I seem to be be doing a lot of promoting of genealogy offers recently, but this one is a real cracker!
For the 3 hours surrounding any England match in the world cup (that's the soccer world cup to our American readers as if you weren't aware on this day that England play the USA!), there will be free access to the 1911 census of England and Wales.
I'm very grateful to Peter Calver from the "Lost Cousins" website for sending out the information and here's the text of his email with important timings and access details:
Findmypast are allowing FREE access to the 1911 Census and ALL the other resources for which you'd normally need a subscription, but only while England are playing in the World Cup.
Their first game is on Saturday 12th June, and the free access will be for 3 hours from 7pm British Summer Time.
England's second game is on Friday 18th June, and the free access will again be for 3 hours from 7pm.
Unless England qualify for the next stages of the competition their last game will be on Wednesday 23rd June, and the free access will be for 3 hours from 2.30pm.
Please note that New York is 5 hours behind London, and California is 8 hours behind. Thus the free access on 12th June will begin at 2pm if you are on the East Coast, and 11am if you are on the West Coast. Unfortunately if you are in Australia or New Zealand the matches take place in the early morning.
Click here to visit the special offer page at the findmypast site. You will need to register, and as their site is likely to be very busy during the offer, I would suggest you register in advance. You can search free at any time, so you don't have to wait for the offer period to start - the more you can do in advance, the better use you'll make of the 3 hours of free access.
If you haven't seen Peter's "Lost Cousins" website, it's worth a visit if you had ancestors in England, Wales or Ireland a hundred years ago who had entries in the censuses. I've entered all the Fitz(-)henrys on behalf of the Fitz(-)henry one name study, and have had several contacts not only asking about Fitzhenrys in their family but also people who lived with our Fitzhenry ancestors as either lodgers, landladies or employers.
Click here for Peter's masterclass for using the 1911 census.
Happy hunting and let me know what you find! The first match kicks off in 4 hours time...
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A top offer from FindMyPast Australia.
24 hours of searching absolutely free - no entering credit card details that you later forget to cancel - put in your name and email address and you have 24 hours of searching absolutely free!
www.findmypast.com.au
And if you find any Fitz(-)henrys that suddenly provide that missing link, let me know.
I'm trying to get all my new finds into the database before the time runs out!
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We run our Fitz(-)henry DNA study through the FamilyTreeDNA genetic testing company.
They are having a "summer sale" on their test prices and for a limited time these are as follows:
Y-DNA37 for $119 (Regular price would be $149)
Y-DNA67 for $199 (Regular price would be $239)
Y-DNA37+mtDNA for $159 (Combined test would cost $238)
The promotion will start June 5 and will end June 25.
Kits need to be paid for by June 30, 2010.
Once the kits are paid for, you can do the test and return it at your leisure.
I've highlighted the 37 marker test as this is the standard test for surname studies.
Click here to get to our page on the FamilyTreeDNA website for more information and for ordering details.
Why are we so keen on the DNA study?
With only 5 Fitz(-)henry men tested, we have found that Enoch Fitzhenry was actually a Fitzhenry and not just a name of convenience he took when he arrived in the United States. We can link his descendants to the descendants of a family from Oulartwick, Wexford who emigrated to Australia.
We also know that so far, we have identified 3 different Fitz(-)henry DNA patterns which indicates that there is no male common ancestor to all Fitzhenry branches within the time frame of fixed familial surnames (about 700 years).
We are awaiting the results of our fifth participant.
We also have a man with the surname Henry who has joined the project: Dropping the Fitz was not uncommon and - who knows - the next person who gets tested might give us a link to his family.
For more information about the project results so far, follow this link
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I knew it was coming but it snuck up on me.
The 1901 census of Ireland has been digitised by the National Archives of Ireland and all 32 counties are now available to view for free at this website:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
The information documented is:
- name,
- relationship to head of household,
- religious profession,
- education
- age
- sex
- rank, profession or occupation
- marital status
- Irish language speaker
- Deaf, dumb, blind, imbecile or idiot, lunatic.
All the documents are available to view as original scans and are self completed by the head of household.
Once again, a fantastic effort by the Irish Government. If you haven't already had a look at the 1911 census of Ireland, this is on the same website
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The first of two more British military records now digitised on Findmypast from the National Archives WO97 series.
Corporal Harvey Fitzhenry No. 4881 Royal Artillery seems to have been an exemplary rank and file soldier.
The commendations from his senior officers read thus:
His conduct has been very good. He is in possession of two Good Conduct badges.
In possession of 3rd Class School Certificate
His name does not appear in the Regimental Defaulters sheet
He joined the army at the rank of driver on 29 November 1870, was promoted to Bombardier in March 1876 and was promoted again to Corporal in November that year.
He was discharged from the Army on 8 January 1880 having completed a total service of 9 years and 41 days, of which 5 years and 102 days were on service in the East Indies.
The reason for discharge was a large inguinal (groin) hernia first noted in India in 1878 "when under treatment for Ague" and "his duties as a mounted soldier may have given him this condition. The rupture is controlled by a truss". It's good to note that this "had not been aggravated by intemperance or vice"
The final page of the document describes him thus:
No. 4881 Corpl Harvey Fitzhenry
referred to in the preceding pages, by
Trade a pocket book maker
born in the parish of St Andrews
Near the town of Holborn,
In the county of Middlesex
And attested to the Royal Artilliary regt
At Woolwich in the county of Kent
On the 29 November 1870
Aged 20 6/12 years
His final description this day
aged 29 7/12
Height 5 foot 4 and a half inches
Complexion fresh
Eyes grey
Hair brown
Trade: pocket bookmaker
Marks or scars upon the face or on any other part of the body: considerable prominence of the right hip.
Intended place of residence:
11 Startham Road
Stoke Newington
London
Oh, it should be so easy to find this man back in civilian life.
But no.
This is all I have of him.
He makes one census appearance in 1871 when he was in barracks.
No birth marriage or death records.
No baptism entry at St Andrews Holborn.
No Fitzhenrys living in Statham Road.
A nom de guerre perhaps?
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Apologies to all our new subscribers who signed up while I was away on my jollies and then had three weeks of Blogging silence. However my "behind the scenes" correspondents will know that I was collecting new stories and over the next few nights there will be two new British Army records and then a three-part essay from Mrs Josephine Fitzhenry Hodge, her life's work on the family of Enoch Fitzhenry in the United States.
Tonight's post is pertinent as we were holidaying in California. We were driving on Highway 1 just north of San Francisco when the sign for Stinson Beach caused a small flicker of recognition. We made an unscheduled stop at the beach, fired up the laptop and there in the database was the story of Stinson beach and Newman Lee Fitzhenry.
Stinson beach is a quiet town, but in his day Newman Fitzhenry had much bigger plans for the place. The beach was named for the owner of the beach and Newman married Eva Stinson. Here's his biography from his obituary:
Mr. Fitzhenry was born in Illinois in 1881, and had operated the Beach properties for 24 years with his wife, Mrs. Eva Stinson Fitzhenry, daughter of the former owner of the Stinson Beach holdings. He was a graduate of the University of Chicago, and a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was also a member of the San Rafael Elks Club, and was considered one of the authorities on bridge in the Bay region. He was also a member of the San Francisco Press Club.
Fitzhenry’s chief ambition was for wide development of Stinson Beach, as one of the world playgrounds, but he lacked sufficient capital to carry out his dream. He was always interested in promotional work in the county, but never overlooked an opportunity to let the world know that there was a beautiful beach close by, and that any large development project should not overlook Stinson Beach. He frequently appeared before the Board of Supervisors fighting for better roads to the Beach, and at one time offered the Beach properties to the county, under a long term lease.
He died by his own hand in 1938 on his beloved beach.
There is a small creek named after him which is one of the three creeks which flow through the town and into the sea via the Easkoot creek. This makes a total of three Fitzhenry Creeks which I've found now - this one at Stinson Beach, another in Washington State flowing down the previously featured Mount Fitzhenry, and a third Fitzhenry Creek in British Columbia.
You can have a look at Stinson Beach yourself on Googlemaps, as there is the streetview function enabled on this map and also some attached photos.
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Another contribution from a Guild of One Name Studies member, Annie Berman.
Annie is conducting the Boustred one name study.
Annie noted that the writing in this register was truly dreadful, and I've put [square brackets] around words that may be incorrect. The date may be the 8th of July.
Marriage solemnized at the church of St Lawrence in Nettleden, Hertfordshire
[9th] July 1903
Thomas Potton, 25 years, bachelor, a brick layer
Resident in Nettleden
Son of Cabel Potton a bricklayer
married
Florence Fitzhenry aged 28 years spinster
Resident in [Nettleden]
Daughter of Matthew Fitzhenry a [gentleman]
Both parties signed
Witnesses: Thomas Holliday and Bertha Potton.
The witnesses were themselves married in 1907.
Who was Florence? She was a long way from home as she was the fourth of seven children born in Liverpool to Matthew and Mary Fitzhenry. Matthew was a blacksmith born in 1829 in Wexford Ireland, and he was the son of Edward Fitzhenry and Ellen Kavanagh of Wexford.
To view the whole of this large family group (which has a large offshoot in Australia too) follow this link
to the Fitzhenry database.
In the 1901 census Florence had been living with her widowed older sister Josephine Kelsall (nee Fitzhenry) and her four chidren, and was supporting the family finances as a dressmaker. Any information as to why she found herself in Hertfordshire 2 years later would be gratefully received.
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This marriage information was also contributed by Susan Atkins from the Guild of One Name Studies, who is researching the Scotchmer name:
Marriage solemized at St John the Divine in the parish of West Derby in the County of Lancashire.
26 March 1861
Edward Henry Fitzhenry of full age, bachelor, doctor of medicine
Resident at Waterloo
Son of Samuel Fitzhenry, a gentleman
and
Mary Bowen Forwood, a minor, spinster
Resident at Edge Lane
Daughter of Thomas B Forwood, a merchant
According to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Established Church, in the presence of
C B Forwood
L B Forwood
C Snood
Alfred Crosfuld
Just as luck would have it, Janet Long from the USA wrote to me this evening from the Fitzhenry DNA and database website, so I was able to append this information that she sent me:
Hello! So glad to see the site. I have info on #12 on your chart regarding Fitzhenrys – Samuel Fitzhenry of Wexford and his wife Mary Graham (who is related to me), who were married in 1817 in the Rossdroit Church of Ireland, Wexford. Their son, Edward Henry Fitzhenry’s info is as follows:
Edward Henry Fitzhenry, M.D., born about 1830 in Castleboro, Wexford married Mary Bower Forwood on 26 March 1861 at St. John’s Fairfield, Lancaster, England.
Their son Claude Bower Fitzhenry was born November 1862 in England, married a Edith Jessie, born Feb. 1872.
Claude and Edith had two sons:
Edward Graham/Grayham FitzHenry was born 6 November 1893 in Mhow, Bengal, India and christened 6 December 1893 in the same place.
Noel Brittain Fitzhenry born December 1906 in England.
I believe that this little family was in British Columbia, Canada in 1911 (census records).
Hope this helps. I should add that I know that Samuel F and wife Mary Graham had at least one more son, per Debrett’s House of Commons and Judicial Report, , 1878, but cannot find the book to see the full reference. Mary Graham’s family lived on Lord Carew’s estate and at one time, I believe, Mary’s brother, John was the steward of the estate. They also ran the mill there and are ancestors of mine. (Shapland Carew’s estate books mention this family several times.) Also, if anyone is interested in this family, please let me know. I’d love to share info.
Claude also used the middle name Brittain, and it was as Claude Brittain Fitz-Henry he married Edith Jessie Violet Bird in Litchfield in 1890.
If you have information about this family, then drop Janet a line via this Blog's email address, or add a comment to this posting.
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I'm very grateful to Susan Atkins from the Guild of One Name Studies for the marriage information in this posting.
Marriage solemnized at St John the Baptist Toxteth Park in the parish of St John the Baptist in the County of Lancaster
9th August 1879
Charles Fitzhenry aged 24, bachelor, a mariner
Residing at 9 Prophet Street
Son of John Fitzhenry a labourer
Jane Henry aged 26, a widow,
Residing at 9 Prophet Street
Daughter of William Williams (deceased), a rigger
after Banns
In the presence of William and Elizabeth Poole.
Charles and Jane seem to disappear for 20 years, but turn up again in the 1901 census. They are still living in Toxteth Park in Liverpool. Charles is a marine fireman. Both give their birthplace as Liverpool. They have no children.
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Tracy Keenan Lloyd saw our postings about the marriages of Charles Dunfoy and Eliza Fitzhenry and Samuel Plummer and (another) Eliza Fitzhenry in Arklow. Both these marriages were notable for having a William Heath as a witness.
She wrote:
Greetings from Portland, Oregon in the US,
I am so happy to find your site, as just this morning in my research I learned of my connection to Sibella FitzHenry, who, in 1834, married William Heath, a doctor in Arklow. I am descended from William’s younger sister, Eliza Heath. Our line emigrated to the U.S. in 1886. I know you’re not charting the Heath name, but I am trying to find any descendants of this Heath family who may hold letters, journals, photos or documents to help me put “meat on the bones” of this interesting family. I have plenty of circumstantial information to share on the Heaths, if anyone is interested, and even some copies of photographs of some of William’s siblings.
I would be very interested if anyone in your family may have any surviving information. I am working to tell the story of this family and its descendants to be compiled into a book for future generations.
So if anyone wants to contact Tracy, leave a comment to this posting or send an email to the Blog.
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And here's the first Eliza Fitzhenry's father getting remarried in 1845 to her stepmother:
Registrar's District of Rathdrum
Marriage solemnised at Rathdrum Church in the Parish of Rathdrum, in the District of Glendalough
Fifteenth day of May 1845
Wm. Fitzhenry widower of full age, a shopkeeper
Residence Arklow
Father "not alive"
Mary Jenkinson spinster of full age, a shopkeeper
Residence Rathdrum
Father "not alive"
Married in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland by license
Both parties signed
Witnesses: John Jenkinson and Wm. Manning
Once again, thanks to Bev Kronk for searching out these marriages and sharing them with us.
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When I saw this one, for a moment I thought we had another bigamous marriage, until I saw that this Eliza Fitzhenry had a different father... although the two marriages have the same witness in William Heath
Registrar's District of Rathdrum
Marriage solemnised at the Parish Church in the Parish of Arklow, in the County of Wicklow
May 3rd 1859
Charles Dunfoy bachelor aged 26, a school master
Residence Bray
Father William Dunfoy a farmer
Eliza Fitzhenry spinster aged 18,
Residence Arklow
Father Robert Fitzhenry a farmer
Married in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland by license
Both parties signed
Witnesses: Wm. Heath and W. J Dillon
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The second of Bev's Irish marriages, also from Waterford.
1867
Registrar's District of Waterford
Marriage solemnised at Cathedral, in the Parish of Trinity, in the City of Waterford
July 27th 1867
William Henry Taylor, bachelor of full age, a seaman
Residence Queen Street
Father George Taylor, an Inspector of Works
Mary Fitzhenry, spinster of full age
Residence Stephen Street
Father Thomas Fitzhenry, a slater
Married in the Cathedral according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland by license
Both parties signed
Witnesses: Ellen Fitzhenry and George Hamilton.
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We've moved up the East coast for this one:
Marriage solemnised at the Parish Church in the Parish of Arklow, in the County of Wicklow
February 29th 1860
Samuel Plummer bachelor of full age, a shopkeeper
Residence (Looks like Limerick)
Father Wm. W. Plummer a farmer
Eliza Fitzhenry spinster of full age
Residence Arklow
Father Wm. Fitzhenry a shopkeeper
Married in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland by license
Both parties signed
Witnesses: Wm. Heath and John Plummer
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Wendy Rutter sent us a newspaper cutting from the "The Mercury" (Hobart, Tasmania) from Tuesday 8th April 1913. We're not sure whether it was a slow news day to have to fill the paper with a story about a man encountering a snake.... in South Africa ... you can come to your own conclusions!
The Sidney Fitzhenry mentioned in the story is very likely to be Sidney Cawood Fitzhenry, son of John Arthur and Kate Fitzhenry and brother of Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, the WW1 nurse.
Anyway, here is the whole article on the anniversary of its publication.
SOUTH AFRICAN NOTES
(From Our Exchanges)
Mr. Sidney Fitzhenry had rather a strange experience with a snake one day lately, records the Jansenville paper. He was driving with a cart and a pair of horses to the graals, when he saw a big cobra crossing the road. He pulled up the horses, jumped out and attacked it with stones, whereat the snake turned on him. He got quickly out of the way, and the snake quietly went and coiled up under the horses, with its head up “ready to strike”. He was afraid to move the horses, fearing that the snake might attack them, when, to his surprise and consternation, the snake quietly climbed up into the cart and started to make itself comfortable on the seat. Now, whether the snake picked up the reins to drive, or just what did happen, is not quite clear, but it is a fact that the horses started off with only the cobra as driver. Mr. Fitzhenry ran to their heads, and, after bringing them to a standstill, spanned out, keeping one eye on his passenger all the time. After the horses had been secured, he attacked the snake again, and managed to kill it. – This story is vouched for as being absolutely true.
Perhaps someone who speaks Afrikaans can translate "graals" for us. The best meaning I have come across so far is corral or animal enclosure.
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The wonderful Bev Kronk has sent me details of four more Irish marriages.
(That's one a night for the next four nights, you lucky people. Except for tomorrow night, when we bring you a South African news story on the anniversary of its publication in 1913.)
1867
Registrar's District of Waterford
Marriage solemnised at the Wesleyan Chapel in the Parish of Trinity Within, in the City of Waterford
September 18th 1867
Samuel Foster bachelor of full age, a farmer
Residence Tonduff, Parish of Abbeyleix, Queens County
Father William Foster (deceased) a farmer
Elizabeth Fitzhenry spinster of full age
Residence The Mall, Parish of Trinity Cathedral, Waterford
Father Samuel Fitzhenry (deceased) a "valuator"
Married in the above Registered Building according to the Usages of the Wesleyan Methodist Church by license
Both parties signed
Witnesses: Richard Boate and Frances Jane Fitzhenry
(Abbeyleix is about 65 miles north of the city of Waterford and can be found on Googlemaps.)
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This tale comes with permission from Mr Richard van Pelt who runs the Van Pelt Heritage website. This traces the Van Pelt name worldwide, and the Fitzhenry and Van Pelt names coincide in Arkansas.
Joseph Miles Fitzhenry was born in Kentucky in 1825. His father, Edward Fitzhenry, was born in Ireland and his mother was Julia Ann Jarboe whose family from France were some of the first settlers of the Maryland Colony.
In 1848 he married a cousin Rose Ann Jarboe and they had a total of 10 children. Their daughter Minnie Corinth Fitzhenry was born in April of 1862 when Capt. Fitzhenry was at the Battle of Shiloh near Corinth, Mississippi. A family story says that during the battle his horse was shot out from under him and his saber slashed his leg.
As Kentucky was already occupied by Union troops and his house and property were confiscated, Capt. Fitzhenry resigned his commission and returned to Kentucky to rescue his wife and child. He was captured and taken to Fort Delaware. After a prisoner exchange in April of 1863, he was able to return to Kentucky and later moved his family to Arkansas
In Morrilton, Arkansas, he built the Catholic Convent, some business houses, and many of the finest residences. He was the owner and proprietor of the Fitzhenry House Hotel. His daughter Minnie Corinth was 19 years old when she married James Alexander Van Pelt, a hardware store owner, tin smith, and inventor. A year later (1882), Herbert Newton Van Pelt was born. Sadly, Minnie Corinth died at only 23, leaving 3 year old Herbert to be raised by the Fitzhenrys.
The picture of the Fitzhenry House hotel is reproduced with Mr Van Pelt's permission, and a larger version of the picture is on his website.
The picture of the Fitzhenry House Hotel & Boarding House was taken about 1886. In the center of the porch is young Herbert Newton Van Pelt standing between his grandparents, Capt. Joseph Miles Fitzhenry and Rose Ann (Jarboe) Fitzhenry. The building was torn down sometime after Capt. Fitzhenry died in 1907. Herbert moved to the fine home of his uncle, Dan Fones, in Little Rock, Arkansas.
If you have any further information about the Van Pelts anywhere in the world, please email Mr Richard Van Pelt
If you have any more information about Captain Fitzhenry or the Jarboe family, please contact us!
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When Dave Paddington from Australia asked us about his forebears William Fitzhenry and Mary Cronin, I thought that we had found a link between the Australian and Welsh branches of this family.
No such luck. It looks like we have two William Fitzhenry - Mary Cronin couples!
Not only has Dave added some colour to this family history, but he's also sent some wonderful old photos.
This is the one of William in his Sunday best, but there are also photos of Mary Cronin, and their daughters Alice and Emily. I'm putting these on the new website.
Dave writes
William Fitzhenry came out to Australia on his own and headed for the goldfields in Victoria. His first known address was Woods Point where Princess Alexandra Mining Company were mining. He had shares in the company and from his photo attached you can see he didn't look like the type to get his hands dirty. He then moved to Melbourne where he met Mary Cronin. They owned several hotels in the South Yarra / St Kilda area of Melbourne.
They had 5 Children:
Ellen Mary Fitzhenry ( My Great Grandmother )
William Edward Fitzhenry
Alice Maud Fitzhenry
John Thomas Fitzhenry
Catherine Fitzhenry
I have a whole lot of other information and newspaper articles featuring William if you want to add extra to your blog. Stuff like him being charged with assault over a card game; fined for selling liquor on a Sunday etc....
and we said "yes please!" so hopefully we will hear more about William's exploits.
Dave would like to hear from anybody related to William and Mary and can be contacted be sending a message to the Blog which we will forward.
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Dear All
We're back on line again.
Over 3300 individuals for you to peruse - but no-one born after 1910. I thought it better to keep the privacy levels high until I'd got the hang of this.
Do you think that we should have a cut-off date of 1930, a bit like the publicly available US census returns, with the "living" flag enabled for anyone without a definitive death date?
Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
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Yes, the fourth result is in, and he's not a match to any of the previous three testees.
So with two of the previously tested men being genetically from the same family and two having different patterns, it's starting to look like there are distinct "fingerprints" for the different branches.
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