Susan Kelly revisited

Having drawn a blank on both Theodore Kelly (see ‘The wrong Theodore’) and John Kelly (see ‘Thank you Thomas Cromwell’), I have looked again at Susan Kelly. Susan married Jeremiah Cronin in Michigan in the late 1850s, just prior to the establishment of a central recording system for the State. She stayed in Marshall, Calhoun…

Thank you, Thomas Cromwell

I have become well used to the absence of records in Ireland. Only fragments of 19th century census returns have survived. Practicing Catholicism was illegal for many years. This is a powerful disincentive to the keeping of records. Even in the subsequent period, there are many gaps in parish records, and a knowledge of Latin…

The wrong Theodore

The 1880 (American) Census shows Susan Cronin (nee Kelly), her husband Jeremiah and six children living in Marshall, Calhoun, Michigan. Staying with them are Anna McHugh (daughter of Susan’s sister Catherine) and two other members of the Kelly clan. Jessie Kelly was 10, born in Nebraska. Both her parents were both born in Ireland. As…

More on DNA

I am posting this in the hope that someone will either confirm my theories or tell me that I am completely wrong. If I share a single 3 cM segment of DNA with someone, then there is a 97% probability that it is due to random factors. Turning it round, there is only a 3%…

Looking for faint stars

It seems that most of the DNA evidence that I have at present is like trying to identify very faint stars on a dark night. You know that they are there, but you cannot be certain exactly what you are seeing. Is it a star, or a figment of your imagination? We want to discover…

Double checking – part 2

This is the second post (see Double checking – part 1 for the rest of the story) following up, and correcting, my post titled ‘Definitely related’ (Dated September 2020), in which I recorded the following: John (born 1866, son of GGF John) is staying in Dewsbury with Catherine (b 1851-1857 – his half-sister) at the…

Double checking – part 1

In the post titled ‘Definitely related’ (Dated September 2020), I recorded the following: John (born 1866, son of GGF John) is staying in Dewsbury with Catherine (b 1851-1857 – his half-sister) at the time of the 1891 census. He married Catherine (or Kate) Delaney in Dewsbury later that same year. She was born in Ireland.…

We always want more

The quantity of information collected on census returns has steadily increased with time. It does seem that providing more information can lead to more questions. In 1911, couples were required to state the duration of the marriage. It is clear that either some memories were faulty or powers of arithmetic were lacking. Not all the…

Griffiths Ormsby

The Griffiths Survey refers to three Ormsby people as tenants in Roscommon. These are in addition to the landowning Rev. William Ormsby (already covered in ‘Rich Ormsby and poor Ormsby‘). Isabella Ormsby has two houses and associated gardens at Drum, near Athlone. One of the houses was sublet. There is a death of Isabella Frances…

Rich Ormsby and poor Ormsby

In “Servant in Tonlegee”, I made reference to an article about Beechwood House. Almost in passing, there is a reference to an Ormsby estate. This required further investigation. There is a wealth of information to be found at http://goldenlangan.com/ormsby.html The earliest family record is of Richard de Ormesby who was born in 1020. A mere…