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Northwood in Westport

MayoOughaval (Mayo)

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can help me. According to my 4x great-grandfather's,Joseph Northwood,official biography (he was a Canadian senator in the 1800s), he was born in Westport, County Mayo, Jan 11, 1809 and immigrated to Canada in 1832. From a piece written in the late 1800s about Joseph's son, I've discovered that Joseph's father might be a John Northwood (there is aJohn Northwood who was born in Ireland in the Canadian 1851 census in the same small town as Joseph's family, so this could be true).

However, through my research, I have never seen the name Northwood in Westport. I'm wondering if anyone has come across this surname. I know that Joseph and John were both Episcopalian (Anglician?), so perhaps they weren't Irish?

I know little about the relationship between England and Ireland between the 1770s and the 1830s. Iwonder if it is possible that the father of John Northwood was sent to Ireland from England at some point (Northwood seems to be a not so uncommon English surname) or if these men lied about their names or place of birth on the Canadian censuses.

Any information was be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much,

Cynthia

IrelandXO member

6 replies

If John was Episcopalian in Canada then that equates to the Church of Ireland, in Ireland. The records for Westport are held by the Church of Ireland parish of Aughaval and are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin with a copy in the National Archives in Dublin. For both locations a personal visit is required to view them. Baptisms start in 1801, marriages 1802 and burials 1820. So that should include 1809 when John was born. If you can’t get there in person you might need to hire a researcher. I am not sure if the records are on-line anywhere but you could try rootsireland (subscription).

I looked in the 1901 census for Mayo. There was no-one named Northwood listed. There was only 1 Northwood in Ireland that year. She was born in Dublin and was RC. I also searched the Irish civil indexes (Births and deaths from 1864, and non RC marriages from 1845). Only 7 Northwood events listed, all in Dublin.  So it does look like an incomers name. The family quite probably originated in England, prior to being in Westport at the time of John’s birth.

Westport was built in the late 1700s as a trading seaport and no doubt quite a few people would have moved to the town for business reasons. See: http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/towns-villages/westport/history/mayo-heritage-westport.html

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you so much for your information. I will definitely look into Roots Ireland, though I do hope one day soon to be able to visit.

IrelandXO member

Hi Cynthia

No luck on rootsireland for Joseph birth/baptism in Mayo but perhaps these are siblings:

Name:
Elizabeth NorthwoodDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:16-Feb-1815Address:WestportParish/District:Oughaval CofI parishGender:FemaleCountyCo. Mayo
Denomination:Church Of Ireland
Father:John NorthwoodMother:Mary N. ROccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John LargeSponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Catherine Frayne
Notes:

3RD WITNESS JANE BOOTH.

Name:
William NorthwoodDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:31-Dec-1816Address:N. RParish/District:Oughaval CofI parishGender:MaleCountyCo. Mayo
Denomination:Church Of Ireland
Father:John NorthwoodMother:N. R N. ROccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John NorthwoodSponsor 2 /
Informant 2:George Booth
Notes:

3RD WITNESS ANNE FRAYNE.

Name:
Ann NorthwoodDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:27-Dec-1818Address:N. RParish/District:Oughaval CofI parishGender:FemaleCountyCo. Mayo
Denomination:Church Of Ireland
Father:John NorthwoodMother:Mary ConolyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Charles McCabeSponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Martin Hill
Notes:

3RD WITNESS CHARLOTTE JORDAN. MARY CONOLY SERVANT MAID TO JOHN
NORTHWOOD

I hope you do visit - Westport is a pretty port and has an interesting family history centre.

Col

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

This may just be the right family. According to the censuses in the small town where Joseph settled, there was also a William Northwoods living there, who I have since found out was Joseph's brother. And his age states that he is 5 or 6 years younger than Joseph, depending on the census. Thank you so much for this information. It is one of my few brick walls on one side of my family.

Although I have been to Europe on a few occasions, I've never had a chance to visit Ireland at all. But since I found out that a branch of my family is from County Mayo, I have looked at many websites and pictures of the area. Just beautiful. And I have made it one of my 3 travel goals to visit there.

IrelandXO member

Hi Cynthia,

My name is Kent Martin (Northwood) and live in Melbourne, Australia. I am also trying to trace my Northwood heritage and have got as far as Westport, Mayo. I too have hit a brick wall.

I am a direct male descendant of Thomas Northwood (Great, Great Grandfather), born Westport, Mayo, 1829. Died Maldon, Victoria, Australia, 23/12/1901.

His father was John Northwood (the fourth), died Chatham, Ontario, 9/8/1858, aged 81 years & 5 months. Mother was Catherine Dillon, details not known.. Thomas was the second youngest child and left Canada for Australia in about 1852. Another son John (the fifth), born about, 1810 was a young married adult when the family moved to Canada in 1832. John V died tragically in a sawmill accident in Chatham, May 1842. The last surviving son, the youngest, James died in Chatham in 29/12/1913.

According to a book about the history of Chatham, John Northwood IV was married 3 times. I believe all of John IV children were all born in Westport between 1809 & 1831. So I guess that would make your Senator Joseph & my Thomas half brothers.

John Northwood IV father, John Northwood III who apparently lived to nearly 100, died  in Westport in the 1820's. Both John's were soldiers in the British army. According to the Chatham book the Northwood family were originally from England but left for Ireland in the 1700's due to "religious distubances".

Look forward to finding out more about our family history.

 

 

 

IrelandXO member

Hello Kent,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I've had quite a busy year and am only just getting back to this branch of my family tree.Thank you for all the information you have given me. I am hoping one day soon to get to Chatham to see if I can fin anymore information on the Northwoods when they first settled there.

According to the government obituary of Joseph Northwood, his grandfather John Northwood had actually been in Canada when the British and the French fought at the Plains of Abraham (located in Quebec City), when New France fell to the British in 1759. When I first read this story, I wondered if it was true or just a story told at the time. After searching, I did find a John Northwood who had served in Quebec around this time. I hope one day to be able to find the documentation to link Joseph and John IV to this John Northwood.

I have included the link, in case you are interested.

http://www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca/en/history-heritage/battles-1759-1760/soldier…

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=M3NEmzRMIkIC&dat=18861111&prints… (on the first page, bottom right hand corner)

Again, thank you for all the information.

Cynthia

IrelandXO member

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