A South African Fitzhenry writes....

Alan Fitzhenry has written to the Blog from South Africa. He is currently residing in Cape Town but his family are originally from Indwe in the Eastern Cape. He would be interested in corresponding with any other Fitzhenrys, and his email address is:
alan@cpt-natela.co.za

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Some photos from Mike Volante

Mike Volante has sent me some great photos of the Fitz-Henry branch that we are both descended from. I'll put two of them up here for a bit and see if anybody recognises them. If they're gone, I've moved them to the FitzhenryDNA website as we've got more space there! Click on the pictures for a larger version.

The first is of my great-great grandmother Caroline Thompson (1847-1924) who married my great-great grandfather John Fitz-Henry (1844 - 1924) and her eldest daughter Caroline "Carrie" Gilburns nee Fitz-Henry.
Carrie was the second child of this family (born 1872), the first being my great grandfather Thomas (born 1870) and a subject of a previous post. My dad tells me that apparently they were inseparable. Despite being from a poor dock-working family, their father paid for Thomas and Carrie to have an education at a "Dame School", where a single teacher would teach children the basics for a weekly fee. It is said that once the children had given their money to the dame on a Monday, they would bunk off school for the rest of the week.

Carrie married Thomas Gilburns, an Irishman who was also living in the Katharine Buildings tenement, in 1898. They had one daughter Teresa Caroline Gilburns born in 1900, the same year that Thomas Gilburns died of tuberculosis aged 29.
This was the second time in a year that tuberculosis had struck this family, as one of Carrie's younger brothers, Edward, died at the Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest on the Isle of Wight in October 1899. The older Caroline may be dressed in black mourning clothes for that reason.


Mike's grand-father was Henry Fitz-Henry, Thomas and Carrie's younger brother (born 1882) and his picture is at the top left of the second photo. Mike says that when Henry was a young man he fell, breaking his nose and cutting his lip. He didn't like his photo taken after that and they have very few pictures of him. If anyone recognises this very smart gathering and any other people in it, please let us know. There is a woman amongst all the men - you can just make out her face in the bottom left hand corner.




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William Fitzhenry and Louisa Coward - New Zealand

Wendy Rutter sent me a gentle reminder that the William and Louisa that I had found populating New Zealand with Fitzhenrys in the New Zealand BMD site were in fact her great-grandparents.

They are featured as Family group 20 on the FitzhenryDNA site. Here is some information that Wendy sent me about William and Louisa. If you recognised any of these people and want some more information, send us an email and we'll pass it on to Wendy.

William FITZHENRY was born around 1839 in Oulartwick, Wexford Ireland to John FITZHENRY and Eliza ATKIN. Oulartwick is a few miles east of the town of Enniscorthy.
He arrived in Victoria Australia in Nov 1862 aboard the “Shalimar” and started working as a miner in the gold fields with his elder brother Hercules Atkin FITZHENRY who had emigrated to Australia a few years earlier.

After the death of Hercules, he married Louisa COWARD on 5 September 1865 in St. James' Church, LaTrobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of Jonathon COWARD and Sarah COWLEY. Louisa was born around 1843 in Mere, Wiltshire, England.

A "W. FITZHENRY aged 26, single, born Ireland", left Melbourne on 13 Jun 1866 on the “South Australian" and went to the gold fields of Hokitika, on the West coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Was this our man?
Louisa joined William in New Zealand and they settled at 55 Gloucester Street, Linwood, Christchurch. They later lived at 54 Gloucester Street. Their children went to Christchurch East School on the corner of Barbados and Gloucester Streets, and were all christened as Protestants.

William and Louisa had 7 children:

Ernest Edward FITZHENRY (13 October 1867 - 30 January 1935) married Alice PHILLIPS in Dargaville, North Island, New Zealand in 1901. Alice died in 1957 in Dargaville.
They had 4 children

1. Norman Leonard 1909 – 6.2.1930 Picnic Island (accident)
2. Beryl 1915 – 1973 aged 58 Dargaville (never married)
3. Gordon Oriel 1906-1988 Whangara married Eileen May Nash (c1910 – 1990) in 1933
4. Kenneth Ernest 1912 married Linda Pearl McCrackenc 1912 – 1992

Fanny Maud FITZHENRY (18 February 1869 - 5 May 1948) married Frederick William BORRELL in 1901
They had 4 children:

1. Jack Fitzhenry married Merle Paynter
2. Dorothy Fitzhenry 1904 – 1986 married 1961 Jim Anderson
3. Frank Fitzhenry 1906 – 1970 Cook Islands
4. Kathleen Louise (known as Louise or LuLu) married 1929 David Blair

Frederick FITZHENRY (12 May 1871 - 8 April 1947, Christchurch) married Agnes HENDERSON (d. 23 May 1961, Christchurch) in 1908.
They had 4 children

1. Eileen May (born c1911) married 1936 to Vivian Whitta WILSON
2. Phyllis Clare c1912
3. Keith Oscar (1913 – 26 November 1969, Christchurch)
4. Runa Frances (born 1918 ) married 1940 to John Thornton BETHELL

Albert FITZHENRY born 11 February 1877 moved to Australia

Louisa FITZHENRY born 25 December 1878 moved to Australia

Ada FITZHENRY born 29 April 1880, never married, died 1965 age 84 Christchurch

Edgar FITZHENRY born 6.9.1883 moved to South America

Louisa died on 28 July 1906 at 54 Gloucester Street, Linwood, Christchurch, New Zealand and was buried on 3 Aug 1906 at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch.
William was a storeman from 1893 through to 1925 when he was listed as Retired Storeman. He died at his residence of 404 Gloucester Street, Christchurch on 2 October 1929 age 90. He was buried at Linwood Cemetery.


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Saint Patrick and the Marauder Among Us

Many people in the United States celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with 24 hours of green beer, corned beef cabbage and proclamations of “Kiss me. I’m Irish.” Everyone wants to claim a little Irish heritage on March 17; especially if it yields a discount at the local pub. But before you order your favorite brew, did you know that your ancestors may have played a role in the origins of Saint Patrick’s Day?

As one of Christianity’s most well-known figures, Patrick didn’t begin his journey as a saint, but as a slave. At the age of sixteen Patrick was taken prisoner from his parent’s estate in Britain by a famous Irish raider, Niall Noígíallach. Readers of this blog may recognize Niall from a previous post. DNA results indicate that at least one branch of the FitzHenrys descend from Niall. Thus, fellow clansman, it’s your marauding ancestor that set Saint Patrick’s Day into motion.

While Patrick was enslaved in Ireland, he turned to God for comfort and strength. His tremendous faith helped him endure six long years of captivity. After hearing God’s voice in a dream, Patrick fled his captors and escaped to Britain. After uniting with his family, he experienced another vision in which the Irish people begged him to serve their island as a missionary.

Patrick eventually returned to Ireland as an ordained Bishop and began preaching the Gospel. He knew, however, he would need the King’s support to bring the Word to the masses. To this end, Patrick sought out Laoghaire, the High King of Tara and son of Niall Noígíallach. Patrick convinced King Laoghaire that he didn’t challenge his authority, but wanted to spread Christianity throughout Ireland. The king consented and Patrick preached across the country for forty years driving out the “snakes” of Paganism. After a very hard and impoverished life Patrick died on March 17, 461, the day we hail as Saint Patrick’s Day.

This year when you toast the Patron Saint of Ireland, tell the barkeep that without you Saint Patrick’s Day wouldn’t be possible.

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BMD online from New Zealand

The GOONS message board has alerted us to the existence the New Zealand BMD website.
Hurrah!
A search for "Fitzhenry" and "Fitz-Henry" shows that there aren't many of us there.
And if there are any Kiwi Fitzhenrys out there who recognise any of these names and want to tell us their story or would just like to say hello, drop us an email!

I apologise for the layout which isn't particularly special, and when I find out how to put tables into Blogger without the right hand side being cut off, I'll re-do it.

We've got a grand total of:

Fourteen births:
(Year and registration number, Surname, Given names, Mother's name, Father's name)

1894/6155	Fitz-Henry	Dorothea Tighe	Isabella	George William
1889/14090	Fitz-Henry	Barbara Eleanor	Isabella	William George
1880/6420	Fitz-Henry	Ada	Louisa	William
1883/18449	Fitz Henry	Edgar	Louisa	William
1872/4148	Fitz Henry	Mary Ellen

1983/84456	Fitzhenry	James Joseph Kilmartin	Bridget	-
1906/13014	FitzHenry	Gordon Oriel	Alice	Ernest Edward
1887/14575	Fitzhenry	William Cooper	Isabella	William George
1879/2432	Fitzhenry	Louisa	Louisa	William
1877/9693	Fitzhenry	Albert	Louisa	William
1867/3317	Fitzhenry	Ernest Edward
1870/1806	Fitzhenry	William Thomas
1871/3710	Fitzhenry	Frederick
1869/236	Fitzhenry	Fanny Maud	Louisa	William

The birth of William Cooper Fitzhenry (properly spelt Fitz-Henry) in 1887 to William George and Isabella finally fills in that last child that I was pondering over in the 1911 census. It was this William Cooper Fitz-Henry who was the Chief Engineer and Surveyor of Roads in Rhodesia and featured in the "Out of Africa" series of posts last year.

I'd like to find out who Louisa and William were, with their gallant attempt to populate New Zealand with Fitzhenrys, and wonder if the four children with no attributed parents were also offspring of this couple.

23 deaths
Year and reg no., Surname, Given names, date of birth or age at death.

1935/13192	Fitzhenry	Edward Ernest	68Y
1973/28787	Fitzhenry	Nita Beryl	25 March 1915
1965/27994	Fitzhenry	Ada	84Y
1984/29819	Fitzhenry	Norma Ray	2 May 1921
1988/42090	Fitzhenry	Gordon Oriel	20 July 1906
1990/46541	Fitzhenry	Eileen Mary	11 August 1910
1993/33106	Fitzhenry	Linda Pearl	2 December 1912
1994/42720	Fitzhenry	Kenneth Ernest	16 February 1912
1904/7106	Fitzhenry	Frances	80Y
1894/3217	Fitzhenry	Edward	54Y
1880/3923	Fitzhenry	Harvey Michael Cyril	21Y
2004/24251	Fitzhenry	Colin William	3 October 1928
2005/26551	Fitzhenry	Margaret Janet	31 January 1917
1930/690	Fitzhenry	Norman Leonard	20Y
1934/19798	Fitzhenry	Theresa Jane	52Y

1947/22106	Fitz-Henry	Frederick	75Y
1949/27128	Fitz-Henry	Mary	6H
1961/25743	Fitz-Henry	Agnes	76Y
1965/40479	Fitz-Henry	Violet Lilian	53Y
1969/37665	Fitz-Henry	Keith Oscar	56Y
1929/11334	Fitz Henry	William	90Y
1890/5421	Fitz Henry	Mary Ellen	18Y
1881/4651	Fitz-Henry	Jeremiah Edward	10Y

and 8 marriages

Registration Number	Bride's GivenName(s)	Bride's Family Name	Groom's GivenName(s)	Groom's Family Name
1878/2242	Mary Ann	Fitzhenry	John	Patterson
1868/1124	Edward	Fitzhenry
1868/1227	Catherine	Fitzhenry
1868/1228	Jane	Fitzhenry

1901/4726

Fanny Maud

Fitz-Henry

Frederick William

Borrell

1908/3965	Agnes	Henderson	Frederick	Fitzhenry
1902/1139	Alice	Phillips	Ernest Edward	Fitzhenry
1904/4217	Theresa Jane	Wilson	Gerald Martin	Fitzhenry

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A Valentine post

Ann said that we should do a romantic St. Valentine's day post.

I had a look round on t'internet - googling "Fitzhenry love" isn't as pervy as you would think.

I found this synopsis of a romantic novel written in 1794: "Lord Fitzhenry, a novel in 3 volumes" by Miss Elizabeth Gunning. The synopsis has been written by Morgan Smith of the University of Nebraska.

Here's a flavour of a Georgian romance....

Lord Fitzhenry is the story of a young English aristocrat. The son of the Earl and Countess of Uxington, Fitzhenry is still working on his extended education when the novel begins. He had decided to study on the continent, but first his family is going to take a holiday in Wales. This pleases Fitzhenry a great deal because his best friend Frederic Wardour is from an estate very near his parents' Welsh lodging.
Surprisingly, though, Wardour declines to accompany them. Apparently, the young Wardour has been promised to a local young woman. Wardour is extremely distressed about this because he thinks of her more as a sister. Fitzhenry's curiosity is piqued by the situation and asks to receive a letter of introduction for Wardour's parents with the ulterior motive of seeing the intended, Miss Melmoth.

This, of course, turns out poorly for Fitzhenry. Within moments of meeting Miss Melmoth, he is overcome by her beauty and charm......

For our regular readers, there is no such title as the Earl of Uxington.

Nor is there an Earl of Arlingford, the title held by the father of Lord Ernest Fitzhenry as featured in the novel "A Marriage in High Life" by Lady Charlotte Bury, published in Paris in 1836 for the European market.
You can read the whole novel on Google books and here's the opening lines.

Towards the end of a London spring, that is to say, about the middle of August, was married by special license, at her father's house in Harley Street, Emmeline Benson to Ernest, Lord Fitzhenry, only son of the Earl of Arlingford.

The ceremony was like most others of its kind; the drawingroom was crowded with relations and friends on both sides, dressed in congratulatory smiles, and new bridal finery.

Back in the real world, I had a great-great aunt Elizabeth Maria Fitz-Henry who was known as Valentine. Her daughter was Valentine Dongray. This post is also for them, the only real life Valentines that I have in the world-wide Fitz(-)henry database.

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The American Civil War, cotton and the Manchester Famine

This is one of the "Other Random Stuff" posts.

Ann has related the stories of her Fitzhenry forebears being in the midst of the fighting in the American Civil War, but just as in current day global markets the effects of the war were not confined to the US.

Last week I came upon a Victorian book of instructional short stories. The first was about the Cotton Famine. Thinking that this was about the Southern States during the Civil War, I was amazed to read that it was about Manchester England.

In 1862, the lack of raw cotton from America caused the prosperous industrial city of Manchester to be brought to its financial knees. The cotton spinning mills shut and there was mass unemployment. Without social support many families were destitute and starving.

A very good and moving account of the Manchester Cotton Famine can be found here on Wikipedia. Despite their dire circumstances, the Manchester cotton workers sent a message of support to President Lincoln in his bid to abolish the slavery that had kept the cotton fields productive and the Manchester mills working.

The were no Fitzhenrys in Manchester at the time of the 1861 census, but there were a few Fitzhenry families of recent Irish descent in Liverpool, maybe prompted to leave their homeland by the potato famine a couple of decades before. Liverpool and Manchester were financially, geographically and industrially intertwined so it is likely that the Manchester cotton famine had widespread effects throughout the North-East of England.


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1911 English census - Thomas Cooper Fitzhenry and the Rash of Redvers

One of the people that I had tentatively penciled in as potentially being a child of the George William Fitz-Henry and Isabella Cooper marriage (but obviously wasn't) was Thomas Cooper Fitzhenry, who in 1911 was living at 11 Cromwell Road, Colchester, Essex.

Here's the details:
Thomas Cooper Fitzhenry head, married aged 49, a hairdresser in the army, born in Birmingham.
Jane Hannah Fitzhenry wife, married aged 46, born in Tollerton, Yorkshire.
They had been married for 17 years and had 4 children all living.

All the children were living with them:
Thomas Henry Cooper Fitzhenry aged 16 an errand boy at Wright Bros., born in Dublin Ireland
Wilhelmina Jean Fitzhenry aged 14, a scholar, born Farnborough Hampshire
Jack Fitzhenry aged 12, a scholar, born Tollerton Yorkshire
Redvers Baden Fitzhenry aged 10, a scholar born Farnborough Hampshire.

The variety of birthplaces of the children reflect the Army lifestyle, but what I found really interesting is that naming of the youngest son was an example of a collective act of national hero worship in England in 1900.

At this time two Army officers were famed for their exploits in the Boer War.
Sir Redvers Henry Buller was the commander in charge of the British forces at the Relief of Ladysmith, and Robert Baden Powell was famed for his part in the relief of the Seige of Mafeking and later went on to found the Scouting movement.

A look at the comparative numbers of these forenames in the birth indexes for England and Wales at this time shows the impact that these two men had on the national consciousness.

From the start of records in 1837 and up to the end of 1898, there were just 9 children (I assume they were all boys) named Redvers and 11 with the name Baden (one of these may have been a girl as the other given name was Mabel).

As the fame of the two men started to grow, in 1899 there were 57 baby Redvers and 10 baby Badens, of which 5 were Baden Powells.

In 1900, things really took off with 1183 babies named Redvers and 1169 named Baden (including 396 named Baden Powell). There were also 84 Redvers Baden including our very own Redvers Baden Fitzhenry patriotically named by his soldier dad in the GRO birth indexes Q3 1900.

Redvers Fitzhenry married a Lilian JV Ling in Islington in the fourth quarter of 1925. They had a daughter June born in 1928 in London, and according to the Library and Archives of Canada, emigrated to Canada in 1929. If anyone knows what happened to them after this, please drop us a line.

My thanks to the wonderful FreeBMD search engine without which I would never have found out about the Rash of Redvers.


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Blog update

Bits of new nerdy stuff on the Blog.

I've installed a counter so you can see how many other like-minded Fitz(-)henry buffs there are subscribed to the Blog. It's 18 at the last count.

Have you spotted the search box at the top left of the screen?
If you are looking for a name or place, put it in the box, hit the "search blog" key and the Blog's own internal search engine will put up all the postings where that word or phrase is mentioned.
If you are looking for a particular Fitz(-)henry, you can just put in the christian name.

And I've changed the navigation bar at the top of the page to silver just for a change.

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My East End family in the 1911 census.

It's been a while since I've written anything about my particular family group in London England. The newly released 1911 census has given me more previously unpublished information about them.

My great great grandparents John and Caroline Fitz-Henry (nee Thompson) are still living at Katharine Buildings, the tenements near the St Katharine's docks on the Thames next to the Tower of London. Here's where the tenement used to be before it was demolished in the 1960s.

John and Caroline have been married 42 years and have had 9 children, 7 of whom are still living. I've only collected 8 of the set so far and I'm missing one of the ones who have died before 1911.
John is 63 years old and now described as a shopkeeper, having been a carman (driver of a horse and cart) and a coalwhipper (coal deliverer) in previous documents. He was born in Stepney, London. My father talks about a shop in the Katharine Buildings, that John and Caroline's daughter Elizabeth took over with her husband William Dongray.
Caroline is 60 years old and was also born in Stepney.
Their address is 27 Katharine Buildings, Tower Hill, E6.

And here we have William Joseph and Elizabeth Maria Dongray living in a single room at 80 Katharine Buildings with their 2 daughters:
Valentine Amelia aged 4
Ellen Teresa Annie aged 15 months
At this time William is a horsekeeper.

John and Caroline's eldest son Thomas and his wife Rebecca (nee Lamb), my great grandparents and the subjects of my very first post on this blog are living in rooms 200, 201 and 202 of Katharine Buildings, although they give the road as Royal Mint Street. The blog link shows a photo of the pair of them taken at the tenement.
They are both aged 43, have been married 23 years and had 6 children 4 of whom are still living in 1911. (Rebecca may think her child-bearing days are over but in 1913, my great-uncle Jim is born!)
Both were born on Shadwell, London and Thomas was a carter.
Living with them in these three rooms were their children:
Thomas James aged 21 a yeast packer
Mary Ann aged 17 a lace maker
John Lawrence aged 15 a plumber
Henry Edward aged 10 (my grandfather)
and also Edward John aged 11, a nephew.
This nephew Edward ("Teddy") Fitz-Henry was the son of Thomas' brother John. John's first wife Julia Dibben had died shortly after Teddy's birth, and Thomas and Rebecca had adopted him into their family.

The remarried John Fitz-Henry (father of Teddy) is lving with his second wife Isabel (nee Day) in Forest Gate (further out in the leafy suburbs of East London) with a daughter Eileen aged 9. John is an accountant and has a six roomed house.

John and Caroline's eldest daughter, the widowed 36 year old Caroline Gilburns (sewing machinist) is living in a single room with her 11 year old daughter Theresa in Royal Mint Square.

Living just round the corner in Royal Albert Buildings (another tenement) are John and Caroline's youngest daughters:
Annie Fitz-Henry aged 25 a military tailoress
Amelia Fitz-Henry aged 23 a clerk in a stockbroker's business
The census was on the night of 2nd April, and on the 13th April Amelia married Sylvian Romaine.

The only one of John and Caroline's children that I've not been able to find as yet is Henry born 1882. The search goes on.

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1911 census - Dr George William Fitz-Henry and Isabella

One of the BIG mistakes in any form of research is to let your imagination run away with you. This entry from the 1911 census has neatly brought me back down to earth and reminded me that I shouldn't take anything at face value unless I've seen the documentary evidence to back it up.

In the "Out of Africa" series of postings, we met William Cooper Fitz-Henry and his indefatigable wife Lassie and in passing, a Jack Cooper Fitz-Henry who ran the fire service in Hong Kong. I assumed they were the sons of Dr. George William Fitz-Henry and his wife Isabella nee Cooper. (George William, also known as William George, was the eldest surviving son of Captain William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead by his first wife Barbara Morrison).

The 1911 census was the first England and Wales census which asked how many children living and dead had been born to that marriage.
George and Isabella stated that they had been married 23 years and had had 4 children, all of which were still living.
Also living at the household were three daughters! This means that at least one of the sons that I had ascribed to them was not theirs!

So for the record here is their census return. Although it's made me eat humble pie, it has also confirmed some other assumptions that I had made.

7 East Dulwich Road, South East London.
George William Fitz-Henry head aged 49, married, born Winchester Hampshire, General Medical Practitioner
Isabella Fitz-Henry wife aged 50, married (place of birth not stated) she has been 23 years in this marriage and has had 4 children, all of whom are still alive.
Barbara Eleanor Fitz-Henry aged 21, single, born Lyttelton New Zealand (British Subject)
Dorothea Tighe Fitz-Henry aged 16, born Amberly New Zealand (British Subject)
Margery Bell Fitz-Henry aged 5, single born East Dulwich London.

The births of Barbara and Dorothea in New Zealand confirm that this was the same doctor Fitz-Henry who was appointed public vaccinator and local doctor in Lyttelton in 1887. From the Christchurch Star of Monday 25 July 1887:

Birth - FITZ-HENRY - July 23 at Lyttelton, to wife of William Fitz-Henry, a son, premature.

As Isabella denied that any of her children had died, then I assume that the final missing (and eldest) child from this census is a son - but who was he?

Dorothea had the middle name Tighe. The only other incidence of this name that I have found in this family is her step-uncle Woodfield Duncombe Tighe Fitz-Henry, the patriach of the Canadian branch of this Fitz-Henry family and the son of Captain William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead by his second wife Martha Eagles.


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The Fitz-Henry / Darwin connection?

Here in the UK, there's been a fair bit of celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin. And for a brief time I thought that we at the Blog could share in the party.

Back in December I did a piece about Captain William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead Surrey. His address was given in the 1885 Kelly's directory as Oakfield Lodge, Ashtead. When I randomly Googled "Oakfield Lodge, Ashtead", I was surprised to get a hit from the New York Botanical Gardens.
In the library collection of the papers of Charles Finney Cox, one of the founders of the Gardens and a great admirer and collector of all things Darwin, was a letter written at Oakfield Lodge. The letter had black borders and was sent from that address on 18th March 1886.

Black edged paper was used for correspondence by families in mourning, and this letter was sent within the six months of deep mourning that would have followed the death of the head of the family. William died in November 1885. I was very excited by this - I knew that Charles Darwin had died in 1882, but would this letter show that the Fitz-Henrys had some acquaintance with the Darwin family?

Stephen Sinon, one of the archivists, quickly brought me down to earth.

The letter in question is an offer to publish some photographs and sketches the author has. They are being offered to an artist assigned to create drawings for an illustrated edition of Darwin's travels. Apparently the letter mentions they met aboard 'The Wanderer' at Cowes. The signature is a bit indistinct but seems to read "Foley C Vescken".

While disappointed that the letter was not written by a Fitz-Henry, I can tell you that the author of the letter was the next occupant of the house, Commander the Honorable Foley C. Prendergast Vereker RN FRGS (Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society). I found him at Oakfield Lodge in the 1886 edition of Kelly's directory when the widowed Mrs Martha Fitz-Henry had moved to "The Shaw". This indicates that the Fitz-Henry family had moved out of Oakfield very soon after William's death.

Commander Vereker was a member of the family who are holders of the title Viscount Gort. He himself was an explorer and surveyor, charting the Magellan Strait, the Sunda Strait and North East Borneo coasts and the Western Australian waters.

And this wasn't the last time that Oakfield Lodge had notable persons living there. In 1907, letters were sent to David Lloyd George (the British Prime minister) by Hubert Llewellyn Smith who worked with Charles Booth to improve the lot of the London dock workers in the late Victorian age.

If anyone out there has a picture of Oakfield Lodge, will they please email it to me. I believe that the house has now been demolished.

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A FitzHenry in the Land of Lincoln

In the United States the media is buzzing with anticipation about Tuesday’s Presidential Inauguration. Personal politics aside, the election of Barack Obama is an historic moment for our country. When Mr. Obama takes the Oath of Office, it will give some closure to “the unfinished work” Abraham Lincoln spoke about in his famous Gettysburg Address. If it hadn’t been for the American Civil War, would such an historic moment be at hand? The sacrifices made on the battlefield almost 150 years ago are shaping our history even today. With this in mind, my thoughts turned to one FitzHenry that would have called Abraham Lincoln, “Mr. President.”

I have written about Edwin Sawtell FitzHenry and his service in the Civil War previously. Please refer to the blog posts: When Family Meets History, Edwin Sawtell FitzHenry: After the Civil War and FitzHenry Footnote. I recently, however, received some new information that helped my research tremendously. Edwin was one of those deviants and variants Jo warned us about. He enlisted in the 6th regiment of the U.S. Calvary as Edwin S. Henry not FitzHenry. That little, but very significant piece of information, opened the door for discovery. In my next series of posts, I am going to explore Edwin’s service in the Civil War in greater detail. I am also going to highlight a Civil War blog that is a jewel for anyone seeking information on regular calvary regiments in the Civil War.

On January 20th the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court will give the Oath of Office to the first African American to hold the Office of President. With one hand resting on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible, Mr. Obama will personify what Lincoln himself sought to achieve. As the nation’s thoughts are transfixed with the promise of a new administration, I’m going to be thinking about the service and sacrifice of Edwin S. (Fitz)Henry, enlisted man.

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The 1911 census

Last week, the 1911 census of England and Wales was publicly released two years early. However, me and Lesley were invited to take part in the beta testing of the online site in December as we were subscribers to the previous censuses released by FindMyPast.com.

Currently the 1911 census is only available as a pay per view of each page (at about £3 per page) rather than on a subscription, which does make it rather expensive for trawling through all variants of Fitz(-)henry. And as yet not all parts of England and Wales have been released. But we're using canny search techniques to minimise the duplications and soon we hope to have a summary of what we've found up on the FitzhenryDNA website. When we do, we'll let you know here.

What makes this census special is that for the first time the householder filled in the forms themselves and if there was a married couple involved, they were to state how many years they had been married and how many children living and dead the woman had borne.

So on the (very good) images of each household, you get to see your ancestors' own handwriting. You also hope that they knew how to spell their own surnames, so unlike the previous censuses one level of transcription error is removed. And their count of their own children should be accurate so we now have a cross reference for the trees that we have constructed so far.

If anyone has already "found a Fitz" in the 1911 census and wishes to share the information with us, please drop us an email so we can concentrate our funds on the Fitzhenrys that haven't been extracted yet.


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An Early London Fitzhenry group- and a possible Patrick connection revealed?

Whilst trying to uncover information illuminating to the personal history of Patrick Fitzhenry of St Giles in The Field, I viewed the will of one James FitzHenry, victualler, (an old word for tavern keeper) of St Giles in The Field. His will was written 16 May 1758 and proved 26 May 1758 - so his death may have been expected. My initial interest lay in both the time period and residence. Could this man be connected to our mysterious Patrick ?? Although Patrick married at St George Chapel in Chelsea, the marriage entry states that both bride and groom were from the parish of St Giles in the Field. We all know how uncommon this surname is -could James and Patrick be brothers? Certainly at this early stage, such a relationship can only be speculated on, but it is certainly an avenue worth exploring!!

From his will we know that James was married to Ann and had two children living at the time of his death - a son James and a daughter Margaret. Ann was listed as executrix and Charles Doyle of 29 Bloomsbury Square was listed with her as administrator - so (not surprisingly) another Irish name connected to a FH group! James (senior) appears most concerned that provision be made to enable his son to be apprenticed. Unfortunately no ages are mentioned. However, according to the brief outline found on the National Archives site, apprenticeships for this period usually commenced at the age of 14, suggesting James (junior) was aged 14 or younger in 1758, suggesting a birth year between 1744 & 1758.

Interestingly, James FitzHenry is also mentioned in the reports of the Old Bailey, in 1754 and a second time in 1756 as the victim of theft. In the 1756 trial, James stated he was a public house keeper, who was the victim of a theft for which Robert Sparrow was tried - and ultimately transported, for 7 years- in January 1756.

If you are familiar with James, Ann or their children, James and Margaret, why don't you drop us a line and let us know more about them ! (I for one would like to know if James junior did ever get an apprenticeship! and what occupation did he take up? did daughter Margaret marry? What happened to Ann? ) These, and other rivetting questions are waiting to be answered!!

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Fitz(-)henry family groups on the FitzhenryDNA website

I've started updating the FitzhenryDNA website to be more focused on the family groups. It's going to become a resource where Fitzhenry family researchers can see what branches we've put together.

If you wish, you can have your contact details attached to your family group so that others can make contact. If you want your details added in this way, send me an email.

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The South American connection - Ireland to Valparaiso, Chile

Rodrigo Palacios Fitz-Henry emailed us from Chile asking about his Irish Fitz-Henry forebears. He also sent us some wonderful photos from the 19th century which, to save on the allocated blogspace, I've put on our sister site Fitzhenrydna.com

Now, a South American Fitz(-)henry is a very rare occurrence indeed, and as Rodrigo so rightly pointed out, he and his siblings are the last left in Chile. So surely it wouldn't be too hard to trace this branch back?

This is the story as pieced together from Rodrigo, his sister Isabel and some sleuthing around the internet. Before we start though, here's a quick tutorial on the method of acquiring your surname if you are Spanish or South American (something I wasn't aware of before I started putting this branch together.
Generally the surnames are made up of two names, the first inherited from your father and the second inherited from your mother. If you have a child, you pass down the first name in your surname (the paternal one) as does your spouse. The child then takes the new surname in the order (father's paternal surname) (mother's paternal surname) so the surnames vary from generation to generation. Although it's a patriarchal naming system, it has the added bonus of having the mother's surname also included so family trees are easier to construct. You'll see how that works with Rodrigo's family tree.

The story starts with an Irishman called Michael Henry Gerald Fitz-Henry who was known as Henry.
His mother was called Ann Marie Bourke (so in the Spanish method of naming he would be known as Michael Henry Gerald Fitz-Henry Bouke).
He married Mary Macdonnell of Westport in County Mayo.
"Michael Henry Gerald" and Mary came to Chile in about 1865 as he worked for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. This was profitable shipping line which ran between Liverpool and Valparaiso and was contracted to carry the post from the British Royal Mail between these two ports.
They had four children:
Michael Fitz-Henry Macdonnell
Charles Fitz-Henry Macdonnell (who died without issue)
Mary Fitz-Henry Macdonnell
Anita Fitz-Henry Macdonnell

Michael married Matilde Eichholtz and had two daughters:
Yvette Fitz-Henry Eichholtz
Yolanda Fitz-Henry Eichholtz

and Yolanda married Sergio Palacios Ureta which leads to the Palacios Fitz-Henry surname of Rodrigo, Isabel and their three other siblings. As the Fitz-Henry component of the surname is the maternal one, it dies out in this generation as any children will have the Palacios name passed down.

So that's the bare bones. What else can we add? I didn't have any firm dates apart from Henry and Ann's emigration to Chile. I know from a Chilean site that Mary Fitz-Henry Macdonnell married the Chilean senator Angel Guarello Costa (1866-1931) of the Democratic Party, and she was his second wife. Their son Fernando Guarello Fitz-Henry (1906-1971) was also a lawyer and Senator.

Here's another tantalising clue - on the Irish Family History Foundation website, I found the baptism of
Michael Joseph Fitzhenry,
son of Michael Fitzhenry and Anna Burke (spelt this way rather than Bourke)
on 22 September 1846
at the Roman Catholic church of St Nicholas in Galway.

It's the right mother with a Fitzhenry father, but surely there wouldn't have been two boys called Michael in one family unless this one died and our Michael Henry Gerald was named in his place (which I have seen before). So we can possibly go one generation further back on our tree and say that Michael Henry Gerald's father was also called Michael.
Rodrigo also said that there was another brother left back in Ireland called Henry.

Also in Rodrigo's photo collection was a picture of a Miles Fitzhenry, but Rodrigo didn't know how he fitted into the family group. I've got three Fitzhenrys called Miles on the database - one who died in Wexford Ireland in 1818 (too early for photography), and a father and son in Liverpool who were labourers so neither of these seem to be the right Miles.

Anyhow, if these names ring any bells with you or you can add in anything to this particular family history, please send us an email . My next road trip is back to the Maritime Museum in Liverpool to see if I can find anything about Michael HG Fitz-Henry's time at the Pacific Steam Navigation Company.


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More about the South African Fitzhenrys of the East Cape

Following on from the piece about Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, the nurse who served in WW1, here's what I've managed to piece together about her Fitzhenry line. Once again, my grateful thanks to the sterling transcribing efforts of Ellen Stanton and Nolene Lossau who put together the Methodist birth and marriage lists from the East Cape area.

Our known starting point is a Henry Fitzhenry. I don't know when or where he was born, but on 31st December 1856 he married Frances Levett Gardiner in the Somerset East Methodist church. They both came from Zwaart Ruggens (now spelt Zwarte Ruggens)

They had a large family over some 23 years. Here are the children that I've found in the christening records.
John Arthur b. 3 Dec 1857
Henry Levett b. 23 May 1859
Francis Ann b. 12 May 1862
Andrew Parsons b. 18 Dec 1853
Alice b. 8 July 1865
Nathaniel Walter b. 14 June 1867
The twins Emma Faulkner and Ann Parsons b. 25 Feb 1870
Edward Noel b. 1 Dec 1871
Louisa Elizabeth b. 6 April 1874
Laura Jane b. 26 April 1876
Mary Jemima b. 23 Jan 1878
Edgar Ebenezer b. 31 July 1880

Daisy's father was John Arthur Fitzhenry who married first Kate Cawood somewhen around 1886 (I haven't seen the record for this one), and after Kate's death in 1893, Hester Sargeant Patrick on 24 April 1896. His brother Edward (here transcribed as "Edward Neil") was one of the witnesses to this second marriage and John Arthur was described as a farmer from Vanplaats Jansenville.
Details of the children from both these marriages can be found in my previous post.

The information I have after this generation comes from several sources on the internet and has not been verified.

John and Kate's daughter Florence Ann married Cecil Rhodes Dobrowsky in 1922.

Jansenville Cricket club had a number of Fitzhenrys playing for them during and after WW2 - the names of Sid, Will, Brian, Howard and Raymond Fitzhenry are all mentioned . It makes me wonder whether Russel Fitzhenry (featured both on the cricinfo website and in previous posts on this blog) is a member of this family as he was born in Graaff Reinet and his cricket was played for the Eastern Provinces. The Cawood surname is also prominent in the history of the club.

There is a beautiful memorial window in the Kingswood College chapelin memory of Brian Raymond Fitzhenry, farmer and conservationist in the Steytlerville district. A picture of the window and a description of its unveiling can be found here.

Apologies to any of our South African readers who may have spotted some elementary mistakes in my geography. Does anyone out there link into this family? Send us an email!

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That Pesky Search Result: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.

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We've all done it - that hopeful Google search for Fitzhenry, 1000 hits...but disappointment as 998 relate to books published by our friends in Canada, Fitzhenry & Whiteside. Frustration, annoyance - but lately, curiosity. Who are these Canadian Fitzhenrys? Where do they come from? I decided to see if I could discover anything about the founders of this iconic Canadian publishing house.

It was easy to discover through their own website that Fitzhenry and Whiteside was founded by two real people named - surprisingly enough - R I. Fitzhenry and C L Whiteside.
What surprised me greatly though was that Robert Irvine Fitzhenry, co-founder of this proudly Canadian company, was in fact - an American!! Yes!! South of the border!! Could this be another descendant of the prolific Enoch you ask?? Read on dear reader!!

Robert Irvine Fitzhenry was the (apparently) only son of Irvine and Margaret Fitzhenry, and the older brother of Margaret. He was born in 1918 in New York, spending his early and formative years in Westchester and New Rochelle. He attended New Rochelle High school, and after completion of those studies went onto to 4 years of study at the University of Michigan. However, on completing these studies Robert made an early decision to join the US military. He enlisted on 20 February 1941 almost 10 months before the bombing of Pearl Harbour, which brought America into the war. This act suggests a man able to see the way world events were playing out, as well as a man prepared to act in accord with his own convictions - a trait still in evidence 20 years later when he co founded Fitzhenry and Whiteside.
At the end of WW2 Robert had attained the rank of Lieutenant having served with the Army Air Corps. After leaving the Army Air Corps, Robert worked for a short time with United Press, before joining the editorial staff of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver Colarado (Clearly a real Fitzhenry...travel didn't seem to phase him at all !!) In 1949 he returned to his home town to marry Hilda Anderson, a former student of New Rochelle High school, who after completing her own college education, began a career on Wall Street. Was Robert a little non conventional even then? His wedding took place at Hilda's parents home, not the Methodist church as would have been the more common practice. After marrying, the couple moved to Chicago Illinois, but by the mid 1950s they were back in New York. They had 3 daughters, Sharon, Bridget (now deceased) and Hollister (aka Holly), By 1966 Robert had risen to Vice President of Sales for Harper and Rowe a large New York based publishing house. However, it was also at this time that Robert (and his colleague Cecil Whiteside) had made the decision to emmigrate to Canada to set up their own publishing house. On April 1 1966 Fitzhenry and Whiteside was born. Most thought they were crazy and doomed to failure- so much so that their company emblem is the Godwit, a Canadian bird whose distictive cry is most often described as sounding like 'Crazy, crazy crazy....correct, correct, correct'. Whilst they certainly started small, they have over time garnered an impressive position within Canadian publishing. Their site (www.fitzhenry.ca) has a photo of Robert and Cecil, and gives a sense of their relaxed and happy approach to work (have a look at the 'About Us' page and see the photos of the editorial team !!)

Just as it will come to us all, Hilda passed away in February 2007, and Robert (who had had a couple of strokes previously) passed away January 2008, a sadly missed icon of Canadian publishing .

But wait a minute... what about that Enoch connection I hear you ask??

Well..... Robert was the son of New York born parents, Irvine Fitzhenry. a clock salesman, and Margaret (nee Lowe/Loue/Lawe very hard to read that entry, so I stand to be corrected on the spelling of Margaret's maiden name!). He had at least two aunts from his mother's side, Helen and Hazel.
But here's the interesting part - in the 1920 US census Robert's father, Irvine, states that both of his own parents were .....Irish! Yep, Robert was the grandson of Irish immigrants...no Enoch link to this Fitzhenry family.
In the 1900 US census. Irvin (sic) Fitzhenry aged 23 salesman born New York is living with his mother Annie and stepfather Samuel Johnson. Annie states she is Irish, has been married to Samuel for 4 years and has had 2 children, both of whom are living. Try as I may I was unable to locate Annie (born c 1858) and her first husband in any earlier census's, so Irvine's father is still a mystery. We can say with some certainly however that his parents were Irishman Mr Fitzhenry and Irish woman Annie Fitzhenry

So next time the search throws up Fitzhenry and Whiteside, know that this (sometimes annoying) little company reflects the story of real people, of Fitzhenry immigrants whose dreams of a better life were realised in the lives of their son and grandson.

Lest we forget: Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, South African nurse,1888-1918

In the post for the fallen combatants of the Great War, one name stood out because not only was she the only woman on the list, but she was a nurse rather than a soldier.
Here's a bit more about Daisy and the South African Fitzhenry connection.This has been mainly pieced together from painstaking transcriptions of the Uitenhage and Graaff Reinet Methodist Records by Ellen Stanton and Nolene Lossau. These records are spread across multiple postings on the Rootsweb South Africa British Immigrants messageboard.

Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry was born in South Africa on 30 July 1888 to John Arthur and Kate Fitzhenry (nee Cawood). She was baptised on 16 November 1888 at the Uitenhage Methodist Church and her baptism is number 221 in the register. Uitenhage is is the Eastern Cape Province, inland from Port Elizabeth.
She had at least 4 siblings:
William Henry (b. 15 December 1886)
Sidney Cawood (b. 22 October 1890)
Florence Ann (b. 13 April 1892, married Cecil Rhodes Dobrowsky in 1922)
Kate (b. 23 June 1893)
Her mother Kate died on the same date as her sister Kate's birth, presumably in childbirth.
John Arthur married again to Hester Sargeant Patrick in April 1895, and they had at least one son
Arthur Raymond (b. 6 December 1896).

Daisy joined the South African Military Nursing Service and served with the combined Allied troops in Southern Africa. Politically, the South Africans and British combining military forces was a significant occasion after the bitter battles of the Boer war less than 20 years before when the concentration camps had claimed the lives of many South Africans. She served in the military hospital at Dodoma in Tanzania. Dodoma was occupied by the South African troops in 1916 and the military hospital was used as a casualty clearing station.

Daisy was mentioned in dispatches in the London Gazette (6th August 1918 page 9228, although in the Gazette search engine the published date is 2nd August) with numerous other soldiers and Allied support personnel. She is listed as a nursing Sister rather then having a military title. Here's the whole list and it's amazing how many soldiers from throughout the old British Empire were here fighting in Africa. Someone would be "mentioned in dispatches" for a brave or noteworthy action in the field on battle, and received a certificate and a silver oak leaf to wear on their dress uniform.

Although the war in Europe finished on 11th November 1918, the war in East Africa continued until the German surrender on 23 November 1918 (the date the news of the German surrender in Europe was received by the German commander in Africa). By this time, an influenza epidemic was sweeping this part of the continent through a population weakened by years of famine. Between 50-80,000 people died (Here's more about the famine). Daisy died on 1 December 1918 (cause of death not known to me) and is buried in Dodoma cemetery.

In 1925 the Journal of the Royal College of Nursing (England) published an article listing those nurses from the Overseas Nursing Services who had died as a result of the combat and requesting donations for a memorial to be placed in the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Women's Hospital in London. This article is reproduced here. Daisy's name is amongst those listed.

If anyone out there has any more information about Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, please write into the blog and let us know more about her. In the next post, more about Daisy's family tree.

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