#52Ancestors: James PERRY, 1875-1966, England

Continuing the #52Ancestors year-long challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, here is my son-in-law's great-grandfather, James PERRY, born in Hartshill, Warwickshire, England.  The photo is apparently of James' father, John PERRY, jr.  

James, born in 1875 in Hartshill, Warwick, was the youngest of the 9 children of his parents, John PERRY jr & Sarah WHITE. His father worked as a hand-looming ribbon-weaver according to the 1841 Census, as did many others on the Census pages for Hartshill, a small hamlet. This was a fading occupation as mechanized looms began to take over the piece-work done on home looms. 

On Aug 2, 1898, James married Martha Jane DONAGHY, in Glasgow, Scotland. The certificate states both are working, James as a Coachman, Martha as a Restaurant Hostess.  Scottish marriage certificates are wonderfully detailed with names of both parents, their occupations, and mother's maiden name.  See below: 

The 1901 Census in Glasgow shows James working as an Iron Foundry Labourer, living in the parish of Townhead, with a number of other workers from Ireland. Here we see their first daughter, Lillian, 2 yrs old. I suspect the Foundry paid fairly well - and there were pages of Foundries listed in the Glasgow city Directory!! 

James and Martha had the following 5 known children:

   1.  Lillian Martha, b. Mar 23, 1899, Glasgow

   2.  John Robert, b. May 13, 1901, Glasgow

   3.  James Edward [ancestor], b. abt 1904, Hartshill, Warwick;
          m. Oct 6, 1928 Alberta Canada to Margaret Alice
          ATHERTON; 7 children

   4.  Ralph, b. Oct 1907, Hartshill, Warwick, d. Mar 1990
           Warwickshire

   5.  Edwin, b. Oct 1909, Warwickshire

As can be seen above, before 1904 James and Martha moved down to the hamlet of Hartshill in Warwickshire where his parents and some of his siblings were living. On the 1911 Census, James states his occupation as Inn Keeper - see image below of the Bowling Green Inn on Coventry Rd in Southam. Here in this photo one can also see that it is still open for business.

I do wonder how James came to be an Innkeeper, having worked in various servant or labouring jobs until this time. Southam is south of the large city of Coventry; Hartshill where he and his younger three children were born, is just north of Southam, a total of almost 25 miles between the two places. Perhaps there's a family story about his new opportunity, between 1909 and 1911.  

I have yet to do significant research on James' children other than for his namesake, James Edward PERRY. Clearly some research could be done by his descendants-?  

At the age of 91 years, James died April 1st 1966, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and is apparently buried there. His wife, Martha, died 2 years later aged 93 years, on May 11, 1968, in Staffordshire.  There have been several trips to England, and perhaps one of the great-grandchildren have photos of their gravestones. 

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day!!

This week's post, #52ancestors: Martha McGUINES/MAGINNIS, Ireland

I've missed a few weeks in the weekly challenge from genealogist Amy J. Crow, but here is this week's offering: Martha McGuiness [var. Maginnis/Magenis], from Emyvale, County Monaghan, Ire. Emyvale was originally known as Scarnageeragh [Scairbh na gCaorach]. It is clearly in the north of County Monaghan, as can be seen in the map image. In the 1911 Census of Ireland, there were only 81 households listed.

I know very little about Martha, my son-in-law's 2nd great-grandmother on his father's side. This post will summarize the little I know, and perhaps eventually, someone will recognize her and contact me with more information!

My first information about Martha McGUINESS and her husband Patrick DONAGHY was seeing them listed as parents on their 5th child's marriage record in Glasgow, Scotland, Martha Jane DONAGHY, the great-grandmother of my son-in-law. Scotland? A thin thread, until I read all the details about parents, confirming names:

This week, I found her listed as the mother of Martha Jane DONAGHY, on the baptism image on FindMyPast.ie database, Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms - image below. It's a dark challenging image, names are in Latin, her surname is not quite the same spelling, but I'm certain this is the correct family:

Martha McGUINESS was born approximately 1845-1849 in Emyvale, Co. Monaghan, Ire. I have no information on her parents or siblings. She married Patrick DONAGHY [var. Donaghey, Donaghee/oe], in 1864 in Co. Monaghan, Ireland.  I am unable to find the actual date or an image of their marriage record.


The 1911 Ireland Census states Martha had 10 children [7 living in 1911], but I have only found 9 so far. Martha and Patrick had the following children as seen on FindMyPast.ie. See image at top of post. Note that Glaslough is a small village a few miles east of Emyvale in the same parish:
   1.  Catherine, bap. 19 Jul 1865, Glaslough, Monaghan.
   2.  Mary, bap. 2 May 1868, Glaslough, Monaghan
   3.  Ann, bap. 21 Jun 1870, Glaslough, Monaghan
   4.  James, bap. 7 Jan 1873, _____, Monaghan
   5.  Martha Jane [ancestor], bap. 7 Dec 1874, Emyvale, Monaghan, d. 11 May 1968, Staffordshire, Eng; m. James PERRY Aug 2, 1898, Glasgow Scotland; 5 children
   6.  Bridget, bap. 15 Apr 1877, ____, Monaghan
   7.  John, bap. 17 Aug 1879, ____, Monaghan
   8.  Susan, approx. 1883, Emyvale, Monaghan
   9.  Thomas, approx. 1886, Emyvale, Monaghan

The youngest two birth dates are calculated from censuses.  Also, it seems as if there is a likely baby in 1881 who died, which is my assumption for the gap in births, adding the total children born to 10.

At some point before 1897, their daughter Martha Jane moved to Glasgow, likely for employment purposes. It is not clear if she came with her parents or any siblings, as I have not found the family in the Scottish censuses of 1891, 1901, 1911.

Instead, I find Patrick and Martha living in Emyvale, Monaghan with one of their youngest children:  on the Irish 1901 Census [Susan], and 1911 Census [Thomas].

The next record I find for Martha is a death event of June 1915 in County Monaghan, Ireland. She would have been approximately 67 years of age. This death date is not proven as I have yet to find a image/document, only an index with very limited details.

I have had limited success in finding documents linking Martha to her husband and children, and extremely limited success re Martha's birth and death. Ages on Census records have been clues to follow.  A big question is why Martha Jane, her namesake daughter, was living and married in Glasgow Scotland in the late 1890s.

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES No.11: Luck of the Irish: DONAGHY & GILLESPIE

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was Stormy Weather, and this week it is "Luck of the Irish."  Here is shown the links of how my daughter's great-great-grandmother and my son-in-law's great-grandmother lived a stone's throw (or two) from each other in Ireland, and their descendants met and married in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - half-way 'round the world.

My greatgrandmother, Catherine ARMSTRONG, bap. 3 May 1853 in Parish Clogher, Augher, County Tyrone, N.Ireland, married George GILLESPIE in 1875 in Augher. I have written a number of times about my GILLESPIE line, and this photo of  Catherine is taken in 1895-1898, from a family photograph. 

The Parish birthplace - Clogher, County Tyrone - was listed on their 1911 Census in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England. The family had moved from Ireland just before 1881. The village of Augher shows on the birth registration of their first son, my grandfather, Wm John "Jack" GILLESPIE, who was born there.  His birth was attended by the Informant, Margerie Armstrong - who could be Catherine's mother, grandmother, aunt, or sister... I have yet to find any record of Margerie.  As you can see on the extreme right box, it took several months to finally name Grandpa! I wonder why? 

Transcription: Births registered in the District of Clogher, in County of Tyrone:  #439.  Birthdate:Twentythree August 1876; blank box for name of baby, M[ale]. Father: George Gillespie; Dwelling place: Augher;  Mother: Catherine Gillespie formerly Armstrong; Father's Profession:  Labourer;  Informant: Margerie Armstrong "X" her mark, present at Birth, Augher; Date Registered: Twenty Eighth August 1876;  [Frar. Scraggs]; Bapt. Name if added after Registration of Birth:  Wm John, 23rd October 1876. 

Now recently, I was asked to research my son-in-law's family, their British & German roots, and ran across a great-grandmother of his born in Ireland. Another Irish connection. How interesting, I thought.  [Happy St.Patrick's Day!]

Martha Jane DONAGHY, b. abt 1877, in Emyvale, County Monaghan, N.Ireland, married 2 Aug 1898 in Glasgow, Scotland to James PERRY, b. 1875 in Hartshill, Warwickshire, England.  Her parents were Patrick DONAGHY and Martha McGUINESS, both of Ireland. The 1911 Census of England & Wales gave the birthplace for each person, which was my first finding of the village of Emyvale in Monaghan for Martha Jane DONAGHY's birthplace.  

On a map, I saw that the village of Emyvale was very close to the northern edge of County Monaghan... and just for a lark, I looked for where the village of Augher was in the south of County Tyrone.  CLOSE!  Very close: 10.8 miles (17.4 km), in fact.  With a steady walk, it's only a few hours away. Click on the link to see the region on Google Maps.

So I have found that my daughter and her husband, both have direct ancestors - great-grandmothers - who took different routes emigrating from their nearby villages in Northern Ireland. And their descendants ended up across the ocean, across Canada, in Victoria, British Columbia, where they met and married. Amazing. Half way round the world.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of Martha Jane DONAGHY Perry.  Apparently a box or two of photographs is coming "soon".  I can't wait to see if there are photographs of her in the box. 

If you have further information on any of the people listed here, do contact me directly via calewis at telus dot com.  I would love to continue adding more details and photos to my son-in-law's family records.  

NOTE: My Blogger account is acting up and not allowing me to reply to comments just now. Assume that I am absolutely thrilled you took the time to come by, read the notes, and comment. You make my day!