Moloughney's from Ireland

Calling any descendants of Moloughney's from Tipperary Ireland.

For quite a few years now I have been trying to find more information on my paternal 3rd great-grandmother's ancestry.

Mary Mulloughny, in various records also spelt Moloughny or Moloughney, was born in Ireland, most likely County Tipperary.

In Dualla, near Cashel in County Tipperary in 1834, Mary married Cornelius Kelly.


If they followed the traditional Irish naming pattern, Mary's father's name may have been Edmond and mother Margaret.

Mary Kelly nee Moloughney, my 3rd great-grandmother.

Mary's daughter Margaret "Alice" Kelly, my 2nd great-grandmother.

They had a daughter they named Margaret Alice Kelly, later known as Alice.  Alice emigrated to Melbourne, Australia and married there in 1858.  Her younger brothers later followed her to Australia.  Further information about Alice, her brothers and children  HERE.

Alice and her husband, John Morgan from Armagh, Northern Ireland, were licensees of the original Cross Keys Hotel in North Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne.

https://morganandkellyfamilyhistories.weebly.com/

A fellow Moloughney family researcher, Nathaniel Miller and I have traded many jokes over the last few years about finding our families.  

A few months back someone in one of the Facebook genealogy groups suggested a file that was created back in 2001 by a Bill Moloughney who had gone to Ireland to research that family's origins in Tipperary.  

What a goldmine that was.   

It didn't actually lead to finding my Mary's direct ancestors but it did list many of the Moloughneys in Tipperary, their immigration to Fallowfield, Ottawa and New Brunswick in Canada and to Syracuse, New York in the U.S.A.

Recent DNA matches in a couple of the different companies have shown that my Dad, me and my brother share DNA with several of the descendants of these Moloughneys who settled in Canada.

I have sent them messages, now waiting impatiently for replies.  

Morgans of Keady Parish, Derrynoose, Armagh, Ireland

New DNA matches are coming in regularly with people who have connections to Morgan families in Derrynoose, Armagh, Northern Ireland which is where my 3rd great-grandparents Alexander Morgan and his wife Ann (Nancy) Lennon are recorded as having children in the 1820s and 1830s.

As the following people are living I can't share too many details for privacy reasons but a recent new DNA match had a father Fred Morgan who lived in Rowan Road.  I haven't found Fred as yet.

Another has a great-grandfather Thomas Morgan from Clontibret, Co. Monaghan which is very close to Rowan and where many Morgan families lived.  DNA matches are also to there but yet to be confirmed and connections found.

In the Griffiths Valuation for Armagh (1864), there was one Alexander Morgan who was leasing land from Andrew J Crawford at Rowan, Derrynoose.  There were quite a few other Morgans in the same area.

I don't doubt they were connected, I just haven't found how as yet.

Alexander's son, my great-great-grandfather John Morgan, named his Essendon hotel "Cross Keys".
There was an area named Cross Keys only about 5 miles from Derrynoose.
As with Rowan, Cross Keys now just seems to be a road rather than a townland.

 John Morgan's first son was named Francis Edward Morgan.  There were 2 Francis Morgans living near Alexander.  It's possible that John named his first born after his own grandfather and his second son was Alexander after his own father.  Not strictly sticking to the traditional naming pattern but fairly close.

As with Rowan, Cross Keys now just seems to be a road rather than a townland I think.

In the 1901 Irish census, taken on the 31 March,  there are 4 Morgan families living at Rowan, Derrynoose.

National Archives of Ireland image

At number 6 Rowan Road was Felix Morgan, aged 50, a farmer who was born in Co. Armagh and not married.  Living with him at the same address was his niece Anne Mullegan, aged 30 also not married.  They were both Roman Catholic and could read and write.

At number 8 Rowan Road was Peter Morgan, aged 56, a farmer who was born in Co. Armagh and who could read and write.  His wife Bridget, aged 40 also born in Co. Armagh, could read and write.
Seven children were listed and these children's names and ages tally with Derrynoose baptisms for children of Peter and Bridget.
Mary A aged 12  (Maryann baptised 31 Dec 1887)
Francis  aged 10 (Fris Miles baptised 18 Aug 1889)
John J aged 9 (John James baptised 21 June 1891)
Elizabeth aged 7 (baptised 27 June 1893)
Helena aged 3 (Ellen baptised 17 March 1897)
Peter no age given (baptised 6 March 1900)

Patrick and Catherine look to have been twins who may not have survived.
Brigid and Patrick also look to be twins born after the 1901 census.

In the 1911 census, the Morgan household is listed as Residents of a house 9 in Rowan (Derrynoose, Armagh)*

Peter and Bridget are now aged 68 and 51.  It states they had eleven children and 9 are living which fits with the baptisms as Bridget and Thos Patk both aged 8 years  (Brigid and Patrick baptised 24 March 1903) also tally with the baptism records.

At number 10 Rowan Road in 1901
Bridget Morgan aged 75, born in Co. Armagh, Roman Catholic, Farmer, Widow
Thomas Morgan aged 46, born in Co. Armagh, Roman Catholic, Farmer's son, not married.
Henry Morgan aged 38, born in Co. Armagh, Roman Catholic, Farmer's son, not married.

At number 17 Rowan Road in 1901
Margaret Morgan aged 70 Head born Co. Monaghan, Farmer, Widow
Joseph Morgan aged 37 Son born Co. Armagh, Farmer's son, not married
Kate aged 25  Daughter born Co. Armagh, Farmer's daughter, not married.

In 1911

National Archives of Ireland Image

Residents of a house 3 in Rowan (Derrynoose, Armagh)
Felix age 62 is single and living alone.

Residents of a house 6 in Rowan (Derrynoose, Armagh)
Thomas aged 50 Head, born Co. Armagh, Farmer, Roman Catholic
Catherine aged 30 Wife, born Co. Armagh
Francis aged 2 Son, born Co. Armagh
Michael aged 0 Son, born Co. Armagh

Residents of a house 7 in Rowan (Derrynoose, Armagh)
Joseph, aged 47, Head, Roman Catholic, Farmer, born Co. Armagh, Single
Kate, aged 35, Sister, Roman Catholic, born Co. Armagh, Single

Residents of a house 9 in Rowan (Derrynoose, Armagh)* see above Peter and Bridget.

Rowan Road is the red marker balloon below. 
Image from an early post at
http://morganandkellyfamilyhistories.weebly.com/weeblyblog/morgans-at-rowan-derrynoose-armagh

My New Updated Ethnicity Estimates from AncestryDNA

A person's DNA doesn't change but their ethnicity results can as companies update using "improved ways" to analyse the data.

Many people only test to get ethnicity results.  That's their prerogative.
I love finding relatives all over the globe and am lucky to have "met" both in person and virtually, some lovely new cousins and like-minded friends through both paper and genetic genealogy.

I certainly don't have a hope of understanding the technicalities of how it's done but the genetic genealogy experts say ethnicity estimates are just that, estimates.

I think of it as an extra, interesting and even fun addition to my DNA matching for genealogy but I don't take it as gospel even though the results are pretty much what I would have expected from my years of research. 
Given that quite a lot of that research has been confirmed through DNA matches I am in agreeance with their "estimates" and find not all that much difference between the results of the companies I have uploaded to.

This is my initial AncestryDNA ethnicity results breakdown and the map.

Below is my newly updated breakdown estimate and map:

There are also explanations available.

You can read further AncestryDNA FAQs about the updates HERE 

And more in-depth information on updated ethnicities by Debbie Kennett at Cruwys news  Blog.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 5: In the Census

There aren't many early census records surviving in Ireland as the vast majority of pre-1922 records were destroyed in the Irish Civil War by a fire at the Public Record Office.

 This means looking for alternative records.
A great census alternative is Griffith's Valuation, an extensive property valuation undertaken by Richard Griffith and published between 1847 and 1864.

The following website produced this list of Morgans in Derrynoose

The wonderful website ASK ABOUT IRELAND has a searchable function for records and maps in Griffith's Valuation.

Using the map function in which you can overlay the old map upon the current I was able to create an image that shows where each Morgan family lived.

(Unfortunately, this image seems a bit small to read easily but I can't seem to enlarge it here any further).

My Dad, brother Ross and I have made DNA matches with third cousins in my Morgan line from Armagh, Ireland.
Marcella and Kathleen are great-granddaughters of Ann Morgan who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1865 where she married a John Courtney.
Ann was the youngest sister of my great-great-grandfather, John Morgan. John emigrated to Australia in 1855 with two sisters, Margaret and Bridget.
They were children of Alexander Morgan and Ann/Nancy Lennon of Derrynoose, Armagh, Ireland.

If my hunch is correct a recent new DNA match is a fourth cousin to me and also a descendant of Ann Morgan and John Courtney.  The Mellon surname is known to be connected to their family.
I so wish AncestryDNA had a chromosome browser!

When I looked at matches shared with this new person it showed an older one that I had flagged as a likely Morgan descendant also.  The surname was Hennessey so I searched for any other Hennessey matches and sure enough, there was another quite small one.  On looking at their trees (THANKFULLY they had them) I saw they were both descendants of a Patrick Morgan born about 1827 Ireland.

I've found the following baptism records for Derrynoose:

Patrick Morgan - 1 Feb 1827.
Parents Alexander Morgan and Nancy Lennon
Sponsors Bernard Morgan and Rose McGeough

My great-great-grandfather John Morgan - 30 Jun 1829
Parents Alexander Morgan and Ann Lennon
Sponsors James Lennon and Mary Morgan

Bridget Morgan - 1 Feb 1833
Parents Alexander Morgan and Ann Lennon
Sponsors Bernard and Ann Barka

So it looks like the Hennessey matches may confirm another Morgan line.  Patrick apparently married an Annie Bloomer and they emigrated to America as well.

My Irish Catholic Family

My paternal great-great-grandfather, JOHN MORGAN was born in 1829 at Derrynoose, Armagh, Ireland

His parents were Alexander MORGAN and Ann LENNON.

John was baptised on the 30 June 1829 at Derrynoose.

Sponsors were James LENNON and Mary MORGAN.

John died on the 24 Feb 1880 at the Cross Keys Hotel, Essendon, Victoria, Australia

Cause of death - Chronic alcoholism

Buried Melbourne General Cemetery

Denomination - Roman Catholic
There was a Cross Keys road not far from John's home town of Derrynoose in Armagh.


Cross Keys:  A common sign in Christian heraldry, referring to St. Peter, to whom Jesus said: "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven".  The papal arms show crossed keys.
Click here for more information on Cross Keys coat of arms of the Holy See.

John married Margaret Alice Kelly on the 30th of June 1858 at St. Francis Church, Melbourne, Victoria.

St, Francis Church, Melbourne [picture] / printed from stone by Thos Ham.

Thomas Ham 1821-1870, lithographer.

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/108235

MARGARET "ALICE" KELLY was born in 1834 Tipperary, Ireland

Parents - Cornelius KELLY and Mary MULLOUGHNEY/MOLOUGHNEY
Cornelius KELLY was a farmer who leased house, land, and office from Matthew Penefather at Fussough, Tipperary until about 1851.

Mary KELLY nee MOLOUGHNEY mother of Margaret "Alice" KELLY

Alice died on the 30 Sept 1904 at the 

Cross Keys Hotel, Essendon, Victoria, Australia

Photo courtesy of Coburg Historical Society.

Margaret "Alice" MORGAN nee KELLY
Photo courtesy of her 3rd great-granddaughter,
the late Brigid SIMPSON, nee LAVIN, of New Zealand

Margaret "Alice" Kelly
Baptised 10 Dec 1834, Dualla, Sponsors were Laurence Mockler and Judith Dwyer (vicc Judith Mulloughney) which I am told means "standing in for"   So it seems that Judith Dwyer was standing in for Judith Mulloughney.

Alice's father's death may have been the reason for her migrating to Australia some time in the early 1850s.  I have not yet found any information on her mother, Mary nee Moloughney, so I don't know where the younger boys lived between their father's death and their migration to Australia in 1858.

Michael Kelly
Baptised 18 Sep 1836, Dualla, Sponsors were Patrick Molloughney, Mary Mahony
He arrived in Australia in about 1897 only six months before his death of TB.
Did he go to South Africa directly from Ireland or, like his brothers, did he come to Australia first and then head to South Africa?

Edmond Kelly
Baptised 16 Sep 1838, Dualla, Sponsors were Thomas Ryan, Julia Kelly.
No further information found as yet on Edmond Kelly.

John Kelly 
Baptised 20 Jun 1840, Newpark, Sponsors were William Mahony, Mary Ryan.   He married Mary ANN FRANCIS.  John died in 1905 at Yackandandah, Victoria

Thomas Kelly
Baptised 1 Jan 1843, Dualla, Sponsors were Thomas Quinlan, Catherine Mulloughny. Thomas emigrated to New Zealand in 1861. He married Juliana BASSETT. Thomas's New Zealand death certificate was the only way I found out the name of the townland in Tipperary that the KELLY'S came from.

William Kelly
6 Jan 1846, Dualla, Sponsors were Michael Kelly, Mary Ryan.  William died at Longreach, Queensland in 1899, a miner and a bachelor.

The three younger brothers arrived in Australia on the 15th June 1858 on board the ship Rising Sun.
They had arrived just in time for their older sister's wedding on the 30th of June that same year.

John's age was given as 15 or 16
Thomas was age 13
William age 12

Alice and some of her other family members are buried Melbourne General Cemetery

Photo courtesy of Chel Indikt (member of a Facebook genealogy group)

The Morgan family grave is at the Melbourne General Cemetery.

Roman Catholic, Section F, Grave C53 C54

MORGAN

Erected by

Alice

in memory of her beloved husband

John MORGAN

died at Essendon

24 Feb 1880

age 48 yrs

also their second daughter

Alice

died 5 Nov 1872

age 6 yrs

also

Michael KELLY

died at Essendon

19 Apr 1898

age 59 yrs

also their dearly beloved youngest daughter

Agnes Mary Magdelen MORGAN

died at Essendon

30 Apr 1900

age 24 yrs

also their son

Francis

died at Essendon

11 Jun 1900 age 40 yrs

also the beloved mother of above

Alice MORGAN

died at Essendon

30 Sep 1904

age 69 yrs. 

J Hanson (stonemason)

John and Alice's 2nd son, Alexander MORGAN, was found to be in New Zealand along with Thomas KELLY, another of Alice's brothers.

Alice's brother, John KELLY, was found to be in Gippsland at around the time of John Morgan's death in 1880.

John Morgan had arrived in Australia on the ship Calliance on the 31st of December 1855 along with his 2 sisters, Margaret and Bridget.

John's occupation was listed as Agricultural Labourer and he was sponsored by a Mr. Dodd of Campbellfield.

Bridget (21 yrs) and Margaret  (19 yrs) both Farm Servants were sponsored by a Mrs. Morgan of Flinders Lane who was named as their sister in law.   This sister in law may well have been Mary Ellen Morgan, nee Hayes, who was married to a Felix Morgan.

The name Felix was used as a middle name for John Morgan's youngest son so it most likely was a family name along with Francis.
According to another family researcher, Phil Morgan, Felix may have been known as Patrick as this nicknaming went on in future generations.  We can find no baptism record for Felix but there is one for a Patrick in 1827 which, within reason, fits with Felix documented age in Australia and his immigration record.

Felix (25 yrs) Agricultural Labourer,  and Mary (24 yrs) possibly arrived on the ship Truro in January 1854 - they were sponsored by a Mrs. Vivian of Hawthorn. Felix and Patrick may have been either the same person or if brothers, Patrick may have remained in Ireland.

******  

Bridget Morgan was baptised at Derrynoose, Armagh on the 1st of February 1833.
Sponsors were Bernard and Ann  BARKA (sic) - (Church baptism record)
Bridget married a Bernard Clark in Victoria in 1859.
They had 2 children at Inglewood, Victoria.
Margaret born 1861
Peter born 1863.
Bridget died in 1863, perhaps from complications of childbirth.

******

Margaret Morgan married a Thomas Gaffney at Inglewood on the 24th of September 1863.
They had 7 children, of which the last 3 were known to be born at Euroa in Victoria.  Margaret died on the 31st of March 1912 at Collingwood in Victoria.
The Gaffneys are also buried at Melbourne General Cemetery.
I found no baptism record for Margaret.
Hopefully one day more information or a DNA match will come to light.

******

In both John and Margaret's Victorian certificates Alexander Morgan's occupation is Farmer.

There is also a baptism record for Patrick Morgan at Derrynoose on the 1st of February 1827.  Parents Alexander Morgan and Nancy Lennon.
Sponsors were Bernard Morgan and Rose McGeough.  I haven't found further information on Patrick unless of course, he is actually Felix.
(The joys of genealogy)

On the 8th of December 1846 an Ann Morgan was baptised, daughter of Alick Morgan and Nancy Lennon. Sponsors were Ann and Francis Morgan.

Imagine my excitement after doing an autosomal DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA and finding Dad and I matched at the right amount of shared centimorgans to be 3rd cousins and 3rd cousins once removed with Kathleen and her cousin Marcella who were descendants of Ann Morgan from Armagh.  Ann emigrated to the United States of America in 1865.
We all also share a DNA match with Shirley and her daughter Shaun who are descendants of a Margaret Morgan also of Keady Parish, Armagh. Margaret may well be a first cousin of John Morgan.  Unless of course, I am totally wrong about the Margaret who came to Australia being John's sister.

Photo of Ann is courtesy of her 3xgreat grandson, David Kurtz.

On the 27th of September 1869 Ann married John Courtney in Pennsylvania.  They went on to have six children and lived their lives at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Death notice from the Mellon family history collection.

John and Alice's children Francis Edward Morgan and Agnes Margaret Morgan who both died in 1900. Photos from LAVIN family collection.

John and Alice's eldest son Francis was born 1860 at Hawstead.
He had two daughters with the char-woman of the Cross Keys Hotel in 1879 and 1881.
He married Emily BENNETTO in 1886 and they had a son and a daughter.
DNA matches with descendants of Francis Edward Morgan confirm our relationships and paper trail.

Alexander Morgan, second eldest son of John and Alice.
Photo from LAVIN family collection.

Alexander was born in 1862 at Moonee Ponds.  He joined his maternal Uncle, Thomas KELLY in New Zealand where he married Lavinia STUART.
He worked for many years as accountant for the New Zealand Treasury Department.

Alexander's daughter, Mary Agnes MORGAN became a very much loved sister with the Roman Catholic Order of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

This photo was amongst Alexander Morgan's collection.  It shows a group of men at an unknown location.  The closest man in the photo is the Archbishop of Victoria, Daniel Mannix

Family friend of the Morgan's was Father Patrick Loughnan of St. Roch's

My great grandmother,  Mary Agnes Adams nee Morgan,
eldest daughter of John and Alice Morgan.
Photo from LAVIN family collection.

John Felix Morgan, youngest son of John and Alice.
Photo from LAVIN family collection. John tragically drowned in the Cross Keys Hotel water tank in 1907.  His widow, Margaret nee O'MEARA carried on as the final licensee of the original Cross Keys Hotel.  They had no children.

I found one Alexander Morgan at Rowan, Derrynoose in the Griffiths Valuation for Ireland and a death record for 1870 in the Parish of Keady.

Derrynoose RC church is included in Parish of Keady.

Also in that Parish was the death of an Agness Morgan in 1869.

© Copyright Dean Molyneaux and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Derrynoose Roman Catholic Church, Armagh, Ireland

I cannot confirm if this Alexander and Agness Morgan are my ancestors though. 

This post is my contribution to Alexandra Daw's 

#NFHM Blogging Challenge Week 1 - Poor Man's Orange

Our Amazing new family DNA discovery

DNA for genealogy has been a huge learning curve but I have enjoyed the brain exercise.  I still have lots to learn.  It is a lot of fun learning from and along with like-minded cousins and friends.

At the end of 2016, I had done an autosomal (family finder) DNA test with the company FamilyTreeDNA.  Uploading those results to GEDmatch led to discovering the name of a maternal 3rd great-grandmother and breaking down a brick wall in my KNIGHT family history.

It has also confirmed the findings of a lot of collaborative family research on many branches of my family tree.  My Dad tested for me too which meant I was able to sort many of my matches into paternal and maternal lines.  I have made some lovely new friends/cousins.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to do another DNA test with AncestryDNA.

The results came through when I was away from home and my computer. I could access the site on my phone with limited views.  

My second closest match, a shared DNA amount of 221 centimorgans shared across 12 DNA segments, was a known 2nd cousin. 

He is the son of one of my Mum's first cousins. 

My closest match though, a shared DNA amount of 431 centimorgans shared across 18 DNA segments, was a complete mystery.
As is often the case there was no family tree attached so I couldn't see where our close connection may be.
All the available charts for predicted relationship ranges put this match above that of a 2nd cousin but a bit below a first cousin. 

I only have first cousins on Mum's side as Dad is an only child.

Denys in New Zealand was perhaps a first cousin once removed?
I sent her a message.
I had read so many comments by people who didn't receive replies to their messages that I was surprised and thankful to get one the very next day.
Denys had only just received her results and said she was also interested to find where our connection lay.  I gave her my direct New Zealand surnames of Musson and Forsyth.

The next email I received blew me away even though I guess I should have been a bit prepared for the outcome.  I have read of many family surprises, uplifting stories and sad stories but never really expected one of my own.

Denys wrote "Umm some information you may not be expecting..
My father's name was Malcolm.
He was born in Rangiora in 1932.
My grandmother became pregnant to a son of the house while staying in Rangiora with her sister and working at the Musson house.  I believe that is how they meet. My understanding is that he was 'sent' away to Australia but that is all we know.
My Dad has his mother's maiden surname. His father left for Australia around the time he was born.
We have no details of his Dad although he remembers going to school with his cousins, unknown to them, at one point.
My Mum never told me Dad's father's name and although he knew himself, he did not discuss it.
In those days, being illegitimate was very much a slur.
However, my Mum did tell my sister the name on one occasion and she remembered the name because it was unusual and because she knew someone of the same name. When I informed her of the surname Musson she immediately exclaimed that this was the name of our Dad's father.

Therefore it may seem that my father and your father may be brothers?"

Yes, it seems my/our grandfather DID do what he said he didn't do.

To better understand that statement please read my first ever blog post, WHAT STARTED MY GENEALOGY JOURNEY?

I now have three very lovely, newly found paternal half-cousins.

Our grandfather James Musson and his son Malcolm.

Hart and Mason family shared DNA

Over the last few days, FamilyTreeDNA has been showing a few new matches in my results.
Many of those are quite small matches, so would be very distant cousins but one, in particular, showed a range of 2nd - 4th cousin with 87 shared centimorgans, the longest block being 29.
This was amongst my highest matches so I felt it would be fairly significant.
I sent an email and received a reply from Jen who said she had done the test mainly out of curiosity about her ethnic origins and that she knew very little about family history research, so didn't feel she could offer much help as to where we connected.

I explained we could be 3rd cousins and asked if she could let me know any of her family surnames.

She replied with 5 surnames, 2 of them being JACKSON and BELL.
I went to my family tree program and Bingo!
I found that a maternal great-grand-aunt, Rose May HART had married John Thomas BELL in 1913.

Rose May HART, born in 1889 at Echuca, Victoria, was a younger sister of my great grandmother, Margaret FLEMING nee HART.  They were daughters of Agnes nee MASON and Peter HART.

John, known as Jack, and Rose had 2 children.  Amelia Agnes BELL born 1914 at Wangaratta and John Desmond BELL born in 1921 at Wangaratta.

Amelia Agnes BELL had married Charles JACKSON and they were Jen's paternal grandparents!
Sadly Amelia had died in childbirth so her son never knew her but Jen says he remembers the HART surname.

I look forward to meeting Jen and her Dad sometime later this year.

FTDNA's "In common with" tool and chromosome browser produced 2 other matches on the same chromosome as Jen although probably further back. (I have privatised the results in the screenshot below)

The 2 other matches are American and on contact with their kit administrator, I was told their ancestors had all been in the United States since the 1800s.

A bit of a mystery somewhere it seems.

St Patrick's Day celebration

My St. Patrick's Day has certainly been one to celebrate!

After what seemed to be an endless wait my Dad's DNA results were finally processed and available in FTDNA

Quite appropriate with Dad having a fair bit of Irish ancestry.

In my own DNA results, I shared matches at the same segment on chromosome 3 with three women which pointed to 2nd to 4th cousin relationships.  

Two of them, Shirley and Renee are 2nd cousins to each other.  

They didn't know the third and she hasn't replied to my email.

portion of chromosome browser in FTDNA

Dad's results confirmed that all three were also matching with him at chromosome 3

Shirley and Renee's great-great-grandmother was a Margaret Josephine MORGAN who was born about 1838 in the Parish of Keady, West Armagh.  This is the same place my great-great-grandfather, John MORGAN was born around 1829.

John did have a sister named Margaret who, if we have researched correctly, came to Australia with him and their sister Bridget in 1855.  She married Thomas GAFFNEY in 1863 at Inglewood in Victoria.  Her age on her marriage and death certificates would also put her birth about 1838.

I found baptism records for John and Bridget but none yet for Margaret.

More searching to be done.

Could Margaret Josephine MORGAN be a cousin?  

John's parents were Alexander MORGAN and Anne LENNON (also named as Agnes and Nancy in some documents).

Shirley and Renee don't yet know who Margaret Josephine's parents were.

She married a James WOODS about 1858 and they lived at Newry, County Down.

Their daughter Margaret Mary WOODS, born 1864 and her husband Samuel LOMAX who emigrated to the United States, were the great-grandparents of Shirley and Renee.

My brain hurts!

KELLAM family DNA match

I have to say again that this genetic genealogy is a huge learning curve!

I think I have been lost for several months in FTDNA and GEDmatch websites trying to work out how I am related to those I share DNA with and watching for new matches.

I wrote about my first lucky break on matches to my KNIGHT family HERE AND HERE.

A few weeks later I sent an email to Ron who I later found out lives in Canada.
Ron and I shared a total of 25.7 centimorgans with me, the longest block being 20.5 centimorgans.
GEDmatch calculated our "Estimated number of generations to MRCA (most common recent ancestor) at 4.7

I was overjoyed at Ron's reply to my email in which I included my surname list.
He said "Hello Kerryn, how nice to hear from you, distant cousin! We scored!
Quick response is, it's the Kelhams, of Waltham on the Wolds, in North Leicestershire.
My paternal grand father's ancestors were Kelhams from there.  My grandfather and great grandfather came to Canada in 1905 from the Nottingham area in England. "

Ron attached a relationship chart.
We shared common 5th great grandparents.
My 3rd great grandmother, Mary KELLAM married Mark BIRD (although I have found no record of the marriage) They both died in 1834.

Their daughter, my 2nd great grandmother Catherine BIRD, emigrated to New Zealand with her first husband Thomas MUNTON and their two daughters.  Thomas died soon after arrival and Catherine remarried to my 2nd great grandfather William MUSSON.

Interestingly, Ron's 4th great grandfather Charles KELHAM married an Ann MUSSON at Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire in 1790.  I haven't yet found a link for Ann to my MUSSON line though.  Perhaps Ron and I are "double cousins".

My earlier paper trail genealogy research had found two other descendants of Mary KELLAM and Mark BIRD, Cathy and Corrinne, who share my passion for family history.
We have shared some great discoveries.

I would like to thank Corrinne for making it possible for me to take the FTDNA family finder test. XX

Knight family Wiltshire to Australia 1842

Update to my post of 29 September about My first foray into DNA for genealogy

When Karen told me she hadn't been able to find Martha KNIGHT's arrival in Australia I began searching.  According to her newspaper obituaries Martha's sister, my great-great-grandmother, Ann Jane KNIGHT, was said to have arrived in Australia in 1847 from Gloucestershire.  I don't know who supplied the information.

According to information given to Karen by other family members, the family came from Trowbridge in Wiltshire.

The DNA matches of we four KNIGHT descendants do agree with these findings.

In the 1841 census, John KNIGHT was a weaver living with his family at Melksham, Trowbridge.

John had married Ann LUCAS on April 8, 1824, in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

The Knight family, consisting of father John, mother Ann and daughters Sarah, Jane (my Ann Jane), Martha and Ruth arrived in Tasmania on the ship Orleana in 1842.

Ruth went into domestic service for George MacLean who was the Deputy Commissary General for Hobart. 

John went to work for a W Wilson of Davey Street.

The PINCHEN family also arrived on the Orleana.

In 1846 Ruth married William PINCHEN.  

They had five children born between 1849 and 1859 in Geelong, Victoria.

William 1849, Charles 1850, Jane 1853, Ellen 1855 and Elizabeth 1859.

William must have had health problems as there was the following notice in the Star newspaper of Ballarat in September 1857.

Ruth didn't stay with William though as records show in 1862 she had her first of six children with John TEASDALE.

Florence born 1862 at Creswick, Victoria.  

John Knight born 1864 at Spring Creek, Victoria.  

Ruth born 1866 at Happy Valley.  

Wallace born 1866 at Happy Valley.

Lucas born 1869 at Linton.

Alice Maud born 1871 Spring Creek.

Ruth PINCHEN married John TEASDALE in 1883.

Ruth died in 1915; death Registration Number 12228

On the 9th of September 1852 in Geelong, Martha KNIGHT married James WHITE. 

Witnesses were William and Ruth PINCHEN.

Martha and James had two children, Elizabeth Ann born 6 September 1853 at Ballarat, Victoria and James William born 11 September 1855 at Ballarat East.

On the 6th of September 1863 at Geelong Martha married Henry Phillip MARETT.

They had nine children at Ballarat.

Esther Zitella - 1858

Henry Phillip - 1860

Alfred Thomas - 1861

Jane Amelia  -  1864

Sophia Julia  - 1866

Martha Letitia - 1868

Selena Janvin - 1871

Emily Maude - 1872

Francis James - 1875

Martha's husband, Henry Phillip MARETT died at Leederville, Western Australia on the 6th February 1905.

Martha died on the 9th of December 1907 at Caulfield, Victoria.

I have yet to find deaths for John KNIGHT and his wife Ann nee LUCAS.

My first foray into DNA for genealogy

I have recently had an autosomal DNA test done by FTDNA.

I was so excited when my results came back the other day.  

What a huge learning curve!

I uploaded the raw DNA data to GEDmatch and waited for those results to come through.

Once they had, the third highest match shown in my results was a known third cousin with whom I have done a lot of family research.

The top two and the fifth highest DNA matches to me in my GEDmatch results indicated fairly close relationships.

The fifth match was Karen who contacted me saying she believed she would be a third cousin once removed and the other two would be third cousins.

It turned out they are descendants of a John KNIGHT as am I.

My maternal great-great-grandmother, Anne Jane KNIGHT was born about 1832. She married William Finlay FLEMING in Melbourne in 1852.

They went on to have thirteen children, the fifth being my great grandfather, Donald FLEMING.  

Ann Jane died aged 88 years on the 10th of November 1920 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Matilda WORRALL.

One of the newspaper obituaries for our Ann Jane FLEMING states she was born in Gloucestershire and arrived in Australia with her parents in 1847. 

Another stated she arrived in 1847 with her parents and 2 sisters, since deceased. 

The birthplace on her death certificate is only recorded as England, the informant was her son John Knight Fleming.

It looks like she may have actually come from Trowbridge in Wiltshire which is roughly only 30 to 50 miles south of Gloucestershire.

The 1841 census has a Knight family, John, a weaver, age 40, his wife Ann age 40 and their daughters, Ruth age 13 (b 1828), Sarah age 11 (b 1830), Jane age 8 (b 1833) and Martha age 6 (b1835) living at Timbrell Street, Trowbridge in Wiltshire.

Karen is a descendant of Martha KNIGHT. 

In her email, Karen says "If Martha is indeed the sister of Ann Jane, which the DNA suggests, there’s still some mystery. I’ve never found when Martha arrived in Australia, the earliest record of her here that I have found is her marriage to a James White in Geelong in 1852. 

A William Pinchen (one of the witnesses) married a Ruth Knight … which fits with records I currently have as Ruth being one of Martha’s sisters.

Other cousins visited Trowbridge in Wiltshire a few years ago and tracked down details of Martha, her parents, and siblings.

HOWEVER … Martha is a bit of a mystery … on various birth certificates for her children she gives her name as Martha Lane / Lain / Knight … and usually from Trowbridge, Wiltshire. I’ve never found any record of her marrying her partner / my ancestor Henry Philip Marett."

Our Ann Jane named daughters Ruth and Sarah. 

I have repeatedly searched passenger lists etc for the Knight family with no luck.  

There is a marriage in Trowbridge 8 April 1824 for a John KNIGHT and an Ann LUCAS.