Beware the spelling of Irish surnames!

When I have a female Fitzhenry who gets married and changes her name, I tend to follow her for another generation to record the rest of her life and the names of all her children.

Ellen Fitz-Henry (born in June 1878 at 25 Star Street Shadwell London) was the cousin of my great grandfather Thomas Fitz-Henry. I already knew that she married John Joseph Marney (born in Gravel Lane, Houndsditch, London in about 1875) in December 1897 at St Marks Whitechapel.

I knew that she had at least 3 children, and in the 1901 census was living at 207 Cable Street.

Dennis Miller emailed me saying that Ellen was his great-grandmother and he was now turning his attentions to researching her side of the family. Apart from the names of the children that I knew about (including Edith Florence Marney his grandmother, Ellen and Patrick) he also thought that there were William, Albert, Victor, Joseph and Clara. This made 8 children in all.

So I spent some time today to see if I could find out any more about this family.

First to the wonderful FreeBMD.
After 1911, the mother's maiden name was included in the indexes, so these four children are definitely children of John and Ellen, even though there is a misspelling of Fitzhenry for Victor:

Mar 1913
Marney William P Fitzhenry Stepney 1c 589

Jun 1914
MARNEY Joseph Fitzhenry Stepney 1c 597

Jun 1916
Marney David Fitzhenry Stepney 1c 523

Sep 1919
Marney Victor F Fitshenry Stepney 1c 395

So with the addition of David to the family, this now made nine children.

So where were they in the 1911 census? There were lots of Ellens and Johns on the 1911census website, but no John Joseph, Patrick or Edith.

Then I remembered that Marney was the phonetic spelling of Mahoney.
So I looked under Mahoney.
And I found them!

The rather messy census form had been filled out by John Joseph himself. He, and all the other other members of the family had their surnames spelt Mahoney.
And here's the raw stats:

MAHONEY JOHN JOSEPH HEAD married M 37 PRINTER AND CROPPER
born Gravel Lane Houndsditch
MAHONEY ELLEN WIFE married F 33
born Planet Street ST GEORGES EAST
married 13 years, 8 children 8 living
MAHONEY EDITH daughter F 12 CABLE ST SHADWELL
MAHONEY ELLEN daughter F 10 CABLE ST SHADWELL
MAHONEY CLARA daughter F 8 SAGE ST CABLE ST EAST
MAHONEY JOHN son M 7 SAGE ST CABLE ST EAST
MAHONEY PATRICK son M 5 SAGE ST CABLE ST EAST
MAHONEY JAMES son M 3 BROOK ST STEPNEY
MAHONEY ERNEST son M 2 BROOK ST STEPNEY
MAHONEY ALBERT son M 1 WEEK BROOK ST STEPNEY

So this makes 12 children in all.
And bless John for making a gallant stab at guessing where his wife was born - he knew it was somewhere heavenly, so he put Planet Street instead of Star Street!

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

The Will of Dr George Fitzhenry of Brynmawr Wales

This is one of the wills that I ordered last month. As per the usual style, there is no punctuation.

This is the last Will and Testament of me George Fitzhenry MRCS and LSA of No. 24 King Street Brynmawr in the County of Brecon I direct that my body shall be buried in St. Mary's Churchyard Brynmawr After the payment of my just debts and the expenses of my burial I give and bequeath all my property real and personal including the policy of insurance upon my life to my wife Jane Fitzhenry absolutely I appoint Alexander Lowe Esq. MB Brynmawr and Alfred Maddox Jones Esq. Chemist King Street Brynmawr Executors of this my Will and I hereby revoke all former Wills and Codicils Signed this seventeenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety two.
G Fitzhenry Surgeon

George died on October 23rd 1893.

On the 11th day of January 1894 Administration with this Will of the effects of the Testator was granted at Hereford to Jane Fitzhenry Widow of the Residuary Legatee.

So a trip to Brymawr was called for which coincided nicely with a holiday to Wales. If George had specifed his final resting place so precisely, surely it was going to be easy to find his grave? Wrong!
After about a quarter hour working my way up and down the rows of Welsh granite headstone through the long grass in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Brynmawr, the overseer of the council grass cutters came over to ask me who I was looking for. She said that she was sure that she had seen George's gravestone but couldn't remember where in the churchyard - she would take me down to ask the vicar. I'm sure he was in the middle of his lunch when we knocked at his door, but fair play to him he opened up the church so we could consult the burial registers together. George definitely hadn't been buried in St Mary's churchyard as he had requested.

So this throws up more questions. Why didn't Jane bury George as per his will? Why didn't George recognise Harriett, his daughter by his first marriage? And where is George buried?

My thanks to the Reverend Richard Grey of St Mary's Brynmawr for his assistance in this quest.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

The Artifact Collection of Dale Fitz-Henry - up for sale on Ebay

Deirdre from Arizona has been corresponding with me about her Fitz-Henry forebears (Richard a blacksmith born 1805 and Mary born 1808) who emigrated from Ireland to McClean County Illinois with their 8 children, Richard's brother William (born 1815) and his widowed mother Catherine (born 1779).
Their youngest son, also called Richard (born 1846 and also a blacksmith), married Mary E Wilson and they went on to have 9 children.
Their fourth child was Reuben Fitzhenry (the only Reuben FH in the database!) born in 1877 who married Mabel Hendryx in 1899.
And it's their son Dale Fitzhenry whose artifact collection is now up for sale on Ebay.

Deirdre suggested that publicising the sale might prompt a Fitzhenry to "keep it in the family". Bidding ends on June 7th.
Here's what the vendors say about Dale and his collection:

Up for auction we have a Indian Artifact Arrowhead authentic lot from the Skull House. In the spring of 2006, many Illinois newspapers carried the story of of an old abandoned house in Bloomington Illinois where the skulls of 33 Pre-Historic Native American skulls were found in the attic. The house had sat empty for years as the heir had died many years prior. The house and property was sold at blind tax sale for a fraction of value without much interest. The long deceased owner, a dentist by the name of Dale Fitz-Henry apparently had excavated the skulls at a site near Fulton county in the early 1930's. The Fitz-Henrys did a lot of hunting and collecting whereever they travelled. The arrowheads were found by the Fitz-Henrys on trips to Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Montana, and along Panther Creek near their home in Bloomington Illinois. The longest piece is about 2 1/2". Some of the arrowheads are marked as to where they were found.

Here's the link to the Ebay listing.


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

"History of the Rebellion in Ireland" by James Gordon

This history of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 was written by the Rev. James Gordon, the Rector of Killegny in Wexford in 1801.
A full text version can be found on Google books.
The family of Jeremiah Fitzhenry is mentioned as being the saviours of the family of Rev. Samuel Francis

A labouring peasant, who took the title of captain Gormaghan, went one Sunday morning into the house of the Rev. Samuel Francis, rector of Killegny, and after threatening to cut off the arm of a son of Mr. Francis, because he could not dextrously sign his forehead with a cross in the Romanist manner, drove out the whole family before him to the Romist chapel declaring that no religion, except that alone which God permitted, must any longer be professed. The Fitzhenry family, who formed part of the congregation, were at this scene evidently affected with deep concern, which they endeavoured to conceal from the unfeeling crowd. They advised in whispers the distressed family to endeavour to hide their grief from the fanatic mob ; and administered such comfort as the fear of offending the ignorant bigots permitted.

Jeremiah Fitzhenry, married to John Colclough's sister, was of the ancient family of the Fitzhenrys in the county of Wexford : John Colclough, of a family high respectable, who had often represented the county, was well educated, and in good circumstances, disgraced himself by yielding to the influence of fanaticism.

Also in this book are the Atkin family (forebears of our correspondent Wendy Rutter) and in particular Hercules Atkin, whose unusual name stood out in amongst the list of the names (and their home parish) of Protestant prisoners in Wexford that were condemned to death by the Catholic rebels:
6. Atkin, Samuel, Wexford
7. Atkin, John, Wexford
8. Atkin, George, Wexford
9. Atkin, Samuel, Castle Ellis
10. Atkin, Samuel, Castle Ellis
11 Atkin, Hercules, Castle Ellis
12. Atkin, Christopher, Castle Ellis
13. Atkin, James, Edermine
14. Atkin, William, Edermine
15. Atkin, Robert, Wexford
16. Atkin, William, Ardcolme
17. Atkin, William, Edermine
18. Atkin, William, Castle Ellis
19. Atkin, Francis, Wexford

James Gordon's book referenced "Memoirs of the Different Rebellions in Ireland by Sir Richard Musgrave (pub. 1802). On page 447, a John Fitzhenry is listed amongst those executed in Wexford for murder and rebellion after the retaking of the town by the Royal Army.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

Grounds of Remembrance

Memorial Day was a special day for the City of Dublin, Ohio, and for the descendants of Enoch FitzHenry. May 25, 2009, marked the dedication of the Grounds of Remembrance in Dublin Veterans Park. The site is a lasting tribute to veterans and their sacrifice for freedom.

Enoch FitzHenry was honored for his service in the Revolutionary War with a dedication stone along the recognition walk.

The inscription is as follows:

Enoch FitzHenry
Circa 1776
For Our Way of Life

Please click here to download the dedication program.

If you would like to share pictures of the event, we would love to hear from you!

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

Will of Henry Fitzhenry of the Honorable East India Company

From the Consistory Court of London November 1846. As per the style of the period, no punctuation and random capital letters. The spelling is as was written.

On the thirteenth day of November One thousand eight hundred and forty-six
Administration of all and singular the goods chattells and credits of Henry FitzHenry formerly a private in the Artillary of the Hon. East India Company but late Master of Arms on board the Rainha de Portugal in the Portuguese Navy at Sea a batchelor deceased was granted to William FitzHenry the natural and lawful brother of the said deceased having been first sworn duly to administer.
£40

I've no idea who this man was. If anyone knows have to get archive information about the Portuguese Navy, please let me know.

The full reference for this Will is: November 1846, folio Monthly entry 9,
Vol. ref. DL/C/406
London Metropolitan Archives mocrofilm ref: X019/039

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

Time to update your email permissions!

I'm changing the email address for the Blog subscription emails.
So instead of the updates coming to your inbox from "jofitz-henry@doctors.org.uk", they will now be coming from
"fitz-henry@one-name.org"
without the quotation marks.
If you have subscription, this will be the last posting forwarded via the old email address. If you have a very tight spam filter, please authorise the new address now!

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

Welcome to our new readers!

The nerdy stats counter tells me that we now have 24 regular readers - welcome to those who have joined recently.
And if you are one of our new readers and you haven't made contact with either me, Ann or Lesley yet, why not drop us a collective email (link below) and let us know about your Fitz(-)henry family members?
If you want you can even write us a posting and we'll put it on the blog.
You never know where it may lead....

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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?

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.


Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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.

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.

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

Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.