 1858)

They went on to have at least two more children:
Edward (born Oregon 1861)
Charles (born Oregon 1865)
but by the 1870 census, Sylvia was living back in Vermont with the four younger children and no Edward. But it seems that he was out and about getting the patent for his machine for improving the processing of leather - for a currier (as Edward gave his occupation in 1860) is a leather processor - the middle stage between tanning and actually fashioning the leather into finished articles.
The patent applications first appeared in The London Gazette in 1866

NOTICE is hereby given, that the petition of Edward Fitzhenry, of the State of Oregon, of the United States of America, praying for letters patent for the invention of " a new and useful machine which may be employed for scouring, sleeking, or setting hides or leather," was deposited and recorded in the Office of the Commissioners on the 10th day of September, 1866, and a complete specification accompanying such petition was at the same time filed in the said office.

In 1873, Edward was filing his patent applications from Boston, and in 1875 and 1876 from Somerville. Massachusetts.

The next time we encountered Lewis, it was 1877 and he was in Yorkshire, England getting married to Mary Hodgson

Marriage solomnised at the Parish church in the parish of Baslingthorpe in the county of York
April 16th 1877
Lewis Frank Fitzhenry aged 22 Bachelor Machinist
10 Stanhope Square
Father Edward Fitzhenry (Machinist)

Mary Jane Hodgson aged 21 spinster
5 Amberley Terrace Chapletown Road
Father: Anthony Hodgson (Currier)

Now I have a theory here. Lewis was helping his father promote his new machine. Mr Anthony Hodgson either bought one of the machines or, (more likely looking at the residences in which he lived in the 1871 and 1881 English census) he was the employee of a business which bought this machine. Lewis accompanied the machine to England to help set it up. He met Mr Hodgson's daughter and married her. Perhaps he stayed in England for a while to supervise importing more machines.

By the 1880 US census Lewis and Mary were living in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts. (The 1910 census has Mary's immigration year as 1879)
Unfortunately because of the loss of the 1890 US census, there's little record of the next 20 years, and I can't find the family in the United States in the 1900 census, but the family was back in England for the 1901 census and they were living in Leicester this time. This is where the records start to get a bit strange, with Mary variously describing herself as married and widowed.

Lewis F Fitzhenry senior was not with them
Mary Fitzhenry was enumerated as a widow aged 42, born in Leeds, working from home as a confectioner.
With her were Irene L Fitzhenry aged 5 and Lewis F Fitzhenry aged 2 (born in 1899 in Wisconsin according to the 1910 US census)

In February 1904, the three returned to the US on the SS Saxonia (Liverpool to Boston).
Mary (aged 45) described herself as married and a "wife" in the occupation column.
With her were Irene aged 8 and Lewis aged 4. They were all US nationals and were last living in Leeds.
The family were going to stay with Mary's brother in law, E L Fitzhenry (of 36 Charlestown Street, Boston, Mass.) although their home address was given as 5th Street, Wellington, Mass.

Irene died in 1907 in Malden Massachusetts of the complications of appendicitis and her death was apparently registered by her father, Lewis F Fitzhenry senior. It seems that reports of his death had been premature.

In the 1910 US census, Mary once again described herself as a widow and was keeping a lodging house in Malden. Lewis aged 10 was living with her.

And this is all we have about the family until Lewis' untimely death in the War.
His mother was informed as his next of kin and the US Government offered to pay for her to make a trip to his grave in France, an offer which she declined. (reference "List of Mothers and Widows of American Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Entitled to Make a Pilgrimage to War Cemeteries in Europe. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1930.")


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Coming up for November...

...There's a lot of stuff to whet your appetite.

To mark Armistice Day on 11th November, we have another of the "Lest we forget" series, this time focussing on an English-American transatlantic love story.

We also have advance notice of the Christmas price reduction at FamilyTreeDNA for their Y-DNA tests. The gift for the man who has some spare cheek cells to spare...

We also say a big hello to some of our new subscribers - we're now up to 32 regulars! - and introduce you to each other. It's a bit like a cocktail party.
If you are out there just lurking and haven't sent us a "hello" email yet, please let us know who you are, who you are (or think you are) related to and who you are looking for. And if you want to write a piece for the Blog then drop us a line.

Miles the Cowkeeper from Birmingham has descendents in Sussex and Boston (Mass. rather than Lincs.) - we update you on his tree.

And Wendy Rutter has sent me loads more stuff which will make for several hundred more blog postings!

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Ballybrennan inscriptions - Catherine Fitzhenry, the one that I missed!

I missed this stone as it was nowhere near the other Fitzhenry graves, and once again I'm indebted to the Bree parish website for evidence of its existence and for the transcription

Here lies the body of PATRICK NOWLAN
departed this life October 26th 1820 aged 19 years.

Also his mother CATHERINE FITZHENRY

Also....................................................

Also the body of ELENOR NOWLAN, her daughter
who departed this life February 8th 1826 aged 24 years.

The missing name is probably (but not defintely) the name of Catherine's husband.
Unfortunately there are no mention of Catherine's forebears or dates but if Catherine had her children in her twenties, then she was born in the 1780s. She probably died between 1820 and 1826 if the deaths are arranged in order.
There are no other Nowlans buried in the graveyard but there is a collection of Nolans from Sparrowsland, a township just south of Ballybrennan.

This is the last post about Ballybrennan graveyard and indeed the last of the Wexford Road Trip series.
We did have a brief look around New Ross when we passed through, but didn't find anything worth reporting on (apart from the New Ross Piano Festival, including an open air concert in the main street). New Ross will be a project for the next trip.

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Getting the links working...

An apology to any reader who wasn't able to make the links work to the Ballybrennan graveyard webalbum or the individual photos therein.
These have now been fixed - it seems that creating the links through my Picassa web account does strange things... but if some links still don't seem to work, please let me know.

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Ballybrennan inscriptions - "The Raised Flat Stone" and the broken stone next to it

... the first stone so named because it was raised up about a foot by stone blocks at each corner. This was another stone that was absolutley covered in white and grey lichens. This photo gives an idea of what it looked like, but I couldn't get a photo that showed the writing in any detail. The Raised Stone also had the headstone for Ann Fitzhenry resting against it, although the position for this was probably originally next to that of Edward Fitzhenry.

The Broken Stone was just so broken that I needed the transcription from the Bree parish site to make any sense of it. The broken stone appears to be the original stone for this family, with the Raised Stone being the replacement. They both refer to the Fitzhenrys of Gobbinstown

Here's the relative postions of the stones and here are the transcriptions - the Broken Stone first.

Here lies the remains of NICHOLAS FITZHENRY
of Gobbinstown Esq.,
a man that was universally esteemed for his good life unbounded charity,
benevolence and......of the poor
who departed this life on the 27th day of July 1793 aged 61 years.

Also in memory of his son BRYAN FITZHENRY Esq. late of Gobbinstown
who departed this life on the 11th July 1832 aged 66 years.

His grandson MEYLER, son of the above BRYAN
departed this live on the 28th of November 1830 aged 23 years.

And also his daughter-in-law JOHANNA FITZHENRY wife of the said BRYAN
who departed this life on the 16th of December 1840 aged 63 years,.

Also BRYAN FITZHENRY Esq. of Gobbinstown
who departed this life on the 19th of June 1863 aged 62 years.

Also two of his children MEYLER and ELIZA who died young

"Stay reader, weep......mindful of thy condition and pray to God....a devout mind".

Lord have mercy on their Souls

Here is the transcription of the Raised Stone

Beneath the lamb lieth the remains of
NICHOLAS FITZHENRY Esq. late of Gobbinstown
who departed this life on the 27th of July 1793 aged 61 years.

Also his son BRYAN FITZHENRY Esq.
who departed this life on the 11th June 1832 aged 66 years

Also his grandson MEYLER and son to the above BRYAN
who departed this life on the 28th of November 1830 aged 23 years

Also his daughter in law JOHANNA FITZHENRY, wife to the said BRYAN
who departed this life on the 16th of December 1810 aged 63 years

Also BRIAN FITZHENRY Esq., Gobbinstown
died 18th of June 1862 aged 62 years.

Also two of his children MEYLER and ELIZA who died young.

Also his son BRYAN FITZHENRY
who departed this life on the 19th of October 1875 aged 51 years.

Req.’t in pace

The Raised Stone has an extra person - Bryan Fitzhenry who died in 1875 and this suggests that this is the newer stone and it was replicated somewhere between 1862 and 1875, probably at the Bryan's death in 1875.
There is also another of the confusions between one and four in Johanna's death, but looking at the dates when she would have borne her children, I put her death in 1840.
The infant children Meyler and Eliza are a mystery - are they the children of Nicholas, or those of Brian who died in 1862? My thoughts are that they the children of the latter and that the Bryan Fitzhenry who died in 1875 is also the son of Brian Fitzhenry.

And ... considering the strong hereditary naming pattern, I also speculate that Nicholas is another son of Bryan Fitzhenry (1693-1770), the father of William "Billy" Fitzhenry of Ballymackessy (1728-1811) and grandfather of Jeremiah Fitzhenry of Boro Hill.

If anyone has information that confirms or refutes this, please let us know.

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Ballybrennan inscriptions - Jeremiah Fitzhenry

The star gravestone of the collection, but the one that I couldn't read because of the lichen covering and the railings prevented me from getting a closer look! So I'm indebted to the transcription made by Bree parish and published on their website.
I think the lichen must have also been a problem when they transcribed the inscription as I have two corrections:
Jeremiah Fitzhenry died in 1845 rather than 1815 (that problem with the indistinct fours again!)
William Fitzhenry did die in December 1811, but he was 83 years old, rather than 3 years old.
Here's my amended version:

This monument has been erected by WILLIAM FITZHENRY
to the memory of his son LUKE FITZHENRY
as a lasting proof of the high esteem in which he held his filial piety and other values.
He was born 26th December 1772 and died 2nd July 1807
aged 35 years.

Here also lies the remains of BRIAN FITZHENRY
who died 1st May 1780 aged 18 years

Also the remains of WILLIAM FITZHENRY, Ballymackey
who died the 23rd of December 1811 aged 83 years.

Also the remains of JEREMIAH FITZHENRY of Borohill
who died the 23rd of February 1845 aged 73 years
and to whom memory this monument is particularly erected.

May they rest in peace
Amen

I've written more about the family history of these men in a previous posting, but if anyone has any more information, I would be very grateful to receive it.

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Ballybrennan inscriptions - Bryan Fitzhenry and Mary King

This stone lay on the ground adjacent to the Long Flat Stone and is of the same length. I expect it originally was also designed to mark a family grave, but the inscription only took up about the top third as it only commemorated two people. It was broken across the writing but this was easily readable and here's a photo.

Underneath lieth the body of
Mr Bryan Fitzhenry of Ballymack'y
who died August 16th 1770 aged 71 years

Also the body of Mrs Fitzhenry
alias Mary King who died Feby 27 1779
aged 87

May they rest in peace
Given these dates, Bryan was born in 1693 and Mary in 1692.
Ballymack'y is an abbreviation of Ballymackessy.

So why didn't they have the rest of the family buried with them? Bryan and Mary were the parents of William "Billy" Fitzhenry and grandparents of Jeremiah. These two men are buried (with others) under the stone surrounded by the iron railings. Perhaps the elevated status of the Fitzhenry family at this time led to them having a more up-market grave. Here's more about this family from a previous posting. The gravestone of Bryan and Mary lies at the head of the railings and their relative postions can be seen here.

Next post: The grave of Jeremiah Fitzhenry

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Ballybrennan inscriptions - "The Long Flat Stone"

.... so named as it was a long bit of stone lying flat on the ground. It takes up three photos on the webalbum.
They crammed a good few Fitzhenrys into this plot.

Here's the inscription and this one gave me a few problems - it looks very easy to read from the photos. Nice carving, words didn't break across the lines and relationships nicely explained - a researcher's dream.
BUT me and the Bree Parish website had a few differences especially over the use of the number 4
AND my last few burials were out of time sequence.
That's when it struck me - since the Bree parish transcriptions had been made, the lichen had done it's job and filled in most of the fainter diagonals on the number fours in the carvings. So where I had the last five deaths initially as in 1812, 1815, 1811,1815 and 1865, looking at the ages of death of these people (and readjusting the age of one from 18 to 48) gave the much more satisfactory transcription below. I stand by calling the third person MILER instead of MILES though - that's definitely there on the stone and you can see for yourself in the first of the "Long Flat Stone" pictures.

I don't know what the relationship between the first two people (Mary and Nicholas) are to each other or to the family described on the rest of the stone.

Here lies the Body of MARY FITZHENRY
who died May the 7 1778 aged 17 yrs
Here also lieth the remains of
NICHOLAS FITZHENRY of Rathiurun
who died August the 10th 1793 aged 71 years
here also lieth the remains of MILER
FITZHENRY of Rathiurun who died Feby
1 1816 aged 73 years also his wife MARY
FITZHENRY who died July the 9th 1829
aged 75 years Also his daughter
CATHERINE FITZHENRY alias DOWNES
who died Sept the 18th 1812 aged 28 years
Also his son MICHAEL FITZHENRY who died
June the 9th 1815 aged 33 years
Also his daughter ANNE FITZHENRY
who died July the 19th 1841 aged 48 years
Also his daughter ELLEN FITZHENRY
who died June the 22nd 1845 aged 52 years
Also his son NICHOLAS FITZHENRY
who died April the 9th 1865 aged 73 years

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Ballybrennan inscriptions - Edward and Ann Fitzhenry

I transcribed what I could read from the gravestones at Ballybrennan graveyard, knowing that I already had a version of the transcriptions from these stones on my database. The lovely local history group from Bree parish had already put them on their website and I had found them some time ago. They are an invaluable addition to what I could read (or not!) but there were some minor errors in their transcriptions which had an important bearing on some people's dates. And it was really exciting to know that these people were the kin of Jeremiah Fitzhenry and that I had made another link.

The stones of Edward Fitzhenry and Ann Fitzhenry were the oldest stones of the Fitzhenry group in Ballybrennan graveyard. They are very rough hewn, the carving is quite basic and the mason (it seems like the same mason for both stones) had decided that if you reach the edge of the stone when you are only half way through a word.... you just continue that word on the next line.

Here's what on the stones as the words are written (slightly different to how they appear on the Bree parish website)

IHS
HERE LYETH Y BODY
OF ANN FITZHE
NRY ALS ROCH
WHO DEPARED
THIS LIFE AUG Y
25 1753 AGED 43

There's two interpretations of this - she was either Ann Fitzhenry who married a chap called Roch, or she was Ann Roch who married a Fitzhenry. Either could be true - she could be the wife of Edward, hence the similar gravestones and buried in proximity, or she could be perhaps a relative of Edward who married a Roch but was brought home after death to be buried in her own family plot.
Either way she was born around 1710.
And Roch was probably spelt Roche.

IHS
HERE LYETH Y BODY
OF EDWARD FITZHE
NRY WHO DEPART
THIS LIFE JUNE Y 27
17** AGED **

Edward is a bit more straightforward for his family origins. He's a Fitzhenry.
But the year of his death was virtually illegible, as was his age which looked to me very much like 22.
I expect that the year is somewhere around 1750 (assuming that this is the same mason and allowing for the fact that these two deaths have happened within the mason's working life).
If he was aged 22 at death he could have been Ann's son, a very younger brother or her husband that she lost early in their marriage.

These two are "orphans" in my Wexford Fitzhenry family group (not linked to anyone at all), so if anyone has any information as to who I can link them to, this would be very gratefully received.

Tomorrow: The many Fitzhenrys of the "Long Flat Stone"

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Wexford Road Trip - finding Ballybrennan graveyard

To recap... I spent a couple of hours at Wexford County library where I was delighted to find two articles about the family of Jeremiah Fitzhenry of Boro Hill (written by members of the Wexford Historical Society) and a book about Templeludigan in which I found some Fitzhenry priests.
The main article about Jeremiah Fitzhenry said that he was "buried in Ballybrennan (Bree) graveyard. An iron railing surrounds his grave...around him lie his kinsmen, the Fitzhenrys of Ballymackessy, Rathurtin and Gobbinstown"

We found Bree on the map and away we went up the R730 from Wexford to Kiltealy. The road off this to Bree was a single track road leading to the small village. The church had a very neat and compact graveyard - and no Fitzhenrys. The new cemetery a few hundred yards down the road was too new to have the grave we were looking for. Andy rolled his eyes in disbelief as he could sense another fruitless search (he's put up with a few of them over the years....). Luckily the people in the village shop knew exactly where we were looking for and sent us off down another single track road... back onto the R730, only a bit further north from where we had turned off it in the first place.

So Ballybrennan graveyard perhaps once had a church - there's certainly a ruined something in the middle of it - but it stands in glorious isolation to one side of the the main road. It doesn't seem like it's had a recent interrment and the only way in seemed to be a set of stone steps leading up to a gap in the wall through the hedge. The graveyard was surrounded by open county and was gloriously full of rabbits - in fact rabbitty burrowings seemed to have been the cause of a lot of gravestone subsidence. Some of the earliest headstones were from the early 18th century and the carvings on them were quite primitive looking with depictions of the crucifixion, the tree of life and the sun.

As there's not space to put all of the photos here in the blog, you can find them here in my Picasa webalbum by clicking on the photo below:
Ballybrennan graveyard.
The light wasn't brilliant for showing the words on grey granite covered in lichen, but I hope they give you a feel of the stones.

The small collection of Fitzhenry graves does merit a picture here on the blog. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see that I've annotated the stones with who they belonged to. As described, Jeremiah's grave was one of the few in the graveyard with railings around it although the rest of his family had no such ornamentation.

Coming up the next couple of postings - the gravestone transcriptions.

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The result of the third DNA test in the Fitz(-)henry surname study

It's what you've all been waiting for.

Last year, my Dad was the first Fitz-Henry male (from family group 1)* to be tested in the Fitz(-)henry surname study.
You can't tell anything from a single test though.

So Ann persuaded her husband to take the test. Ann's husband is descended from the legendary Enoch Fitzhenry (Family group 2) who reputedly came to America from Armagh in Ireland sometime in the 1760s, but his past has always been shrouded in mystery.

The results were very disappointing - they were so unlike each other they could have been the results of two random blokes walking in off the street.

And then..... Drum roll... we were very pleased to be approached by a Fitzhenry family in Australia - in fact a branch of Wendy Rutter's family tree descended from Albert Fitzhenry, the fourth child of William Fitzhenry and Louisa Coward (Family group 20)
One of their chaps took the test and we were gobsmacked when it came back as a match on 36 out of 37 markers to Ann's husband. This is as good at it gets for a match when we know there hasn't been a common ancestor since at least the 1750's, and we were all very surprised and very delighted by it.

We know that family group 20 can reliably trace their ancestry back to John Fitzhenry and Elizabeth Atkin of Oulartwick, County Wexford. So it's likely that Enoch's family also originally hailed from that area and gives us another line of enquiry.

So we have family groups 2 and 20 linked genetically, and family group 1 is so far unmatched.
We also know that family groups 2 and 20 were historically Protestants, and family group 1 were Catholic.

So what's next? This is very exciting but until more Fitz(-)henry men join in the DNA study we just have an interesting trio of results. With more results on the database, I'm sure we can join up previously unlinked family groups and show whether there is a distinct Catholic / Protestant genetic grouping.

Anybody who is interested in finding out more about DNA testing for family history research, please drop us a line.

* The family group numbering system is in order that I put them together or they were sent to me. Over time some of the smaller groups have merged as we found a common ancestor. We have 53 family groups from all around the world on the database at present.

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A post-script to the Edgar Fitz-Henry story

Here's a photo which Wendy sent me.
The family group shows Wendy's great grandmother Louisa Fitzhenry (nee Coward) and five of her seven children in about 1900.
Standing from left to right:
Louisa Fitzhenry (Wendy's grandmother born 1878),
Edgar Fitzhenry (the youngest child born 1883)
Fanny Fitzhenry ( born 1869, married Frederick William Borrell)
Frederick Fitzhenry (born 1871, married Agnes Henderson)
Ada Fitzhenry.(born 1880)
Not present in the photo are Ernest Edward Fitzhenry, the eldest child born 1867 and Albert Fitzhenry born 1877

And a letter from Edgar Fitzhenry to his family which mentions the Fitz-Henry family which Rodrigo Palacios Fitz-Henry is descended from:

My dear Ada .....I have not written since writing to Fred, as I have been very occupied with the purchase of Senor Figueroa's shares and have had to borrow to make up the amount. Everything is practically settled and I am shipping gold and copper minerals, the first 50 tons goes out this month. This has been hand sorted from the waste piles or dumps thrown away by the ancient miners, the mineral assays 1oz gold per ton, 8ozs silver and 10% copper per ton.Two or three shipments will clear off all the debts and I will then be free to sell or reform the Company without consulting any one. When this is done and we have an honest engineer and manager to look after things Isabel and I have agreed to first visit her family in Peru and then go on to Panama and N.Z.........

I wonder if any of you can remember anything about the youngest of Dad's brothers, Michael, whether Dad ever mentioned where he had settled, because the FitzHenry Family in Valparaiso have a strong resemblance to us. Their father was named Michael and the eldest son who died a few months ago, was also called Michael after the Father. He was manager of the Bank of Chile and the rest of the family are well connected here professionally. When you write to Ern, Albert and Louie please ask them about the above and send them our best wishes for 1934.The year in which, I hope once again, will see us all united if possible.......

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Edgar Fitz-Henry - New Zealand to Chile (Part 2)

So continuing from the previous post, Wendy writes:

The following information is held in the Australian Archives, of which I have requested the contents of a further file
In February 1946 my grandmother Louisa (Edgar’s sister) wrote to the Australian Prime Minister seeking help in finding her brother in Chile.
Obviously the family here in Australia and New Zealand were worried that something had happened to him, probably because his letters had ceased.
It wasn't until 30th July the following year that she was told the following...

Dear Madam,
Furthur to my letter of the 24th September last, regarding your enquiries concerning the whereabouts of your brother, the following is a copy of a memorandum received from the Australian Legation in Chile, on the subject:
"Mr. Edgar Fitz-Henry died at the British and American Hospital, Valparaiso, on 22nd January, 1945, and was buried on the following day at No. 1 Cemetery,Valparaiso. Mr. Fitz-Henry's postal address was Casilla 48, San Francisco de Limache. His widow was recently, and probably still is, residing at a mining property - Minas de la Campana, Los Granizos, via Olmue, Chile.
We are informed that Mr. Fitz-Henry's estate consisted of mines, the chief of which has been proved to contain a large body of gold ore which, with suitable equipment, would be a very valuable property, but unfortunately, he died owing over 2,000,000 resos to his creditors (£A.20,000). The chief creditor is the "Caja Nacional de Ahorras" (National Savings Bank). It is understood that his widow endeavours to raise money by selling material, etc from the mines, but unless some entity is willing to put up the necessary capital to work the mines, their value will never be realised."

I don't know what transpired in the months following the above letter as the next letter from the Prime Minister is dated 2nd November 1948...

Dear Mrs Charles,
I am in receipt of your letter of the 26th October in which you ask whether it would be possible to secure information concerning the widow of Mr. E. Fitz-Henry of Chile. I will make enquiries into the matter and advise you later.

Then 28th January 1949.....

Dear Mrs. Charles,
Further to my letter to you of the 2nd November, the First Secretary at the Santiago Legation has advised me as follows:- "As far as is known to this Legation Mrs. Isabel Fitz-Henry still lives at Olmue, where she is undoubtedly living very cheaply, as she is almost certain to have a small farm attached to the mine property. I expect to be in the district in February when I will endeavour to obtain further information about Mrs. Fitz-Henry."

A few more letters are exchanged, one states that photographs of the mine were sent to Mrs Charles (grandma). But the following one from grandma was most interesting and I wonder if she was sincere in her thoughts for Edgar's widow or that the $ cost in persuing a claim on the estate changed her mind .....

May (5 or 6th) 1949.
Dear Sir,
I am very much obliged for your letter received yesterday with copy of a memorandum received from the Australian Legation in Chile regarding the estate of my late brother in Chile. I am also indebted to the Australian Charge d'Affairs for considering my interests in the matter.
In the limited time before the Legation closes, ie 16th May 1949, I am unable to consult the sole remaining member of our family besides myself, in New Zealand, re protecting our interests in the estate. However I feel that it would be robbing his widow were I to put a claim (though in his letters he always wanted us to share) and asked for the names of all his nephews and nieces so as to include them in his will). She has shared with him all the trials and tribulations, financial worry and frustrations through all the years. I may have a legal right but have I a moral one? I would like to hear what eventuates, but there seems to be no way now except by communicating with the lawyer - Mr. Juan Eduardo Barrie M.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
(Mrs) L. Fitz-Henry Charles.

So, that is the story thus far. Most importantly I now have Edgar's death date and where he is buried - a closure, to his life.


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The biggest news so far this year - the result of our third DNA test

We're buzzing here at Fitz(-)henry Towers - the result of our third Y-DNA test in the Fitz(-)henry surname study has come through.
While we're letting the amazing result sink in, you have 2 more installments of Edgar Fitz-Henry's exploits in Chile.
All will be revealed on Wednesday.


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Edgar Fitz-Henry - New Zealand to Chile (Part 1)

Wendy Rutter's Fitz-Henry family came to Australia from Oulartwick in Wexford Ireland. Some of them went further East and settled in New Zealand.
We have featured them before on the blog as Wendy has done a lot of research about them.
Now she has found out more about the enigmatic Edgar Fitzhenry who left his homeland and became a mining engineer in South America.

Previously Wendy hadn't found out what befell him there, or whether there was any relationship with the Fitz-Henry family of Rodrigo Palacios Fitz-Henry of Valpariaso, another of our correspondents. This new information (in 2 parts - concluding part tomorrow) starts to fill the gaps

Wendy writes:
One of the interesting points is in his name... He calls himself Edgar Egbert, yet his birth certificate states one name only.

New Zealand Archives
Edgar Egbert Fitz-Henry enlisted in England on 13th May 1918 (his birth certificate does not mention the second name of Egbert) joining the NZ Engineers No. 1 Field Coy and was discharged England 10th April 1919. He nominated his father William Fitz-Henry of 404 Gloucester Street, Christchurch, New Zealand as his next of kin.
Medical History – aged 33 years, 5ft 5in tall, 10st 1 lb weight, fair complexion, blue eyes, fair hair, physical development –good, 3 vaccination marks on left arm, scar from Butura Fever – Peru.
The papers mention Headquarters London, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, NZ Engineers and Christchurch. Hampshire England (not to be confused with his home of Christchurch New Zealand).
There is also another address mentioned - Minerals Separation Ltd, 62 London Wall EC.
He spent 333 days as a WW1 soldier and received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Edgar was a mining engineer living in La Pas, Bolivia, South America when he travelled to London and enlisted and after his discharge he wrote to the authorities seeking compensation for the cost of his travels in getting to London (it was declined).
He said he had graduated from the Butte School of Mines, Montana, USA. However, he of course did not mention that he was in a Kansas Penitentiary during the 1910 US Census.... His papers also mention that he had suffered with "Butura Fever" in Peru. Which is very interesting, as I have one of his letters to his family in NZ saying

I am feeling much better now, this Pacific Ocean breeze is taking all the yellow colour out of my face and purifying my blood so that in a few months I will be entirely well again.

From the UK Incoming Passenger Lists
Edgar Egbert Fitzhenry, miner, aged 36 left Coronel, Chile and arrived 11 Sep 1920 Liverpool, England on “Orcoma”
Ports of Voyage = Valparaiso, Iquique, Antofagasta, Arica, Callao, Crista Bal, La Pallice

We know that Edgar married a woman named Isabella in Chile when he returned there, but what happened to him next?
Part 2 is tomorrow.




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Wexford Bridge 1795

Edward Hay, the Irish Historian and member of the Royal Irish Academy wrote of the old Wexford Brdge:

The remarkable wooden-bridge built in 1795, over the mouth of the Slaney, leading northward from the town, is undoubtedly a very great curiosity, being fifteen hundred and fifty-nine feet long, with a portcullis, and thirty-one feet wide through its whole extent, with a toll-house at each extremity.
On each side are foot-ways, ornamented with chinese railings supported by strong bars. There are also two recesses, with seats for shelter against sudden showers for it is the beau walk of the town, and thus contributes much to the tolls collected to defray the expence of the building

.
From:
History of the insurrection of the County of Wexford, A. D. 1798:
including an account of transactions preceding that event, with an appendix
Edward Hay
Printed for the author, by J. Stockdale, 62 Abbey Street, Dublin. 1803

You can read the whole book on Google books.

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Jeremiah Fitzhenry and Boro Hill

Continuing from my last post, here is a precis of the other article from the Journal of the Wexford Historical Society. Entitled "The House that Jack, Bryan or Jeremiah Built" it looked at the history of Boro Hill, the main house of the estate that the Fitzhenry family held from the Carews. Tom McDonald has thoroughly researched the history of the house, and here are the edited highlights of an excellent article.

Jeremiah is described as the "wayward and notorious son" of William ("Billy") Fitzhenry, the tennant of all Ballymackessy and estate agent to the Carews from about 1750 to his death at 83 in 1811.

Until 1745 Ballymackessy was leased to Jack Hogan, who ran into debt and lost the tenancy. From 25th March 1746, the Carews leased Ballymackessy to Bryan Fitzhenry, father of Billy. Bryan was married to Mary King of the wealthy Macmine family. Tom McDonald speculates that he could be the same Bryan Fitzhenry living at Killegney who was given a lease of Clohass by his father John Fitzhenry in 1736.

On 3rd February 1756, Bryan Fitzhenry and Luke Hegarty (of Kilcoletrum, Co. Carlow) made arrangements for the upcoming nuptuals of their children Billy Fitzhenry and Kitty Hegarty (although the actual year of the marriage is not stated). Bryan demised Ballymackessy to Billy and in parallel, Myhill King of Macmine (Billy's uncle) demised to Billy one half of the town and townlands of Courtnacuddy. Kitty brought a dowry of £200 to repay Myhill King for the lands. The significance of this arrangement was that if Billy died, Kitty could not bring a second husband to the estate and that the lands would transfer to any issue of the marriage.

The first son of this marriage Bryan, died in childhood. As well as Jeremiah born in 1772, the Carew estate ledgers suggest there were two other sons Myles and Luke, and possibly a John.
Jeremiah was married sometime just before the Rebellion of 1798 to Mary Catherine Colclough sister of John Colclough of Ballyteigue castle, the executed leader of the United Irish. He leased lands from his father, possibly the equivalent of Boro Hill farm but these were demised back to his father when he went to France after the Rebellion.

Billy also had a daughter Mary, who married William Evans a widower of Ballymacwilliamroe County Carlow in 1812. Billy had made Mary "devisee and sole legatee" of his will, and in anticipation of the marriage he directed that the Fitzhenry coat of arms be amalgamated with the Evans coat of arms and that henceforth that William Evans should be known as William Evans-Fitzhenry.

Billy Fitzhenry died in December 1811, and as we saw from the other journal article about Jeremiah, it was April of that year when he deserted from Napoleon's army. The pressing need to sort out the family estates may have had something to do with his decision. It seems that Jeremiah and Mary were in bitter dispute about the lands and also the money that had come into the Fitzhenry estate from their mother's dowry. In 1816 when Mary and her husband had run up debts after prolonged litigation, they had to remorgage, amongst other estates, Ballmackessy. In 1818, Jeremiah bought out the mortgage and this is when his permanent residence of Boro Hill began up to his death in 1845.

THe full text of this article is due to be available on-line through the Wexford Library service. So far, they have reached volume 17 of the Journal and this is from volume 19. I will add a link when it arrives. It's well worth a read.


The House that Jack, Bryan or Jeremiah Built
Tom McDonald
Journal of the Wexford Historical Society
Number 19 2002-3

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Hot news!

The "Wexford Road Trip" series will be back next week.
The next few posts will be taken up by some new and exciting news that Wendy Rutter has sent us about her ancestor Edgar Fitzhenry's activities in South America.

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Jeremiah Fitzhenry- Irish rebel who fought for Napoleon

The first of the articles form the Journal of the Wexford Historical Society which I obtained from Wexford library was about Jeremiah Fitzhenry, one of the leaders of the 1798 rebellion. Here's a summary of his history. When the full text of this article is available on-line via the Wexford library (the digitisation process is happening at the moment) I'll add a link.
I'm indebted to William Sweetman, a member of the Wexford Historical Society who wrote this article as it gives us more information about the Wexford Fitzhenrys. As he said:"During the commemoration of the bicentenary of the 1798 rebellion, no mention was made of Jeremiah Fitzhenry: this article attempts to redress that omission"

Jeremiah Fitzhenry was born in about 1772, the son of William Fitzhenry and grandson of Bryan Fitzhenry of Ballymackessy. The Fitzhenrys were tennants of Lord Carew of Castleboro and Bryan held about 300 acres.
In 1790 the lands were divided and the part held by Jeremiah was named Borohill.
In his mid-twenties, he married Mary Colclough, sister of John Henry Colclough of Ballyteigue, who was executed by the English for his part in the 1798 rebellion.
In the spring of 1798, Jeremiah was made a freeman of Enniscorthy.

Jeremiah's part in the rebellion is unclear. Miles Byrne, (whose autobiography is now digitised on Google books) and who like Jeremiah, went to fight in the Irish Battalion of the French army, wrote

I met Jeremiah Fitzhenry in Paris in 1803. He had taken an active part in the County Wexford insurrection in 1798 being with Bagenal Harvey at the battle of New Ross on the 5th June. After the execution of his wife's brother... he came over to France with his wife and two little girls. He went to live at St. Germain-en -Laye... Fitzhenry's wife was brought to bed of another little girl at St. Germain and he, seeing hostilities were on the point of breaking out between England and France in 1803, hastened to send his wife and three childen back to Ireland.

Mrs Fitzhenry took a house at Ballyteigue and then moved to her in-laws at Ballymackessy in 1804.

By 1807 Jeremiah had joined the Irish battalion fighting for the French (under Napoleon) in Spain. Byrne describes him thus:

No man rode better than he did... He was a very handsome man, six feet high and about thirty six years of age

However Fitzhenry was passed over in promotion, and in April 1811 he deserted from the French army. He was received into the camp of the Duke of Wellington at Salamanca and returned to Ireland, not having seen his family for 8 years. He was granted a Royal pardon both for his participation in the 1798 rebellion and for fighting for the French army.
He returned to Ireland to spend the rest of his days at Borohill with his family. He died on 25 February 1845 and is buried in Ballybrennan graveyard.

The full text of the article is from:
Jeremiah Fitzhenry - a chief who knew how to command
William Sweetman
Journal of the Wexford Historical Society:17 (1998-99), 144-158. ISSN 0790-1828.


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Updating the Google map links from the last post.

Apologies to all those who got a "Error 440" message from the Google map links in the last post. Some glitch in the code didn't translate.
It's now sorted.

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Wexford Road Trip - the Wexford Library

I had phoned the Wexford library before I started my holiday, to make sure that they would be open and also that I would be allowed to use their facilities. As I have come to expect from librarians and archivists, they couldn't have been more helpful. I had expected the library to be a large modern building befitting the county town of Wexford, but in fact it was a (very) small and homely single storey building tucked away in the middle of Wexford city itself. Significant Other was dispatched off to amuse himself in Wexford for an hour and I settled down to find Fitzhenrys. One end of the reading room was taken up by a crowd of elderly ladies having either book club meeting or a parish council meeting (tea and biscuits provided). I found myself a small desk next to the microfilm readers and chatted with a late middle aged man from London who was trying to find the family of his illegitimate grandfather who had been adopted out as a baby.

I had gone to get copies of two articles about Jeremiah Fitzhenry, one of the leaders of the Irish uprising of 1798, published in the Journal of the Wexford Historical Society. By chance, in the local studies section, I also found a book* written and published by the people of Templeudigan or Templeludigan about their village. Here's where it is on the map.

One of the chapters about the priests of Templeudigan had two Fitzhenry mentions

Rev. James Fitzhenry was a native of Monamolin. Born in 1846 he was son of Michael Fitzhenry and his wife Mary (nee Meyler, Adamstown). Ordained to the priesthood, he ministered to the Cape Colony South Africa and died in Grahamstown on 30 April 1919. In August 1888 he donated the 14th station of the Cross to the new Catholic church at Templeudigan in memory of his parents.

Rev. Walter Fitzhenry was a nephew of the above Fr. James Fitzhenry. He was born on 22 December 1904 in South Africa, the son of Edward Fitzhenry and his South African born wife Mary J Coughlan. The family returned home to Monamolin. He was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1928 and was a member of the Order of St Augustine. He died at St john's Priory Dublin on 5 February 1961.

I hope I can get permission from the book's authors to put the pictures of these two priests on this website as Father James is just the spitting image of my Dad as a young man - there must be some shared genes in there!

*Templeudigan - Yesterday and Today
Templeudigan Historical Society
ed. Seamus S. de Val
Dec 2001


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Wexford Road Trip - The Bridge

After the disappointment of finding a modern Wexford Bridge on our first night in the city, I started my quest for the old one at the tourist information office the next morning. When I asked about the old bridge, the woman behind the counter seemed pleasantly bemused, but directed me about half a mile upriver "next to the yacht club" but warned me that all that was left of it now were the ends each side of the river.
We took a stroll along the quay next to the fishing boats now pulled up for the day, and passed the shops, the Bullring Square with its statue of the Pikeman to commemorate the 1798 rebellion, we passed the railway station... and seemed to be heading out of town.
There was no sign to the old bridge, but a right turn off the main road took us to the yacht club ... and there we were. The south-eastern end of the bridge was an extension of the yacht club car park. No plaque or memorial. I took a few pictures and wondered why the bridge, the site of so many executions on both sides, seemed to have been forgotten... and why it was so far out of the town centre.



The question was answered when I later took a proper look at the new bridge and its commemorative plaques.

The 1790s bridge which I had been looking for stood on the same site as the modern bridge. The ruined bridge I had found earlier was an 1850s replacement - it had played no part in the rebellion hence no-one had marked its demolition.
The other plaque marked the most notable persons to have been executed on the bridge. Amongst the names on the Loyalist side was Samuel Atkin from Wendy Rutter's Fitzhenry-Atkin family of Oulartwick. Amongst the names of the United Irishmen was Dr John Colclough, the brother in law of Jeremiah Fitzhenry, one of the leaders of the Rebel forces.

Here are the transcriptions of both plaques:

WEXFORD BRIDGE
1795 Timber bridge constructed on this site by Lemuel Cox of Boston
1827 Bridge repaired and strengthened after storm damage
1856 Replaced by a new bridge constructed 3/4 mile upstream by Pierce Brothers
1959 Prestressed concrete bridge constructed by Ascon Limited
1997 Replaced in 10 weeks with steel structure
Main contractor Ascon Limited
Consulting Engineers: John B Barry & Partners Limited













During and after the insurrection of 1798
Wexford Bridge was the site of many executions

Some ninety Loyalist prisoners
were put to death, among whom were
Edward Turner, Magistrate; David Dalton,
Thomas Ganford, Samuel Atkin,
Francis Plumer, William Baubier,
Benjamin Sunderland, George Sparrow,
John Smyth and Kenneth Mathewson.

Amonst the sixty-five United Irishmen
executed were the leaders Beauchamp
Bagnal Harvey, Dr John Colclough,
John Kelly, Cornelius Grogan, Patrick
Prendergast, Fr. Philip Roche, John
Herron, Edward Frayne, Esmond Ryan
and Matthew Keugh
AH DHEIS LAMH DE GO RAIBH SIAD

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The Wexford Road Trip - Wexford City

When me and my better half Andy went to Ireland last month, he thought he was getting a relaxing few days of sight-seeing, good food and whale-watching. I also managed to sneak in a few bits of Fitzhenry family history research which makes up the "Wexford Road Trip" series.

After arriving by ferry from Wales we spent the first night in Wexford City itself. Here's its page on Wikipedia. The old part of the town is very compact and on the south east side of the estuary of the River Slaney. There are a lot of the old buildings (and by old we're talking mediaeval and some old Norse battlements too) all mixed up with the new.
Wexford was the centre of the 1798 Irish uprising against English rule which I touched on briefly in a previous post. I hoped to see some monuments which may have given me some more information about Fitzhenry involvement in the uprising. I knew from previous research that there had been executions on the Wexford bridge of both the Loyalists taken prisoner by the Irish rebels, and the rebels themselves once the English recaptured the town.
So imagine my disappointment that first evening when we walked down the road next to the river and there was a very modern steel and concrete structure going over the river.
Looking at it I confidently said to Andy "They could never have built a bridge with that span back in the 1700s. There must be an older Wexford bridge further up the river at a narrower point. There will be some monument there to the uprising."
Tomorrow's installment is about how we found the bridge. In the meantime, here's a photo of the Wexford skyline taken from the modern bridge on our first night.

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Anastasia Welch - the "She was Irish" theory

Bear with me on this one, as I have nothing but a big heap of circumstantial evidence about this theory, but I think it is more likely that she was Irish than English.

The only census that Anastasia featured on was the 1841 census. The options for stating your place of birth on this census were tick boxes for "in this County", "not in this County", and a "born abroad" box in which the enumerator entered S for Scotland, I for Ireland and F for "Foreign Parts".
In this census, Anastasia and her husband Michael Fitzhenry are living in Silver Street, Bloomsbury, London with their four children. They are entered as being born "not in this County" (which for that part of London was Middlesex) rather than Ireland.
By the 1851 census, Anastasia had already died and Michael is living with his son John. Here Michael is registered as being born in Ireland. So as Michael had his place of birth wrongly entered in the 1841 census, this may have happened to Anastasia too.

The second piece of evidence is the Catholic link.
Looking at the date for Michael and Anastasia's wedding (Nov 1825) and the birth of first son Patrick (April 1826 - from his baptism record), they "had" to get married.
In the early 1800s, the only religions allowed to sanction their own marriages apart from the Anglicans were Quakers or Jews. Catholic marriages were not legally recognised and it was not until the mid 19th century that Catholics were allowed to build their own churches. Hence Michael and Anastasia were married in the Anglican church of St Marys Lambeth, but all of their children were baptised in the Catholic chapel of St Mary Westminster.

Here's a note I had against the baptism of their second son Michael
From the Catholic Family History Society Library, Lancing Street London
Westminster St Mary's Baptisms
Vol 78 1809-1838
Page 83
Three seemingly related baptisms on 23 March 1828

David Sullivan to David and Ann (nee Welch)
Sponsors Michael and Anastasia Fitzhenry
Born 25 January 1828

Michael Fitzhenry to Michael and Anastasia (nee Welch)
Sponsors David and Ann Sullivan
Born 17 February 1828

Patric Regan to Michael and Ellen (nee Sullivan)
Sponsors John Sullivan and Catherine Welch
Born 17 March 1828

I think that Ann Sullivan (nee Welch) is Anastasia's sister - and she's Irish.

The Sullivans are still in Lambeth in the 1841 census - David senior is a plasterer. David junior has the right birth year. Here's the census entry
SULLIVAN, David M 35 1806 Ireland
SULLIVAN, Anne F 35 1806 Ireland
SULLIVAN, Joseph M 15 1826 Surrey
SULLIVAN, David M 13 1828 Surrey
SULLIVAN, Ann F 10 1831 Surrey
SULLIVAN, John M 6 1835 Surrey
SULLIVAN, Dominick M 4 1837 Surrey
SULLIVAN, Catherine F 2 1839 Surrey
Princes Road, St Mary Lambeth, Surrey

Unfortunately I haven't found the Sullivans in either the 1851 or the 1861 censi yet, but when they do turn up they may give us a clue to whereabouts in Ireland the Welches (and maybe Michael Fitzhenry) hailed from.

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The right Anastasia Welch!

It's twenty to two in the morning here in England, and I've been like a kid in a sweet shop all evening.
Why?
Because the London parish registers are scanned and up on Ancestry.
Hurrah!!
So for you delight and delectation, having been thwarted once in finding the wrong Anastasia Welch, I can now present the right one.
Or more prescisely her marriage to Michael Fitzhenry
So here goes (drum roll)

Marriages solomnised in the Parish of St Mary's Lambeth in the County of Surrey in the year 1825
Michael Fitz Henry of this parish bachelor
and
Anastasia Welch of this parish spinster
were married in thIs Church by Banns
on the 1st day of November in the One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty Five.
By me, Charlton Lane, curate

This marriage was Solemnised between us
Michael FitzHenry
X the mark of Anastasia Welch

In the presence of James Longman Gawler and (this one I can't read but it looks like the surname is Seager)
Here's a scan of the signatures - let me know what you think.

I suppose I'd better go to bed now






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