The tragic marriage of Kate Fitzhenry and James Silpath

Found in The Trenton Times (New Jersey, USA) 18 August 1887

The attempted suicide on Tuesday night of James Silpath, a brother of A. H. Silpath of Burlington, has created a sensation in that city where he is well known. The reason for the rash act is said to be a secret marriage which Silpath contracted with Kate Fitzhenry in March last. His family bitterly opposed...
(this line illegible)...
His wife urged Silpath to leave her, but he refused saying that he would kill not only himself but her before he did so. On Tuesday Silpath began drinking and, after abusing his wife, went to the river and jumped overboard. Being rescued and arrested he severed his windpipe with a razor while in his cell. He is not expected to recover.

And from 27 August 1887

Coroner Naylor has decided that an inquest in the case of James S. Silpath who died in such tragic circumstances is necessary and will be held on Monday night.

I haven't found anything else in the Trenton Times yet, but I have found a bit more about them on Familysearch.org (the LDS site).

James S Silpath was born in 1852 to George and Catherine Silpath in Burlington New Jersey.
He married Kate C Fitzhenry on 9 April 1887 in Burlington New Jersey. I have no more details about Kate.
James was buried on 21 August 1887.

So if you are a Silpath and claim Mayor A H Silpath of Burlington amongst your forebears, will you also let us know what was the true story behind James and Kate?

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The Fitz(-)henry family in Colonial India

Why not pop across to Gary Wemyss' excellent family history website to chart his family's past in India.
His grandmother was the very striking Doreen Clariss Batho Cole Fitzhenry who was born in Aug 1907 in Sahebgunge, India and who married Alfred James Wemyss in 1925 in Karachi.

Her father was variously named the Hon. Sir Wilfred Batho-Cole FITZHENRY (as his name appeared on James and Doreen's Wedding certificate) or Wilfred Blissington Fitzhenry (as his appeared on the birth certificates of his children).

So this is tonight's Man of Mystery.

From Gary's information, Wilfred Fitzhenry was probably Irish and born about 1874.
He was married twice - first to Mary Jane (unknown surname) who was Doreen's mother, and second to Beatrice Maud Kenny, a divorcee, in 1909.

He gave his occupation in 1902 and 1904 as working in for the Indian railways. In 1909 he was a horse broker and trainer.

If anyone has any more information about this Fitzhenry family group, please let us know, or drop Gary a line directly through his website.


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Myles Fitz-Henry, ironmonger of South London and the Chilean connection

When Rodrigo Palacios Fitz-Henry from Valparaiso sent me some of his family photos, he included a photo of Myles Fitz-Henry. He didn't know who this man was or how he linked into his family. I put it on the FitzhenryDNA website, but no-one claimed kinship to the mysterious Myles.

Then a few weeks ago I found the recently indexed burial records of Victoria Cemetery Hackney London on the internet. 

I found 

Fitz-Henry Myles Died at 46 Baker Street Brighton Sussex Buried 17 august 1864 Aged 17 month 

And.. 

 Fitzhenry John Joseph Newington Burial 18 January 1863 Aged 3 days No service 

This burial obviously wasn't the Myles that I was looking for, but these turned out to be the twin sons born to Myles Fitz-Henry of Clapham, Surrey which is actually South London. I found him in the census wrongly transcribed under the surname Henry. 

Here is the family group from the English 1861 census
Address:6, St Georges Road, Newington, London, Surrey
FITZ-HENRY, Myles Head Married M 37 1824 Ironmonger Westmeath Ireland
FITZ-HENRY, Frances Wife Married F 25 1836 Ironmonger's Wife Westmeath Ireland
FITZ-HENRY, Henry M Son Unmarried M 1 1860 Ironmonger's Son Newington Surrey 

The same family group can be found at 4 Brunswick Terrace, St Mary Newington, London, Surrey in the 1871 census. 

So we have a Fitz-Henry family that came from Ireland and settled in London and also had another son besides the twins who died in infancy.
The son's full name is Henry Michael Fitz-Henry. 

I found the marriage of Myles and Frances at St Georges Catholic Church, Southwark in the County of Surrey:
Myles Fitzhenry 35 years bachelor ironmonger 43 Deverell Street Newington son of Michael Fitzhenry (deceased) Farmer
Frances Colbourne 28 years spinster 34 Barnsbury Street Islington Daughter of Nathaniel Colbourn (deceased) Traveller to a Distiller.
Witnesses Kate Fitzhenry Henry S Simpson
Frederick Charles Fitch Registrar.

 

So far, all very interesting, but what's the positive link? I asked Rodrigo to send me a scan of the back of the photo. This was the real eureka moment. The photo was taken at the studio of Mr Henry Death of 119 Camberwell Road, London, within a mile of both the census addresses.
Myles died on the Twenty fourth October 1877 at 410 Clapham Road He was 55 years old and died of:
"Epilepsia 2 years. Gradual exhaustion of the vital powers."
Informant - Henry Fitz-Henry son present at the death, 410 Clapham Road 

 ... and this is where I lose sight of Henry Michael Fitz-Henry. I have the widowed Frances still at 410 Clapham Road in the 1881 census but with only a visitor and a house-servant.

So more questions.... What happened to Henry Michael and Frances, and how do these people link into Rodrigo's family? And who is the Kate Fitz-Henry who was a witness at Myles and Frances' wedding?

Update 12 February 2022: thanks to Leonie for sending us further information about Henry Michael and Frances, which ties up the loose ends - see the comments section below.

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The Fitzhenrys of Maam, Ireland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

It's been a bit of break since my last posting, but here's the promised article about the family history sent by Lenard Baldy
Lenard's maternal tree are Fitzhenrys. As he describes them, they are an extended but close knit group who have pooled their family knowledge to make a comprehensive tree back to 1830 in Ireland but that's where they have hit their wall.
For family privacy, I have not included any details of the current three generations of the family, but if anyone reading thinks that they may be related and want to contact Lenard, you can do so by sending him an an email

This is what they know.
Edward Fitzhenry (born about 1830 in Maam Ireland) married Catherine Shaughanessy (also about 1830, probably in Maam as well).

They had at least two children that are documented but there were probably more.
William Fitzhenry born 8 August 1856 and died around 1913.
Mary Fitzhenry born 1859

William married Bridget Lydon on 24 May 1885 in Maam.
Bridget (born 1867 and died in 1953) was the daughter of William Lydon and Theresa Graham. They had 11 children:
Patrick Fitzhenry born and died 1885
* Mary Fitzhenry born 1886
* Bridget Fitzhenry born 22 April 1890 died 1971
Martin Fitzhenry born 1892 died 1973
Thomas Fitzhenry born 1893 died 1911
* Stephen Fitzhenry born 7 December 1896 died 1968
* Sabina Fitzhenry born 1898 died 1995
John Fitzhenry born 7 May 1900 died 1982
* Edward Fitzhenry born 24 March 1902 died 1957
* William Joseph "Billy" Fitzhenry born 9 June 1904 died 1985
* Myles Fitzhenry born 9 September 1906 died 1989

All of the members of this generation who have a * next to their name made the move to the USA. Mary came out first in 1909. Her immigration documents showed she was going to visit her cousin Mary Coyne. She married John J Coyne within the year and stayed in Pittsburgh.

Bridget followed in May 1910. The ship's manifest stated that she was going to stay with her sister Mary Fitzhenry. Bridget married Anthony Coyne in 1920. It is thought that Anthony and John J were brothers.

Stephen emigrated to the USA in July 1920 and was listed as visiting his sister Mary (Fitzhenry) Coyne. He married Bridget who was born in Ireland. If anything more is known about this couple, please let us know.

Sabina emigrated on or before 1925, as in that year she married James O'Donnell in Pittsburgh.

Edward emigrated before 1936, the year he married Nora Staunton. They had four children. He worked in the steel mills.

William Joseph ("Billy") emigrated in or before 1924 as by then he had married Bridget Joyce from Galway, Ireland. He also worked in the steel mills. Billy and Bridget had nine children, the fourth being Lenard's grandfather Regis Fitzhenry.

Myles originally moved to England when he was about 17 (around 1923) but after a few years joined his brothers in the steel mills in Pittsburgh. Myles married Helen Teresa Lally in Pittsburgh in 1935 and they had 3 children.
Myles and Billy were very close. Together they made the trip back to Ireland to visit their mother about 20 years after they had originally left home.

Martin and Thomas stayed behind in Maam. Martin took over the running of the family farm.

John moved sideways into England. In 1943, he married Ethel Johnson of Wetherby,Yorkshire and they then lived in London.
We'd really like to know more about these three brothers and their families in Ireland and England


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So many developments ...

... that I can hardly keep up.

A big hello to Lenard Baldy who sent us one of the largest and most well researched Fitzhenry family trees that we have seen - a total of 214 people in it. But Lenard has hit a wall around 1830 in Maam in Ireland with his earliest ancestors Edward Fitzhenry and Catherine Shaughanessy - the next post will look at this tree in more detail to see if it jogs anyone's memory.

A big "whoop" as Sid Rodger's grandfather's elusive death certificate finally turned up in the GRO indexes for 1915 - filed as Joseph F. Henry. Yes, it was the right man.

And an even bigger "whoop" as our sole Chilean branch breaks down a bit of their wall. The head of a small hyphenated Fitz-Henry family in South London in the 1860s turns out to be the mysterious Miles Fitz-Henry whose photo was in the family album of Rodrigo Palacios Fitz-Henry. But this discovery throws up even more questions - more in the next but one post.

and finally - as if all the above wasn't exciting enough -
Ken Klare from the City of Dublin, Ohio wrote to us to tell us that they are building a veterans park in the City and wish to mark Enoch Fitzhenry's service in the American War of Independence with a memorial stone.


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The Fitzhenrys of Dedham Massachusetts

Debra wrote to the Fitzhenry message board on Ancestry.com asking if anyone could help with "getting back" with her Fitzhenry family.
She had a few details

• Her great grandfather was James J. Fitzhenry from Wexford.
• He married Elizabeth Day or O'Day and they had 1 son William James Fitzhenry.
• James died and she remarried Michael Colbort in the USA.

This was a challenge!
And thanks to the Fitzhenry Family message board on Genforum, we found out a great deal about this branch. Our thanks to the research work of Elaine Bailey and Linda back in 2007.

Lawrence FITZHENRY, son of Thomas and Mary FITZHENRY, was born in 1830 in Ireland. He married Mary Ann DUNN, daughter of James and Margaret DUNN , who was born in 1834 in Ireland. They had the following children who were all born in Ireland before the family emigrated to the US:

Margaret or Mary FITZHENRY (1861- ). Married William DOYLE.
Thomas FITZHENRY (1863- )
James Joseph FITZHENRY (1865-1898) Debra's great grandfather - more about him below.
Catherine "Kate" FITZHENRY (1870- ) married Charles FLOOD in 1891
Bridget FITZHENRY (1870-1875)

Mary Ann died on 6 December 1874 in Dedham and Lawrence then married Margaret SHANNON, daughter of Laurence and Margaret SHANNON who was born in 1853 in Ireland. She emigrated from Ireland to USA in 1869. They had the following 5 children:

Lawrence FITZHENRY (1883- )
John Francis FITZHENRY (1885- )
Edward Joseph FITZHENRY (1886- )
Anna E FITZHENRY (1890- )
Michael James FITZHENRY (1893- )

James Joseph FITZHENRY married Elizabeth Josephine DAY in 1891. Elizabeth was born in Wexford and had emigrated to the US in 1882. As predicted, they had a son
William born 1895, and also a daughter Mary Genevieve FITZHENRY, born 1897 who died in infancy. James died in 1898.

Does anyone out there recognise this family tree, especially the other nine children of Lawrence? Debra would be very pleased to hear from any other members of this branch. You can drop her an email via the blog here


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Children of Michael and Anastasia Fitz(-)henry London

Here's some more details about Michael and Anastasia Fitz-Henry/Fitzhenry and their family.
They are both given in the 1841 census as being born outside Middlesex ("not in County") but also not in Ireland.
In the 1851 census Michael (widowed by then) is born in Ireland!

I have no proof of their marriage place and date.
They are Roman Catholics.
The hyphen comes and goes in the records.
Michael was a carpenter and the family lived in the Bloomsbury Market area of London.

The following is from notes that I made when I visited the Catholic Family History Society Library, Lancing Street London on 3 November 2003. On that day they were packing up around me as they were moving to new premises, but were marvelously accommodating!

All records were typewritten copies from the originals (not available to view)

Westminster St Mary’s Baptisms
Vol 78 1809-1838


P66
Patrick Fitzhenry to Michael and Anastasia (nee Welch)
Sponsors: Edward Purcell and Mary Quinn
Bapt 20 April 1826, born 16 April 1826


P83 - Three seemingly related baptisms on 23 March 1828

David Sullivan to David and Ann (nee Welch)
Sponors 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


P101
Mary Ann Fitzhenry to Michael and Anastasia (nee Welch)
Sponsors: John ----
Bapt 31 October 1830, born 3 October 1830

P122
James Fitzhenry to Michael and Anastasia (nee Welch)
Sponsors William Scambel and Eliz. Caughlan
Bapt 23 March 1834 born 2 March 1834

P132
Margaret Fitzhenry to Michael and Anastasia (nee Walsh)
Sponsors Wil. Scannington, Mary Scammerton
Bapt. 29 November born 29 October 1835

These were all their children in this register but there was also:
John Fitz-Henry (spelt with a hyphen as this is Sid Rodger's branch and the hyphen "stuck" in this branch) born 25 January 1838

Anastasia Fitzhenry born 5 April 1840, died 17 October 1841 of "decline"

And lastly a possible older brother Francis or Frank Fitzhenry, who may have gone into the priesthood (communication from other correspondents)

In the 1841 census, of all the children only Patrick, Mary Anne, John and Anastasia are listed.

The older Anastasia died at the King College Hospital London on 11 February 1851 of chronic nephritis (kidney infections leading to renal failure). On her death certificate she is called Anne, but she was registered by one of the hospital staff who may not have known her full name.

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Wills

A few years ago, Wills and Grants proved in English courts were very easy to access - you just went to Somerset House in London and said "Let's have a look at your loverly Wills please" and Lo, they would be brought forth at a minimal charge.

It's a bit more tricky now.
You have to find out the details of the Will and where it was proved. The Indexes have been scanned and are on Ancestry and FindMyPast, but they both need a subscription. Alternatively you can go to one of a dozen centres around England and see the Indexes there.

Then you have to write to the Principal Registry of the Family Division in London, giving the details (although they don't tell you exactly which details they want) and enclosing a cheque for £5 for each copy of the Will.

It feels a bit like the Internet had never been invented. It must be a real pain in the backside for anyone not in the UK who wants a Will copy. There is a rumour that an on-line ordering system is on its way for Wills, as for the BMD certificates.

But in the meantime, I remembered what a pen was for, wrote them a letter and wrote my first cheque this year.

The three Wills I've ordered are:
William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead and Winchester. It may give us a clue as to who his Fitz-Henry relatives were and why his children ended up in an orphanage.
Dr George Fitzhenry of London and Brynmawr Wales. This was the man who had the bigamous second marriage. Did he acknowledge his daughter from his first marriage?
Mary Fitzhenry, who died in 1885 in Dublin. I have no idea which Mary Fitzhenry this is as I have 42 of them in the database, but a woman who was rich enough to need to leave a Will could be quite interesting.

When I get them through, we'll have a bit of a Will fest here. If anyone else has a post-1856 English Fitzhenry Will (pre-1856 can be ordered on-line from the National Archives website) or a Fitzhenry Will from abroad, drop us a line at the usual address if you want to share.

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Sid Rodger's photos

I have been in email contact with Sid Rodger (Canada) for about a year. I was very pleased to be able to put him in touch with Kirsten Fitzhenry (England) who was also from his family branch.

It turns out that they are descendants of Michael Fitzhenry and Anastasia Welch of Silver Street, London. This was a Roman Catholic family in the days when it was hard to be a Catholic in England. Silver Street is very close to what is now the British Museum in London.

Michael and Anastasia's eldest son Patrick (born 1826) emigrated to Australia. He married Sarah Phillips who had also emigrated from London and the couple founded a Fitzhenry dynasty in New South Wales.

Both Sid and Kirsten are descended from John (born 1838, London) who was Michael and Anastasia's third or fourth child.
John married Sarah Jones and their second child was Joseph James Fitzhenry born 1875 at Suffolk Street, Mile End, London.
Sid has very kindly sent me some photos of Joseph, his wife Elizabeth Larkin and their five children. When Joseph died in 1915, Elizabeth and the children emigrated to Canada.



Joseph James Fitzhenry and Elizabeth Larkin

The Fitzhenry children c.1912 - Philippa Agnes is in front barefoot, Mary Angela at the back, Joseph next to Mary, James on Philippa's right, John on the left.


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Reliability you can be proud of...

Once upon a time, the Fitz-Henry name was a byword for reliability in the fashionable circles of Victorian Dublin.
It would have made us all collectively hang our heads in shame if the Fitz-Henry sisters (still going strong in Grafton Street in the 1890s) were noted for their unreliable gloves...

This is from the Irish Times archives. The Irish times are celebrating 150 years of publication by making their archives free to search and download - but for a limited time only.

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John Fitzhenry - a Mills and Boon Novel (1920)

Following on from the Valentine's Day post about romantic novels containing characters called Fitzhenry, here's another.
The rather acidic review comes from the satirical English journal "Punch" (July 28th 1920). I wasn't aware that Mills and Boon had been publishing for so long...

John Fitzhenry (Mills and Boon) is one of those pleasant stories about people who live in big country houses, a subject that seems to have a particular attraction for the large and ungrudging public which lives in villas.
We have already several novelists who tell them very ably, and I feel that some one among them has served as Miss Ella MacMahon's model. The tale deals with the affairs of a showy fickle cousin and a silent constant cousin who compete for the love of the same delightful if rather nebulous young woman, and moves to its dénouement, against a background of the great War, which Miss MacMahon has very sensibly decided to view entirely from the home front.
It contains some fine thinking and some bad writing (the phrase telling of the middle-aged smart woman who "waved her foot impatiently" gives a just idea of the author's occasional inability to say what she means), some quite extraneous incidents and some scenes very well touched in. The people, with a few exceptions, are of the race which inhabits this sort of book, and, as we have long agreed with our novelists that "the county" is just like that, I don't see why Miss MacMahon should be blamed for it.

They've read it for us, so we don't have to. Marvellous.

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Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

It’s been exactly two months since I promised more information about Edwin FitzHenry’s service in the Civil War. I hope you will agree that good things come to those who wait.

Edwin is currently featured on the Civil War Interactive Recommended Blog, Crossed Sabers. The blog is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the Regular cavalry regiments during the Civil War. I was thrilled to find Edwin’s name listed in the Company B, 6th Cavalry Roster.

After contacting Don, the blog owner, he graciously agreed to do additional research on Edwin’s service. I am very grateful for his efforts!

Don’s report corrects my earlier assumption about the identity of the second man in the Civil War photograph. We now believe it is Francis Riggs Chapman, another solider from Company B. However, I still do not know the fate of Hiram Cunningham as referenced here.

Please visit Crossed Sabers to read the article. If you’re so inclined, leave a comment and tell Don “thank you” from the FitzHenrys.

Ann

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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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