Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

Twiggs or Twigg Mary born abt 1804 in Co Mayo

MayoKillala (Mayo)

Hello,

Can anyone help me please ?

My GG Grandmother Mary Twiggs (name on Church marriage record)married my GG Grandfather John Otto Russell

on 26th June 1829 in Wigston Leicestershire England.

On the 1841 census it shows that she was from Ireland.The only other people from Ireland in the 1841 census for Wigstonwas a Catherine Twigg aged 60 (possible mother?) and a Catherine Marshall aged 55 both worked in Woollen Hosiery.

On the 1851 census it said that Mary was from Calla Co Mayo

On the 1861 census it said that Mary was from Killala Mayo

On all subsequent census up until her death it just said Ireland.

Why would they come to Leicestershire?

However, I am in touch with a person from America,who thinks the following :-

Richard Twigg from Quorn Leicestershire,was in the Prince of Wales Leicestershire Fencibles hewent out to Killala in 1798 to surpress the uprising. They were there the day General Humboldt of France landed at the request of the Irish rebels to help fight against the English Crown in Ireland. Richard was not there as a pro Catholic Irish, but rather was a Protestant English Soldier. My friend's hunch is that Richard was captured immediately on the first day that the French arrived, because by 1800 he was married to a local girl Catherine Fallon, he does'nt think that this would have happened if he had been a ruthless soldier. Catherinewas apparently protestant and loyal to the Crown. They had a son Thomas Twigg in Killala in 1800. He believes that they had a daughter Mary, but this is not confirmed. Could this be my Mary? Could Catherine Twigg on the 1841 census in Wigston be Catherine Fallon?

By 1840 their sonThomas Twigg was in BallyMachola, Ballysakerry outside of Ballina with Mary Kearny on her farm.

They had a son Thomas Twigg born in 1840, they may have had a son John Twigg who was born in Killala that became the head of the household in Castlebar, but he has no proof of that. Thomas junior (born 1840) became a wheelwright/cart maker in Crossmolina he married Margaret Mash in 1861St Tiernan's churchhe died 1882 in Crossmolina.My American friend's GG Grandfather was their child Patrick born abt 1863.

If anyone can shed any light on the above ...find outwho Mary Twiggs is related to or connect Mary to Thomas Catherine Fallon and Richard Twigg's son? Find a death or immigration for Richard and Catherine or Mary.

Basically any help would be truly invaluable.

Thank you

IrelandXO member

4 replies

Dear Brenda

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I have passed this to our Kilalla Volunteer who will be in touch with you

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

IrelandXO member

Hi Brenda,

The area around Killala suffered from several famines in the early 1800s, so that would be one reason to relocate to England. There were also a series of evictions throughout the 1800s in Mayo, including the 1830s, again making another reason to leave. 

There is a John Twigg living at Poorhouse Hill in Aglish Parish, county Mayo in 1855 on Griffiths Valuation. There are several living in Castlebar, listed here: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~deesegenes/ball.htm

I also found this reference to someone looking for Twigge family in 2004: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IRL-MAYO/2004-03/10784262…

There are some posts here as well, you might want to look: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;…

I have quite a bit of info on the 1798 uprising, as my ancestors were involved on the Irish side against the English. I will look to see if I can find anything about your ancestors there.  Also, you might want to note that there English regiments stationed in Castlebar in the 1800s.

Finally, you might like to look at the Regiment of the Foot, as they served in Ireland and quite a few were English. I noticed that some Twiggs were listed, which were actually born in Ireland.  If you have an Ancestry account, look under "All UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Registers of Soldiers Who Served in Canada, 1743-1882" - note Ancestry has it named & filed wrong.

For example:

Name:Edwd TwiggBirth Place:Donegal, AntrimRank:DrummerRegiment:36th Regiment of FootResidence Date:15 May 1817Document Type:Regimental Registers of Pensioners

So, it could have been your Twiggs were involved in the 1798 uprising on the English side, were stationed in Killala, married and had children there. Being a military family, they could have then relocated to the garison in Castlebar but then eventually being stationed in England.

John

h

Kilcummin MayoIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi John 

Sorry for the delayed reply. Thank you so much for all of the information, I am a member of Ancestry and I will check the Regiment of th Foot. I am hoping to travel to the area next summer and possibly find out more. If you come accross anything else I would be eternally grateful also if you could shed any light on my other post for my "American Cousin" entitled

Mary Kearney lived on a farm in BallyMachola,Ballysakerrry abt 1840

that would be much appreciated too.

Warmest Regards 

Brenda Garner

IrelandXO member

Hello!

I am also a Twigg descendent, also through OP's friend's ancestor Patrick Twigg. I am currently creating a family tree, and I am getting stuck on the Twiggs past Patrick's father John. I am just curious, where did you find this information on the family Brenda? I really hope you are still using this forum almost 10 years later :) Thank you!

 

Kayla of NYC

kaylakuohnbackup

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.