My ancestors John & Sarah (nee McGaughren) Connolly born 1834 & 1835, left County Cavan in the late 1850's. Their first child Alexander was born in Montreal Quebec on 24/7/1859. The 1871 UK census forms give their place of birth as Cavan.
Can anyone help?
Sheila Fergusson
Sheila, Did they get married in Canada? or were they married in Ireland before they left?
Carmel
Hi Carmel
Thank you for replying to my message re John & Sarah (nee McGaughren) Connolly born 1834 & 1835, left County Cavan in the late 1850's. I am reasonably sure that they married in Ireland before they left for Canada, I assume to escape the potato famine.
I have one photo around 1908 of Sarah Connolly nee McGaughren as a widow in a family group including her daughter Sarah Connolly and her son’s daughter, my grandmother, also Sarah Connolly. I have the silver locket she wore in it. Both John & Sarah are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford.
Any help with locating their Co Cavan parish would be appreciated.
Kind regards
Sheila Fergusson
Sheila,
I am re reading the information you have given me & you say that they are in UK census in 1871 & they are in Quebec for their sons birth in 1859, is this correct, did they travel back & forward from Canada to UK?
Best Wishes Carmel
Hi Carmel
They left Ireland, went to Montreal, had two children there, then came to England soon after. Can you help?
Kind regards
Hi Sheila, this is a voluntary sevice and all I can do is give you direction & this is based on research I have done on my own family tree over many years.
Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864. You can access the website here:http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm. This is too late for you.
You could also try contacting the Cavan Co Library for further assistance, they would have access to parish records
Cavan Genealogy,
1st floor,
Johnston Central Library,
Farnham Street,
Cavan Town,
County Cavan.
Tel: +353 (0)49 4361094
Fax: +353 (0)49 4331494
Email: cavangenealogy@eircom.net
Meanwhile I will search nationalarchives.ie & see can I find patterns with names etc. What is the other childs name & do you know if there were any more children(even deceased) & what religion were they? Regards Carmel
Hi Carmel
Thank you very much for your help and for the e-mail address for the library. It is good to know what isn’t available as well as what is. Are you based in Ireland? Or Canada?
Re religion, oral family history has it that John & Sarah were Catholic. John Connolly was a RA gunner, hence the family could have travelled to and from Canada with the military. John and Sarah (nee Mc Gaughren) Connolly’s children were:
Alexander b1859 Montreal
James Henry b1862 Montreal (my great-great grandfather, missing a foot)
Robert b1866 Plymouth England
Sarah b 1869 Dover England
Henry b1873 Portsmouth England
James, John and Sarah appear in subsequent generations. James had one son James, died WWI. Alexander had a son John. William might be a name from the Connolly side, Henry’s only child was called William Henry.
The family settled in Temple Cowley, Oxford, where there was a military college, at some point between 1874 and 1881. Oral family tradition has it that James Henry was left behind in Canada aged 12 as a batman and a Nova Scotia confirmation card dated 1876 may confirm. By 1891 John was a greengrocer. I grew up in Oxford and stayed at their house, which passed via James Henry to my gran’s sister Kit, named after the English side.
From my great aunt Amy nee Connolly’s birthday book, Granny Connolly (Sarah McGaughren) was born 1st Jan 1835.
Thanks again for the help.
Regards
Sheila
(East Molesey near Hampton Court Palace)