Friday, July 24, 2015

Nee Family -- A Brick Wall Broken Through?????

A recent trip to Ireland proved to be a goldmine of genealogical discoveries.  Through Ancestry.com I found a descendant from my Grandmothers village --- and met up with her in Galway.  The village only had 4 houses and 3 families -- all with the surname WALSH.  I've always been brick-walled at my GG Grandmother Mary Nee, who married into the Walsh family.  

Nee is a name in the general area, with a concentration in Rosmuc -- so I suspected she was from there, but that was just a guess.  She was born about 1820, so well before any Irish records.  She married before 1843, again before any records ....... I looked at some clues as to her children's baptismal sponsors, a Barbara Nee and a Mary Nee -- but still not much to go on.

I also knew that my Grandmother's brother had also married a Bridget Nee.  When I asked this new contact if she had any idea where the Nee's were from, she said Costello (or Casla in Irish).   This was somewhere I had NEVER looked!!!  It is just a bit south of my Grandmother's village, and she said that it wasn't that far a walk down the hill towards the sea. This all makes perfect sense, as it's closer than Rosmuc.   

So, when back in the States, I started trying to sort out any Nee's in the Casla area.  The parish is really called Derrynea or Doire Ne' (in Irish).  The Costello fisheries are in this area, and the Costello Lodge was a fishing lodge, that I found several Nee's working at.  Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any Tithe Applotment records for this area, and the Griffith's Valuation has residents of Costello Lodge, but no tennants..

 From Findmypast.com, I checked the Petty Session Records and found records from 1857 - 1870 listing Pat Nee, Thomas Nee and Peter Nee, all of  Derrynea or Costello Lodge.   

I also found some marriages in the 1860's, which helped me get to birthdates in the late 1830's early 1840's and their Father's names. 

Thus I think I've found siblings to my Mary Nee born about 1820 -- which are:

Patrick Nee of Derrynea:
      son Thomas Nee b 1843 m. Sarah McDonagh in 1869
            had Peter b 1871 d 1959 m Anne Ridge of Lettermore na' Coille Feb 1915
                   Michael b 2 May 1875
                   Mary b 21 Nov 1880
                   John b 22 May 1887

Michael Nee of Derrynea:
      son Patrick Nee b 1839 m Mary Conroy of Rosmuck Nov 24 1865
      dau Anne Nee b 1843 (of Camus) m Michael Nee (Glencaugh)

Other Nee's --- 
       Patrick Nee of Carraroe m Mary Donnell on Nov 20 1865
           had Bridget b 11 July 1875 in Derrynea
           had Mary b 20 Oct 1872 in Derrynea

      Patrick Walsh and Margaret Walsh of Furmoyle
           had Bridget Walsh - bapt 21 Nov 1814, sponsors Rodger Walsh and Bridget Walsh
           had John  Walsh - bapt 14 July 1819, sponsors Martin Walsh and Honour Walsh
     
      Matthias Nee of Lettermuckoo b. abt 1810  (listed in Griffiths Valuation) m Ellen Conroy
           had Anthony b abt 1830 marries Bridge Nee in 1870
           had Anne b 16 Mar 1842 (witnesses Bridget Nee and Mark Canavan) marries Patrick McDonagh of Clynagh 3 Mar 1867
           had Barbara Nee b abt 1847 - marries Patrick Kean 1871 (witness Penelope Nee)
           had Penelope Nee b 6 Aug 1849

And from Findmypast.com --- The Irish Dog License Registers - Derrynea Court:

Peter Nee 1911-1913 (Bealandangan)
Pat Nee 1907-1914  (Maumeen)
John Nee 1908-1913  (Bealandangan)
Anthony Nee 1902-1913  (Lettermuckoo)


Thursday, July 2, 2015

Nixon's......

I know that I have a 4th Great Grandmother named Elizabeth Nixon.  She was born about 1734 in the vicinity of Grantham, Lincolnshire.  She and her parents have proven elusive. There are multiple Nixon families in the general area, all with similar common names, so that I cannot definitely sort out the family that Elizabeth belongs to.  I know she married in 1763 at St Wulfrum's Parish in Grantham, and is listed as "of the Parish".

But, recently I got a DNA hit -- at first there was only the names Hewson and King, which didn't mean anything to me, but when I did some checking the King line was from Fulbeck, Lincolnshire! Aha, I have direct Toulson ancestors in Fulbeck -- so there must be some connection.  I did some further research, and although this DNA match had a family tree -- it seemed to connect this Hewson/King family to another part of Lincolnshire, which I think can be disproved (two Elizabeth Kings born about same year - one from Pinchbeck and one from Fulbeck; and their family tree was going up the Pinchbeck trail).

When I followed the Elizabeth King of Fulbeck, I found her Mother was Sarah Nixon, the dau of Philip Nixon and Mary Musson (who married in Somerby, which is near Grantham).

The Somerby records start about 1730, and I don't see my Elizabeth Nixon in the records -- but it could be that I need to look at the surrounding parishes, such as Ropsley.

The DNA match is a distant cousin, so it's possible that Philip Nixon is a sibling to Elizabeth Nixon's father. Need to sort through the generations and make sure I'm lineing them up correctly.

I'm hoping I can solve this Nixon conundrum, because I've never been able to add anything to her line.  The other family I need to sort our is the MUSSON family, as Elizabeth Nixon's son Michael marries a Mary Musson.  I have her ancestors up two generations, but have had trouble tracing her siblings.

Now that there are some good Lincolnshire records on Findmypast. com --- this may become easier!