Kearney and Young Family History

Week 36 update

Posted on October 28, 2024 | Leave a comment

I’ve been so busy over the weekend. My two teens were away which meant I had time to myself! This happened to coincide with free access to the newspaper collection on Find My Past!

I’ve added a few interesting characters to my family tree and it has jumped from 584 to 623 people in the last two weeks! Eeek. Some of the people led quite extraordinary lives and/or had unusual names, which meant there was a lot of information to be found about them. I was also able to search the free newspapers to find out even more. Newspapers certainly add a new dimension to endless census and BMD data.

Free access to the newspapers ends today which is good for me, as I really need to concentrate of downloading my data from Ancestry. I do feel I could manage it by the end of the year, and then I will have to go back and make sure I have an up to date list as I started out there were only 321 people in my tree – which means I’ve added over 300 people in 8 months!

The problem with Ancestry

Leave a comment

Posted in research tips

Week 34 update

Posted on October 17, 2024 | Leave a comment

Week 34 update: I’ve jumped to a whopping 584 people on my Ancestry tree which is a huge jump for me. It’s been a while since I sat and wrote an update so I can’t remember where all these people came from.

The best discovery I found was being related to Benjamin Bond Hopkins who married three times and owned Painshill in Surrey at some point. Painshill Park is open to the public and is one of the best examples of the English Landscape Movement.

The problem with Ancestry

Leave a comment

Posted in blogging

Week 28 update

Posted on September 2, 2024 | Leave a comment

I’ve joined a few Facebook groups for Irish family history as I am keen to explore my Irish roots more. I read a tip about searching Irish parish registers online so spent an hour searching the Catholic records for Macroom. Catherine Caroll was born in Macroom, Cork in about 1857 so I wanted to find a baptism record for her and find out the names of her parents. The parish registers have been microfilmed and are now available online, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find anything yet.

The problem with Ancestry

Leave a comment

Posted in Ireland

Week 26 update

Posted on August 19, 2024 | Leave a comment

I have missed a few updates due to the summer holidays. We have been lucky to have had a few trips away but that doesn’t mean I have forgotten my family history. We even managed t0 squeeze in a quick trip to the pretty church at Birdham in Sussex to see where some relatives got married back in 1827.

I have been slowly plodding away and downloading my documents. Somehow I have 553 people on my tree, which is a major jump from the 512 people in Week 19! Not sure what happened there.

The problem with Ancestry

Leave a comment

Posted in research tips

Exploring Birdham Parish Church

Posted on August 18, 2024 | Leave a comment

Yesterday we visited the pretty parish church of Birdham in West Sussex. We were camping in the area and I remembered we had a connection with Birdham which is just outside of Chichester.

The parish church was dedicated to St Leonard until about 1900 but is now dedicated to St James. In June 1827 Thomas Mansel married Selina Leigh, witnessed by Catherine Elizabeth Mansel (some relation to Thomas Mansel) and Benjamin Leigh (brides’ father).

Fortunately the church was open so I was able to go inside.

The 14th century nave.

The 16th century West Tower.

It is a very pretty church and I was happy to be able to go inside.

On the 24th November 1829 there is a baptism entry for their daughter Alexina Mansell. Unfortunately her mother Selina Mansel died shortly after, an entry of burial for her exists in the register for Newchurch of the Isle of Wight on the 3rd December 1829, stating place on death at Birdham, Sussex. There is no entry of death for Alexina Mansel but as there is no further record of her I presume she also died around this time.

I’m not sure what would have brought the family to Birdham. Thomas Mansel had his occupation listed as Commander Royal Navy in 1829.

Leave a comment

Posted in Mansel family, Sussex

Week 21 update

Posted on July 11, 2024 | Leave a comment

My mum told me that my grandfather worked as an errand boy for Sargents shop in Swindon, this was before he started his apprenticeship at the GWR Works around the late 1920s. The only mention I could find for Sargents was in this online article from the Swindon Advertiser: https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/4057692.on-the-verge-of-a-fresh-start/

The writer stated: Funnily enough, our Villett Street salon was formerly Sargents garden tool shop and the Catherine Street salon was their main tool store.

I’m not sure which shop my grandfather would have worked at. Sadly neither street survived the town planners and the Brunel North Car Park.

The problem with Ancestry