Walsh's of Ogool

In chatting with a new Walsh cousin in Sydney, Australia - we got on to the branch of Walsh's that seem to originate from Ogool and Finnaun north of Spiddal and west of Moycullen.  I am not sure I'm blood related to them (yet) -- as my Sarah Walsh marries into this family, but it seems plausible that it's another case of Walsh's marrying Walsh's to keep it "all in the family".

To confuse matters there are two Uggool's.  One in Killanin Pairsh and one in Moycullen Parish.

The David Walsh that Sarah marries, is from Uggool, and from his marriage record his Father is John Walsh.  He is from the Killanin Uggool -- which borders Finnaun and Letterfir.


In the Moycullen Uggool - In the Griffith's valuation there is a Joseph and Thomas Walsh who are listed as tenants.  In Tithe Applotment Books there is a James Walsh in Ogool -- could he be a brother of John?  I also found a burial in Moycullen in 1799 for James Walsh of Ogool.

In the Killanin Uggol - There is no Tithe Applotment Book, but in the Griffith's Valuation there is a Mary Walsh (probably a widow, and possibly David's Grandmother?).    In the 1901 Census there is a 91 year old John Walsh still living, which is likely David's father.  David and Sarah are in Finnaun in 1901, and he dies before 1911, with Sarah still in Finnaun for the 1911 Census.

More research needed, but need to concentrate on the Walsh's of Finnaun, Letterfir and Uggool (Killanin) -- need to look for burials (probably in Spiddal Cemetery rather than Moycullen).

UPDATE:  In July 2018, descendants of this family from Sydney, London, California and Ohio gathered and walked to the ruins of the family home in Ugool.

Yorkshire Toulson's!!!

A whole boatload of new Yorkshire records were added to Findmypast.com today! So, off I went to find some Toulson's!

Found just a few new folks, primarily female Toulson's who married, and their subsequent children.

Also, was able to fill in actual marriage dates and photographs of the actual certificates for over 50 Toulson's!!!  What a bonanza!  This in turn gave me some approx birth dates for some of the spouses, and fathers of spouses, to help establish the correct person in earlier census returns (helpful with common names -- once you've got the approx birth year, place of birth and father, it's fairly easy to find the correct John Smith).

Now to move on to the burials and baptisms!!  There are 87 Toulson burials and 133 baptisms.  Some are too early date wise (most of my Toulson's seem to have migrated from Lincolnshire to Yorkshire in the mid to late 1800's).  There are very few that are not part of my family, just a few miners from an area called Worsbrough.

I still suspect that there is a connection between my Toulson's and the Yorkshire Toulson's, somewhere up the tree in the 1600's.  At one time, someone suggested that the Civil War may have been when some of the Northern folks ended up down in Lincolnshire/Nottingham, for military purposes.  Need to do some historical reading to see if that is a plausible theory.

Possible massive Pearce breakthrough!!!

My Pearse/Pearce family has always been elusive, a common name in a difficult county (Devon), with frequent crossings into Cornwall just to confuse things!  My Pearce great great grandfather (Henry Pearse) was a bastard, but luckily his Father's real name William Pearse was listed on his birth certificate.

Henry was an interesting character, and through luck I traced him via Royal Marine records to his home village of South Brent, Devon.  I found his Pearse line going way back in the village. But, what had become of his Father, William who had sired him?  He never married Henry's mother.  I had a possible death in Plymouth for him, but it was just a guess.

Recently, dear Henry turned up in the Bodmin Gaol records for "breaching the peace" with his wife. When I got the records it noted that there were letters sent/received between Henry and his wife Susan in St. Ive (which proved it was him), and his brother William in Callington (Cornwall).  What? Who was this???  The Bodmin Gaol record was for 1849, so I checked for a William Pearse/Pearce in the 1851 Census for Callington.  Bingo! Found him and wife Elizabeth.  He was born 1819 in Callington, so was 2 years younger than Henry.  All this made good sense.

Then I checked to see if there were other Pearse's in Callington in 1851 and what do you know, but a William Pearse, age 70, born in South Brent, Devon and his wife Purdence!!!!  South Brent, that is the ticket -- tying this all neatly together!!

Further searching found William Pearse marrying Prudence Perry Betty on 2 June 1819 in East Stonehouse (Plymouth), Devon.  He was a full age Mariner, of the Parish. She was a spinster of full age of the Parish.

They went on to have son William Pearse who was baptized on 19 Sept 1819 in Callington (which was Prudence's birthplace).  So a bit of a shot gun wedding!

They lived in Callington in 1841, when they have 3 other children listed (Rachel, 14, Thomas 12, and Elizabeth 8). In 1851 they are living on there own (no children with them), and he must die sometime between 1851-61, as Prudence is a widow in 1861 living with a grandau Harriet Pearse, age 15. Prudence dies in the 2nd Quarter 1866 in Liskeard Reg Dist.

Son William (my GGG Uncle) goes on to marry Harriet Trezise/Tresize/Treise (mispelled in Civil Registration as Treise, when it's likely one of the first two variants) in 1843.  They had Elizabeth, Harriet, William, Thomas and Lucy, before Harriet dies in 1877.  He went on to marry a Susan Nicholls in1879, and he died in 1902.

All of this very exciting.....can't find headstone or burial info for many of them, and need to look for Civil Reg's for them to further prove things -- but it all ties up nicely.  While this whole line are just half-related, it is still exciting to finally nail down what happened to my GGG Grandfather William.

Henry Pearce -- my Gt Gt Grandfather's Bodmin Gaol record

After patiently waiting a couple weeks, my mailbox was finally filled with a package from the Cornwall Records Office today!  I'd sent off for the prison record of my Gt Gt Grandfather in 1849. I wasn't sure what to expect, as the index said there were letters between he and his wife and brother. I hoped for those letters, but realistically didn't expect them to survive.  I hoped for at least a physical description.

The 2 images - photos of the original register - gave me lots of good information, but of course raised additional questions.

There was a wonderful physical description of him, more detailed than I could've hoped for!

And there was information that his brother William was living in Callington in 1849.  The William I can find there in 1851 is a possibility, but says he was born in Callington, and in a later census St Austell.  This doesn't square with his brother's birth in Harford, Devon. So not sure where we are with that......is it even the right William in the census?

The "want of sureties", means he couldn't find anyone to vouch for him or put up bail, so he sat in jail for 3 months before the next Quarter Sessions.  And when that date came up, his wife didn't appear to press charges, so he was released.  I found this reported in the West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser newspaper.

More investigation needed, but fascinating stuff!!!

Great Great Grandmother's Funeral Notice -- Elizabeth Rodda White 1904

Wow, the British Newspaper Archives are such a treasure trove! Today I thought I'd go back through some of my direct ancestors and verify death dates via newspaper articles on deaths/funerals.  I've found that often I have the Civil Registration date, which is a Quarter (Jan-Mar for example), but not the actual death date.   

The newspapers often report the death, and sometimes have an article detailing the funeral, mourners, etc. -- these can be a goldmine of genealogical information.  

Recently I found the death notice of my Gt Gt Grandmother Elizabeth Rodda White in Feb 1904 in Pendeen, Cornwall, England.  That was exciting enough, but somehow I missed a second article published on 3 Mar 1904 about her funeral!!  Wow, so many names and verification of which of her children survived her, and which had predeceased her (including my Gt Grandmother).

Jane Rodda - b 1820 my 3rd Great Aunt

My Gteat Great Grandmother was Elizabeth Rodda, who lived to a great age of 92.  Her name always intrigued me, as it's very Cornish -- and I've spent a good deal of time researching her family.

Somehow, I'd never done much on her younger sister Jane.  I had some note that she possibly married a Grose or maybe a William Harvey.  One of her brothers went to Australia, and I suspected maybe she had as well, as I couldn't find her in the 1841 Census.

As I've been going back through my direct lines, I've been cross checking the British Newspaper Archive and the 1939 Register for clues on descendants.  While Jane was probably too early for these resources, I did another check on Ancestry, and found several trees that showed Jane had indeed married a James Grose.  While I don't always trust other's trees, I did the due diligence and all the records pointed directly to this being true, and that they had emigrated to Frostburg, Maryland, USA.

This was a key point, as other Rodda's had migrated there as well.  Her brother John had 3 sons that emigrated there in the 1870's -- so they followed and went to their Aunt!

I had traced most of those Rodda descendents in the past, but had never seen Jane, as she was under her married name of Grose - and I didn't put the clues together!

In looking at Jane's journey, she and James Grose married in 1840, had four children in St. Just in Penwith, and then emigrated to New York in 1850. They settled in Frostburg, where there was mining work, and had two more children there.  She died in 1901.

She left MANY descendants, which are all relatively close cousins to me!  It is always a wonder when I find a new CLOSE connection that I've previously overlooked (or been stumped on).

White Family obituaries.....tragic death at Levant Mine, Pendeen, Cornwall

Wow.....sometimes trolling through old newspapers can turn up some absolute gems!  Today, I was looking at some old Cornish papers online, and thought I'd see if there was anything available for 1853 for Edward White, my GGG Grandfather.  I don't know who his parents were (although I have suspicions) - and was hoping to find an obituary with that info.

No luck finding Edward, so moved on to his son, Thomas White, my GG Grandfather who died the following year in 1854 -- at age 44.  Must be a story here......

No online coverage for 1854, so moved on to his widow, Elizabeth Rodda White, who died in 1904. BINGO!!! Found her obituary, which says she was 92, one of the oldest residents, and the relict of Thomas White, who died some 50 years ealier at Levant Mine!!  Wow.....this is news to me!

So then I decided to see if just googling "Levant Mine 1854" would show me anything relating to her husband Thomas White's death.  BINGO again!! I found a Rootsweb chat, which had info from the West Briton newspaper in 1854 (which doesn't seem to be online).  Kindly it had been transcribed and described poor Thomas's death.

West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. Friday 4th August, 1854.

FATAL MINE ACCIDENTS AT ST. JUST - On Tuesday last, three men were

engaged "shotting down lode" in the usual way, in their pitch at

Levant Mine, St. Just, when a large "queer" which must have been loosened by

the holes previously blasted, suddenly fell on them, killing one of

them, Thomas WHITE, instantaneously, and dreadfully bruising the other

two, of whose recovery however, hopes are entertained.

On Wednesday last, as three men named Thomas WHITE, John TRAMBATH,

both of Bojewyan, and R. LEGGO, of Botallack, were at their work in Levant

Mine, a quantity of ground gave way, instantly killing White, and

severely injuring Trembath and Leggo. Deceased who was much respected

in the locality in which he resided, has left a wife and seven children. 

Very sad, but now I know why he died young, and this explains why some of the children scattered -- my Gt Grandmother headed to Eastern Cornwall to work as a domestic, and her sister married and emigrated to New Zealand,