James Archbold Cassidy

Hello Caroline,

I'm not related but found a great deal of information concerning James Archbold Cassidy and his family, as well as a photo of the Passlands Cassidy Mausoleum, and other photos pertaining to him and the Cassidy Distillery in Monasterevin.

It's going to take some time to compile all this information, perhaps several days and into the month of March. But, in the meantime is there one specific record (in addition to a photo of the mausoleum) that you are especially interested in locating concerning James Archbold Cassidy?

For example, his baptism record or his marriage record, or a birth record of one of his children you are descended from? Which of his children are you descended from? I'll see if I can find his or her birth record and their marriage record, if you do not already have these documents.

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

 

Hi Dave

My great grandmother was Anna Cassidy, daughter of James Archbold Cassidy. She compiled a scrap book of recipes and household tips during the first and Second World War which I have transcribed and am currently putting into a blog.

If you have her birth and marriage records, this would be brilliant. It would be excellent to have a picture of the mausoleum as well.  

Thanks so much  

All the best Caroline

 

 

 

 

Hello Caroline,

You’re welcome and many thanks for your reply and additional information about your great grandmother, Anna Cassidy. I am going to concentrate on finding more information about her first. I want to find her birth record and if possible her baptism record, as well as the birth and baptism records of her siblings, and the marriage of her parents.

Did Anna marry a London solicitor named Charles Mathew? If the answer is yes, I also want to locate their marriage record and find them in the 1901 and 1911 census enumerations for London, if you do not already have these enumerations.

Also, did Anna work in, or live near Kensington Palace?

Attached to this reply is a photo of the Cassidy Mausoleum in Passlands, as you requested. This photo was submitted to Ancestry.com in 2012 by a Mrs. Karen Cassidy of Dublin. Do you know Karen Cassidy?

With Kind Regards,

Dave

Hi Dave

thanks very much for the picture of the mausoleum. It's huge! Very impressive.
 

Anna married Charles James Mathew who was a London barrister. He became a Labour MP in the 1922 general election but died shortly afterwards, following an operation. I don't know exactly where they lived but imagine it would have been in the Kensington area, not far from Kensington Palace, since that is where his parents lived and, indeed, where their children and grandchildren lived.

 I don't know any Cassidys, having only just found about Anna. My mother did a lot of family research of the Mathews in Ireland (Father Mathew, the temperance priest, was great uncle to Charles). When sorting out her research notes, I discovered a handwritten note about James Archbold Cassidy.

 
I know you said you weren't related and I was wondering why you had gathered all the information on the Cassidy family and the distillery!? I am intrigued!!

I don't have any details from the 1901 and 1911 census and would be fascinated to learn what you discover. If you find the birth/baptism certificates that would be brilliant! 

Once again, thank you so much  

Caroline

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for the reply Caroline.

I have been researching my own Irish genealogy for many years and like assisting others who are looking for their own Irish ancestors. I access Irish message boards at Ancestry.com and also Ireland Reaching Out to see if anyone had not received a reply, and then see what I can find. In the case of the James Archbold Cassidy family and your great grandmother Anna, I uncovered quite a bit of information which I'll pass on to you. The information you'll receive will all be sourced so that you can also access it on your own, and also so that you can go to the same genealogy websites for additional research you may want to undertake.

As the research progresses I may be sending you more queries through this message board. I’ll probably be working on the Cassidy/Mathew genealogy through this coming weekend and into the month of March. I’d like to find as many details about your cross-channel ancestors as possible, so that you can pass your family history on to future generations.

Thank you again for your reply Caroline.

Dave

Hello Caroline,

According to her birth cert found at the free irishgenealogy.ie website, your great grandmother Anna Maria Cassidy was born on 27 July 1874 in Togher House, Monasterevan, County Kildare. Her father is James Archbold Cassidy, a J.P. (Justice of the Peace) residing in Monasterevan. Anna’s mother is also named Anna Maria whose maiden name was McDonnell. James A. Cassidy the father reported the birth to the registrar, Joseph Storey, who recorded the birth in the Athy, Kildare Registration District on 24 October 1874. You can access the birth cert by first going to the following link: https://is.gd/7Q02wM

You’ll now see the captcha prompt, “I’m not a robot.” Tick the box. The next thing you have to do is type your first and last name, and tick the box, and then click “Submit.” You’ll then be able to see the register where the birth record is. Anna Maria’s birth is Number 205 in the register.

Of the 100s of Irish birth records I’ve found at irishgenealogy.ie, most only mention the townland of birth, or the street of birth for the child in larger cities like Dublin and Cork. Most do not record the very house where a child was born. Anna Maria’s birth record does however, noting she was born in the Togher House in Monasterevin.

You can see a slide show of the exterior of Togher House as well as read a description of the architectural details of the house at the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website link at: https://is.gd/zAlpLU

Once the page downloads, scroll down and you’ll see the subheading “Description,” followed by another subheading, “Appraisal.” The Cassidy family is mentioned under “Appraisal.”

While Anna Maria’s birth record mentions that her father was a J.P., it does not record that he was the owner of the Monasterevin Distillery & Brewery, Dublin Street, Monasterevin. I’ll have more information about James Archbold Cassidy and the brewery later.

The word Togher means “causeway,” in the Irish language, though in Irish it is spelled “tochar.” This may be a reference to the River Barrow and the Barrowline that is a branch of the Grand Canal flowing through Monasterevin.

The location of Togher House is on an Ordnance Survey Map of Monasterevin from the 1888 to 1913 time period. The map is from the GeoHive website and is attached to this reply.

I next found that Anna Maria’s birth was announced on the front page of the Belfast News Letter for Thursday morning, July 30, 1874. In this announcement however, the first name of the child and the name of the mother are not mentioned. The birth announcement reads:

CASSIDY---July 27, at Monasterevan, the wife of J. Archbald Cassidy, Esq., J.P, of a daughter.
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The newspaper is attached to this reply. The birth announcement is toward the top of the first column on the left, under the subtitle, BIRTHS.

I next looked for but didn’t find the Monastrevin Catholic Parish baptism record for Anna Maria. The National Library of Ireland in Kildare Street, Dublin, holds Catholic Parish registers of baptisms, marriages, and available death/burial records for all 32 counties of Ireland, mainly for the 19th century. The Monasterevin Parish registers of births and marriages from the year 1819 can be accessed at the National Library of Ireland link at: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0716

THE MARRIAGE OF ANNA MARIA CASSIDY

Catholic marriages traditionally take place in the bride’s parish. The next record shows that your great grandmother Anna Maria and Charles F. Mathew were married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Monasterevan on January 20, 1896. This is their civil marriage record. Charles is shown to be of full age, but Anna’s age column is left blank. Having been born in 1874 though, she would have been 22 when she married in 1896. At the time of marriage Charles was a bachelor and Anna a spinster. Charles’s occupation is “Gentleman.” His residence at the time of marriage was Kensington, which of course would be a reference to Kensington, London. His father is Henry Mathew, whose occupation is “Judge.”

No occupation is recorded for Anna. Her residence is Monkestown. Her father is James Cassidy, whose occupation is “Gentleman.” The witnesses to the marriage were Edward F. Cassidy and Kathleen Mathew, who were likely the brother and sister of the groom and bride respectively. The registrar, Martin Darby, recorded the marriage in the Athy, Kildare, Registration District on 20 January 1896. The marriage is Number 135 in the register at: https://is.gd/iVjXk0

The National Library of Ireland has Monasterevin Catholic marriage records available only to 1880. However, the subscription website RootsIreland has Monasterevin marriage record transcribed to 26 February 1900. RootsIreland allows you to obtain subscriptions for a day, a month, 6 months, and a year. You could subscribe for a day to look for the marriage transcription for Charles Mathew and Anna Maria Cassedy. For more information go to: https://rootsireland.ie/ifhf/subscribe.php

The Catholic Chapel of Monasterevan is a reference to the Saints Peter and Paul Church, in Drogheda Street, St. Mary’s Lane. According to the Buildings of Irleand website the construction of the church commenced in the year 1847. For a description and slide show of the church, go to the Buildings of Ireland link at: https://is.gd/EhHPpy

A Google Map shows that the church is just 3/10ths of a mile west of Togher House, where Anna Maria Cassidy was born in 1874: https://is.gd/S5MLCp

I now wanted to see if I could locate the civil registration birth records for any children of Anna Maria and Charles F. Mathew in Monasterevin or anywhere else in Ireland. I didn’t find any records, and so went to the General Register Office (GRO) birth and death indexes for the UK, specifically for England and Wales. The GRO in the UK is also called “HM Passport Office.” For information about ordering certificates and to establish an account, go to: https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/login.asp

I searched the GRO birth indexes to see if I could find the civil registration birth records of any Mathew children from 1896 to 1901. One very helpful thing about the GRO indexes is that they give the maiden name of the child’s mother, to making finding the births less of a challenge. I found two Mathew birth records between 1896 and 1901.

The birth of James Charles Mathew was recorded in the Kensington Registration District in the December quarter of 1896, 11 months after his parents were married. The maiden name of James’s mother is Cassidy. See the index below:

Name: MATHEW, JAMES CHARLES
Mother's Maiden Surname: CASSIDY
GRO Reference: 1896 D Quarter in KENSINGTON
Volume 01A Page 174
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I also located the birth index for Theobald Mathew, whose birth was recorded in the Kensington Registration District in the December quarter of 1898. His mother’s maiden name is Cassidy, as you’ll see below:

Name: MATHEW, THEOBALD
Mother's Maiden Surname: CASSIDY
GRO Reference: 1898 D Quarter in KENSINGTON
Volume 01A Page 160
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The birth record for James Charles Mathew can be found in Volume 01A, Page 174 of the GRO birth registers.

The birth record for Theobald Mathew is in Volume 01A, Page 160 of the GRO registers.

The price for standard service with the GRO reference numbers provided costs £11.00 if the record is ordered online, and £15.00 if ordered by phone or post. See: https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/faq.asp

To apply for GRO birth (as well as death) certs go to the GRO link at: https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/app_select.asp

The full birth certs from the GRO should tell you the street name(s) where James Charles and Theobald Mathew were born, as well as provide exact dates of birth and the occupation of their father.

THE 1901 ENGLAND CENSUS

At this point in the research I wanted to locate the Mathew family in the 1901 England Census. To do this I went to the Ancestry.com website. I located the family residence at 217 Gloucester Terrace, Paddington, London. Below is the Ancestry.com location index of the 1901 census for the Mathew family:

1901 England Census

Civil Parish: Paddington
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Trinity
County/Island: London
Country: England

Street Address: 217 Gloucester Terrace

Registration District: Paddington
Sub-registration District: St Mary, Paddington
ED, institution, or vessel: 51

Source Citation
Class: RG13; Piece: 12; Folio: 52; Page: 8

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
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The Mathew family begins on Line 33 of the 1901 census, which is attached to this reply.

You’ll see in the census that Charles is a 28 year old Barrister at Law born in London, and that his 26 year old wife Anna was born in Ireland. In the household with Charles and Anna are two of their children and 4 servants. The children are 4 year old James C., and 2 year old Theobald, both born in London. They are followed by 22 year old Julia Cranny, a domestic parlormaid born in Ireland; 26 year old nurse, Elizabeth Chapman, born in Oxon, Whitechurch; a 29 year old cook named Louisa Bonehill, born in Aston Cantlow, Warwickshire; and 18 year old housemaid Norah Cranny, born in Ireland. She may be the sister or cousin of the domestic parlormaid, Julia Cranny.

A Google Map shows that Gloucester Terrace travels northwest from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, to London’s Westway: https://is.gd/fdXoEh

For a Google Street View of Gloucester Terrace, see: https://is.gd/X1uJI2

After locating the Mathew family in the 1901 census I went back to the GRO indexes for England and Wales to see if Charles and Anna Maria had more children born between the 1901 census and the 1911 census. I found the birth indexes for two more children. They are Elizabeth Mary Mathew, born in 1902, and Anne Mathew, born in 1908. Their GRO birth indexes are below:

Name: MATHEW, ELIZABETH MARY
Mother's Maiden Surname: CASSIDAY
GRO Reference: 1902 D Quarter in PADDINGTON
Volume 01A Page 62

Name: MATHEW, ANNE
Mother's Maiden Surname: CASSIDY
GRO Reference: 1908 M Quarter in ELHAM
Volume 02A Page 1190
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Mary Elizabeth’s birth is recorded in Volume 01A, Page 62 of the GRO registers. Her birth was recorded in the Paddington Registration District in the December quarter of 1902.

The birth of Anne Mathew was recorded in the Elham Registration District, and recorded in the March quarter of 1908. Her birth can be found in Volume 02A, Page 1190 of the GRO registers. Both births can be ordered from the GRO, as noted earlier.

From here I located the Mathew family in the 1911 census, which is attached to this reply. Their address is 76 Woodside, Wimbledon. See the location index of the family from Ancestry.com:

Civil Parish: Wimbledon
Country: England

Street Address: 76 Woodside, Wimbledon

Registration District Number: 40
Sub-registration District: Wimbledon
ED, institution, or vessel: 07
Piece: 3469

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

The 1911 census hows that 38 year old Charles Mathew is a Barrister at Law, born in London. His wife is 36 Anna Maria, born in Monasterevan, Ireland. The census line for Anna Maria further shows that she and Charles, as of 1911, had been married for 15 years, and in that time had 4 children, with 3 children still alive, and 1 child deceased. But, only one of their children, 8 year old Elizabeth Mary is in the household with them. Elizabeth was born in London.

The census further shows there are three servants in the Mathew household. One of these is 32 year old Julia Cranny, a domestic nurse whose birthplace is not recorded, but we known she was born in Ireland as she was also in the Mathew household in 1901 census.

Following Julia Cranny in the census is 29 year old domestic cook, Grace Goodwin, born in Wickham Market, Suffolk. The third servant is 25 year old Christina O’Leary, a domestic housemaid born in Cork Ireland.

For a Google Map of Woodside, Wimbledon, go to: https://is.gd/8EvhVp

For a Google Street View of Woodside, see: https://is.gd/OuIblj

Charles and Anna Maria’s two sons and one daughter are not in the household with them in 1911 census. One of these children, according to the census, was deceased by 1911. I next wanted to see if I could find out which child had died. Back at the GRO website for England and Wales, I accessed the death indexes and found that the death of their daughter Anne was recorded in the March quarter of 1908, which is the same quarter in which her birth was recorded in 1908. Her death was recorded in the Elham Registration District, which is also the same district where her birth was recorded in 1908. Her full death cert can be found in Volume 02A, Page 798 of the GRO registers, according to the death index below:

Name: MATHEW, ANNE
Age at Death (in years): 0
GRO Reference: 1908 M Quarter in ELHAM
Volume 02A Page 798
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Anne’s full death record from the GRO should give the exact date and place of death, as well as the cause of death, and the name of the person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the Elham district registrar.

I found an entry for Anne Mathew at the Find A Grave website, which shows she died on 14 March 1908 at age 21 days. She is buried in the Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone, Shipway District, Kent. A photo of her gravestone can be viewed at Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/217753495/anne-mathew

I’ll have more about the Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone later in this reply.

At this point I guessed that Charles and Anna Maria’s sons James C. and Theobald were in school somewhere, and so I looked for them in the 1911 census.

I found the person I believe to be Charles and Anna Maria’s son, James Mathew in the 1911 census attending St. Edmunds College, which is a Roman Catholic Seminary in Old Hall Green, Standon, Ware, Hertfordshire. See the index of James’s residence below:

1911 England Census

Civil Parish: Standon
Country: England
Street Address: St Edmunds College, Roman Catholic Seminary, Old Hall Green, Ware
Marital status: Single
Occupation: School
Registration District Number: 133
Sub-registration District: Standon
ED, institution, or vessel: 6-7
Piece: 7491

Source Citation
The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
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The census is attached to this reply and shows that James is 14 years old and born in Wimbledon. We know he wasn’t born in Wimbledon, but that his parents were living in Wimbledon at the time the census was enumerated in 1911. James is recorded on Line 15 of the census.

For more information about St. Edmund’s College, go to the Wikipedia article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Edmund%27s_College,_Ware

Concerning Theobald Mathew I initially came across a dilemma concerning him, as I found two boys named Theobald Mathew in the 1911 census, both 12 years old, with one born in Paddington and the other in London, and both students, but at different schools. The question is, could there have been two children named Theobald Mathew born in London at the same time? Going back to the GRO birth indexes I found there were. One of course, is the son of Charles and Anna Maria Mathew. The other is a child whose mother’s maiden name was Rigby. Charles and Anna Maria’s son’s birth was recorded in the Kensington Registration District in the December quarter of 1898. The birth of the other Theobald Mathew was also recorded in the December quarter of 1898, but in the Chelsea Registration District. Compare the two GRO birth indexes below:

Name: MATHEW, THEOBALD
Mother's Maiden Surname: CASSIDY
GRO Reference: 1898 D Quarter in KENSINGTON
Volume 01A Page 160

Name: MATHEW, THEOBALD
Mother's Maiden Surname: RIGBY
GRO Reference: 1898 D Quarter in CHELSEA
Volume 01A Page 383
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Of the two students named Theobald Mathew in the 1911 census, the Theobald who attended school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, was the son of Charles and Anna Maria Mathews. I know this from a Wikipedia articles about him and the Oratory School he attended in Edgbbaston, a suburb of Birmingham. This school later moved to Woodcote, near Redding. I found through a Wikipedia article that your Theobald Mathew received the KBE and was the Director of Public Prosecutions.

See the Wikipedia articles concerning Theobald at: https://is.gd/MXft00 and https://is.gd/8jpfAN

The Ancestry.com 1911 Census location index for Theobald Mathew follows:

1911 England Census

Civil Parish: Harborne and Edgbaston
Country: England

Street Address: Oratory & Schools, Hagley Road, Edgbaston,

Occupation: School
Registration District Number: 383
Sub-registration District: Edgbaston
ED, institution, or vessel: 32-37
Piece: 17942

Source Citation
The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
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Theobald Mathew is on Line 16 of the attached 1911 census.

Below is the Ancestry.com location index for the second student named Theobald Mathew in the 1911 census, showing he was attending “St Gregorys Roman Catholic College, Downside Nr Bath.” He would not be the son of Charles and Anna Maria Mathew.

1911 England Census

Civil Parish: Midsomer Norton
Country: England

Street Address: St Gregorys Roman Catholic College, Downside Nr Bath

Occupation: Student
Registration District Number: 315
Sub-registration District: Midsomer Norton
ED, institution, or vessel: 13
Piece: 14663

Source Citation
The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
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Theobald is enumerated on Line 20 of the attached 1911 census.

As you can see Caroline, this reply is becoming lengthy and so I’ll stop here for now. I didn’t realize at first that I’d come across so much information about the Cassidy and Mathew families in England, but that’s good because I enjoy genealogical research pertaining to England as well as Ireland, as the two countries are inextricably bound together in history.

I’ll be sending a follow-up reply soon with more information about Charles James and Anna Maria Cassidy Mathew and their children.

There will also be a third reply with more information about Anna Maria Cassidy’s parents and siblings in Ireland.

This reply includes 7 attachments as follows:

Tougher House
Belfast Newsletter
Mathew Family 1901 Census
Mathew Family 1911 Census
James Mathew 1911 Census
Theobald Mathew 1911 Census 1
Theobald Mathew 1911 Census 2
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All the Best,

Dave

 

 

 

 

 Hi Dave

My goodness! What can I say? So much information, thank you very very much! At the moment I have scanned through the details you posted and will digest everything at a leisurely pace. One interesting point was that I noticed that you said that on the civil marriage record that Charles's father was Henry Mathew. This is not the case! He was James Charles Mathew who was indeed a judge and help found the commercial court in London.  Any thoughts?

once again thank you very much

All the best

caroline 

 

 

Hi Dave

another anomaly is that my great grandfather was Charles James Mathew, not Charles F Mathew. Could this be a handwriting  error?

This is all so fascinating 

best wishes

caroline 

 

 

 

Hi Dave

I have sorted out that it was Charles James Mathew after looking at the marriage certificate. One mystery solved!

all the best

caroline 

 

Hello Caroline,

I can see now after receiving your reply that Charles’s middle initial is indeed J., rather than F. Then too, you can see that Charles had signed his middle name as James. Thank you for the correction. If you look at the name of the witness, Edward Cassidy, you can see that his middle initial also appears to be J.

I am not sure why the first name of Charles’s father was recorded as Henry in the marriage cert. By the time of the marriage in 1896, Catholic parish priests and Protestant ministers in Ireland would send marriage records from their respective parishes to the registrar’s office, and so it’s possible the priest who married Charles and Anna Maria, had made an error with the first name of Charles’s father, writing that he was Henry, rather than James. There’s also the possibility that the registrar of marriages, Michael Darby, who recorded the marriage in the Athy Registration District, made the error. But there’s no way to actually tell why James’s name was recorded incorrectly as Henry in the marriage cert. I’ve seen errors like this before in both civil marriages as well as in church marriages. I’ve also seen Catholic baptisms where the godmother is recorded as the child’s mother and the mother as the child’s godmother.

I’ll be sending more information in a day or two.

By the way, were Theobald Mathew and Phyllis Russell, and their son John Charles Mathew in your line, and did John Charles Mathew marry Jennifer Jane Lagden?

With Best Wishes,

Dave

Hi Dave 

thanks for the above! Yes, theobald Mathew and Phyllis Russell were both my grandparents and my uncle was John Charles Mathew. He did marry Jennifer Jane Langdon and they had two daughters, Sally and Amanda.  My mother was Joan Mathew, John's youngest sister, and she married my father Abraham Francis Bennett.
My mother had done a lot of research on the Russell side of the family and had extensive family trees back to Lord Russell of Killowen. I also have hand typed pages (I don't know their origin) of the Mathew line going back to approx 1100/1200. 
looking forward to the next instalment!

all the best 

caroline 

 

Hi Caroline,

Thank you for the information. Based on that information I found the 1931 GRO birth index for your mom, as well as the birth indexes for her siblings, Anne and John Charles. You probably already have your mom's birth cert, but I'll send the index any way. I'll send these and the rest of the reply sometime on Friday.

Be in touch soon.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave

I noticed that you had a time for a post on Friday but I couldn't read anything! Had you posted anything ?

all the best

caroline 

 

Hello Caroline,

Continuing with the Mathew line…

CHARLES JAMES MATHEW’S DEATH

According to a collection at Ancestry.com called, “England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016,” the death of Charles James Mathew occurred at 38 Manor Road, Folkstone, Kent, on 8 January 1923. The record also shows he was 50 years old at the time of death and was buried in Folkstone on 12 January 1923.

He is further shown to have been buried in “Unconsecrated” ground. In this instance I believe Unconsecrated means that Charles was not a member of the established church, that is, the Church of England. That would be true as he and his family were Roman Catholic. I believe I read somewhere that the Irish temperance priest, Father Theobald Mathew (1790-1856), was Charles’s great uncle.

Charles is buried in Section A, Grave Number 1879, Interment Number 3348. See the index below:

England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016

Name: Charles James Mathew
Age: 50
Record Type: Burial
Birth Date: abt 1873
Death Date: 8 Jan 1923
Death Place: 38 Manor Road. Folkestone
Burial Date: 12 Jan 1923
Burial Place: Folkestone, Kent, England
Cemetery Section: Section A.
Grave Number: 1879.
Interment Number: 3348
Cemetery Notes: Unconsecrated

Source Citation
Shepway District Council; Folkstone, Kent, England; Shepway Burial Registers

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
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Attached to this reply is a copy of the original Folkstone burial register for Charles. His burial is Number 3348 in the register, which spans two pages, and which further shows that he was a “Barrister at Law.” The right-hand page of the register shows that a man named Charles Coote performed the burial ceremony and that the person who made the burial entry in the register was a fellow named Thomas Bishop.

According to the Find A Grave website the name of the cemetery in Folkstone where Charles James Mathew is buried in the Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkstone, Shepway District, Kent. The Find A Grave entry also shows that Elizabeth Mary Mathew is also buried in the cemetery, and that she died 17 April 1924 at the age of 20-21 years. She would be his and Anna Maria’s daughter. Go to the Find A Grave link at the following:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205771811/elizabeth-mary-mathew

Based on the information at Find A Grave I discovered that Elizabeth Mary Mathew was also recorded in the England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016.

England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016

Name: Elizabeth Mary Mathew
Age: 21
Record Type: Burial
Birth Date: abt 1903
Death Date: 17 Apr 1924
Death Place: 98 Baker Street London W
Burial Date: 21 Apr 1924
Burial Place: Folkestone, Kent, England
Cemetery Section: Section A.
Grave Number: 1879.
Interment Number: 3863
Cemetery Notes: Unconsecrated

Source Citation
Shepway District Council; Folkstone, Kent, England; Shepway Burial Registers

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
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A copy of the original Folkestone burial register is attached and further shows, on the left-hand page of the register, Number 3863, that while Elizabeth died at 98 Baker Street, London, her remains were brought to Folkestone from an address of 41 Prince of Wales Mansions, London, S.W. The left page also notes she was a “Spinster,” at the time of death, meaning single.

The right-hand page of the Folkestone burial register shows the person who performed the burial ceremony was John Fichter. The register also shows that the person making the entry into the register was Thomas Bishop.

A Google Map shows the current location of 98 Baker Street, by the shortest route, is 3.6 miles north of Prince of Wales Mansions, Prince of Wales Drive: https://is.gd/G2p6Dl

For a Google Street of Baker Street, London, see: https://is.gd/HJSIfe

For a Google Street View of the Prince of Wales Mansions, Prince of Wales Drive, go to: https://is.gd/DiyhSv

Back at Ancestry.com I found that Charles James Mathew was recorded in the “National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995,” on 13 February 1923. See the index below:

National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Name: Charles James Mathew
Death Date: 8 Jan 1923
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Probate Date: 13 Feb 1923
Probate Registry: London, England

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright.
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A copy of the original probate record for Charles James Mathew reads as follows:

MATHEW Charles James of 75 Albert Hall Mansions Kensington
Middlesex died 8 January 1923 at 36 Manor – Road Folkstone
Kent Probate London 13 February to Anna Maria Mathew
Widow. Effects £16784 11s. 10d.
____

The probate record is attached to this reply. There are two facing pages of the probate register. Each page contains two columns of names. Charles’s probate record is on the left-hand page, first column, 5th entry up from the bottom.

The online currency convertor from the National Archives in Kew, Surrey, the amount of £16784 11s. 10d, based on the year 1925, would be the equivalent of £689,156.87 as of the year 2017, which is the latest year they have for the value of that sum from 1925.

Below are the GRO death indexes for Charles James Mathew and his daughter Elizabeth Mary Mathew.

MATHEW, CHARLES JAMES
Age at Death (in years) 50
GRO Reference: 1923 M Quarter in ELHAM
Volume 02A Page 1340
____

Name: MATHEW, ELIZABETH MARY
Age at Death (in years): 21
GRO Reference: 1924 J Quarter in ST. MARYLEBONE
Volume 01A Page 558
____

Both deaths records can be ordered from the GRO.

Elizabeth Mary’s death was recorded in the St. Marylebone Registration District, which is in London and the district where Baker Street is situated.

The full death records for Charles and Elizabeth can be ordered from the GRO and will record the cause of death for Charles and Elizabeth, as well as provide the name of the person or persons present at the deaths who reported the deaths to the local registrar.

It must have been very hard on Anna Maria Mathew, having lost a husband in 1923 at the age of 50, and a young daughter, just 21, a year later in 1924.

The Folkstone cemetery register and the probate calendar show that Charles James Mathew’s place of death was 38 Manor Road, Folkestone, in Kent. A Google Map shows the location of the Manor Road in Folkstone: https://is.gd/ZnvkM3

Next is the Google Street View of Manor Road: https://is.gd/hvLuz9

ANNA MARIA MATHEW IN THE 1939 ENGLAND AND WALES REGISTER

The England and Wales Register for 1939 gives Anna Maria’s address as 23 Kennington Palace Court, Sancroft St S E. 11., Lambeth, London, England. The register also shows that Anna was a 65 year old social worker who was born on 27 July 1874. This is the exact date of birth shown in her Irish birth cert. See the England and Wales register index below:

1939 England and Wales Register

Name: Anna M Mathew
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Widowed
Birth Date: 27 Jul 1874
Residence Year: 1939
Address: 23 Kennington Palace Court Sancroft St S E. 11.
Residence Place: Lambeth, London, England
Occupation: Social Worker
Line Number: 3
Schedule Number: 109
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: ANCL
Borough: Lambeth
Registration district: 22/2.
Household Members Age
Anna M Mathew 65

Source Citation
The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/338C

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.
____

A copy of the original England and Wales Register for 1939 is attached to this reply. Anna Maria is the first person recorded in the register. In her household performing “Domestic Duties” is Clara Crook, born 7 December 1891.

For a Google Map of Sancroft Street and Kensington Place Court, London, see: https://is.gd/JlExvw

For a Google Street View of Sancroft Street go to: https://is.gd/6iJFas

ANNA MARIA MATHEW’S DEATH

The England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) shows that Anna Maria mathew died in Salisbury on 5 April 1948. The probate took place on 8 July 1948. See the index below from Ancestry.com:

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Name: Anna Maria Mathew
Death Date: 5 Apr 1948
Death Place: Salisbury
Probate Date: 8 Jul 1948
Probate Registry: London, England

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright.
____

A copy of the original probate calendar shows that Anna Maria lived in a residence called the Old Manor Salisbury and that her “Effects” of £966. 8. 11d. went to her son Theobald Mathew, who was a Knight of the British Empire (K.B.E.), and was also the director of public prosecutions. Also mentioned is her solicitor, Gerald Russell. In a copy of the original probate calendar, which is attached, Anna is recorded in the first column, left-hand page, 6th entry down from the top.

Caroline, I believe the Old Manor may refer to a now abandoned hospital in Salisbury. You can see the location of the hospital on a Google Map at: https://is.gd/BHVAFn

For a Google Street View of the hospital, see: https://is.gd/CJJx6L

More information about the hospital can be found in a Wikipedia article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Manor_Hospital,_Salisbury

The National Archives in Kew has Patients' Ledgers, Private Patients' Account Books, Register of Deaths, and Post-mortem Books from the Old Manor Hospital. See: https://is.gd/Lz2sxI

Below is the GRO death index for Anna showing she was 73 year old when she died in 1948. Her death was recorded in the Salisbury Registration District for the June quarter of 1948, Volume 07C, Page 376. Her death record can be ordered from the GRO if you do not already have it:

Name: MATHEW, ANNA MARIA
Age at Death (in years): 73
GRO Reference: 1948 J Quarter in SALISBURY
Volume 07C Page 376
____

It would be interesting to see if Anna had died in the Manor Hospital and what the cause of death was.

Going back to the Find A Grave site, I didn’t see a submission for Anna Maria Mathew recorded in the Cheriton Cemetery, Folkestone. I did not uncover a Find A Grave entry for her anywhere in England.

JAMES CHARLES MATHEW

James C. Mathew is recorded in the 1939 England and Wales Register, showing his residence was Upper Nash, Chanctonbury, Sussex. The index below, from Ancestry.com, further shows that James was born 3 December 1939, that he was single, and that he was “Incapacitated.” :

1939 England and Wales Register

Name: James C Mathew
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 3 Dec 1896
Residence Year: 1939
Address: Upper Nash
Residence Place: Chanctonbury, Sussex, England
Occupation: Incapacitated
Line Number: 17
Schedule Number: 83
Sub Schedule Number: 4
Enumeration District: ENAM
Borough: Chanctonbury
Registration district: 83/1

Source Citation
The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/2610F

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.

____

The 1939 register is attached to this reply, and shows the full address for James was 83 Upper Nash. I didn’t find an Upper Nash, Chanctonbury in a Google Map, but did locate an article about this place called, “Upper Nash: a hamlet within a hamlet,” at http://www.nutbourne.org/UpperNash.html

The National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995, shows that James Charles Mathew died in Sussex, England on 19 December 1956. The probate of his estate took place on 21 February 1957 in the Probate Registry, London. See the probate index below from Ancestry.com:

National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Name: James Charles Mathew
Death Date: 19 Dec 1956
Death Place: Sussex, England
Probate Date: 21 Feb 1957
Probate Registry: London, England

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright.
____

A copy of the original National Probate Calendar for James Charles Mathew is attached to this reply, and shows that he was a resident of Five Bells, West Chittington Common, Pulborough, Sussex. The calendar also shows he died in the Worthington Hospital, Worthington. His estate of £2211 16s. 7d., went to his brother Theobald Mathew, K.B.E. M.C. director of public prosecutions.

The entry for James in the calendar is the 6th entry down from the top of the right-hand register page, 2nd column on that page.

The reference to Five Bells in the probate calendar I believe is a reference to the Five Bells Inn, Smock Alley, West Chittington.

The following Google Map shows the location of the Five Bells Inn and the Worthington Hospital where James died: https://is.gd/mkuC7E

The next link will bring you to a Google Street View of the Five Bells Inn: https://is.gd/qpaRdb

The Five Bells In has its own website at: http://thefivebellsinn.com/about.html

For a Google Street View of the entrance to the Worthington Hospital, see: https://is.gd/76sdBx

Also see a Google Street View of the hospital at: https://is.gd/vnthxq

The following GRO index shows the death of James Charles Mathew was recorded in the Worthing Registration District in the December quarter of 1956. James’s death is in Volume 05H, Page 662 of the GRO death registers:

Name: MATHEW, JAMES CHARLES
Age at Death (in years): 60
GRO Reference: 1956 D Quarter in WORTHING
Volume 05H Page 662
____

THEOBALD MATHEW

I located the marriage index for Theobald Mathew and Phyllis H. Russell in an Ancestry.com collection called, “England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005.” The index shows the marriage was recorded in the Kensington. London Registration District in the December quarter of 1923. The marriage can be found in Volume 1a, Page 497 of the GRO registers:

Name: Theobald Mathew
Registration Date: Oct 1923
[Nov 1923]
[Dec 1923]
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District: Kensington
Inferred County: London

Spouse: Phyllis H Russell

Volume Number: 1a
Page Number: 497

Source Citation
General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 1a; Page: 497

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.
____

Below are the GRO birth indexes for Theobald and Phyllis’s children, Anne Mathew and John Charles Mathew. The index for Anne gives her mother’s maiden name as Russell. The index for John does not record his mother’s maiden name. I’m not sure why.

After receiving your last reply I found what may be the birth index for your mom Joan, but again this index does not have the maiden name of her mother.

Anne’s birth was recorded in the St. Pancras Registration District in the December quarter of 1924 and can be found in Volume 01B, Page 3 of the GRO registers.

The birth for John Charles was recorded in the Kensington Registration District in the June quarter of 1927 and can be found in Volume 01A, Page 206 of the GRO registers.

Joan’s birth was recorded in the Paddington Registration District in the June quarter of 1931 and can be found in Volume 01A, Page 112 of the GRO registers.

All three indexes are below:

Name: MATHEW, ANNE
Mother's Maiden Surname: RUSSELL
GRO Reference: 1924 D Quarter in ST. PANCRAS
Volume 01B Page 3
____

Name: MATHEW, JOHN CHARLES
Mother's Maiden Surname:
GRO Reference: 1927 J Quarter in KENSINGTON
Volume 01A Page 206
____

Name: MATHEW, JOAN
Mother's Maiden Surname:
GRO Reference: 1931 J Quarter in PADDINGTON
Volume 01A Page 112
____

The next record I found is for Theobald and Phyllis Mathew and their household staff in the
1939 England and Wales Register. None of the children are recorded in the household. The residence of the household is 6 Oxford Square, Paddington. See the index below:

1939 England and Wales Register

Name: Theobald Mathew
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 4 Nov 1898
Residence Year: 1939
Address: 6 Oxford Square
Residence Place: Paddington, London, England
Occupation: Soliciton - Partner in Charles Runell ??
Line Number: 28
Schedule Number: 246
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: APDS
Borough: Paddington
Registration district: 1 : 1 : A4
Inferred Spouse:
Phyllis H Mathew

Household Members, Age

Theobald Mathew 41
Phyllis H Mathew 42
Clara Cunningham 27
Abina Dorgan 28
Irene G Davies 26
David L Pollock 33

Source Citation
The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/420J

Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018
____

A copy of the original 1939 register entry is attached. There are comments for both Theobold and Phyllis to the right of their names. The first comment for Theobald states, “Solicitor – Partner in Charles Russell & Co.” To the right of these comments is the notation, “War Emergency Committee Middlesex Hospital W1.” There are also comments to the right of Phyllis’s name. The first states, “Unpaid domestic duties.” There are more notations to the right of these comments, but all I could make out were the words, “ …Committee Middx Hosp W1.”

Theobald’s partner Charles Russell was probably related to Phyllis. Earlier in this reply, you saw that a Gerald Russell was mentioned in the 1948 probate calendar for Anna Maria Mathew. He too was likely related to Phyllis.

The index below is for the probate calendar entry of Sir Theobald Mathew from the ancestry.com website. He died on 29 February 1964, and his will was probated in London on 29 May 1864:

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Name: Sir Theobald Mathew
Death Date: 29 Feb 1964
Death Place: London, England
Probate Date: 29 May 1964
Probate Registry: London, England

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright.
____

The probate record is attached to this reply. His notice is located in the second column of the left-hand page, 4th entry up from the bottom, and shows his residence had been 2 Cranley Mansions, Gloucester Road, Kensington, and that he left his wife, dame Phyllis Helen Mathew an estate valued at £14,161.

A Google Map shows the location of Cranley Mansions in the Gloucester Road, Kensington: https://is.gd/6V7BhM

The following links will bring you to Google Street Views of Cranley Mansions: https://is.gd/8q51wb and https://is.gd/moMOJN

PHYLLIS MATHEW

Phyllis died 18 years after Theobald. The probate calendar from Ancestry.com shows that Dame Phyllis Helen Mathew died on 24 September 1982 and that her estate was probated in London on 14 December 1982:

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Dame Phyllis Helen Mathew

Name: Dame Phyllis Helen Mathew
Death Date: 24 Sep 1982
Death Place: London
Probate Date: 14 Dec 1982
Probate Registry: London

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright.
____

A copy of the original probate calendar is attached. The entry for Phyllis is located in the left-hand column, 4th entry down from the top and shows that her residence had been 65 Cornwall Gardens, London W8. She left an estate valued at £69893, but the probate record does not record where the money went.

A Google Map shows the present day location of 65 Cornwall Gardens in Kensington: https://is.gd/eITcqq

For Google Street Views of 65 Cornwall Gardens, see: https://is.gd/R3txtE and https://is.gd/KXxjWj

I went to the Find A Grave site to see if anyone had submitted entries for Theobald and Phyllis Mathew, but found that nobody had. But, I did find their burial information at a collection from ancestry.com called, “Web: Global, Gravestone Photograph Index, 1265-2014.”

Theobald and Phyllis are buried in the Englefield Green Cemetery, Surrey. The indexes for both of them include links that will take you the gravestonephotos.com website where you can access a tiny photo of the Mathew grave marker. You have send for a larger photo of the grave marker by providing your name and email address. I had not previously come across the gravstoinephotos.com website before.

The indexes are below:

Web: Global, Gravestone Photograph Index, 1265-2014

Name: Theobald Mathew
Birth Year: 1899
Burial Year: 1964
Burial Place: Surrey, England, Englefield Green
Death Age: 65

Cemetery: Municipal

Original URL: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/cemetery.php?cemetery=589&scrwid…

City URL: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/location.php?location=Englefield…

Location URL: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/area.php?area=Surrey&country=En&…

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Web: Global, Gravestone Photograph Index, 1265-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Gravestone Photographic Resource. An international directory of grave monuments. Gravestone Photographic Resource. http://www.gravestonephotos.com/: accessed 17 November 2014.
____

Web: Global, Gravestone Photograph Index, 1265-2014

Name: Phyllis Mathew
Birth Year: 1898
Burial Year: 1982
Burial Place: Surrey, England, Englefield Green
Death Age: 84

Cemetery: Municipal

Original URL: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/cemetery.php?cemetery=589&scrwid…

City URL: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/location.php?location=Englefield…

Location URL: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/area.php?area=Surrey&country=En&…

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Web: Global, Gravestone Photograph Index, 1265-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Gravestone Photographic Resource. An international directory of grave monuments. Gravestone Photographic Resource. http://www.gravestonephotos.com/: accessed 17 November 2014.
____

Caroline, I’m going to close here, as I believe this reply may be longer than the previous one with the genealogical information. I’d like to send you yet a third reply, but this one will be going back to Ireland, as I found the church and civil marriage records for Anna Maria Cassidy’s parents and baptism records for her siblings. I’ll also be looking for the civil birth records for her siblings. I then want to see what other information I can find about the Cassidy family.

There are 10 attachments with this reply:

Charles James Mathew 1923 burial register entry
Elizabeth Mary Mathew 1924 burial register entry
Charles James Mathew 1923 probate
Anna Maria Mathew 1939 register entry
Anna maria Mathew 1948 probate
James C. Mathew 1939 register entry
James Charles Mathew 1957 probate
Theobald and Phyllis Mathew 1939 register entry
Theobald Mathew 1964 probate
Phyllis Mathew 1982 probate
____

Hopefully I’ll have a third reply ready by sometime next week, depending upon how much information is found about the Cassidy family.

With Kind Regards,

Dave

Once again, Dave, I am overwhelmed! Thank you so much. 

it has been fascinating reading about my more recent family history, particularly the parts that I have personal recollections of.

for instance: my grandmother, Phyllis Russell, was always addressed as Lady Mathew. I didn't know that she was a Dame. Equally, all I knew about James Charles Mathew was my mother's handwritten note saying that he was mentally deficient. No-one ever referred to him, it is like he was airbrushed out of the family history. It would be interesting to explore this further and find out what I can.

I will be very interested in anything else that you can discover about Anna'a family and, once again, thank you very much

all the best 

Caroline 

Hi Caroline,

You're welcome.

When I was coming across records for Theobald Mathew and his brother James Charles, I had wondered what the family dynamic was, being as Theobald was the younger brother who achieved quite a bit of status during his lifetime in the field of law and by becoming the Director of Public Prosecutions, and also having been awarded the KBE. I really didn't find an occupation for James Charles. The 1921 census for England won't be available to search until next year because of the 100 year rule the government has about releasing census enumerations. It will be interesting to see what the occupation of James Charles Mathew was in 1921. He was born in 1896 and so he would have been 25 years old. It will also be interesting to see how Theobald was employed in 1921, as he was probably too young to have been the Director of Public Prosecutions and to have also received the KBE. He was born in 1898 and so would have been only 23 years old in 1921.

I think back in those days it was expected that the oldest son in the family should achieve great things in life, and not eventually become somebody that wasn't referred to in the family. If you ever find out more information about James Charles, please let me know. I still wonder why he was, "Incapacitated." Does that mean physically or perhaps mentally incapacitated?

I am progressing with the Cassidy genealogy in Irish records. Thus far I've found the civil and church marriage record for James Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell, as well as the birth and baptism records for four of their children. I figured you would be interested in these births and baptisms as they would be your great grandmother Anna Maria Cassidy's four siblings. I am now in the process of seeing if I can find the civil death records for members of the Cassidy family.

You have a very interesting family history Caroline.

Will send another reply sometime this week.

With Best Wishes,

Dave

 

Hi Dave

I know quite a bit about Theobald Mathew. He was in the Irish Guards during the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross for leading a charge and captured a German machine gun post. After the war he was called to the Bar but quickly he joined Charles Russell and Co since he had been told that he had to have a secure income to marry Phyllis. Charles Russell and co  was her father's practice!  He became DPP in 1944 and remained as DPP until his death. He was, and still is, the longest serving DPP.

My mother's handwritten note says that James Charles was mentally deficient so probably mentally incapacitated.

As you say, an interesting family history, made even more so by your findings about Anna's family!

all the best

Caroline 

Thank you Caroline,

It is very interesting about Theobold Mathew as the DPP. He was the 7th DPP, having been appointed as the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1944 by the Prime Minister at the time, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. The Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, recommended Theobold for the posting to Churchill.

Just before reading your latest communication I uncovered some very interesting details about Anna Maria Cassidy's paternal line in Ireland, which I'll share with you in a forthcoming reply. I have also been doing some research on Anna Maria's maternal line. As you know her mother was Anna Maria McDonnell, and as you will see the McDonnells were also a very prominent Dublin family.

I'll send more information sometime during the coming week. I hope you don't mind waiting.

All the Best,

Dave

 

Hi Dave

An interesting thought! Anna Maria served on the GLC in the late 1920s, early 30s an would almost certainly have known Herbert Morrison!  Maybe the recommendation was because he knew his mother!

All the best 

Caroline 

Hi Caroline,

True. You can never underestimate the influence of dear mum.

Kind Regards,

Dave

Hello Caroline,

The last Irish record you saw was in the first reply and pertained to the marriage record for Charles James Mathew and Anna Maria Cassidy, who were married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Monasterevan on January 20, 1896.

Before that I found the civil registration birth record for Anna Maria Cassidy at the irishgenealogy.ie website, showing that she was born on 27 July 1874 in Togher House, Monasterevan, County Kildare. Her father is James Archbold Cassidy, a J.P. (Justice of the Peace) residing in Monasterevan. Anna’s mother is also named Anna Maria, whose maiden name was McDonnell.

I next uncovered not only the church marriage record, but also the civil registration marriage record for James Archbold Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell.

I was surprised to find they were married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of St. Andrew’s, Westland Row, Dublin City, on 27 April 1870. I first located their church marriage transcription at the Find My Past (FMP) website, which is mainly a subscription-based or Pay-As-You-Go website, with the exception that FMP does not charge to search Irish Catholic baptisms, marriages, and available church burial transcriptions for all of Ireland for much of the 19th century.

The search engine for the FMP baptism transcriptions can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/jnmqmuv

The search engine for Catholic marriages can be accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/jzylkjy

For Catholic Parish burial transcriptions go to the search engine at: http://tinyurl.com/j9qe5p9

Attached to each FMP baptism, marriage, and burial transcriptions are links that will take you to copies of the original parish registers held by the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.

The St. Andrew’s marriage transcription for James Archbold Cassidy and “Annie Mary McDaniel” can be accessed at the FMP link at: https://is.gd/779Dwg

You may first have to establish a free account with FMP to access the marriage transcription, which shows that James’s address at the time of marriage was “Monaster?van. The person who transcribed the marriage for FMP couldn’t fully make out the name Monasterevin in the original marriage record, probably due to the handwriting. Annie’s address at the time of marriage was 31 Merrion Square, which is located in Dublin City. The transcription also shows that James’s parents were Robert Cassidy and Ellen Cassidy, though Cassidy would not be Ellen’s maiden name. Annie’s parents are Edward McDaniel and Catherine McDaniel. The FMP transcriber may not have been able to make out that the last name was actually McDonnell, as found in Anna Maria’s 1874 birth record.

Linked to the transcription is a copy of the original St. Andrew’s Church marriage record, which you can find at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000639781#page/284/mode/1up

You can enlarge the marriage register by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.

Marriages in the register span both pages. The marriage for James and Annie is the 5th entry up from the bottom of the register. The left-hand register page gives the names of the married couple, their addresses, parents’ names, and the addresses of the parents. The residence of James’s parents is Monastrevan. The address of Annie’s parents is 31 Merrion Square. To the right of the address of the parents is the abbreviation “Disp,” followed by initials I couldn’t decipher clearly. The “Disp,” stands for “Dispensation.” All the marriages in the registers have “Disp” recorded with them. I’m not sure why the dispensation designation, though it may be because St. Andrew’s didn’t have its own Parish Priest at the time, and that priests had to be called in from other parishes in the city to perform the marriages.

The right-hand register page gives the date of the marriage, 27 April, the name of the priest who married James and Annie (John Moore), and the names of the witnesses present at the marriage, who were John Archbold and Catherine Mary McDonnell. Robert’s address is Davidstown. There is more than one townland in Ireland called Davidstown. This one refers to the Davidstown in County Kildare.

Catherine Mary McDonnell’s address is 31 Merrion Square. Robert was likely James’s brother and Catherine Annie’s sister.

A Google Map shows that St. Andrew’s Church in Westland Row is just a quarter of a mile north of Merrion Square where Anna Maria McDonnell was living at the time she married in 1870. See: https://is.gd/H5tdL6

For a Google Street View of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, Westland Row, Dublin, see: https://is.gd/WVw5pG

For more information about the church, go to: https://www.standrews.ie/parish/about/

For a Google Street View of Merrion Square, see: https://is.gd/gjJfXS

I next found the civil registration marriage record for James Archbold Cassidy and Annie Marie McDonnell at the irishgenealogy.ie website. This record gives much the same information as the church marriage record, except that it shows at the time of marriage, James’s occupation was “Gentleman,” though upon first glance you could mistake the occupation as, “Featherman.” No occupation is recorded for Anna. Also, the civil marriage record does not give the first names of the mothers of the groom and bride. The marriage record shows that James and Annie were of “full age,” signifying they were 21 years old or older. James’s residence was Monasterevan. Annie’s residence was 31 Merrion Square. Not recorded in the civil marriage record are the occupations of James’s father Robert and Annie’s father Edward. I’m not sure why their occupations were not recorded. The marriage record does show however that the name of the priest who married James and Annie was John Moore.

The marriage is Number 182, or the last entry in the register at: https://is.gd/uXramW

After locating the marriage records for James Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell, I found, that along with their daughter Anna Maria, they had four other children. Below are the names and years of birth for the children. I’ve included the birth of their daughter Anna Maria Cassidy again so that you can see the full chronology of the births:

Catherine Mary Cassidy, 1871
Robert Edward Cassidy, 1872
Anna Maria Cassidy, 1874
Edward James Mary Cassidy, 1875
Frances Mary Josephine Cassidy, 1877
____

CATHERINE MARY CASSIDY

The 1871 birth record for Catherine Mary Josephine Cassidy can be accessed at the irishgenealogy.ie link at: https://is.gd/wnBmPm

Her birth record is Number 50 in the register and shows she was born in Monasterevan on 14 March 1871. Her father is James a. Cassidy, a J.P. and Distiller residing in Monasterevan. Catherine’s mother is Anna Maria Cassidy, formerly MacDonnell. James, the father reported the birth to the registrar, Joseph Storey, who recorded Catherine’s birth in the Athy Registration District on 4 April 1871.

ROBERT EDWARD CASSIDY

Robert was born in Monastervan on 10 June 1872. His father is James Archbold Cassidy, a Distiller living in Monasterevan. Robert’s mother is Anna Maria Cassidy, formerly McDonnell. James reported the birth to the registrar, Joseph Storey, who recorded the birth in the Athy Registration District on 2 August 1872. The birth is Number 280 in the register at: https://is.gd/DLAaqb

EDWARD JAMES CASSIDY

Edward was born in Togher House, Monasterevan, on 8 December 1875. His father is Justice of the Peace, James Archbold Cassidy. Edward’s mother is Anna Maria Cassidy, formerly McDonnell. James the father reported the birth to the registrar, Joseph Storey, who recorded the birth in the Athy Registration District on 7 February 1876. The birth record for Edward is Number 407 in the register at: https://is.gd/jiEkwF

FRANCES MARIA CASSIDY

Frances was born in Togher House, Monasterevan, on 6 March 1877. Her father James Archbold Cassidy is a J.P. and Distiller, living in Monasterevan. Her mother is Annie Cassidy, formerly McDonnell. James reported the birth to the registrar, Joseph Storey, who recorded the birth in the Athy Registration District on 3 April 1877. The birth of Frances is the first one in the register at Number 108, and can be accessed at: https://is.gd/x0D8ZI

Sadly, Frances died less than six months after she was born. She died on 1 June 1877. Her place of death was Togher House, Monasterevan. Her age at death in her death cert is recorded as 2 months. She is also shown to have been the “Daughter of James Cassidy, Esq., Distiller.” Portions of the cause of death are difficult to read. One of the causes of death however is “diarrhea 4 days.” The person who was present at the death of Frances and who reported the death to the registrar, was Theresa Byrne, of Togher House, Monasterevan. Unfortunately, the death record does not state what the relationship was between the Cassidy family and Therea Byrne. The registrar, Joseph Storey, recorded the death in the Athy Registration District on 18 June 1877. Frances’s death is Number 361 in the death register at: https://is.gd/vx12jx

I found an Ordnance Survey Map of Monasterevin from the 1888 tom 1913 time period at the GeoHive website, which shows the location of James Cassidy’s brewery and distillery, located in the bottom centre of the map, in Dublin Street. The map is attached to this reply.

As you can see in the map, the Cassidy family had a very large enterprise going with the brewery and distillery in Monasterevin, which was located south of Togher House, where the James and Anna Maria Cassidy family had lived.

THE CASSIDY BAPTISM RECORDS

If you recall from the first reply, I didn’t find the 1874 baptism record for Anna Maria Cassidy after a very extensive research in the Monasterevin Catholic Parish baptism registers held by the National Library of Ireland in Kildare Street, Dublin City. The same is not the case for her four siblings, as I did locate the baptisms for Catherine Mary Cassidy, 1871; Robert Edward Cassidy, 1872; Edward James Mary Cassidy, 1875; and Frances Mary Josephine Cassidy, 1877.

Some Irish parents did give their sons the middle name of Mary. The most famous that I can think of were the parents of Irish patriot, Joseph Mary Plunkett. Joseph was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Plunkett

The very sad Irish song called “Grace,” is about Joseph Plunkett’s marriage to Grace Gifford in the Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, on 3 May 1916, just hours before his execution for his role in the Easter Uprising. Listen to the song by the Dubliners at: https://is.gd/Xcw3Zd

CATHERINE MARY CASSIDY BAPTISM

The Find My Past (FMP) transcription shows that Catherine Mary Cassidy was baptized in the Monasterevan Catholic Parish on 23 March 1871, and that her parents were James Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell. You can view the transcription at the following FMP link:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F5482816

Attached to the transcription is a link that will bring you to copy of the original Monasterevan baptism record for Catherine. This link is: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634512#page/93/mode/1up

Catherine’s baptism is on the right-hand register page, 7th entry down from the top. The handwriting in the register leaves a lot to be desired as the baptisms can be difficult to read. However, the baptism for Catherine shows that her middle names are Mary and Josephine. The FMP transcription only gives Mary’s middle name. Catherine’s godfather is John Cassidy. I could not clearly make out John’s middle initial. The godmother is Catherine Mary McDonnell, who may have been the sister of Anna Maria McDonnell. To the right of Catherine Mary McDonnell’s name is the word, “Town.” Signifying that the Catherine and her parents James Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell were living in the town of Monasterevan at the time of the baptism. That would make sense as James’s distillery was located in Monasterevin.

ROBERT EDWARD JOSEPH CASSIDY BAPTISM

Robert was baptized in the Monasterevan Catholic Parish on 19 June 1872 according to the FMP transcription at: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F7194740

A copy of his original baptism record can be found on the right-hand register page, 5th entry down from the top at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634512#page/102/mode/1up

His godparents are Christopher McDonnell and Catherine Mary McDonnell, though it is not clear if Christopher and Catherine Mary were husband and wife, or if they were Anna Maria Cassidy’s siblings. To the right of Catherine Mary McDonnell’s name is the word Monasterevan, which would be the residence of Robert Edward Joseph Cassidy and his parents.

EDWARD JAMES MARY CASSIDY BAPTISM

The FMP transcription for Edward shows he was baptized in the Monasterevan Catholic Parish on 19 December 1875. To view the transcription go to the following FMP link: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F5219007

Edward’s baptism record ism located on the left-hand register page, 5th entry down from the top at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634512#page/125/mode/1up

Edward’s godfather is Richard McDonnell. The first name of the godmother is hard to decipher but could be Anna. Her last name is also McDonnell. To the right of her name is the word Monasterevan.

FRANCES MARY JOSEPHINE CASSIDY BAPTISM

Frances was baptized in the Monasterevan Catholic Parish on 18 March 1877. In this FMP transcription her father’s middle name is spelled “Archabald.” Her mother’s maiden name is spelled, “McDonald.” https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F5544566

A copy of the original baptism record for Frances can be found in the left-hand register page, 4th entry down from the top at:
https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634512#page/133/mode/1up

.This baptism entry may be a challenge to find as the writing in the register is very faded. But from what I could decipher, the godparents were John Dunne (I couldn’t clearly make out John’s middle name, though it may be Harvey), and Mary Marcella Carroll. To the left of Mary Marcella Carroll’s name are the words, “The Town,” meaning Monasterevan as the residence of Frances and her parents.

THE DEATH OF ANNA MARIA CASSIDY

James Archibold Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell would not have more children after Frances. Tragically, I found that Anna Maria died 8 months after Frances was born. She died in a location called Ballybrack on 8 December 1877 at the age of 33 years. She is shown to be the “Wife of Distiller.” The cause of death was “Consumption six months uncertified.” Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries consumption was also called “phthisis.” Today, consumption and phthisis is called tuberculosis. The person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the registrar was James A. Cassidy of Monasterevan, County Kildare. The registrar, Hugh O’Neill, recorded Annamaria’s death in the Rathdown Registration District on 11 January 1878. Annamaria’s death is the second Number 462 in the register at: https://is.gd/Av318O

Ballybrack is in County Dublin, south of Dublin City and near the Dun Laoighaire Harbour on the Irish Sea. The death record does not say why Anna Maria died in Ballybrack, when she and her family were living in Monasterevin in County Kildare.

Going back to the death register, if you look at the entry above Annamaria’s, also Number 462, you’ll see the registrar mistakenly wrote down that Annamaria Cassidy had died on 8 December 1877 at 9 hours old, and that she was the “Child of Gardener.” The cause of death was, “Convulsions 9 hours uncertified.”

The registrar corrected the error at Number 463 in the death register showing this child was actually Rebecca Gilford, who was the child of a gardener. She had died of convulsions at 9 hours old. Rebecca died on 20 January 1878.

THE DEATH OF JAMES ARCHBOLD CASSIDY

From the Ancestry.com collection, “England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995,” I found an index which shows that James Archbold Cassidy died on 22 December 1890. There are two places of death listed in the index. One is Kildare, Kildare. The other, enclosed in brackets, is [Cannes, France]. See the index below:

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Name: James Archbold Cassidy
Death Date: 22 Dec 1890
Death Place: Kildare, Kildare, Ireland
[Cannes, France]
Probate Date: 5 May 1891
Probate Registry: Dublin

Source Information
Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright.
____

Attached to the index is a link that takes you to a copy of the original probate calendar entry for James Archbold Cassidy at: https://is.gd/iu1rOP

The entry for James is 2nd from the bottom of the page, and shows that he died in Cannes, France, on or about 22 December 1890. He left an estate valued at £2,299. The executors of his estate were a Roman Catholic clergyman named Reverend Nicholas Albert Staples of the Carmolite Convent in Whiteabbey, and Frederick Maxwell Carroll, of Moone Abbey, Moone.

According to the Carmelites.ie website, there is presently a Carmelite Friary, White Abbey, located in Kildare Town, County Kildare. See: http://www.carmelites.ie/kildareliturgies.html

For information about Moone Abbey, go to: https://is.gd/rPsCcG

I looked for but did not find a civil registration death record for James Archbold Cassidy at the irishgenealogy.ie website. However, one of James’s family members may have filed his death as a “Record of Death Abroad,” that is not available at the irishgenealogy.ie website. To find out, and for more information about applying for a certificate of a death abroad of an Irish citizen, go to the gov.ie link at: https://is.gd/yIwq5a

The Find A Grave entry for James Cassidy in the Passlands Cemetery shows he died, “22 Dec 1890 (aged 59–60) Cannes, Departement des Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.” See the entry at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211807399/james-archbold-cassidy

Once at Find A Grave, you’ll see the obituary for James which you can enlarge and print for your records. The obit shows that his remains were first at his sister’s residence, 57 Merrion Square, which would be a reference to Merrion Square in Dublin.

Anna Maria McDonnell Cassidy has her own entry at Find A Grave in Passlands Cemetery, which shows she was the daughter of Sir Edward McDonnell of Merion Square, South Dublin, and the wife of James Archbold Cassidy: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211873974/anna-marie-cassidy

Submissions for two of James and Anna’s children and a daughter-in-law, are also found in Find A Grave at Passlands. They are Edward James Mario Cassidy, Barrister at Law, 1875 to 15 June 1915, and James’s wife, Alice Mary Josephine “Elsie” Maxwell-Scott Cassidy, 9 October 1881 to 30 August 1908. She died age 26 in Abbotsford, Scottish Borders, Scotland. The death notices for both James and his wife Alice attached to the Find A Grave entries for them, which you can access at the following: https://is.gd/RqkN3E and https://is.gd/dDw53t

The death notice for Alice notes that she was the great great granddaughter of Scottish novelist, poet, and playwright, Sir Walter Scott, 1771 – 1832.

The other child of James and Anna Cassidy whose burial was submitted to Find A Grave at Passlands Cemetery, is their baby daughter Frances Mary. Her birth, baptism, and death records you saw earlier in this reply. Her Find A Grave submission is at: https://is.gd/VNtTUc

Based on the information at Find A Grave, I located the civil registration death record for Edward James Mario Cassidy. He died at Cloncarlin on June 15, 1915, at the age of 39 years. At the time of death is was a widower. His occupation was, “Gentleman.” The cause of death was Tuberculosis of lungs 10 years. Asthma 1 month Certified. The person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the registrar was Edward’s brother, Robert Cassidy of Monasterevan. The assistant registrar, whose name looks like it may be Nora Dooley, record Edward’s death in the Athy Registration District on June 28 1915. Edward’s death is Number 164, or the last entry in the death register at: https://is.gd/DWBZVC

I didn’t find a death record in Ireland for Alice. But, a very good Scots genealogy website called ScotlandsPeople, has a civil registration death index, also known as a statutory death for Alice. The index shows Alice was 25 years old when she died in 1908 and that the death was recorded in the Melrose RD, that is, Registration District.

Alice’s death index from ScotlandsPeople is below:

Surname CASSIDY
Forename ALICE MARY JOSE
Age at death 25
Mother's Maiden Name
Year 1908
Ref 799/1 72
RD Name Melrose

Source: scotlandspeople.gov
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For more information about purchasing records at ScotlandsPeople, go to: https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/our-charges

For more information about ScotlandsPeople, go to: https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

Information at Find A Grave shows that Edward James Cassidy and Alice Maxwell-Scott were married in 1905. The Find A Grave entry shows she was born in Chiswick, London, but had died in Abbotsville, Scotland at the home of her parents, and so I didn’t know where she and James were married.

I decided to look for the church marriage index at ScotlandsPeople, but didn’t find it. I then looked for James and Alice’s statutory marriage index and found it. Actually there are two indexes, mainly pertaining to Alice’s middle names, but they both are indexes for the same statutory marriage:

Surname CASSIDY
Forename EDWARD JAMES
Spouse Surname MAXWELL-SCOTT
Spouse Forename ALICE MARY
Year 1905
Ref 799/1 7
RD Name Melrose

AND

Surname CASSIDY
Forename EDWARD JAMES
Spouse Surname SCOTT
Spouse Forename ALICE MARY MAXW
Year 1905
Ref 799/1 7
RD Name Melrose

Source: scotlandspeople.gov
____

MORE INNFORMATION ABOUT JAMES ARCHBOLD CASSIDY

The 1874 marriage record for James Archbold Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell shows that James’s parents were Robert Cassidy and Ellen Cassidy. We know from previous records that Robert, and then later James were the owners of the brewery and distillery in Monasterevin. One piece of information I haven’t come across in the research is the maiden name of James’s mother, Ellen Cassidy. Her maiden name is important in order to uncover the correct baptism record for James. I suspected that Archbold was either the maiden name of James’s mother Ellen, or the surname of a close friend of Robert and Ellen’s.

There will not be a civil birth record for James, as civil registration of births did not commence in Ireland until 1864, whereas birth records in England and Wales were compiled beginning with the September quarter of 1837.

This means I had to find a baptism record for James, even though I wasn’t sure if he had been born and baptized in Monasterevin or another Catholic parish in Kildare, or another county altogether.

I went back to the FMP website to see if there was baptism record for a James Cassidy whose father was Robert and whose mother was Ellen Archbold. I found there is a James Cassidy and five siblings whose father was Robert and mother Ellen Archbold, though in some transcriptions Robert’s surname and Ellen’s maiden name have variant spellings, as you will see.

All the children were baptized in the Portarlington Catholic Parish. Portarlington Town is in County Laois (formerly Queens County), but crosses the border into County Offaly, formerly Kings County). The Portarlington Catholic Parish also crosses the border into County Offaly. The boundary between Laois and Offaly is the River Barrow.

On the Queens County side of the River Barrow in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Portarlington was located in the Civil Parish of Lea. On the Kings County side of the River Barrow, Portarlington was located in the Clonyhurk Civil Parish.

A Google Map shows that Portarlington is 6.7 miles west of Monasterevin by the shortest modern-day route: https://is.gd/2JQZlu

The names and years of baptism for the children of Robert and Ellen Cassidy are:

Mary Cassiday, 1824
Eleanor Charlotte Cassiday, 1826
John Valentin Cassidy, 1827
James Cassidy, 1829
Robert Henry Cassidy, 1830
Elizabeth Cassidy, 1832
____

BAPTISM OF JAMES CASSIDY

I’ll begin the FMP transcriptions with James, as he is your direct ancestor. James was baptized in January 1829. There is a question mark in the transcription as to the day of his baptism in January. His mother Ellen’s maiden name is spelled “Archpola.” See the transcription at: https://is.gd/8vPPOq

A copy of the original Portarlington baptism record for James is on the right-hand register page, 4th entry up from the bottom at: https://is.gd/6vK21J

The baptisms are not arranged in the register as you would expect. The baptism entries begin with the names of the parents, with the father’s name above the mother’s name. You will see that Robert’s surname is spelled, “Cafsiday.” This was a convention of spelling words with more than one letter s that went out of vogue later in the 19th century.

Back at the baptism record you will see that Ellen’s maiden name is indeed spelled, “Archpola.” To the right of the names of the parents are the names of the sponsors, or godparents, with the godfather’s name above the godmother. The godfather’s first name is James. His last name is spelled, “Archbola,” whereas Ellen’s maiden name is “Archpola.” This is an example of the variant spellings of the same name on the same page of a given document. It may be because the priest who recorded the baptism didn’t know how to spell the name correctly.

The first name of the godmother is Dora. I could not clearly make out her last name. To the right of the names of the godparents is baby James’s name. In going through the other baptisms in the register it looks like James was baptized on 19 January 1839. This is one of the years of birth cited in the Find A Grave entry for James.

BAPTISM OF MARY CASSIDAY

Mary was baptized on 6 June 1824. In the FMP transcription her mother Ellen’s maiden name is spelled correctly, “Archbold.” Another spelling of the name was Archbald in some records. You can access the baptism transcription at the following FMP link: https://is.gd/hiZwoG

A Copy of Mary’s original Portarlington baptism record is on the left-hand page, 3rd entry up from the bottom at: https://is.gd/XlM4lX

Once again the names of the parents are recorded first, followed by the names of the godparents. The first name of the godfather is abbreviated as, “Jno,” which is short for John. Below his name is the name of the godmother, though it only appears that the first initial of the godmother’s name was recorded. It looks like the letter “W,” but I can’t be sure of that. Instead of writing the last name of the godmother, the priest used the abbreviation “Do,” which stands for “ditto.” In other words, her last name was Cassidy as well. There is a word following the ditto abbreviation that I couldn’t make out. To the right of the names of the godparents is Mary’s name, and what appears to be the year 1859 and the number 35. This could mean Mary died at age 35 in the year 1859. If you take the age of 35 away from the year 1859, you come up with the year 1824, which is the year Mary was born and baptized.

BAPTISM OF ELEANOR CHARLOTTE CASSIDAY

Eleanor was baptized on 13 June 1826. See her FMP transcription at: https://is.gd/2lpxQA

Eleanor’s baptism record is the 3rd entry down from the top of the right-hand baptism register page at: https://is.gd/dqmnfh

Her godparents are Robert Archbold and Mary Archbold. You’ll see in the baptism record that Mary’s last name is represented by the letters Do, ditto for Archbold.

THE BAPTISM OF JOHN VALENTIN CASSIDY

The FMP transcription shows John was baptized on 24 July 1827. His mother Ellen’s maiden name is transcribed as, “Mitchfield,” rather than Archbold. See the transcription at: https://is.gd/jKJUW6

A copy of John’s original baptism record is the 7th entry down from the top of the left-hand register page at: https://is.gd/d1lEIn

John’s godfather is shown to be Lord Cloncurry. I couldn’t make out the first name of the godmother, but her last name looks like Kavanah.

John Cassidy’s middle name of Valentin was a variation of the first name of Lord Cloncurry, whose full name was Valentine Brown Lawless, 2nd Baron Cloncurry.” See his bio in Wikipedia at: https://is.gd/74kgjn

James was baptized in 1829 after John.

BAPTISM OF ROBERT HENRY CASSIDY

Robert was baptized on 17 June 1830 according to his FMP transcription:
https://is.gd/swmk1n

Robert’s is the 11th baptism entry down the right-hand register page at: https://is.gd/0TptRT

Th first name of Robert’s godfather could be Harvey or Harry. His last name is Cassidy. The first name of the godmother looks like Elena. Her last name is Murphy.

BAPTISM OF ELIZABTH CASSIDY

Elizabeth was baptized in February 1832. The day in February is a question mark in the FMP transcription. Her mother Ellen’s maiden name is transcribed as, “Archpole” in the transcription at: https://is.gd/wmyrI5

Elizabeth’s baptism record is the 9th entry down from the top of the left-hand register page at: https://is.gd/M9lVQD

The first name of her godfather is difficult to decipher, but his last name looks like it could be O’Farrell. The godmother is Mary A. Cassidy.

The first child of Robert and Ellen Cassidy to have been baptized was Mary. As you saw earlier Mary was baptized in 1824, and so I now wanted to se if I could find the church marriage record for her parents in the Portarlington Catholic Parish.

According to the National Library of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland the Portarlington Catholic Parish marriages begin on 4 November 1822. See:
https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0724

If Robert and Ellen were married in the Portarlington Catholic Parish after 4 November 1822, there should be a marriage record for them. I looked for, but didn’t find a marriage for Robert and Ellen in Portarlington, or in any other church parish register transcriptions at the FMP website.

I’m going to close this reply here Caroline, as once again the reply is getting very lengthy. But, I found more information which I’ll send in another installment.

There is one attachment with this reply:

Monasterevin Brewery and Distillery

With Best Wishes,

Dave

 

Once again, thank you. I am very interested in the direct line of our family and the amount of research you have done is amazing. The attached map on Monasterevan is fascinating. The distillery and brewery must have been the largest employers for miles.

All the best

Caroline 

You're welcome Caroline.

I found more fascinating information about Cassidy's Brewery and Distillery in the "County Kildare Online Electronic History Journal" at: https://is.gd/g0sGcR

There are two full paragraphs about Cassidy's Brewery and Distillery, which can be found under the two subheadings, "Cassidy's Distillery," and "Zenith of Prosperity."

The Cassidy's Distillery paragraph mentions the 1837 edition of Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland , and Lewis's comments about Cassidy's Distillery. I went to the Topographical Dictionary at the LibraryIreland website and found the reference, which is quoted below:

"The extensive brewery, distillery, and malting concern of Mr. Cassidy, whose dwelling-house is highly ornamental to the town, afford employment to many of the working class ; and a small tobacco and a tobacco-pipe manufactory are also carried on. The traffic arising from its situation as a great thoroughfare on one of the branches of the great southern road from the metropolis adds to the support of the town. Its situation in the midst of a vast extent of turbary affords eminent advantages for the establishment of manufactures ; and its facilities of communication with Dublin, Shannon harbour, and Waterford, by means of the Grand Canal and the Barrow navigation, render it peculiarly favourable to the carrying on of a very extensive inland trade."

Source: LibraryIreland: Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837).
____

Samuel Lewis's description would actually predate the year 1837, as I believe 1837 was the year the Topographical Dictionary was published. This knowledge made me access an Old Ordnance Survey Map of Monasterevin from the 1837 to 1842 time period. The Brewery & Distillery are on this map, though the Cassidy name is not mentioned in conjunction with the brewer and distillery. The map is in full colour and is attached to this reply. The map is from the GeoHive website. Ironically, just south of the brewery and distillery is an "Infant School." The "Church" just northwest of the brewery and distillery is likely the Church of Ireland in Monasterevin.

Right now I'm in the process of compiling Irish property tax records for the Cassidy family. I am particularly searching the property tax records to see if James's father Robert Cassidy was enumerated.

I hope to get more information to you by this coming weekend.

Thank you very much for writing Caroline.

Dave

Thanks Dave for the map! Very interesting, right in the centre of the town! I loved the description of the distillery 

All the best

caroline 

 

Hello Caroline,

When going through the baptism records for the children of Robert Cassidy and Ellen Archbold, I was hoping that one of the baptisms would have recorded where the family had been living when their children were baptized in the Portarlington Catholic Parish. I also don’t know if the children were baptized in the Parish Church in Portarlington, or in a chapel in one of the more outlying districts of the Portarlington Catholic Parish.

An Ordnance Survey Map from the 1837 to 1842 time period shows that the R.C. Chapel in Portarlington was located in the western portion of the town across the River Barrow in the Kings County, along Main Street. The town centre on the map would be the Market Square in the Queens County section of the city, east of the River Barrow. The color map of Portarlington, from the Geo Hive website is attached to this reply.

You’ll see on the map that the R.C. Chapel is located in the very left-centre portion of Portarlington, in Main Street. Below the R.C. Chapel you’ll see the label for the Old Chapel, which is an indication the Portarlington Church was of recent construction.

The map also shows that the Market Square is in the upper right corner of the map. The church to the right of the square would be the Church of Ireland.

According to the 1837 edition of Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, along with the parish church in Portarlington, which is called St. Michael’s, chapels in the parish were also situated in the townlands of Emo and Killinard. See the Topographical Dictionary of Ireland for Portarlington from the LibraryIreland website link: https://is.gd/6VqpnB

The Portarlington baptism records for the Cassidy children do not record if the baptisms took place in St. Michael’s in Portarlington, or the chapels in Emo and Killinard.

Robert Cassidy, having owned a distillery, would have been a man of some financial means. He had friends in high places, such as Valentine Brown Lawless, Lord Cloncurry, who was John Valentin Cassidy’s godfather.

To see if I could find out where the family of Robert and Ellen Cassidy had been living in the 1820s or 1830s, I accessed an Irish land record known as the Tithe Applotment Books, available to search for free at the National Archives of Ireland website. The Tithe Applotment Books were enumerated in Ireland between 1823 and 1837. For a comprehensive explanation about the Tithe Applotment Books, go to the National Archives of Ireland website links at:

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/about.jsp
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/aboutmore.jsp

The search function for the Tithe Applotment Books can be found at:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp

The search for Robert Cassidy in the Tithe Applotment Books proved successful. He is recorded as Robt Cassidy, leasing property in the townland of Ballytaigueduff, Civil Parish of Lea, Queens County. The year of the Tithe entry is 1825, which is between the baptisms for Mary Cassidy in 1824 and Eleanor Charlotte Cassidy in 1826. See the Tithe index entry for him at: https://is.gd/Y4y9Nt

By clicking on his last or first names highlighted in blue, you are taken to a copy of the original Tithe Applotment Book page where the full record for Robert Cassidy can be found. You can see a copy of the original tithe page at: https://is.gd/AzwoxQ

There are several landholders recorded in the tithe page. Robert Cassidy Esq. is Number 128 between Richard Connor and Henry Delany Esq.

Robert Cassidy is shown to be holding 87 Acres, 1 Rood, and 37 Perches of land, as well as 2 Roods and 2 Perches of Waste and Bog.

The tithe books further show that Robert did not have First Quality Land available for farming, but he did have 40 Acres, 3 Roods, and 13 Perches of Second Quality Land, and 38 Acres, 2 Roods, and 17 Perches of Third Quality Land. Robert also had 1 Acre and 2 Roods of Woods and Plantation land.

Robert was charged a Rector’s Tithe of 5 Pounds and 12 Shillings, and a Vicar’s tithe of 2 Pounds, 16 Shillings. The total tithes he paid (Gross Amount) were 8 Pounds and 8 Shillings.

For an explanation about Rector’s Tithes and Vicar’s Tithes, go to the froyle.com link at: http://www.froyle.com/tithe.htm

The rectors and vicars who received the tithes belonged to the Church of Ireland, not the Catholic Church. The majority of those recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books in Ireland were Catholic, and were not happy with being forced to pay for the upkeep of Church of Ireland clergymen.

The Tithe Applotment Book entry shows that Robert Cassidy was living in the townland of Ballytaigueduff, Civil Parish of Lea, Queens County. Ballytaigueduff is the English spelling for the town. The Irish spelling is Baile Thaidhg Dhuibh, which means “Town of the black poet,” or “Town of the black storyteller,” which may have t do with someone that has a dark complexion, or with black hair.

The town also has another name. Jamestown. You can see this in an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1837 to the 1841 time period, as the map gives both names, with the alternate spelling of Ballyteigeduff. The map, from the GeoHive website, is attached to this reply.

A Google Map shows that Jamestown is 13.9 miles southeast of Portarlington by the shortest route. Jamestown is also close to the border of County Kildare and not far from Monasterevin: https://is.gd/wkF5CJ

Another Google Map shows that Jamestown is only 7.5 miles southwest of Monasterevin in County Kildare: https://is.gd/oLLab7

The free IreAtlas website also shows the two names for the town, Jamestown and AKA Ballyteigeduff. The initials AKA stand for, “Also Known As:” https://is.gd/TWmGAm

Your ancestor James Cassidy and his siblings may all been born in Ballyteigeduff/Jamestown, Queens County, now County Laois, as the Tithe Applotment Books recorded in 1825 show that Robert Cassidy held land there.

I located a biographical sketch about James Cassidy and his father Robert at the https://dib.cambridge.org/ link, showing that the family had lived in Jamestown.

The biography was written by C.J. Woods. He makes an error in the biography however, when he states that Jamestown is in County Kildare, when it is in County Laois, but it is very close to the Kildare border. See the biography at: https://is.gd/xdwPDe

The biography also states that Robert Cassidy’s father John, founded the distillery in Monasterevin in 1784.

As you can see, Woods also writes that Robert Cassidy had married Ellen Archbold, daughter of James Archbold, a Dublin wine and fruit importer, and linen exporter. James Archbold inherited property in Davidstown, County Kildare.

If you recall from the St. Andrew’s Dublin church marriage for James Archbold Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonell, one of the witnesses to the wedding was Robert Archbold. His address in the marriage register is recorded as Davidstown.

A Google Map shows that Davidstown, Kildare, is several miles east of Jamestown in County Laois and Monastrevin: https://is.gd/XdwGQ9

I found a very comprehensive genealogy of the Archbold family of Davidstown and their residence, called Davidstown House, in County Kildare. This genealogy comes from an archivist trained at the Bodleian Library. His name is Nicholas Kingsley,

In a section of the genealogy under James Archbold, who was born circa 1804, he mentions that Eleanor Maria Archbold, daughter of James Archbold and Eleanor or Helena Kavanagh, had married Robert Cassidy on 31 July 1823, and that James and Eleanor Maria had three sons and four daughters. See the entry below:

Archbold, James (d. c.1804). Said to be the son of James Archbold (d. 1780) of Eadestown and his wife Elizabeth Lattin. He married, September 1782, Eleanor or Helena, daughter of Thomas Kavanagh of Borris House (Carlow), and had issue:
(1) Robert Archbold (c.1780-1855) (q.v.);
(2) James Archbold (c.1785-1854) (q.v.);
(3) John Archbold (b. c.1790; fl. 1860);
(4) Eleanor Maria Archbold (c.1793-1877); married, 31 July 1823, Robert Cassidy (1791-1858) of Monasterevin (Kildare) and had issue three sons and four daughters; died 1877 aged 84.

He inherited Davidstown House from his cousin in 1789 and was perhaps responsible for building the present house.
He died in about 1804.
____

Attached to this reply is the Davidstown House, County Kildare, in an Ordnance Survey Map of Davidstown from the 1837 to 1842 time period. The map if from the GeoHive website.

Nicholas Kingsley cites in the Archbold genealogy that Robert Cassidy and Eleanor Maria Archbold had three sons and four daughters, but I only found three sons and three daughters. As noted earlier, they are:

Mary Cassiday, 1824
Eleanor Charlotte Cassiday, 1826
John Valentin Cassidy, 1827
James Cassidy, 1829
Robert Henry Cassidy, 1830
Elizabeth Cassidy, 1832
____

Kingsley also states that Robert Cassidy and Eleanor Maria Archbold were married on 31 July 1823. I had looked for the marriage in the Portarlington Catholic Parish marriage registers, as well as the marriage registers for other Catholic parishes in Queens County, Kings County, and County Kildare, but without results.

Davidstown, where the Archbold family had resided, was in the Civil Parish of Killelan, County Kildare. According to a book by Brian Mitchell called, “A Guide To Irish Parish Registers,” the Catholic Parish within the Civil Parish of Killelan was Castledermot.

Being as Irish marriages traditionally took place in the bride’s parish, it may be that Robert Cassidy and Eleanor Maria Archbold were married in the Castledermot Catholic Parish, and so I went to the National Library of Ireland website to see if marriages are recorded in the Castledermot Catholic Parish for July of 1823. I found that marriages in the Castledermot Catholic Parish are only available for the month of November in 1823, and that’s probably why I couldn’t locate the marriage for Robert and Maria.

You can read even more about Cassidy’s brewery & distillery as found in the “Co. Kildare Online Electronic History Journal.” Among the topics discussed in the journal entry is that the brewery and distillery also manufactured tobacco, and that early in the distillery’s history a fire had destroyed most of the original buildings.

The following is a quote from the Journal entry about the whiskey the Cassidy firm made in Monasterevin:

“Its unequalled flavour and quality earned for Cassidy’s whiskey the reputation of being the best in the country.”

You can access the Journal entry at the kildare.ie/library link at:
http://www.kildare.ie/library/ehistory/2011/08/success_story_of_monaste…

GRIFFITHS VALUATION

I next wanted to see if Robert Cassidy was recorded in an Irish property tax record known as Griffiths Valuation. I specifically wanted to see if he had owned or leased property in Jamestown/Ballyteigeduff, Civil Parish of Lea, Queens County.

I found that he did lease property in Jamestown/Ballyteigeduff. The valuation shows that Robert had leased a considerable amount of property in Jamestown.

Griffiths Valuation was enumerated in the 32 counties of Ireland between 1847 and 1864. The valuation for Jamestown and surrounding townlands, was completed by the year 1851.

Unlike a census, Griffiths Valuation did not enumerate individual members of a family, such as husband, wife, and children in a household residence. Those named in the valuation were individuals who paid to lease property, such as land, houses, and outbuildings. Each person who paid to lease the property was called an “Occupier.” The other person listed in Griffiths Valuation was the person who owned the property, or who worked as the middleman collecting the rent on Gale Day for the owner. This middleman was called the “Immediate Lessor.”

You can access Griffiths Valuation transcriptions and original copies for free at the askaboutireland website link at:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

Griffiths Valuation for “Jamestown or Ballyteigeduff,” is attached to this reply. The entry for James is Number 4 A B CA and D. The number and letters are map reference numbers for the location of the property in Jamestown/Ballyteigeduff that Robert had leased from an Immediate Lessor named Robert Moore, Esq. Robert Moore may not have owned the property, but may have acted as the middleman for the unnamed owner. At map reference 4 A Robert Cassidy leased 13 acres, 2 roods, and 8 perches of land valued at 8 Pounds and 5 Shillings. At map reference B he leased 8 acres and 30 perches of land, valued at 2 Pounds and 15 Shillings. At map reference CA, Robert leased a house, offices, and 284 acres, 3 roods, and 37 perches of land. The land was valued at 220 Pounds and the house and offices at 28 Pounds. At map reference D Robert leased 10 acres and 33 roods of land, valued at 14 Pounds and 5 Shillings. The total valuation of the property was 273 Pounds and 5 Shillings. Robert would have paid a percentage of this amount toward the tax.

An office in a Griffiths Valuation record refers to outbuildings. An outbuilding could be a barn, stable, blacksmith shop, piggery, etc.

You’ll also see in Griffiths Valuation for the Jamestown or Ballyteigeduff that Robert Cassidy acted as the Immediate Lessor for property occupied by Patrick Mulderry, Patrick Slevin, William Carroll, Judith Conway, Edward Kinsella, Mrs. Honoria Stricker, Bridget Kelly, and Michael Dempsey. By far however, Robert Cassidy held the most land in town at over 284 acres.

According to the 1837 edition of Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland for the Civil Parish of Lea, Queens County, an R. Cassidy was the resident of Jamestown House. See the Topographical Dictionary entry for the Civil Parish of Lea at: https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/L/Lea-Portnehinch-Queens.php

R. Cassidy refers of course to Robert Cassidy.

The Ordnance Survey Map of Jamestown House is attached. This is the map referenced in Griffiths Valuation, and shows the house is quite extensive.

Caroline, the Jamestown House, Queens County/County Laois, is likely one of your Cassidy ancestral homes in Ireland, before the family moved to Monasterevin, Kildare, to be near the brewery and distillery.

A Google Street View shows what I believe to be the entrance to the Jamestown House: https://is.gd/E9sFhJ

You can see the Jamestown House in a Google Satellite View at: https://is.gd/3WB3Yp

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website has a photo and brief description of Jamestown House, noting it was constructed circa 1740 and that it is still used as a residence today. See: https://is.gd/BNJjAk

James Archbold Cassidy, the father of Anna Maria Cassidy Mathew, may have been born and raised in this house.

ANNA MARIA MCDONNELL CASSIDY

Speaking of Anna Maria Cassidy Mathew, her 27 July 1874 birth record shows that her mother was Anna Maria McDonnell. The marriage record for James Archbold Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell shows that Anna’s address before she married was 31 Merrion Square, which is located in Dublin City. Her church marriage record shows that her parents were Edward McDonnell and Catherine McDonnell, though McDonnell was likely not Catherine’s maiden name.

Earlier in the reply you saw the death record for James Archbold Cassidy’s wife, Anna Maria. She died on 8 December 1877 in Ballybrack Dublin at the age 33. Her age of 33 in 1877 means she would have been born circa 1844. Because birth records weren’t recorded by the government in Ireland until 1864, I went to the Find My Past website to see if I could find Anna Maria’s baptism. I didn’t know, however, if she had been born in Dublin City, Dublin County, or another county in Ireland.

I didn’t find or could not locate her baptism at the FMP website, and so I wanted to see if her father may have been listed in the Dublin City directories to see if his residence was 31 Merrion Square in Dublin.

I found two directory listings for Edward in Dublin City at the ancestry.com website. One entry is for the year 1838 from the “Pettigrew and Oulton Dublin Almanack and General Register of Ireland.” Edward is recorded on Page 464, 2nd column. His entry reads:

M’Donnell Edward esq. 31 Merrion square S.
____

“Merrion square S.” is a reference to Merrion Square South, meaning south of the Square, as there is also a Merrion Square North. Unfortunately, an occupation for Edward is not recorded in the 1838 directory entry.

The 1855 directory entry for Edward is from, “Thom´s Irish Almanac and Official Directory with the Post Office Dublin City and County Directory.” Edward is on Page 1208 of the directory, first column and reads:

M’Donnell Sir Edward, 31 Merrion Square, south, paper mills, Clondalkin, and Newhaggard, Rush.
____

So now we know that Edward McDonnell of 31 Merrion Square South, was the owner of paper mills, and that he was knighted, as he is recorded as “Sir,” in the 1858 edition of Thom’s Irish Almanac.

In the online Dictionary of Irish Biography, there is a great deal of information about Edward McDonnell and his paper mills, as well as his involvement in Dublin City government. The biography also shows that his parents were Christopher McDonnell and Ann Brenan.

The biography is written by Stefanie P. Jones, who mentions that Edward was the Chairman of the Great Southern & Western Railway Company, and had been a Dublin City councillor twice. Edward was knighted in 1849 by the Earl of Clarendon, and was also elected the Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1854.

According to the biography, Edward died on 22 November 1860 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, near “O’Connell.” O’Connell is a reference to Daniel O’Connell, the “Liberator.” See information about Daniel O’Connell at the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_O%27Connell

Jones also writes the following about Edward McDonnell in the biography:

"McDonnel was married for many years. Details of his marriage are lacking, but he was the father of three sons and three daughters; his eldest son, Capt. Christopher McDonnel, served with great distinction throughout the Crimean war (1854–6)."
____

To read the full biography for Edward McDonnell by Stephanie P. Jones in the “Dictionary of Irish Biography, go to: https://is.gd/lHIc3E

The information I had been looking for is found in another Wikipedia article, which mentions that Edward McDonnell was married to Catherine Costigin in 1832: https://de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Edward_McDonnell_(Unternehmer)

I’ll have more information about their marriage later in this reply.

The Wikipedia article also mentions Edward died in 1860 at age 54 in his Merrion Square home.

GLASNEVIN CEMETERY, DUBLIN

Based on information from the Dictionary of Irish Biography by Stephanie P. Jones, and the Wikipedia article, I went to the Find A Grave site to see if there is a submission for Edward McDonnell and family members in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery. I found that there is.

Note: Glasnevin Cemetery at one time was called “Prospect Cemetery.”

The Find A Grave McDonnell submission includes a photo of the McDonnell vault (Vault 53, O’Connell Circle) in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, which explains that Edward had been the Lord Mayor of Dublin and gives his residence as 31 Merrion Square. His wife, Lady Catherine Costigan McDonnell, who died on 13 May 1879, at age 74, is interred in the vault with him along with three other people, including Margaret Allen; Frances Mary McDonnell; and Richard John McDonnell. Frances Mary McDonnell and Richard John McDonnell were Edward and Catherine Costigan McDonnell’s children.

See the Find A Grave entries for Sir Edward McDonnell and Lady Catherine Costigan McDonnell at the following links: https://is.gd/y26aSx and https://is.gd/eqckPQ

Information at Find A Grave mentions the McDonnell vault is not marked. The names of the deceased in the vault may have come from the records held by the Glasnevin Cemetery.

Margaret Allen, who is buried in the McDonnell vault, is a mystery. She died on 9 August 1871 at age 49 or 50. If you look at her Find A Grave submission you’ll she that she died in Monasterevin, County Kildare: https://is.gd/KMATA6

Could she have worked for the Cassidy Brewery and Distillery in Monasterevin? To find out I looked for her death record at irishgenealogy.ie. If she died in Monasterevin her death would have been recorded in the Athy Registration District. I didn’t find her death record. I also looked for her death to see if it had been recorded in Dublin City, but again without results. Her death may not have been reported to any registrar in County Kildare or Dublin City.

It’s possible Margaret Allen was Catherine Costigan McDonnell’s servant.

As mentioned earlier in reference to the 1870 marriage of James Archbold Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell, daughter of Edward and Catherine McDonnell, I didn’t believe that McDonnell was Catherine’s maiden name.

Without her maiden name, I couldn’t prove with certainty who Anna Maria’s mother was, and so I had to find out in a round-about fashion to meet what is known as the “Genealogical Proof Standard.” See: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Genealogical_Proof_Standard

The one thing that ties Catherine Costigan McDonnell and Anna Maria McDonnell Cassidy as mother and daughter, is the address of the McDonnell family, 31 Merrion Square, or 31 Merrion Square South, Dublin.

Lady Catherine Costigan McDonnell died on 13 May 1879. I now wanted to see if I could find her death record at the irishgenealogy.ie website, as her death record would show if her residence had been 31 Merrion Square, or not. If her residence were 31 Merrion Square, I knew that she would be Anna Maria McDonnell Cassidy’s mother, as that was also Anna Maria’s residence when she married James Archbold Cassidy in 1870. It was like-wise the residence of Anna Maria’s father, Edward McDonnell in the 1838 and 1855 Dublin City directory listings noted earlier. The Find A Grave entry for Edward also places his address as 31 Merrion Square.

I found Catherine McDonnell’s death record at the irishgenealogy.ie website, showing she died on 13 May 1879. Her place of death was 31 Merrion Square South. At the time of death she was 73 years old and the “Widow of a Knight.” The cause of death was, “Spinal paralysis 1 year 6 months. Certified.” The person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the registrar was Kate Mary McDonnell of 31 Merrion Square. The registrar, H. Labatt, recorded Catherine’s death in the South Dublin Registration District on 24 May 1879. The death is Number 482 in the register at: https://is.gd/AtTbUB

Not having direct evidence from any one record, the address of 31 Merrion Square is the linchpin showing that Anna Maria McDonald Cassidy’s mother was Catherine Costigan, aka Lady Catherine Costigan McDonnell, wife of Sir Edward McDonnell, a knight and former Lord Mayor of Dublin City.

For A Google Map of Merrion Square South, Dublin City, go to: https://is.gd/7DCjmJ

For a Google Street View of Merrion Square South, go to: https://is.gd/cThl3b

A colour map of Merrion Square from the 1837 to 1842 time period is attached to this reply. The map is from the GeoHive website

To view a Google Map of Glasnevin Cemetery and the National Botanic Gardens, go to: https://is.gd/ez5Lhe

A Google Street View inside Glasnevin Cemetery can be viewed at: https://is.gd/ALX5ua

Attached to this reply is a black and white Ordnance Survey Map of Prospect Cemetery (Glasnevin Cemetery) from the 1888 tom 1913 time period. The map is from GeoHive. On the map you’ll see, below Prospect Cemetery and Violet Hill Great, a section of Dublin called, “Slutsend.” Let’s leave that one to the imagination!

Glasnevin Cemetery has its own website with lots of information, including guided tours and a museum, though the museum is closed due to the Covid. See: https://is.gd/33zTK9

THE EDWARD MCDONNELL AND CATHERINE COSTIGAN MARRIAGE

Based upon the Wikipedia article and information at Find A Grave, I looked for, and found the FMP marriage transcription for Edward “Macdonnell” and Catherine Ann Costigan. They were married in St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, Westland Row, Dublin, on 12 January 1832. This is the same church where James Archbold Cassidy and Anna Maria McDonnell were married on 27 April 1870. See the transcription for the McDonnell/Costigan marriage at: https://is.gd/iKxXGd

Attached to the transcription is a link that does not exactly bring you to a copy of the original St. Andrew’s marriage record for Edward and Catherine, as the FMP transcriber recorded the incorrect month in 1832 for the marriage. After a little research in the St. Andrew’s parish marriage registers, I discovered Edward and Catherine were actually married on 12 September 1832. Their marriage is found in the right-hand register page, 5th entry below the September subheading at: https://is.gd/cqI3yw

The witness to the marriage were Christopher McDonnell and Catherine Costigan.

MCDONNELL BAPTISMS

As noted previously, I didn’t find a baptism transcription for Anna Maria McDonnell at FMP. But I did locate the baptisms for six of her siblings. All were baptized in St. Andrews Catholic Church, Westland Row, Dublin City.

The names and years of baptism for these siblings are:

Christopher Joseph McDonnell, 1833
Silvester McDonnell, 1835
Catherine Mary McDonnell, 1837
Frances Mary McDonnell, 1841
Richard John McDonnell, 1843
Helena Mary McDonnell, 1848
____

Frances Mary McDonnell and Richard John McDonnell are buried in the McDonnell vault in Glasnevin Cemetery with their parents.

Caroline, I’ll end this installment here, but will be sending yet another installment this coming week, as I want to see if I can find the baptism records for Edward McDonnell and his wife, Catherine Costigan.

This reply comes with seven attachments:

Portarlington Map
Jamestown of Ballyteigeduff Map
Davidstown House Map
Robert Cassidy in Griffiths Valuation
Jamestown House Map
Merrion Square Map
Prospect Cemetery (Glasnevin) Map
____

With Kind Regards,

Dave

 

 

Hi Dave

Thanks for this. I have copied your comments so that I can peruse them at my leisure.  
I love the mention of the quality of the beer they brewed and equally found it fascinating that they also manufactured tobacco! And such a lot of land, buildings etc..

They must have been an important family

all the best

Caroline 

Hello Caroline,

The following link will take you to a news-clip with a photo of a Cassidy's Irish Whiskey bottle that was auctioned off by the Victor Mee Auction House back in 2019. It was expected that the whiskey would be auctioned off between 5,000 and 10,000 Euros: See: https://is.gd/oy3eyG

Make sure to scroll down the page to get a larger image of the Cassidy's Whiskey Bottle.

You can also see what a Cassidy's beer bottle label looks like at the following:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/irish-pub-beer-bottle-label-cass…

What I had forgotten to mention earlier is that the Cassidy family was friends with one of my favorite British poets, Gerard Manley Hopkins, who stayed with the Cassidy family when he visited them in Monasterevin. See: http://homepage.eircom.net/~saintevins/new_page_37.htm

Also see: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23059679?seq=1

You can also view two slides of the Cassidy Brewery water tower, from circa 1800, at the Buildings of Ireland link: https://is.gd/kCGyf6

You can see the present-day location of the water tower in a map of MOnasterevin from the Buildings of Ireland website. The water tower location is the green dot surrounded by a black circle in the centre of the map: https://is.gd/yDRjHt

Also see:
https://is.gd/vylxzg
https://is.gd/vkKtfu
https://is.gd/Zb2cKl
____

I am presently working on locating the circa 1802 baptism record for Richard McDonnell and his siblings, and will also will look for Catherine Costigan's baptism as well as the baptisms of her siblings. I should be back with another installment by this coming weekend.

Happy Saint Paddy's Day Caroline,

Dave

hi Dave
Wonderful  - thanks for the pictures!

And a happy St Patrick's Day to you too

Best wishes

Caroline 

Hello Caroline,

In the last reply I had mentioned a biography of Edward McDonnell written by Stefanie P. Jones for the Dictionary of Irish Biography. In the biography she mentions that Edward’s parents were Christopher McDonnell and Ann, daughter of Edward Brennan. She also mentions the McDonnells and Brennans were from Dublin.

If Edward’s father was Christopher McDonnell, Edward and his wife Catherine Costigan may have followed Irish naming patterns, whereby the first-born son was named after his father’s father, and the first-born daughter after her mother’s mother. As you saw in the last reply, the first-born son of Edward McDonnell and Catherine Costigan was Christopher, baptized in St. Andrews Catholic Church, Westland Row, Dublin City.

With this information I found Edward’s baptism transcription at the FMP website, which shows he was baptized in St. Michael’s and St. John’s Catholic Church, Lower Exchange Street, Dublin, on 12 March 1804.

His parents are “Christr” McDonnell and Anne Brennan. See the transcription at: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F3092517

A copy of Edward’s original baptism record is the 5th entry below the March 1804 subheading, right-hand page of the register at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000639785#page/29/mode/1up

His godparents look like Patrick and Elinor Brennan, but I could be wrong about the godmother’s first name.

I also found that Christopher McDonnell and Anne Brennan had six children baptized in the St. Michael’s and St. John’s Catholic Church. Their names and years of baptism follow. I’ve also included Edward’s baptism so you can see the full chronology of the baptisms:

Richard McDonnell, 1802
Edward McDonnell, 1804
Elinor Mary McDonnell, 1806
Charles Wade McDonnell, 1809
Mary McDonnell, 1812
John O’Reilly McDonnell, 1813.
____

I next looked for, but unfortunately didn’t find the marriage record for Christopher McDonnell and Anne Brennan anywhere in Dublin, or in anywhere Ireland. I also looked for but didn’t locate any further information about Anne Brennan and her father Edward at the FMP website that I could identify.

According to information found at the archiseek.com website, St. John’s and St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Exchange Street Lower, was built in 1813 but was “gutted” to make way for a “tourism ‘experience’ which failed. Unfortunately the fine interior was ruined.”

See the archiseek.com website link for more information and a photo of the church: https://is.gd/2QIkFp

For a Google Map of Exchange Street Lower just south of Essex Quay and the River Liffey, see: https://is.gd/5OsnPi

The next link will bring you to a Google Street View of the deconsecrated church, which shows it is now the “Smock Theatre.”: https://is.gd/XyqwCn

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website also gives the date of 1813 for the establishment of the church, and notes in the “Appraisal” section that the church was deconsecrated in 1989. See: https://is.gd/sKW14U

If St. John and St. Michael Church had been constructed in 1813, five of the six McDonnell children would not have been baptized in this particular church structure, as they were baptized prior to 1813. They were likely baptized in a church that was located in the same location, or near the location where the church stands today in Exchange Street South. It is not known if the youngest child, John O’Reilly McDonnell, baptized in 1813, was baptized in the old or new church.

The second-born child of Edward McDonnell and Catherine Costigan was Silvester, who was baptized in the St. Andrews Catholic Church, Westland Row, Dublin City, in 1835.

If Edward and Catherine were following Irish naming patterns, the second-born son would be named after his mother’s mother, which indicates that Ann Costigan’s father was Silvester, or perhaps Sylvester Costigan.

I looked for Catherine Anne Costigan’s baptism transcription at the FMP website, to see if her father was Silvester/Sylvester. I found that there is an FMP baptism transcription for her, as well as a church birth date. Catherine, according to the transcription, was born on 9 July 1805 and baptized in St. Catherine’s Catholic Church, Meath Street, Dublin City, on 25 July 1805. Her father is “Silvr Costigin.” Her mother is Catherine Fitzsimons. See the transcription at: https://is.gd/wq5O9J

A copy of Catherine’s original baptism record is the 3rd entry down from the top of the right-hand register page at: https://is.gd/vgTROd

Her godparents are Anne and John Costigin. I didn’t see a 9 July birth date for her in the baptism record, however.

I also located the St. Catherine’s baptisms of 10 more children of Silvester Costigin and Catherine Fitzsimons at the FMP website. Below are the names and years of baptism for the children, including the baptism for Catherine to show the full chronology of the baptisms. What is unique is that among the children, there are triplets, all born in 1808.

Catherine Anne Costigin, 1805
John Costigin, 1807
Silvester Costigin, 1808
Ann Costigin, 1808
Maria Costigin, 1808
Christopher Costigin, 1810
Letitia Elizabeth Costigin, 1811
Mary Costigin, 1812
Eliza Costigin, 1815
Margaret Costigin, 1816
Gregory Sylvester Costigin, 1817
____

You can view the original baptisms of the Costigan triplets at the following National Library of Ireland link: https://is.gd/EKNXVT

The baptisms are on the left-hand register page, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th entries up from the bottom of the page. The godparents for Silvester Costigan are Silvvester and Catherine Costigin. The godparents for Ann and Maria Costigin are Silvester Costigin and Ann McCarthy.

Over the years I’ve come across the baptisms of several twins in Irish baptism records, but this is the first time I found triplets. Caroline, are there any twins or triplets in your family?

According to a Wikipedia article the present-day St. Catherine’s Catholic Church is located in Meath Street. The church dates from 1858 but was constructed on the site of a former church built in 1782, which had been in the shape of an octagon. See the Wikipedia article at: https://is.gd/xhRapG

Irelandxo.com also has information about St. Catherine’s which you can read at: https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/visiting/about-st-catherines-parish-du…

The church website can be accessed at: https://www.meathstreetparish.ie/

I found Meath Street, Dublin City in an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1837 to 1842 time period, but St. Catherine’s is not labeled. There also doesn’t appear to be an octagonal structure representing the church in Meath Street. See the map in the attached GeoHive link.

Also attached from GeoHive is an Ordnance Survey Map of Meath Street Dublin from the 1888 to 1913 time period, showing the location of St. Catherine’s R.C. Church, constructed in 1858. The old chapel would have been located in or near this spot also.

For a Google Map of Meath Street, Dublin City, go to: https://is.gd/5zCgdO

For a Google Street View of St. Catherine’s Church in Meath Street, go to: https://is.gd/auguGx

According to the National Library of Ireland, St. Catherine’s baptisms and marriages begin in 1740, and so the next search involved seeing if there was a marriage transcription for Silvester Costigin/Costigan and Catherine Fitzsimons in St. Catherine’s, or in another Dublin City Church, or another church anywhere in Ireland. Their first child Catherine was baptized in 1805, and so I figured that Silvester and Catherine would have been married sometime between 1800 and 1805.

I located the FMP transcription showing that Silvester Costigin and Catherine Fitzsimons were married in St. Catherine’s on 19 February 1804. See: https://is.gd/uyKyzo

A copy of the marriage entry is found the last entry at the bottom of the right-hand register page at: https://is.gd/wN1uuN

The witnesses to the marriage were John Costigin and John Adrien. There is a word, or an abbreviated word to the right of John Adrien’s name which I couldn’t decipher, even after enlarging the page to the fullest.

Because the handwriting in both pages of the register is very neat, I am wondering if this is a 20th century copy of the original St. Catherine’s marriage records.

When looking for more information about the Costigan family, I came across some very interesting details about Sylvester and Catherine’ son Christopher, who was born in 1810.

In the Volume 11, Issue 1, 1978 edition of Irish Geography Magazine, an Army Commandant named Con Costello, of Army Headquarters, Parkgate, Dublin 8, wrote a letter to the editor entitled, “Christopher costigan, explorer of the dead sea.”

In the letter Costello writes that Christopher, at age 25 in 1835 set out to explore the Dead Sea, but had become ill during his expedition, and was taken to the monastery of St. Francis in Jerusalem, but had died from his illness. Chsitopher’s mother Catherine erected a monument to him, which gives some biographical information about him, such as he had attended the Jesus College in Maynoothwood, Ireland, and that he was stricken with fever in the Asphaltic Sea, which I think may be a reference to the Dead Sea.

Costello writes that Christopher was the third son of Sylvester and Catherine Costigan of Thomas Street, Dublin, and that he was baptized in St. Catherine’s Parish on 12 May 1810. Both of these statements are true, as Christopher was the third son and was baptized in St. Catherine’s on 12 May 1810. Costello further writes that Christopher’s parents were married in St. Catherine’s on 19 January 1804, which is also correct date for their marriage, as seen earlier. He also states in the letter that Christopher’s mother was a,

“Miss Fitzsimon (or Fitzmont), from Toddstown, Co. Meath. His father had a distillery at 161/162 Thomas Street. Christopher was sent to Clongowes College, Clane, in 1819 and remained there until 1826.”

You can read the letter to the Irish Geography Magazine at: https://is.gd/PQyeJG

Costello writes that Catherine Fitzsimon or Fitzmont, was from Toddstown, County Meath. County Meath borders Dublin City on the north.

I went to the FMP website to see if any girls named Catherine Fitzsimon were baptized in County Meath in the 1770s, but found none. I did locate three baptisms in Meath for girls named Catherine Fitzsimon, all baptized in the Navan Catholic Parish. They are;

Catherine Fitzsimons, 1785
Catherine Fitzsimons, 1787
Catherine Fitzsimons, 1790
____

If the Catherine Fitzsimon baptized in 1790 was Silvester Costigin future wife, she would have only been 14 when she married on 19 February 1804. However, if Catherine had been born in a day or month after 19 February, she would have actually been only 13 years old at the time of marriage

The baptism transcription for Catherine Fitzsimon baptized in 1785 shows that her father was John Fitzsimons and that her mother was Mary Quin. The day and month of Catherine’s baptism in 1785 was 29 August See: https://is.gd/3LYmbz

The baptism transcription for Catherine Fitzsimon baptized in 1787 shows that her father was Patrick and her mother Margaret Lynch. Her baptism took place on 7 June of that year: https://is.gd/0RplC4

The third Catherine Fitzsimon was baptized on 7 August 1790. The FMP transcription shows her parents were James Fitzsimons and Catherine McDonald: https://is.gd/Ds9A5T

Without knowing the names of Catherine’s parents there is no way to tell which, if any of the three baptisms is the Catherine Fitzsimon in your direct line.

I also looked for the baptism of Silvvester/Sylvester Costigan/Costigin in the 1700s but did not find one.

In his letter to the editor of Irish Geography Magazine, Commandant Costello mentions that Christopher Costigan’s father had a distillery located at 161/162 Thomas Street, which would be a reference to Thomas Street in Dublin.

I found more information about Sylvester Costigan written by Sean Murphy in his July 28, 2020 article for the Fountain Resource Group titled,” Distillers and St James’s Church and Graveyard,” in which he calls Sylvester Costigan a “prominent Dublin distributor,” and notes that his distillery was located at 161 Thomas Street. Mr. Murphy also states that upon the death of Sylvester in 1817, his partner, George Roe, took over the business.

Mr. Murphy goes on to say that Sylvester was buried in the St. James Church graveyard, This St. James Church and belonged to the Church of Ireland rather than the Catholic Church, and is located in James Street. The church is no longer a place of worship but, ironically, the location of the Pearce Lyons Whiskey Distillery.

Mr. Murphy also writes that Sylvester’s grave mentions his wife Catherine, children Mary and Margaret and a John Costigan who may have been Sylvester’s brother, though Sylvester and Catherine did have a son named John baptized in St. Catherine’s in 1807.

You can read the full Sean Murphy article at: https://is.gd/LWphl2

I am not sure why Sylvester and any of his family were buried in the St. James Church of Ireland graveyard, being as he was Roman Catholic It may be because he had ancestors or relatives buried there during Penal Law times when it was illegal for Catholic priests to hold mass. For more information about the Penal Laws in Ireland, see the LibraryIreland link at: https://www.libraryireland.com/JoyceHistory/PartV.php

Also see Wikipedia at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_Laws

Thomas Street is located in western Dublin City, in a section called “The Liberties.” A Google Map shows the location of Thomas Street, The Liberties, James Street, and the Pearce Lyons Whiskey Distillery/St. James Church, which is located just down the road from the Guinness Brewery See the map at: https://is.gd/gZKVgB

For a Google Street View of Thomas Street, also known as the R810, see: https://is.gd/xhWguz

For a Google Street View of the Pearce Lyon Distillery and Visitor’s Centre, which includes the former Church of Ireland church, see: https://is.gd/f6CgBZ

The Find A Grave entry for St. James Church of Ireland in Dublin includes a very good essay about the church in addition to the 25 memorials that have been submitted for ancestors who are buried there. There are no submissions for the Costigan family however. See: https://is.gd/8PzG9l

In addition to civil registration birth, marriage, and death records, the irishgenealogy.ie website also has a Church Records search function for select areas in Ireland. One of these areas is Dublin City, and so I looked for the St. James Church of Ireland burial record for Sylvester Costigan and any of the Costigan family who may be buried in the St. James Church of Ireland graveyard.

I found the burial record for the elder Sylvester Costigan at irishgenealogy.ie, showing his burial took place in the St. James Church of Ireland on 7 February 1817. His address at the time of death is “Thoms St,” which is an abbreviation for Thomas Street. See the transcription below:

Area - DUBLIN (COI), Parish/Church/Congregation - ST. JAMES
Burial of SILVESTER COSTIGAN of THOMS ST on 7 February 1817

Name SILVESTER COSTIGAN
Address THOMS ST
Age N/R
Date of Death N/R N/R N/R
Occupation N/R

Further details in the record

About the record
Book Number Page Entry Number Record_Identifier Image Filename
N/R 88 N/R DU-CI-BU-113520 d-152-1-2-088
____

A copy of the original burial entry for Sylvester is the 6th entry under the February subheading in the attached St. James burial register.

At the historicgraves.com website I found a photo of the Costigan gravestone in St. James Cemetery, as well as the epitaph inscribed on the stone. Go to the historicgraves.com link at: https://historicgraves.com/st-james-s/du-sjms-0020/grave

In his article about Sylvester Costigan for the Fountain Resource Group, Sean Murphy had written that the grave has the incorrect date of death (4th Feb. 1816) for Sylvester inscribed on it. The burial record for Sylvester proves this is true, and that he was actually buried on 7 February 1817. He may have died on 4 February 1817, waked for two days on 5th and 6th February, and then buried on the 7th February.

I didn’t find a St. James burial record for Sylvester’s wife, Catherine Costigan at the irishgenealogy.ie website.

I almost forgot to mention that I located additional information about Christopher Costigan and his ill-fated expedition to the Dead Sea in 1835.

See:

The Illness of Christopher Costigan: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30100707?seq=1

Exploration of the Holy Land from the Israeli Philatelic Federation: https://is.gd/ET36xe

City of Stone: The Hidden History of Jerusalem: https://is.gd/RyVMnQ
____

From the descriptions of his death and burial from Commandant Con Costello in the Irish Geography Magazine, and the above-mentioned publications, I suspect that Christopher Costigan is buried in the Mount Zion Roman Catholic Franciscan Cemetery in Jerusalem. This is the same cemetery where Oskar Schindler, who rescued Jews from the Nazi death camps in World War II, is buried.

No one has submitted information about Christopher Costigan to the Find A Grave site for the Mount Zion Cemetery. See the Mount Zion Cemetery page at the Find A Grave link: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/639811/mount-zion-catholic-cemetery

CONCLUSION

Caroline, researching your ancestors has been one of the most interesting projects I’ve undertaken for a long time. In spite of being Roman Catholic ruled by a Protestant minority in Ireland during the 19th century, your ancestors broke through the glass ceiling and gained prominence in their home country, as well as in the UK, in spite of their religious affiliation. You must be very proud of them.

You may be able to uncover more information about them both online and through additional research offline. Repositories that may have printed materials about your ancestors are the Monasterevin Library, Dublin Street, Monasterevin; the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin City, and the National Archives of Ireland, 8 Bishop Street, Dublin City.

In the UK the National Archives, Bessant Drive, Kew, Richmond, may have more information about James Mathew in the legal profession in London, and Anna Cassidy, his Irish-born wife.

You would have to check each of the above-named repositories to see what the current policy is for visiting due to the Covid 19.

There are three attachment with this reply:

Meath Street Ordnance Survey Map 1
Meath Street Ordnance Survey Map 2
Sylvester Costigan 1817 Burial

With Very Best Wishes,

Dave

Hi Dave

thank you so much for all you have done! I had absolutely no idea about Anna Maria's family or anything about the distillery etc. as I mentioned earlier, my mother had done a lot of research on her grandfather's side (James C Mathew) which I have but none for her grandmother (Anna Maria) and therefore about the Cassidys.

I have already been sending snippets of you research to my sister in the States and my cousin in Malta who is the daughter of John Charles Mathew. I am currently drawing a family tree (back to Robert Cassidy)!! It is my intention to delve into your research and other sources at a later date.

I am so glad that you found it fascinating. I certainly looked forward to your posts!

Once again, thank you

All the very best

Caroline 

Hi Dave

I thought you might to see Anna Maria (great grandmother) in person!

All the best
 

Caroline 

You're welcome Caroline and many thanks for your kind words.

Unfortunately the photo of Anna Maria didn't materialize through in the jpg attachment you sent. I tried accessing it several times through the
2021-02-04 12.28.45.jpg attachment but to no avail. Is there any other way you can send the photo?

Thank you Caroline.

Dave

 

Hi Dave

if you let me have an email address or a phone number, I can attach it to the email or attach it to WhatsApp! My email address is cjmonk1@hotmail.com

best wishes

caroline