John Burke (1844-1895)

John Burke was a brother to Martin Burke (my 2x-great-grandfather). He was born in Co Mayo in 1844, moved to Perth, Scotland with the family around the time of the Famine, and then emigrated to New Zealand around 1883. He died at the residence of his brother Martin in Burnham in 1895, and is buried in the Darfield Catholic Cemetery.

The first time we come across John is at his baptism. He was baptised on 2 June 1844, in Aghagower Parish, Co Mayo. His baptism entry reads:     June 2^nd John Michl Biddy Burke Derrycraugh   Richard Jennings Cathy(?) Flynn 

John’s parents, Michael Burke and Bridget Flynn, later moved to Perth, Scotland with the family. We also see those with the  sponsors’ surnames, Jennings and Flynn, in Perth. Bridget’s mother’s name (discovered from Scottish records) was Derrig / Derrick.

Aghagower (Aughagower) is a rural village, 8km from Westport, Co Mayo, that was once the site of a powerful medieval monastery on the pilgrimage route from Ballintubber to Croagh Patrick. It still has a round tower, and an extensive graveyard. This whole area was severely impacted by the Famine.

The rural townland of Derrycraugh was listed as the location of the family at the time of John’s baptism. Burton cousins who have visited report that there is nothing much to see there now, other than a few ruined buildings scattered in the rural landscape.

Within a few years of John’s birth, the family had left Aghagower Parish behind, and were next found in Perthshire, Scotland. Whether they left solely because of the Famine, and/or whether there might have been an eviction by the landlord, is not known at this stage. It's also not known whether they went directly to Perth or perhaps stopped somewhere else first.

By 1851 the Burke/Flynn family are established in Perth though I haven’t found them there in the 1851 Scottish Census. However, in April 1851, Mary, another daughter for Michael and Bridget Burke, was baptised there, and in 1852 we see that Patrick Jennings, a son of Richard Jennings and Mary Flinn, is also baptised there. (Richard was a sponsor for John’s baptism.)

At the time of the 1861 census we find the family living at 134 High St, Perth (having a room with 1+ windows). At home on census night is Michael Burke, aged 52, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Bridget aged 49. John is listed as being unmarried, aged 16, and a cabinet maker apprentice. Their son Martin is described as married aged 19, and a ploughman, while John’s unmarried brother Thomas is listed as being aged 20, and also a ploughman. His younger sister Mary is listed aged 9, with her birthplace given as Perthshire, Perth. She is the only family member with a birthplace other than Ireland.

In the 1871 census, the address of the family appears to be 129 High Street, with Bridget listed as head of the household, her husband Michael having died in 1868. John Burke is said to be aged 26 and a labourer. His older brother Thomas, younger sister Mary, and nephew Michael Burke are also living there.

In the 1881 Scottish census, we find just John and his brother Thomas sharing a household, and this is the last census in which we find mention of John Burke in Scotland. The brothers are both described as unmarried, and they are living at 126 High St  with their residence described as having two rooms with one or more windows. John is said to be head of the household and a railway porter. Thomas’s occupation is listed as waggon wright.

John emigrated soon after this census it would seem, as he was said to have been in New Zealand for 12 years at the time of his death in January 1895. He must have arrived in New Zealand around 1883, but I have found it very difficult to find out anything much about him here. (John Burke is a common name in South Canterbury, which doesn't help!) 

 In 1893, the first year in which women could vote, four members of the Burke family are enrolled to vote on the Selwyn Roll- including both Ann and Martin, and their two adult children, Thomas and Ann. These are John’s sister-in-law, brother, and nephew and niece. John, however does not appear. Perhaps he was living and working elsewhere? Or perhaps he simply never enrolled.

If I later find out more about John’s life in New Zealand, I will update this document, but for the time being I am going to skip to John’s death and burial.

A death notice appeared for John Burke in the Lyttelton Times on 7 January 1895, saying that he had died at his brother’s residence in Burnham on January 5^th, aged 52 years.

 There was a funeral notice the same day saying that Mr Martin Burke informed friends that the funeral of his brother John would leave his Burnham residence for the Darfield Catholic Cemetery at 8.30am on Tuesday 8^th January.

John’s death registration says that his occupation was a labourer, and that he died of cancer of the liver with a duration of six months illness. It is stated that he had been in New Zealand for a period of 12 years. His funeral was conducted by Fr Chataigner, a French Marist priest, and he was buried at Darfield Catholic Cemetery 

It is easy to find John’s grave, as his headstone is one of four tall similar ones, on the far right as you walk in the main gate of Darfield Catholic Cemetery.

The first headstone in the group was erected in 1892 for his niece Mary Riordan née Burke, who died aged only 29 of consumption. Alongside him is a headstone for his sister-in-law Ann Burke née Philp, who died just over two months after him. The last plot amongst the four was filled in 1911 when Patrick Riordan, husband of Mary Burke, died. (Ann was also said to have died of cancer of the liver, which makes me wonder whether something else like typhoid or hepatitis might have been the culprit for both her and John's deaths- just supposition though.) 

John Burke's headstone reads:
Of your charity pray for the soul of
John Burke,
who died 5^th Janry 1895,
aged 52 years.
R. I. P.
Have pity, have pity on me, at least you my friends.”

John Burke, late of Burnham, farm labourer, died intestate, and Letters of Administration had to be granted through the Supreme Court, Canterbury District to settle his estate.These were awarded to Martin Burke, ‘brother and next of kin of the said deceased’. Martin had to give an oath, and one of the things he stated was that John Burke was unmarried,  and that he believed the estate effects and credits would be under the value of two hundred and fifty pounds.

John, we don't know a lot about you and your life, but you are remembered as one of our family.  Rest in Peace.

Martin Burke

Martin BURKE was my great-great-grandfather, who was born in Co Mayo, Ireland. His family moved to Perth in Scotland when he was a child, around the time of the Great Famine in Ireland.

Not much is known about Martin before his marriage to Ann Philp, on the second of February 1861, in St John’s Catholic Church, Perth, Scotland. He was aged 19 at the time, and his usual residence was given as Perth. His parents were named as Michael Burke, labourer, and Bridget Burke, whose maiden name was listed as Flinn. His wife Ann gave her usual residence as Abernethy, and she was aged 21.

Image from Family Search microfilm back in the days of their microfilms!

Shortly after their marriage, the census was taken for Scotland, on 7 April 1861. On this night, Martin was with his Burke family in a house at 134 High Street, Perth, Scotland. (At least one other family shared the house with them.) Martin was described as married, aged 19, and a ploughman. There were five other family members listed at the address on census night- his parents Michael (52) and Bridget (49); his unmarried brothers Thomas (20), a ploughman, and John (16), a cabinet maker apprentice; and his sister Mary (9). At the date of this census, his wife Ann appears to be with her father in Balvaird Cot House in Abernethy, as a housekeeper.

In the census, the Burke family all had their birthplaces described as “Ireland”, except for Mary, who was born in “Perthshire, Perth.” Mary was aged 9, so must have been born around 1851/52. If John was born in Ireland some 7 years earlier than this, around 1844/45, the family presumably left Ireland sometime between 1845 and 1851, during the Famine. Maggie Gaffney, a third cousin and fellow Burke descendant, has done extensive research in the baptismal/marriage records in Perth, and has discovered that several related Burke/Flynn families also came to Perth.

We haven’t found a baptism for Martin Burke. In the census, his birthplace was just listed as Ireland, though his death registration in New Zealand says he was from Co Mayo. Maggie Gaffney discovered the likely townland/parish origin of the Burke/Flynn family and eventually found they were from Derrycraugh (Derrycraff) in the RC Parish of Aghagower. The location was finally confirmed when an 1844 baptism record was found for John Burke, Martin’s brother. (Maggie has a record of this from rootsireland.ie, though a transcript can also be found on FindMyPast.)

Tower at Aghagower, Co Mayo, from Nigel's Photo Blog

 In 1862, Martin and Ann’s first child, Mary Burke, was born on 21 August at Polgavie Cottar’s Houses, in the Parish of Inchture in the County of Perth. Martin Burke was the informant for the birth as father, and he was again described as a ploughman.

We next hear of the family when they emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in Lyttelton on 16 February 1864, on the Mermaid, from London. Martin Burke was listed as a ploughman, aged 22 from Fifeshire, with wife Ann aged 21, and one child Mary, who was listed as being 5 months- though Mary must have been 15 months old by this stage. I was told by Sr Martina Burke that there is an oral story told in the Burke family that Martin Burke hoisted Mary onto his shoulders for the walk over the Bridle Track from Lyttelton.

There were two more children born into the Burke family in New Zealand. In December 1864 a second child, Ann (Annie) was born at Addington in Canterbury. Their third child, Thomas, was born in September 1866 in Christchurch.

At some stage the Burke family moved out to the rural area of Burnham where they were farming. In the Wises’ directories we can find a listing for ‘Burke, Martin, farmer, Burnham”, from 1880-81. Electoral listings for 1887 (Lincoln) and 1890 (Selwyn) list “Burke, Martin, freehold, Burnham, farmer, rural sec 28098.”

This indicates where the Burke rural section was in Burnham. I obtained a copy of an old Leeston survey map that had similar numbers along Hawkins and Burnham Rd, but couldn’t find section number 28098. Maggie Gaffney then found an earlier map online with the correct section number included- it became clear that two sections had later been joined and renumbered.

It's not clear exactly when Martin Burke sold this piece of rural land, but by 1898 it was clearly owned by a Mrs E Burdon, who was offering sections 28098 and 28099 for sale. (Papers Past, Press, 20 August 1898, page 12.)

In 1892, Martin and Ann faced the death of their firstborn daughter Mary Riordan née Burke, aged 29, of consumption. She was buried in the Darfield Catholic Cemetery, one of the earliest burials there.

In 1895, Martin faced two other significant deaths amongst close family. In January, his brother John Burke died at Burnham. He was 52, a labourer, and was said to have died of cancer of the liver. He had been in New Zealand for 12 years so must have arrived around 1883. He was unmarried, and was buried in the Darfield Catholic Cemetery near his niece Mary (Riordan, nee Burke) who had predeceased him.

Then just over two months later, on 13 March 1895 at Burnham, Martin’s wife Ann died, aged 53. She was also said to have died of cancer of the liver. She was buried in the Darfield Catholic Cemetery near her daughter Mary Riordan and brother-in-law John Burke. (A quartet of graves was completed in this cemetery in 1911 with a fourth headstone for Patrick Riordan, Mary Burke’s husband.)

Graves for John Burke, Ann Burke née Philp, and on the other side, Mary Riordan née Burke and Patrick Riordan. Darfield Catholic Cemetery

 Martin Burke died on 27 November, 1918 at Nazareth House, Sydenham aged 78, of chronic heart disease and heart failure. On his death registration it said that he was born in Co Mayo, Ireland, and had been in NZ 53 years. He was buried in the Sydenham Cemetery, Block Number 22B, Plot number 63. A newspaper death announcement said he died at Nazareth House, but was late of Harewood Road, Papanui. 

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT19181128.2.3.2

There is presently no headstone on Martin’s plot, but a small one is being erected and will be unveiled in February 2024 at a Burke Family Gathering.

Martin Burke made a will with the Public Trustee as executor on 24^th April, 1918, giving his address at the time as Guthrie’s Boarding House, Moorhouse Ave, Christchurch. He described himself as a retired Farmer. He gave two bequests. He gave £100 to the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese, Canterbury, for the Cathedral Building fund; and £100 to his son Thomas. His freehold property of 35 acres at Redwoodtown, Blenheim was left upon trust for his daughter Annie Burton, the wife of Francis. On 31^st October 1918, less than a month before his death he added a codicil to this will, giving the sum of £40 to Nazareth House, Sydenham, ‘for the benefit of orphan boys and girls who are inmates thereof’. 

There is an M Burke listed on a marble plaque listing benefactors that was in the now demolished Cathedral in Christchurch. It seems likely with his donation(s) that this was our Martin Burke. I understand this large plaque has been rescued, so it will be interesting to see if it finds some kind of place when a new Cathedral is erected.

An earlier, shorter version of this blog post appeared here.

Margaret Riordan, 9 December 2023
Please contact me if you are also a Burke-Philp relative, or if you would like copies of sources etc. 

See website for the Burke Family Gathering or the associated Facebook page .

 

William O'Riordan- died in Lackelly Ambush, 1921

Having not grown up in Ireland, I often find it hard to understand aspects of Irish history I encounter while trying to learn more about my own family story. But then an event with a family connection happens, and suddenly I grasp a bit more.

William O’Riordan was the youngest son and child of James Riordan, farmer of Cullane, Ballylanders, and Bridget Hanlon. He was born around 1894, (though finding his birth registration has proven so far to be elusive.) A kind friend has sent me his baptism record, and he was baptised 21 July 1894 in Ballylanders, with John Quane and El Fitzgerald as sponsors. He died 2 May 1921, aged 27 years, in the Lackelly Ambush, a victim of bullets from the ‘Black and Tans’.

It was easy enough to find a family for William O’Riordan in the 1901 census, though until recently I wasn’t completely sure that it was linked with our family. I knew that Patrick Riordan my great-grandfather had a brother James, and that Patrick had come from Cullane South. In a search for James Riordan in Co Limerick in the 1901 census, there were 21 James Riordans, but only one was from the townland of Cullane South, Cullane, Ballylanders Parish.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Limerick/Cullane/Cullane_South/1506050/

 In the 1901 census, William Riordan was the youngest in the household, aged 6, described as a scholar who could read & write. He used the English language, and his father James was the only family member who used Irish & English. There were seven family members at home in this census, the parents and five children. His older brother Patrick wasn't at home in 1901: in mid-1903 he was ordained priest at Carlow College and then left for Australia. By the time of the 1911 census, there were four family members at home, the parents, and their two adult children Bridget (29) and Michael (27). William would have been about 16 at this time, and wasn’t living at home.

The reason I finally became sure this was the family of ‘our’ James, was because of a few ‘Trove’ mentions, when I was researching the story of Fr Patrick O’Riordan in NSW, Australia. He was known to be a cousin of the Riordan family in New Zealand, as well as of two O’Donnell priest-cousins. The ‘shorter’ version of that story is here:
http://kiwinomadancestors.blogspot.com/2022/10/fr-patrick-oriordan-1879-1933.html

 In 1921 there were two accounts in ‘Trove’ of the death and funeral of Captain William O’Riordan, and he was named as a brother of Father P O’Riordan of Binalong, Australia.
The W.A. Record, Perth, (Sat 17 Dec 1921) carried an account of the procession to the Ballylanders graveyard on 24 September 1921. William O’Riordan was described as an Irish Volunteer, and he was laid to rest in the Republican plot. Some 20,000 people took part in the procession from where they had first been buried, to their permanent resting place. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/212401323

A longer article in The Catholic Press, Sydney on 1 Dec 1921, gave more details, about how the bodies had been disinterred from a temporary resting place near Herbertstown, and High Mass was celebrated before the procession set off for Ballylanders which was 11 miles away. The chief mourners for Captain O’Riordan were said to be James O’Riordan and Mrs O’Riordan (parents), John and Michael O'Riordan (brothers) and Bridget O’Riordan (sister). https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106253922

The Lackelly Ambush is well documented, and took place during the Irish War for Independence. William O’Riordan was part of the East Limerick Flying Column, and on 2 May 1921, he was part of a combined group surprised by members of the Green Howard Regiment of the British Army. Four IRA members were killed in the ambush. According to a video, ‘Lackelly Remembered’, Thomas Howard was killed outright, but William O’Riordan was wounded, and later beaten to death.
The bodies of the four IRA members were placed on a cart for removal to Galbally by the British, but in a battle the cart was retrieved by the IRA. The four bodies were buried first at a farm, but soon re-buried in the disused Rathjordan graveyard near Herbertstown. Several months later, during the Truce, the bodies of William O’Riordan and Thomas Howard were reburied at Ballylanders.
There is a video that explains all these events, called ‘Lackelly Remembered 1921-2021’. https://youtu.be/arFLL-M6GjA

A copy of William Riordan’s death registration is available by searching Irish civil registration. https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp
This states that he ‘died from effects of bullet wounds Killed instantaneously”.

 There is a large amount of detail available online about the Lackelly Ambush. In particular, there is a huge file on the Ambush that is on the Irish Military Archives Collection.
https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-service-pensions-collection-1916-1923/1916-1923-resources/operation/lackelly-ambush/

As part of this file, there is also a section devoted to William O’Riordan, DP6340, and largely that comprises applications made by family members for compensation. https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-service-pensions-collection-1916-1923/1916-1923-resources/operation/lackelly-ambush/  According to the rules, none of the family members qualified for compensation, as they weren’t dependants of William at the time of his death. This even applied to his elderly parents. However, the file is well worth perusing for the amount of genealogical information contained within.

The Emly Historical Society recorded an event in 2018 when they took a guided tour to the site of the 1921 Way of Independence Ambush Site. http://emlyhistoricalsociety.ie/blog/2018/04/03/hello-world-2/ There is a photo included of the memorial that includes William O’Riordan’s name.

The final resting place of William O’Riordan is in the Republican plot in Ballylanders Cemetery. https://historicgraves.com/ladywell/li-lwbl-0204/grave

About the writer: Margaret Riordan
I am a New Zealand-born Riordan descendant, living in New Zealand, and my grandfather Martin Riordan was a first cousin of William O’Riordan.
Coincidentally, my grandfather Martin also died in 1921, just  few months after William’s death, of acute influenzal pneumonia.

Thomas Jean Payn

 It has been interesting to see how many Payn family matches I have in my DNA- and also where they are 'missing' in this family line. I have oodles of second cousins in our New Zealand line, descended from my great-grandfather Francis Davis Payn (1854-1929), and also several from his father Thomas's siblings. But surprisingly, none from his own siblings have shown up. 

However, all has become clear as I have delved more deeply into this family line from the Island of Jersey. Francis Davis had six siblings, but of these, three died as very young children. A fourth appears to have remained single, at least until the 1911 census when he was aged 52. The remaining two became mariners. Of these, John died in 1881 at sea, aged about 28. I am not certain yet whether he had married or had any descendants. The remaining brother, Thomas Jean (John) also died at sea, in 1893, as a ship's captain. It's this Thomas Jean whose life I will tell a little more about here.

Thomas Jean Payn was the first child born to Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant. He was born on 2 February 1848, and was baptised on 3 February 1848 in St Martin's Church, Jersey.

He appears in the 1851 census of Jersey in St Martin's parish, aged 3, living with his parents and a baby sister Eliza J. In the 1861 census he is still living at home, as a 13 year old son who is a sailor. He has three younger brothers living at home:- John, 8, and Francis Davis, 6, who are both scholars, and Helier who is 3. By the time of the 1871 census, Thomas Jean is no longer recorded as living at home, though his two brothers John and Francis D are both described as Mariners, and his father Thomas is listed as a Ship Carpenter.

In January 1876 Thomas is recorded as receiving his certificate of competency as a Master in the Merchant Service.

The following year, on 9 August 1877, he married Mary Elizabeth Payn in St Mary's Parish. She was the daughter of Charles Payn, and it appears Thomas and Mary were first cousins. In his marriage entry, Thomas is described as being "Capitaine au Long Cours".

Hilda Selina, a daughter, was born to Thomas and Mary Elizabeth on 29 February 1884, and was baptised on 9 March 1884 at the house of her parents. Her baptism is recorded in the French Wesleyan rather than the Anglican register. 

On 7 March 1884, Thomas made a will. He was residing at No.1 Brighton Rd in the parish of St Helier's, and he bequeathed his whole personal estate to his wife Mary Elizabeth Payn, who was also named as sole executrix of his will. His signature is appended.

In 1881 we find Thomas J Payn on a crew list for the ship Gryalva, based out of Liverpool. He joined his present ship on 11 January 1881 as a Mate, and it is recorded on the crew list that he succeeded as Master in Benin on 4 April 1881. He then left this ship in Liverpool on 10 July 1881.

Sadly, Thomas Jean lost his life at sea, in 1893, and this is recorded on the family headstone, in St Martin's Parish, Jersey,  as:

'comme aussi de
Capt Thomas Jean Payn
perdu en mer
dans l'année 1893
dans sa 46ème année.'

There are documents in the Jersey Archive dealing with the affairs of Thomas Jean's parents, Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant. It appears that as the eldest son, Thomas Jean inherited Les Ruettes, and that after his death, his daughter Hilda Selina Payn, became the sole inheritor. On 11 July 1908, Hilda entered in a contract to sell Les Ruettes to George Le Masurier for £290.

In 1909 his widow, Mary Elizabeth, is listed as being admitted to the hospital/workhouse on the island for a short period.

His daughter, Hilda Selina Payn, emigrated to New Zealand at some stage, and was known by the cousins as "Cousin Hilda". She is found listed on a passenger list for the ship Rangitata that departed from Southampton in 1931, a single woman aged 47. She arrived in Wellington on 26 November 1931, though I am not certain if this was her only voyage.

Our Payn Family in the Jersey Censuses

Recently I have been tracing my Payn family in the census documents for Jersey in the Channel Islands. My 2X-great-grandparents were Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant, who had seven children. As it turns out, most if not all their living descendants are from our numerous New Zealand branch, descended from their fifth child Francis Davis Payn, who was born in 1854.

Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant

In the 1841 census (found on Ancestry, as are all the census documents quoted below) we find both Elizabeth and Thomas living in St Martin Parish, Jersey, before their marriage. This census has a simpler format than later ones, and no house names or addresses are listed, and no relationships to the head of the household are described.

Elizabeth, 19, is living in a household with another Elizabeth Mourant, who is probably her mother, and she is described as a School Mistress. Her father is not listed at home on census night, and it seems likely he was the Timothée Mourant buried  on May 8th 1838 in St Martin's, (although we can't yet be sure that burial wasn't his father's, as both men had the same name). There are several others present who might be her siblings- Mary, 17, who is a Mantua Maker; John, 15, who is a Carpenter; and Jane who is 13. 

Thomas, 24, is described as a carpenter, and is living at home with his parents Francis and Susan Payn. Several potential siblings are also in the same house- Charles, 28, who is a farmer; Sophia, 26; Susan, 18; and Francis, 16, who is a tailor.

One thing already obvious from these census documents is their very "English" nature. Wives are generally given the same surname as their husband. This differs from the family's church records which are often in French, and where women are generally given their maiden names. For example, this is the 1817 baptism record for Thomas Payn, where his father's name is given as François, and his mother is listed as Susanne De Gruchy.

Thomas Payn and Elizabeth Mourant married in April 1847 in the parish of St Helier. They are found in the 1851 census living in the parish of St Martin. Again, no house name or address is listed, but this time, the relationship with the Head of the house is described. Thomas is 33, and a carpenter, and Elizabeth is 29, is listed as Elizabeth Payn, and at this stage she has no occupation named. There are two children, a son Thomas who is 3, and a daughter Eliza J who is 1. The birthplace for all the Payn family members is given as St Martin, Jersey. There are five other people listed in the household. There is Francis Mourant, an aunt; Eliza J Quethville, a lodger of independent means; Felix Laurens, a widowed farm labourer from France, and two children, Placedie and Marie Laurens, who were both born in St Martin.

By the time of the 1861 census, Thomas and Elizabeth are listed with four sons in their household. The house they are living in is called Les Ruettes, and it is in the village of Faldouet in the parish of St Martin. Indeed the family today have a postcard of this house, organised and sent by "Cousin Hilda". The house is still standing in Jersey, and I was lucky enough to visit it after being given information about it by my cousin Maurice Payn.

Les Ruettes, Village of Faldouet, Parish of St Martin, Jersey

In the 1861 census, Thomas is listed as a sailor, and Elizabeth has her maiden name of Mourant used. The four sons listed are Thomas (John or jnr?) aged 13 and a sailor; John aged 8, and Fr Davis aged 6, both scholars; and Helier aged 3, described as a child. In this census, Thomas's birthplace is listed correctly as St Saviour, and the others are listed as being born in St Martin. There are no lodgers or workers in the house in this census. 

The four sons listed on this 1861 census fails to tell a tale of child mortality. Between the time of the 1851 and 1861 census, three children of Thomas and Elizabeth have died, and they are listed on the family tombstone. Eliza Jane, who was on the 1851 census, died in 1852, aged 1 year and 11 months. Another Francis Davis was born after the census in 1851, and died November 18th 1854, aged 3 years and 3 months. (Just a day after his death, our great-grandfather was born, and was given the same names of Francis Davis.) A second girl also died in May 1857, named Elizabeth Jane, aged only 1 year and 3 months.

By the time of the 1871 census, three sons are at home. Thomas, aged 54, is now listed as a ship's carpenter, and Elizabeth, aged 49, is again given the occupation of School Teacher (and the surname Payn). Both John, 18, and Francis D, 16, are listed as Mariners, and Helier, aged 13, is said to be a Shoe Maker. The family is still living in Les Ruettes, in the village of Faldouet.

 
In the 1881 census, there are only three people in the household, which is listed as being in Faldouet. Elizabeth is listed as a widow and a Schoolmistress. (We know from the memorial stone in St Martin's parish, that Thomas died in 1874 aged 57 years.) Her son Helier is aged 23, unmarried, and a Shoemaker. There is one lodger, Mary Carrel, who is aged 59 and a Dressmaker. We know that Francis Davis left home and voyaged to New Zealand, arriving on the ship Mermaid in 1874.

Elizabeth died in February 1890 aged 69 years, and is buried in St Martin's Parish. Helier did not inherit Les Ruettes, as we have evidence from court records that Cousin Hilda, the only child of Thomas Jean, sailor, who was the oldest child of Thomas and Elizabeth, sold it as owner with her mother, in 1908.

From then on, it appears that we can trace Helier as living in different households. In 1891 he is living in Trinity Parish with the family of Eugène F Laurent, who was an agricultural labourer from France, and Helier is still listed as being single, and a shoe maker. Perhaps this Laurent is related to the widowed Felix Laurens, also from France, who was a lodger with the Payn family in the 1851 census?

In the 1901 census there is a Helier Payn aged 40 living in the household of Joshua Mourant as a servant and as a farm labourer, whose birthplace was St Martin's, Jersey. And in the 1911 census we find a Helier Payn, aged 52, and single, birthplace of St Martin's, Jersey, living with the family of Alfred Gaudin aged 28, as a servant and 'Cowman on Farm', in the parish of St Saviour. (It seems that Elizabeth Mourant might have been a Gaudin descendant though this has yet to be confirmed, so perhaps these were cousins that Helier was living with.) Obviously more work needs to be done to be certain that this Helier, is 'our' Helier, but the details of age and parish of birth make it seem likely.

In my DNA matches I have been surprised to find no matches that look like they come from the siblings of my great-grandfather Francis Davis Payn.  But it appears from the censuses that perhaps our numerous descendants via his marriage to Johanna Scettrini, are the only ones that exist at this level of the family. (By contrast, there are known distant cousin matches from a sibling of Thomas Payn.)

Three siblings died as young children, but Francis Davis had three other brothers who lived to adulthood. It will be interesting to check the 1921 census when it is released to see whether Helier is still alive, and where he might be living. Perhaps he neither married nor had descendants. We know that the eldest sibling, Thomas Jean, had one daughter, our 'cousin Hilda', but he died at sea in 1893. Cousin Hilda also emigrated to New Zealand, but died in Tamahere near Hamilton as a single woman without any children. John who was born in 1852, died at sea in 1881 when he was aged about 29 years old, and at present, I don't know if he married or had children. There is more to learn and follow up...

With so much Irish ancestry, with census data in general limited to the 1901 and 1911 censuses, it has been quite a novelty to be able to follow family members through from the 1941 to the 1911 censuses in Jersey. It has been interesting to see how the format has changed over the years, and what kind of information has been obtained. It is also interesting to wonder about the differences in the 1911 census questions between Jersey and Ireland.

Ann PHILP- from Scotland

Ann Philp is my one great-great-grandparent from Scotland. She was born around 1840, in Ceres, Fife, (estimated from the 1851 census), though we have not been able to find her baptism entry.




She married Martin Burke, (originally from Co Mayo in Ireland), in February 1861, in Perth, with her residence at the time given as Abernethy. Her parents are named on her marriage entry as Thomas Philp, ploughman, and Isabella Philp, whose maiden name was Nicholson. From the 1851 census we find that Thomas Philp was born in Strathmiglo, and Isabella Nicholson was born in Ceres.

(copied from microfilm in FHC)

 Ann was the sixth child in a family that had 10 children that we know of, some of whom we know were born in Ceres, Fife, others in Dunbog, Fife, and the youngest, Fanny (Euphemia) was born in Abernethy. Ann was said to be 11 in the 1851 census, and a scholar. When her mother Isabella died in Abernethy in 1855, Ann was listed amongst her children, and was said to be 15.

By the time of the 1861 census, Ann had married Martin Burke. However, rather than appearing in the Burke household in the census, she is listed as being in Abernethy with her father Thomas, as housekeeper at the Balvaird Cot House. Her youngest sister Euphemia is also there, aged 12, as well as another female child, Isabella Forrester aged 10. (I don’t know how/if Isabella fits into the family at this stage.)

The following year, on 21 August 1862, Ann Philp became a mother, with her firstborn child being Mary Burke, my great-grandmother. The young family were living in the Parish of Inchture at this time.

Mary Burke was just a young child when the family of three embarked for Canterbury in New Zealand, and they arrived in the port of Lyttelton on the ship Mermaid, in February 1864. From the newspaper account of the voyage we read that:- During the voyage the passengers had the benefit of fine weather nearly all the way out, and, in their own language, “there was scarce one evening but they could dance on deck.” 

Ann gave birth to two more children in New Zealand. Ann Burke was born in December 1864, and a son Thomas was born in 1866.

The family were living in Burnham when Ann Philp died in March 1895, aged 53 years old. Her death entry says she died of cancer of the liver. However, her brother-in-law John Burke died just two months earlier of a cause also said to be cancer of the liver, so we must wonder whether in fact there was some infectious cause.

Ann was buried in the Darfield Catholic Cemetery in a group of four family graves, near her daughter Mary, her brother-in-law John Burke, and Mary’s husband Patrick Riordan. The four graves are amongst the oldest in the cemetery.

I’d like to acknowledge the help Maggie Gaffney (third cousin) has given me in my research about the Philp family, especially by sharing the 1851 census and the 1855 death entry for Isabella Philp nee Nicholson.