This past weeks finds...

MaryAird

Samuel Sweeny
1785-1823

                                       

                                                                                        

                                                         

 Married in Colchester, Essex, England in 1811   at All Saints Church across from Colchester Castle.

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Samuel Sweeny and Mary were born in Ireland

no birth or death date can be found for Mary she was born in the Army  Barracks in Maryborough, Ireland where her father was the Quarter Sergeant. nevertheless an article was written about her legacy. Her surname Aird is found as part of the name of at least 17 of her descendants all over the world.

After their marriage Samuel and Mary had five children the first three were born on the Isle of Wight.

Samuel Sweeny fought in the Battle of Vittoria in 1813 in Spain against Napoleon and was badly injured..

In 1817 he was in Malta, by  1821  he was in Corfu where his last two children were born and where he died in 1823.

Their eldest son Samuel Aird Sweeny born in 1819 on the Isle of Wight is my connection to this family one of his descendants married a cousin on my Oldcorn direct line.  Samuel Aird Sweeney worked as a Clerk for British Railways, married and had three children before emigrating to Australia in 1855 where he had two more children. One son Aird Sweeny born in England in 1855 is found in the following portrait with his family in Sydney Australia where he died in 1934.

History in Colchester 
 Colchester has as long a history as anywhere in Britain.

It was here that the Emperor Claudius received the surrender of the Celtic kings to found the Roman Province of Britannia. And every era since - from the Saxon, the Norman, the Medieval, the Tudor, the Stuart, the Georgian, the Victorian to the Modern - has left its mark on the town and added to the richness of its heritage.

I spent several hours reading and watching video on Colchester and the history of England because I looked for the marriage place of Samuel Sweeny and Mary Aird information on the History Channel was amazingly well done. Took me right back to history lessons in school where we learned about the Roman conquest of Britain.

The miniature portraits of Samuel and Mary were painted of them by a fellow soldier.

A $3 Basket...

..purchased at the Dollar Store yesterday led to so much more...

I have found baskets to be useful and attractive for various objects in different rooms in my home.  My thoughts after arranging this one went to an ancestor whose occupation was listed as a Basket Maker.

 Stephen Oldcorn  born in 1841 in Preston Patrick, Westmorland, England.  A third cousin 3x removed. He and his wife Alice Dowker had seven children and moved later to Great Broughton in Lancashire.

This led me to a Google search for Stephen and I found him on a list of Basket-makers on  Romany Connections, What? could I possibly have Gypsy Blood coursing through my veins. 

Memories came flooding back.  When I was a child and the Gypsy's came to town  parents would threaten to give away mis behaving children to them.   Another experience I personally had was when serving my LDS Mission in England.  I answered the door one day to find an older Gypsy Woman selling Daffodil's.  I didn't buy any.  Then she asked me if I had any old winter boots I could give her.  I told her I was sorry but the only boots I had were the boots I was wearing.  She got a little upset wanted me to take them off and give them to her, when I refused she put a "curse" on me and angrily walked away.  I went back inside and told my Missionary Companion we had better work really hard this afternoon we have a curse to remove.

A few years ago I  submitted my DNA to be tested for family history purposes and the results were interesting.  They indicated on my mothers side that my genes also were present in the tribes from the European Mountain Areas (wish I could find the actual letter, I have filed it away in a very safe place).

So, if cousin Stephen was not given to the Gypsy's as a naughty child I have concluded that after reading the history of Gypsy's and putting it together with my DNA results I could very well have some of the same blood in my veins!

Vincent van Gogh painted in 1888.

Mole Catcher...

Not my ancestor, but one of my ancestors was married to one. Not this particular one. This is "Mawdy Jack" found online.

Janet Johnston Oldcorn  Forsyth 1837-1901

Janet first married Isaac Oldcorn of Castle Sowerby, Cumberland,England in 1859 in the United Methodist Chapel in Carlisle ,Cumberland, England he was my 1st cousin 3x removed.

Janet was 22 years old and together they had eight children. Isaac was a Grocer and a Tea Dealer according to Census Records in the pretty village of  Caldbeck.

This is their daughter Elizabeth born 1866 with her husband John George McKay born 1865.

Isaac Odcorn passed away in 1874 and Janet at age 40 in 1877  married James Forsyth ( 1812-1897 )  James was 65 and a widower and  the father of five children.

The 1881 Census show his occupation as a Mole Catcher.

James and Janet went on to have  four more children together. Their last child (Margaret Jane) being born in 1881 when Janet was 44 years old and James 69.

I did a little research on the profession of Mole Catching ...

Creepy little critters with hands like shovels and they sure could do a lot of damage to your property looking for worms to eat.

Mole Catchers were paid by the day on  how many moles they could catch.

  Mole Catchers could also make money from selling moleskins. At the peak of the trade America was importing over four million moleskins a year from England. It took over one hundred good pelts to make both front parts of a waistcoat. The skins were also made into coats, trousers and hats.

As popular today...
Modern day trimmed or.. for $29.99 from the old Sears Catalog you could be swathed in them.

In 1891 James could be found in the Census lodging at White Close Farm in Stapleton,Cumberland still catching Moles.

Janet isn't listed in the 1891 Census but at age 64 in the  1901  Census she was a widow living in nearby Carlisle with two of her unmarried daughters and  three lodgers and one of her stepsons all four of them worked as Railway Engine Cleaners.

It seems clear to me that Janet did not have an easy life. But I hope it was a happy one.

Spring is in the air!

Well, not here in Utah. But in Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia the canola paddocks are in bloom.

How lovely!

I have several ancestors who made the long journey from England to Australia for what I assume was in search of a better life.

One in particular was Isaac Oldcorn the eldest child of the 16 children of Thomas Oldcorn and Margaret Thompson.

Isaac my first cousin three times removed was born in 1832 in the village of Castle Sowerby, Cumberland, England.

Isaac changed his last name to “Olcorn” during the journey or on his arrival in Rutherglen. He then married his 1st wife Ann Roddy in 1862 and they had 5 children. Ann died in 1872 and he married his second wife Ann Frances Emms in 1873. Together they had 9 more children.

I wondered if he left the tranquil beauty of the English Lake District for the gold rush that was taking place and had to live in a miners camp…

In 1858 Gold was found in the local area at Chiltern and Cornishtown. This started a wave of prospectors sinking duffer shafts along the quartz belts. A group of Indigo diggers spent several weeks digging a hole in the heart of Rutherglen. On Saturday, September 9th, 1860 they finally struck gold starting the 'Wahgunyah Rush'. Within weeks thousands of people moved to Rutherglen. By December of that year seventeen deep leads and seven reefs of gold had been found.

The Main Street of Rutherglen was established and staked claims were selling for 10 pounds per foot. The Star Hotel was the first major establishment in the town on the corner of Argyle (Main) and Elizabeth (High) streets. Here the name of 'Rutherglen' was established over a few drinks! David G. Hamilton suggested if the proprietor of the 'Star', John A. Wallace was prepared to shout the bar he could call the town after his native town in Scotland. Wallace replied, "Right you are Davie, Rutherglen it shall be".

The Star Hotel

They say “Timing is Everything” and the gold rush did not last long so if Isaac did go for the gold he certainly had to find other employment soon after arriving.

The next big industry to hit Rutherglen was Wine Making and in 1900 a very unique Water Tower was built in town

Rutherglen Today is an Important wine growing district in northern Victoria.

Although Rutherglen is a former gold mining town it is best known as the centre of Victoria's long-established and most important wine-producing district. Fortified wines and dry reds are a specialty of this region. Rutherglen's charming atmosphere is conjured by the main street - an historic precinct with old timber buildings, verandah-fronted pubs, antique and bric-a-brac shops and tearooms. It is located in the easterly corner of the Murray River valley plains, 275 km north-east of Melbourne via the Hume Freeway and just 10 km from the Murray River, which forms the state border. Aside from wine production, tourism, wheat-production, wool, dairy products and stock further buttress the local economy. The current population is about 2500.

Isaac has descendents living in the area to this day.

"This Place Is A Shambles"...

An expression used by my Mother many times upon entering a messy house.  Now I know where she got the expression from.

This is an aerial view of the ancient town of Kendal which used to be the largest town in Westmorland before it became part of Cumbria.  When I was home visiting England 12 years ago I passed through  Kendal on my way to the Lake District .

Some times referred to as the Southern Gateway to the Lakes.

Information  from http://www.visitcumbria.com.

I am fascinated with this interesting  town.   I did have ancestors who lived here in the 1800's.  Stephen Oldcorn (3rd cousin three times removed) and his wife Rebekah Winskill and their seven children whose address in the 1881 Census was listed as "Old Shambles".   When I saw that  I decided to do a little more checking on what kind of a place that could be.

To my surprise I found  pictures of "Old Shambles "  you get to it through this narrow alley next to the Fleece Inn  on Highgate Street. (Main Street)  Kendal's oldest surviving Inn built in 1654. 

Kendal, built by the Romans after them came the Normans who left 2 Castle's.  The layout of Kendal is a mish mash of yards and lanes branching off the main street.  Each yard was usually named after the owner of the main house which stood at the head of the yard.  The Elizabethans and the Victorians left a wealth of great architecture usually found only in larger cities and towns.

A few examples  -

Kendal Town Hall

Stramongate Bridge one of four Bridges crossing the Kent River.

A few Historic Public Houses -

  

I would have loved to visit this place below -  77 Separate panels   tell the story of the Quakers over 350 years.

I wish I could have stayed longer in this town with so much to see.

My cousin Stephen Oldcorn had a son William Henry who emigrated to America in 1906 and settled in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Kendal Clipper a free Bus Service for 6 weeks every summer to encourage tourists to leave their cars behind.

Please visit the link for more great History and Pictures.

Blessed Edwarde Oldcorne

The fifth of November turned my thoughts to this rather famous Jesuit Priest who I have no doubt is one of my ancestors among the many Oldcorn's I have on my Family Tree.

I have not as yet been able to tie in his exact relationship to me, but in my research on the Oldcorn line I have never found an Oldcorn who was not related.

Why the fifth of November made me think of him was because of Guy Fawkes Night.  In 1605 a man  by the name of Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I in London.He was one of a group of men who thought the King was treating Roman Catholics unfairly.It didn't work, the barrels of gunpowder were discovered in the cellars, the "Gunpowder Plot" uncovered, the King and Parliament were saved.  Guy Fawkes and his conspirators were arrested, tried and hung.

Edwarde Oldcorne was a friend of Guy Fawkes and Christopher Wright and he fell victim to the "Gunpowder Plot" he was falsely accused arrested and tortured on a rack for five day's while they tried to get information from him.  He was held in Holt Castle during his trial.

Edwarde was hanged drawn and quartered on the 7th of April 1606.  He was Beatified 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI.

Growing up in England I remember the 5th of November very well.

"Remember Remember the fifth of November, The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot,"

This little rhyme was quoted by us children over and over as we prepared for Guy Fawkes night.   Weeks before the 5th of November bonfires were prepared on spare lots in neighborhoods in readiness to light and burn the stuffed effigy of  Guy Fawkes.

Children would go door to door collecting money, saying "a penny for the guy"

In the evening bonfires were lit, lots of firework displays. Potatoes Roasted on the fires.  The weather was cold, the air was filled with smoke and lots of loud bangs.  Looking back it must have been very dangerous out there.  I wonder if things have changed over the years.

When I was very young I did not enjoy it I was very afraid of the fireworks and would hide in the house until it was over.