What I've been up to recently...

Dear All
You may wonder why there has been a derth of posts in November. Work has been hectic (as usual) and then I took a short break in Ireland.
The first stop was in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny. I was following up the only Fitzhenry family in County Kilkenny who emigrated to Australia back in 1854, and found some very interesting new leads and met some really lovely people.
The second stop was in Cornamona / Clonbur / Cong in County Galway, meeting the real life Fitzhenrys who are still living in the area. And I met some more really lovely people!
This Irish Road Trip will be immortalised in the next Road Trip series which I hope to start posting over this coming weekend.

Declan Fitzhenry has found us and the post we wrote about his match-winning bowling in the Ribblesdale Twenty-20 cup final this summer. He is now spending the winter in New Zealand, playing cricket for the Hawkes Bay club. We hope that he will continue to send us updates on how he's getting on. (See, I mentioned cricket and conspicuously didn't mention the first Ashes Test...)

And FamilyTreeDNA are doing their end of year offer for DNA testing for family history and surname studies. More about this in the next post.

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Private Peter Fitzhenry (continued) and Rifleman Patrick Fitzhenry

I've been very fortunate to be able to speak tonight with the son of Peter Fitzhenry, who we featured in the last post.

Apart from confirming that we indeed had the right man, I also learned that Peter was granted his Silver War Badge after losing his arm at the Battle of Arras on the Western Front in France.

Peter was one of four brothers. His eldest brother James came to St Helen's, Lancashire, England in 1890, with Patrick and his wife and the young Peter joining them some years later. All three of these men were coal miners. The second son, John, emigrated to Canada.

When the First World War broke out, Patrick Fitzhenry enlisted for the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was killed at Gallipoli on 6 August 1915 and is remembered on the Helles Memorial. He left a wife Catherine and 5 children.

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Lest we forget - Private Peter Fitzhenry of the RAMC

On this Remembrance Sunday, I'm going to revisit the story of one Private Peter Fitzhenry of the Royal Army Medical Corps, a soldier that I wrote about here. I now have some more information to continue his story.

To recap... Peter Fitzhenry wasn't killed in the Great War, but he did receive wounds so severe that he was granted a Silver War Badge and discharged from further service in the Army. As his records had been destroyed by fire during the London Blitz in World War 2, at the time I could not positively identify him out of the several Peters who may have been serving in the British Army at the time.

The Silver War Badge registers at the National Archives at Kew are not yet digitised or on file, but the original register is open to view.
The register showed that SWB number 454414 was granted to Private Peter Fitzhenry of the RAMC. He enlisted on 3 November 1915 and was discharged in 9 December 1919 due to "Wounds" (the alternative reason being "sickness"). He was 35 years and 7 months at discharge, which makes his birthday around May 1884. He served overseas, but the register does not say where.
What is odd is that all the men from the RAMC who were being awarded the SWB on this page of the register in November or December 1919, over one year after the War had ended.

So where does this place Peter Fitzhenry in the wider Fitzhenry family?

The only man in my database that fits his profile is a Peter Fitzhenry who was born in County Wexford and who emigrated with the rest of his brothers to work in the coal mines in the industrial North-West of England. If my guess is correct, then Peter lost at least one and maybe two brothers in the War.

I only started writing this posting this afternoon, made the link and now I will have to consult with one of my correspondents to see if she does indeed recognise him as an ancestor. If so, I'll be able to tell you more about him soon.

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In memoriam - Anne Elizabeth Fitzhenry (nee Carty)

We at the Blog wish to send our condolences to the family of Anne Elizabeth Fitzhenry (nee Carty), who died on 27th October 2010 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Anne's obituary from the Glasgow Evening Times is posted online here.

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Fitz-Henry entries in the Kilbride parish registers (County Wicklow)

Bev Kronk has sent us these register entries from the LDS microfiche of the registers of the burial grounds of Old Kilbride and New Kilbride. We have featured these cemeteries before in the series about the Cantwell memorial transcriptions.
The fiche comes with the bonus of also including the baptism register.
Bev's text is in normal font, and my notes are in italics. I've put hyphens in their names as this was how they spelled it.

BURIALS – FITZHENRY
Name – Where born – Date of Burial – Register Number - Age

Ann Maria Arklow 5 Apr 1844 157 4 ½ years
This girl would have been born in 1839. She isn't mentioned in the Cantwell transcriptions, but her year of birth may make her the daughter of Robert Edward and Elizabeth Fitz-Henry and hence the elder sister of Susanna Fitz-Henry who married George Wilson, and Wilhelmina Fitz-Henry who is mentioned below.

Elizabeth Dublin 15 Aug 1848 290 61 years
The mother of Robert Fitz-Henry 1819-1857 mentioned below.

Elizabeth Arklow 26 Jun 1862 559 51 years
Wife of Robert Edward Fitz-Henry and mother of Susanna and Wilhelmina (and maybe Ann Maria) Fitz-Henry.

Henry Joseph Arklow 24 Oct 1841 107 2 weeks - Infant
Again, not mentioned in the previous Cantwell transcriptions, but the right age to be another child of Robert Edward and Elizabeth Fitz-Henry.

Johanna Arklow 3 Apr 1844 156 38 years
Born in 1806. She may be another child of William and Sibella (see this post) but the adult children seem well accounted for in the gravestone memorials. She may be a sister of Robert (1819-1857) or a wife of someone that we haven't met yet.

Mary Jane Arklow 16 Dec 1849 313 2 ½ years – Infant
The first child of the marriage of William Fitz-Henry and Mary Jenkinson.

First Name not stated Arklow 19 Jan 1890 186 Not stated
The only candidate for this entry is Mary Fitz-Henry nee Jenkinson, the second wife of William Fitz-Henry.

Robert Dublin 2 Oct 1857 460 38 years
Robert's death date and age in the Cantwell transcriptions didn't match up with the dates for his mother. His age in Cantwell was transcribed as 58, rather than the 38 given here. This makes far more sense, as now his mother Elizabeth's dates are 1787-1848 and Roberts are 1819-1857.

Robert Arklow 2 Feb 1848 264 32 years
Born 1816. I've no idea how he fits in!

Robert Edward Arklow 8 Apr 1854 398 4 years
The third child of William Fitz-Henry and Mary Jenkinson.

Wihemina Arklow 20 Sep 1860 524 17 years
[the Christian name is how it was recorded – no letter l]
The sister of Susanna Fitz-Henry - here's her memorial.

William Arklow 24 Oct 1859 498 71 years
The patriarch of the family. He was married firstly to Sibella, and then Mary Jenkinson.

William Arklow 9 Jan 1843 133 23 years
The third child of William and Sibella Fitz-Henry

BAPTISMS – FITZHENRY
All are children of Charles J and Charlotte Elizabeth FITZHENRY. Charles and Elizabeth and two of their infant children were buried at St Bridgid's churchyard and we have featured this family in a previous post.

Name – Date of Baptism – Reference Number

John Joseph – 5 Sep 1886 – 87 A
Josephine Emily – 15 Feb 1888 – 101 A
Kathleen Jane – 8 Oct 1887 – 93 A

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Enoch Fitzhenry's stone in the Veteran's Park, Dublin, Ohio

In May 2009, we featured the unveiling ceremony of the memorial stones to Enoch Fitzhenry and many other American revolutionaries, in this blog posting.

These are in the Veteran's Park in Dublin, Ohio.

Sharon Ambrose (herself a descendant of Enoch) was kind enough to send us this photo of the actual memorial stone to Enoch Fitzhenry. Thanks Sharon!

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Professor Terrance Fitz-Henry 1939-2010

The Blog wishes to mark the passing of Terrance R. Fitz-Henry, retired professor of English and theatre at Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY., who has died at the age of 71.
Terry was hiking at Franconia Notch, New Hampshire when he died, where he was scattering the ashes of a close friend.

We would like to send our condolences to his family and friends.

Here is his on-line obituary

From the family members mentioned in the obituary, it appears he was the grandson of John Joseph Fitz-Henry of the Fitz-Henry family orignally of Arklow, County Wicklow.

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At last - the grave of Captain William Fitz-Henry of Ashtead, Surrey

Please excuse what had become a bit of a personal obsession, but I've finally found the burial place of Captain William Fitz-Henry of Winchester and Ashtead, Surrey.

Actually, that isn't strictly true. Ann Williams, who runs the Ashtridge one-name study, found it. Her Ashtridge ancestors bought land in Ashtead adjacent to Oakfield Lodge from William Fitz-Henry.

She was over on vacation from Calgary doing some family research and popped into the Hampshire record office in Winchester. On the fiche for West Hill Cemetery, Winchester she found:

William FitzHenry of Astead (sic), Surrey
December 1 1885 aged 55
Entry no. 10,017

So William was buried in the same cemetery as his first wife Barbara Morrison and their infant children. William did not specify his final resting place in his will. I have yet to find the burial place of Martha Eagles his second wife, but now I'll look to see if she was buried there too.

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Marriage of George Hamilton and Ellen Fitzhenry, Waterford 1868

Bev Kronk also sent this marriage certificate:

1868 marriage solemnised at the Roman Catholic chapel of St Patrick in the Registrar's district of Waterford in the Union of Waterford in the County of Waterford

January 11th 1868
George Hamilton aged 22 bachelor
Tradesman
Father John Hamilton - Professor of music

Ellen Fitzhenry aged 21 spinster
Dressmaker
Father Thomas Fitzhenry Tradesman

Both parties resident at 22 Stephen Street
Both parties signed
Ellen signed herself Ellen Hamilton

Witnesses Robert Wedges, Mr. Seville

If you think that you've seen this couple before - you have - as witnesses at the marriage of William Henry Taylor and Mary Fitzhenry in 1867 also in Waterford.
However at least one of the sisters had a change of familial religious inclinations. Mary was married in the Church of Ireland cathedral, and as you can see, Ellen was married in St Patrick's Catholic chapel.

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Birth of Johanna Frances Fitzhenry 1902 Wexford city.

More certificates have been sent to us by Bev Kronk. Here's the first:

1902, 29 October, Selskar Street, Wexford
Johanna Frances Female
[father] Charles Fitzhenry, Main Street, Wexford, Shopkeeper
[mother] Mary Ellen Fitzhenry, formerly O’Connor
[informant] Charles Fitzhenry, Father, Main Street, Wexford
Registered 26 November, 1902

What else do we know about this family?
Charles and Mary Ellen Fitzhenry appeared in the1901 Irish census.
All of the family were born in County Wexford, and all were said to be "Roman Cathorlic"

Residents of a house 24 in Selskar Street (Wexford Urban, Wexford)
Fitzhenry Charles 30 Male Head of Family Grocer and Spirit Merchant
Fitzhenry Mary Ellen 24 Female Wife
Fitzhenry Robert Edward 3 Male Son
Fitzhenry Charles Herbert 2 Male Son
Fitzhenry Mary Ellen 1 Female Daughter

However, all the family is missing from the 1911 census. As yet I haven't found them on emigration records, but this is what I expect had happened.

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Annie Eliza Fitz-Henry - Winchester to Japan to Surrey (1867 -1958)

Annie Eliza Fitz-Henry was the one remaining daughter of Captain William Fitz-Henry of Winchester, Hampshire and Ashtead, Surrey who I hadn't been able to track down during her adult life... until now.

She was born on 4 October 1867 at the Winchester Peninsular barracks, the last of six children to William and his first wife Barbara Morrison and was christened at the parish church of Week (a small village near Winchester) on 22 October 1867.

William was posted overseas to the East Indies the following month (from his army service records at The National Archives) and was abroad during the 1871 census. What isn't clear is whether he was allowed as an officer to have his wife accompany him. However, I can't find Barbara in the 1871 census of England and Wales, nor can I find Annie Eliza or her older brother Norman Edward (1865 - 1901), so perhaps they were all living together in officers' quarters.
William's older surviving children - his stepdaughter Henrietta and son William George - were at boarding school in Winchester.

In the 1881 census, Annie was a 15 year old pupil at the Ellesmere College boarding School at Eastbourne Sussex, while William and his new wife Martha Eagles were setting up home in Ashtead with their two young children.

When William died in 1885, he left her £1000 and any items of furniture that she may have in her possession. She seems to have been the second favourite child - the oldest boy William George got all the family heirlooms, Norman Edward only received £300 and Henrietta wasn't mentioned at all.

Annie was a witness at the marriage of her brother William George to Isabella Cooper at the church of St George Hanover Square on November 1886.

And that was the last I had seen of her, until this weekend while I was going through the passenger lists on Ancestry. Obviously the wanderlust that had taken Dr William George to New Zealand and Norman Edward to Oregon had also infected her.

In 1928, she was a 60 year old woman travelling on her own on the packet steamer from Lisbon, Portugal and arriving in Southampton. Her destination address was given as The Cedars, East Dulwich Road, Dulwich, the address of her brother Dr. William George Fitz-Henry.

Even more remarkably in May 1935, she arrived in London having travelled from Yokohama in Japan
Her occupation was given as a secretary and her last country of permanent residence was Japan. Again she was heading back to her brother's house in Dulwich.
But just what was she doing in Japan?

Annie Eliza's death was registered in the 4th quarter of 1958 in Surrey aged 90. If anyone has any information about what she was doing between 1886 and 1958 please let us know!

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The Fitzhenry - Jenkinson - Manning connection in Arklow

Apart from the Heath surname, there are two other surnames that crop up in the Fitzhenry records from the Arklow district. These are Jenkinson and Manning.
I've put these events in date order.

In 1835 Robert Fitzhenry and Elizabeth Manning were granted a marriage license*.
I don't know where they subsequently married, but if this is the Robert Edward Fitzhenry whose gravestone we discussed in this post,
then Elizabeth Manning is the mother of
Susanna Fitzhenry (born 1840) who married George Wilson.
*Reference: "Index to the Act or Grant Books and Original Wills of the Diocese of Dublin 1800-1858, 30th report"

Bev Kronk sent me this one:
Marriage in the parish of Rathdrum 15 May 1845
William Fitzhenry, widower, shopkeeper in Arklow (father not alive) to
Mary Jenkinson spinster, shopkeeper, Rathdrum (father not alive)
The witnesses were John Jenkinson and William Manning

A wonderful collection of Manning records has been compiled by D J Griffiths at this site. The Mannings appear to have been in the Arklow area from at least 1600 and probably before. This following entry comes from this site:
Marriage in the parish of Rathdrum on 15th December 1852,
Samuel Manning of Ballyteigue to Sarah Jenkinson of Rathdrum,
William Fitzhenry - witness for the groom and John Jenkinson - witness for the bride.
Sarah could be Mary Jenkinson's sister.

This marriage is from the Irish Genealogy site (highly recommended!).
A Manning - Fitzhenry match here is probably coincidental, as the parish is Aghold much further inland, and is here on the map
30 June 1856 at Aghold Parish church
JOHN MANNING of MUNNY, bachelor aged 24, a servant
Son of JOHN MANNING a labourer
MARY FITZHENRY of AGHOLD, spinster aged 21, a servant
Daughter of GEORGE FITZHENRY, a labourer
Witnesses WILLIAM MANNING (WITNESS FOR HUSBAND) and RUTH DAGG (WITNESS FOR WIFE)


Are there any Mannngs or Jenkinsons out there with a Fitzhenry connection? Drop us a line!

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More about the siblings of John Joseph Fitz-Henry of Wicklow and Canada

The obituary of John Joseph Fitz-Henry, (1887-1957) said that he was survived by two sisters: Mary Fitzhenry and Mrs Lottie Wicklow.

With the help of two excellent free genealogy sites which are always worth another plug - Familysearch.com and The National Archives of Ireland - I was able not only to find these two women but another two sisters as well.

Starting with the National Archives of Ireland website for the 1901 and 1911 censuses, I found Lottie (Charlotte) Fitzhenry working as an 18 year old draper's shop apprentice in 1901 (although incorrectly transcribed as Latty) in Drogheda Town, County Louth.

Her surviving sisters were all at the Church Home Boarding School in Dublin

Fitz Henry Mary Raymond 17 Church of Ireland Ovaca, Co Wicklow Teaching Assistant
Fitzhenry Josephine 12 Church of Ireland Ovaca, Co Wicklow Pupil
Fitzhenry Kathleen 13 Female Church of Ireland Ovaca, Co Wicklow Pupil

Mary we knew about from the obituary, but the other two were new discoveries.

I couldn't find Mary in the 1911 census, and John Joseph had already emigrated to Canada.
Lottie had married Joseph John Wicklow in the 3rd quarter of 1903. He was in the 1901 census as a "merchant's assistant", a Quaker by faith and born in Dublin. I could find neither of them in the 1911 census.

Josephine Fitzhenry was working in the same draper's shop in Drogheda (as a draper's assistant) as her sister Lottie had been 10 years previously. Some of the same staff were still there from the 1901 census.

Kathleen Jane Fitzhenry had been incorrectly transcribed as Fitzhkenny and was living in the household of Norman and Rebecca Allen in Eaton Square Dublin as a companion and help.

Now working from the Familysearch website, I found the births of all these children registered in the registration district of Rathdrum:
Charlotte Elizabeth Fitzhenry registered 3rd quarter 1882
Mary Raymond Fitzhenry birth registered 1st quarter of 1886 according to Familysearch, but in the census her birth year would have been 1884. Also it would have been too soon after the birth of the twins for Mary to have been conceived and born by March 1886.
The twins Harriet Jane and William Henry who were born 6 September 1885 and died within 2 weeks. Both registered in the third quarter 1885.
John Joseph Fitzhenry registered 4th quarter 1886
Kathleen Jane Fitzhenry registered 1st quarter 1888
Josephine Emily Fitzhenry registered 1st quarter 1889

Charles Joseph Fitzhenry married Charlotte Elizabeth Raymond in the 2nd quarter of 1880 in the registration district of Longford, County Longford, and hence Mary Raymond Fitzhenry's middle name.

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Fitzhenry stars in Ribblesdale Cricket League Twenty-Twenty final

Back to the present briefly. Regular readers will know of my penchant for the odd game of cricket, so I couldn't let this moment of Fitzhenry cricketing glory pass me by.

Declan Fitzhenry of Whalley cricket club in the Ribblesdale League was instrumental in the team's epic Twenty-twenty final victory over rivals Read. His bowling figures of 3 for 20 helped restrict Read to 87 runs, a target which was easily reached with the loss of only one wicket.

A full match report is here with a photo of Declan thrown in for good measure. For our overseas readers here is Whalley in Lancashire.


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Robert Heath Cooper (not William Heath Cooper)

Bev Kronk very rightly pointed out that I had made an error in the last posting with the name of the uncle of John Joseph Fitzhenry, who was looking after the orphan in his own family.

The uncle's name was Dr. Robert Heath Cooper not William Heath Cooper.

Since the last post, both me and Bev had found his marriage to Susan Frances which shows that she was indeed a Fitzhenry.
Robert Heath Cooper / Susan Frances FITZHENRY Jul-Sep Qr 1880 Rathdrum Vol 2 Page 769.

Robert died in 1909 at the age of 73, and Susan died in 1912 aged 61, both in the registration district of Wexford (from the Irish Civil registration indexes).

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John Joseph FitzHenry of County Wicklow and Winnipeg Canada

The previous post featured the family of Charles James Fitzhenry (1853-1891) and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth Fitzhenry (1855-1897) who had twins who died at the age of abut 2 weeks old in 1885.

John Joseph Fitz Henry (his own spelling of his name) attested for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in March 1915. At the time he was living at 829 Home Street Winnipeg, but gave his date and place of birth as 5 October 1887 at Mine View House, Avoca, County Wicklow.
I believe that he is another child of Charles and Charlotte.

John Joseph was four years old when his father died and eleven when he became an orphan in 1897.

In the 1900 census of Ireland he was living with his uncle Dr Cooper and family in Wygram Place, Wexford town, Co Wexford. He was 14 years old and his birthplace was given as County Wicklow.
Dr. Cooper's full name was William Heath Cooper (a dentist born County Wexford), his wife was Frances Susan Cooper (born Co. Wicklow in 1851) and there were seven children living at home including Mary Fitzhenry Cooper and Violet Heath Cooper. I think we can safely assume that not only was this the same John Joseph Fitzhenry as the man who ended up in Winnipeg, but that his aunt Frances Susan was probably born a Fitzhenry in the same Arklow Fitzhenry family. And yes, there's that Heath connection again.

In the 1911 census, the Cooper family were still living in the same house, but Frances Susan was a widow who stated that she had been married for 30 years and had 9 children all living. One of these was the 28 year old Robert Fitzhenry Cooper who had now moved back into the family home having also qualified as a dentist.
However, John Joseph was no longer with them, as in June 1910, he had emigrated to Canada. He sailed on board the "Southwark" from Glasgow, Scotland to Quebec on his own as a 22 year old chemist, a protestant by religion.
On 13 December 1913, he married Gertrude Ella Waters (Canadian marriage registration index). They had at least one son, Charles J. Fitzhenry born in 1914 (US Social security death index) which again links him with the Charles James who died at Mine View Avoca in 1891.

In 1915 John Joseph joined the Canadian Army, and a rather fine picture of him in his military uniform may be found here.

He died in December 1957 aged 71, and his obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press (December 30th 1957) said of him

"Mr Fitzhenry served as a Captain with the Queen's Own Lancers in India and most of his life had been with the British Army. He had lived in Manitoba for the past four years. Survivors are two sisters Mary and Mrs. Lottie Wicklow, both in Ireland, and a son Jim in Van Nuys California.... Burial will be in the military plot, Brookside Cemetery."

This obituary gives us another two children of Charles and Charlotte Elizabeth - Mary Fitzhenry and Lottie (Charlotte) Fitzhenry who became Mrs Wicklow.

If anyone recognises any of these names and wants to contribute more to the story, please drop us a line at the blog or leave a comment below this posting.


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St Brigid's Churchyard, Kilbride near Arkow

.... or "not everything was transcribed by Cantwell."

Brian Cantwell's transcription work is a real boon to all of us trying to find Irish ancestors in Wexford and Wicklow, but he would have been the first to admit that he had not transcribed everything in these counties. In fact he had transcribed about half of all of the graveyards in Wexford and about a third of those in Wicklow - a magnificent effort.

So for this next entry, and the additional parish register information, we are very grateful to Mrs Peggy Leonard who shared this information with us. St. Brigids churchyard, Kilbride was one of those not transcribed by Cantwell. St Brigids is a Church of Ireland church about 4km north of Arklow on the other side of the N11 main road.

Erected by his sorrowing wife
In Loving Memory of
Charles Jas. Fitzhenry
Mineview, Avoca
Died 15 May 1891 aged 38 yrs.
Also his twin children
Who died young
Also
Charlotte Elizabeth, his widow
Died 8 July 1898 aged 43 yrs.

Transcriber's note: Charles' death record:
Charles Fitzhenry - Ferrybank - Gentleman - Prot - 38 - Married - 15 May 1891.
Charlottes death record differs from stone:
Charlotte Fitzhenry - Mine View, Avoca - Lady - Prot - Widow - 31 August 1898.
Twins death records:
Hariet Fitzhenry - Ballycoolean - Child of Charles - Prot - Infant - 2wks. - 20 September 1885
William Fitzhenry - Ballycoolean - Child of Charles - Prot - Infant -12 days - 18 September 1885.

Undoubtably these are related to the other Fitzhenrys of Arklow.

Tomorrow - John Joseph FitzHenry of Mine View Avoca signs up for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the Great War.

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More on Enoch - Exclusive!

This entry by Peter Wilson need a bit of a pre-amble!
Peter is the son-in-law of Austin Paul Fitz-Henry (Australia).
Our Ann Fitzhenry is the wife of Troy Fitzhenry (USA) who is a direct descendant of Enoch Fitzhenry.
They were the two men who turned up the almost perfect DNA match in the test last year without previously having guessed of any relationship at all.
Now read on...

Peter writes:

Troy FitzHenry is a direct descendant from our Enoch. He found that he had a Y-DNA match with Paul Fitz-Henry in Australia which means almost certainly that Troy, Paul and Enoch are all related.
Paul is the last known male of the Fitz-Henry line that migrated to Australia and New Zealand and he has three daughters. His youngest daughter Paula, married Rick Young and they have produced three daughters also. The middle daughter is Codie Young.

You may well ask where this is all leading?

Well Troy now has a relative who as of this Wednesday will be the fashion model on the Vogue Magazine Cover in Australia (October Edition). Click on http://www.vogue.com.au and then click on Vogue Magazine after next Wednesday.

That means that Troy and Enoch have relatives from Australia and New Zealand that have spent time in Leavenworth Prison, owned mines in Chile, been advertising experts, newspaper editors, farmers and fashion models. Never know what you are about to dig up in the family!!!

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Cantwell memorials: Old Kilbride cemetery, Arklow, County Wicklow (3)

The last memorial from the Old Kilbride cememtery. This one is raised to the family of Dr William Heath and his wife Sibella Fitzhenry, daughter of William and Sibbella Fitzhenry of Arklow.
As usual the text is per Cantwell's transcription - he himself added the queries

Erected in memory of the children of
William and Sibella Heath of Arklow
Robert Heath aged 2 (4?) years
Catherine Heath aged 5 months
Also sacred to the memory of
William Heath of Arklow
who fell asleep in Jesus
13th February 1867 aged 67
Also Sibella Heath wife of
(remainder of inscription underground)

... which disappointingly leaves us with no definite death date for Sibella as we can't find her on the Irish GRO indexes on FamilySearch either.

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Cantwell memorials: Old Kilbride cemetery, Arklow, County Wicklow (2)

Two more gravestones from the Old Kilbride cemetery. Both of these honour a mother named Elizabeth Fitzhenry, but the dates are different, so this is not the same Elizabeth.

Erected by
George Wilson
Arklow County Wicklow
in memory of his beloved wife
Susanna
who died March 28th 1876
aged 36 years
Also of her mother Elizabeth Fitzhenry
Died June 23rd 1862 aged 58 years
and of her sister
Wilhelmina Josephina
Fitzhenry died Sep 18 1860
in her 16 year

We have met Susanna Fitzhenry and George Wilson before - they were married in Arklow in 1864
Susan's father was Robert Ed. Fitzhenry, a shopkeeper - it is not stated whether he was deceased in 1864, but if he was the Robert Edward Fitzhenry, son of William and Sibbella Fitzhenry (see previous post), then he had died in 1847.

Could William have had Robert Edward buried in his family plot, and was there then another plot for Robert Edward's wife and their two daughters? Or were there two Robert Edwards in this town who lived to adulthood?

George had at least 3 sons with Susannah (George, Robert Edward and William Hawkins). He then married Jane Price and they had at least another 4 children. In the 1911 census George was still living in Arklow in comfortable retirement as a widower with his spinster sister-in-law Sarah Anne Price, a dentist.

The next pair are a bit of a mystery. Elizabeth's dates (1787 - 1848) are in the same time frame as William's (1788 - 1859), so she may be the wife of an unknown brother, and hence Robert is William's nephew. However, Robert's dates (1799-1857) means that Elizabeth was only 12 years old when she gave birth to him - I think there is some mistranscription here!

Erected by Robert Fitzhenry
in memory of
his beloved and affectionate mother
Elizabeth Fitzhenry
who departed this life
August 12th 1848
aged 61 years
Also the remains of the above named
Robert Fitzhenry
Who died the 20th of Sept 1857
aged 58 years

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