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Holmes / Foley Connection???

WaterfordArdmore (Waterford)

Hello I live in Australia & my great grandfather was William Holmes, who married Mary Hogan in Sydney, NSW Australia. 13 May 1878

According to William's Marriage Certificate, his parents names were Michael Holmes and Honora Foley & this certificate states that Williams birthplace was Ireland.

On his Death certificate however, where it asks for Name & Occupation / Informant of Father it shows the name of Samuel Holmes instead of Michael. Williams death certificate shows his place of birth as Ardmore, Ireland. His date of death was 1 Aug 1945 (Sydney, Australia)

At first I was unsure as to which Ardmore as I know of several, however on my grand-fathers Birth Certificate, it shows his father (William Holmes) birthplace as WATERFORD, Ireland.

I cannot find any information on when or how he arrived in Australia, word of mouth through family was that William jumped ship in Sydney. I am stuck & am trying to find the Irish connection,

So I have:

  • William Holmes born c1857-1860 from Ardmore, Waterford, Ireland
  • Parents believed to be either Michael or Samuel Holmes & Honora Foley
  • Apparently jumped ship in Australia sometime before 1878 (his DC claims time in NSW as being 68 years which would place his arrival in the state as 1877) (I cannot locate records of how he arrived & his MC is the first record I can find of his existence)
  • Marriage to Mary Hogan in Sydney, NSW (13 May 1878) (mc shows his age as 21, also shows HOMES instead of HOLMES)
  • Death Cert states he was 85 (1 Aug 1945) however taking into account his MC shows 21 in 1878 & his sons BC shows his age as 28 in 1885 (which correspond), I feel his age at death should have been 88 years otherwise he was only 17-18 at time of marriage & not 21 as cert states.
  • His death certificate does however show Surname as HOLMES & not Homes as his Marriage cert did.

I grew up with my cousins on my mothers side of the family as many of my dads siblings passed away when I was a child & only recently have gained contact with some cousins on dads side who unfortunately were only able to confirm the jump ship part

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated

JHolmes

3 replies

JHolmes:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

You did not mention the religious denomination for William Holmes. The RC baptismal records for Ardmore parish have a gap between 1833 and 1856 so if William was born just before 1857 a record would not be available.

I searched on two data bases for all of Ireland and could not find a William Holmes baptismal record with a mother having the surname Foley.

You may want to consider autosomal DNA testing.

Roger McDonnell

 

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Roger, thanks very much for your reply.
 

My apologies, According to the certificates I have for his marriage in Australia he was Roman Catholic, It looks like I may have to consider that option, I need to look into it to see how it works & whether it will connect me to families or just tell me whether I have irish in me.

appreciate you taking the time.

Regards John

JHolmes

I have many references from Ardmore to Honor/Honora FOLEY who married John GEARY/GUIRY on 23 Nov 1867. However, since she was married to John, she is probably not your Honora. I also have a Margaret FOLEY listed from 12 Nov 1837 and a John FOLEY from 23 Mar 1867. I have Patrick FOLEY listed 31 Mar 1872 and Ellen FOLEY 2 Aug 1876.

All of these FOLEY records are in connection to GEARYs/GUIRYs. There was a very close connection between these two families in Ardmore. In one Griffiths record I find GEARY(FOLEY).

johnvgeary@cs.com

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