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Philips, Buttevant. Any information, please.

CorkButtevant (Cork)

I'm after any information about this family. My GG grandmother Eliza Jane Philips was born in Buttevant according to the 1871 census of Scotland where shewas living at a small town of Forres. She married my GG Grandfather Alexander Simpson Macdonald at Port Adelaide in South Australia in 1856. He died in Burma in 1865 and she died at Inverness in 1879. Now her father, Robert Philips was a teacher in a Parish Day School at Buttevant in about 1834.The school was supported by the Kildare Street Society and the London Ladies' Hibernian Society and by local contributions, according toLewis's Topographical Directory of Ireland 1837.A schoolhouse was provided by the local Minister, The Rev. Dr. Cotter {Vicar to the Garrison at Buttevant) and a Colonel Hill, according to theFreeman's Journal, Dublin, 1833. Robert Philip's wifes maiden name was Hannah Daniels, according to Eliza's death certificate.

I'm unsure how Eliza came to get to Australia and have searched immigrant ships lists with no definitive answer. And I'm unsure of what became of her parents. Any information or ideas are most welcome. Thanks.

rhett@1rhett.net

4 replies

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I have asked a local volunteer to take a look at this for you

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

IrelandXO member

Hi Rhett,

Do you have a birth year for Eliza Jane Philips? I have searched the Buttevant baptism  records that are available from 1814 for Roman Catholic records and from 1800 onwards for Church of Ireland records  but I have been unable to find Eliza's baptism.

 

Regards

Anne Marie

Mallow CorkIrelandXO Volunteer

Regarding her move to Australia I see that her son Walter Alexander McDonald was a british subject born in  Calcutta, India, her husband was more then likely in the army, if she went over to Australia to marry her army husband there might not be a passenger record as this might have been arranged by the British army.

It is also possible that her father Robert was connected to the army eventhough he was a teacher, this could be a reason why there is no baptism record for Eliza as the British army had their own birth registration

Mallow CorkIrelandXO Volunteer

Thankyou Clare and Ann Marie. The date of birth was calculated from her death certificate, informed by her son, as well as from details on her headstone at Inverness.The details I have about Robert Philips school and teaching indicate that it was supported by the Church of Ireland (Rev. Cotter) and so I think that Eliza would not have been christened RC. The army connectionis interesting regarding a baptism record but I haven't been ableto make that connection. I do know that her husband was not in the army and rather was a ship's captain who became an "Assistant Conservator of Forests" in Burma before his death there in 1865.

The information regarding her birth at Buttevant comes from the 1871 census of Scotland and she would have provided that information as her son was only 11.

I am wondering whether this family came from England or Scotland. Her father's name, Philips, sounds Welsh, her mother's maiden name, Hannah Daniels, sounds English. The school was supported by an English/Scottish charity, and after her husband's death, until her own death, Eliza lived near Inverness. And I've found no evidence of Robert or Hannah's death in Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter!).

Many thanks for your efforts and ideas.

cheers

Rhett

rhett@1rhett.net

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