O'HENNESSY in Ennis & London

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GrandDad
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:35 pm

O'HENNESSY in Ennis & London

Post by GrandDad » Mon Jun 15, 2015 8:45 pm

May I beg any advice to help solve my problem Ennis ancestors ?
Known facts :-
PETER PAUL HARE O'HENNESSY born between 1800 & 1810 in Ennis Co. Clare.
source = 1841/51/61/71/81 UK census.
His obituary in 1887 states "left Ireland to join the army & was mentioned for a commission on the field at Waterloo".
I have a copy of a letter from Peter to the then UK Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth dated 1821, asking to be "put in a surgical college as there is no room in the army"
He cites Colonel Vanderleur as an "affidavit". Vanderleur was Colonel of the Clare Yeomanry at Waterloo.
The address on the letter is simply "Ennis, Clare"
He married a Charlotte and they had 4 children sometime between 1841 (single) & 1851 (widow).
NO record of the marriage or children's births in the UK records has been found.
Charlotte died in Southwark London in 1850.
Did Peter return to Ireland to be married & start his family ?
Is the HARE in his name his mother's maiden name ?

How would I go about finding records in Clare ?
Internet search shows 1821 Freeholders Co Clare = a Patrick O'Hennessy in Arthurs Row, Ennis.
the registry was in 1818.
Also a grave stone for Patrick O'Hennessy architect of Ennis dated 1839 or 1859 ?
This may be a family connection but how can I check ?

An intriguing puzzle that has eluded me since the 1980s when I started family research.

Clive O'Hennessy
north Scotland

mgallery
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:27 pm

Re: O'HENNESSY in Ennis & London

Post by mgallery » Tue Jun 16, 2015 1:15 pm

I had a look a the waterloo roll call and couldnt find him then found quite a lot of previous posts online that indicated that your ancestor ended up a journalist and may not have ever been a soldier or a surgeon. The full text of his obit doesnt actually say he was at Waterloo its a bit ambiguous

“ Death of a Veteran Journalist - We
regret to announce the death of Mr. Peter Paul
O’Hennessey, a well-known and highly esteemed mem-
ber of the London Press, and for about 50 years con-
nected with this journal. Mr.O’Hennessey, who came to
this country with the object of joining the army,
was noted for a commission on the day of the
Battle of Waterloo, and his mothers brother served in
the Peninsular War and at Waterloo. Failing in his
efforts to obtain a commission, he eventually joined the
Press, among the members of which his thoroughly
honourable character and invariably courteous and
genial bearing endeared him to a very large circle of
friends, by whom his death will be sincerely lamented.” (sic)

His mother's brother may have been a Hare, there were several at Waterloo, you could investigate where they were from if Ennis or its environs then his mother probably was a Hare but the Hare could have come from a grandmother or gt grandmother. Sometimes familes carry names they are proud to be associated with through a few generation. Why dont you try for the military records of the Hares mentioned at Waterloo. It might take you a bit of digging but if you find a family from Clare (or Limerick) it could be your relatives.

He seems like an interesting character. Maybe look for his funeral report and see if Hares are mentioned in the mourners. If you have the date of his obit it should be possible to track down a funeral report.

I also see you mention this letter
This is shown in a letter
dated 9th January 1821 written by Peter from Ennis Co.Clare to the then Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth. Home Office archives HO 44/7 1821

Fr The Right Honourable
Lord Sidmouth
Secretary to H.J.M.Y (sic)
X X X
Whitehall
London

Ennis January 9 1821
In the name of God

My Lord,
I waited the arrival of the mail every evening those three preceding weeks expecting an answer to my letter of the 2nd of December to your Lordship – however I must have a little patience as I am aware that you have something more material to occupy your mind than my epistles - the purport of my last – was praying your Lordship to put me in to a Surgical College – as there is not a vacancy in the Army. In truth my Lord I am miserably situated. Fortuitous Circumstances do oblige me to continue my application X am feeding my wretched life with the hope of your Lordship Considering me – If you desire a recommendation I can get an affidavit with the Signature of the Cy Majistrates John McDonnell Esqr,, High Sheriff Colonel Vandeleur X X
Praying your Lordship to forward me an afflicted young man. I am with everlasting submysion your ( continued on back of letter sheet )
Your Very humble Servant and constant admirer

Peter O’Hennefsy
Vincit Ominia Veritas (sic)

If he was going for a commission he must have been educated possibly he went to Ennis College - the Erasmus Smith Archive hold the records. I dont know if they have any records that far back for Ennis school I think not.

rgds

Margaret

GrandDad
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:35 pm

Re: O'HENNESSY in Ennis & London

Post by GrandDad » Thu Jun 18, 2015 10:06 am

Hello Margaret,
Thank You for your advice. This is a problem that I have toyed with on & off for many years.
The letter to the Home Office mentions an earlier letter but I have been unable to find any trace of it.
The obituary as you say is vague = no regiment, no mothers name, no mother's brother's name.
All the info that you mention is likely from my research and is on the Ancestry.co.uk site.
A big discussion on this problem was on the B - G brick-wall forum.
I am unsure as to Peter's religious leanings. Peter uses a common R C annotation to his letter but Lord Sidmouth was very outspoken in his anti R C feelings. Peters children marry in C of E & R C churches in London. I can find no reference to William after about 1861, and Augusta never married.
So I am not sure which church in Ennis to try for family records ?
When I looked at Hare at Waterloo they all seemed very lacking in details. Or was I expecting too much. The Morning Advertiser was a newspaper with one of the biggest circulations in the late 1880s.
Their early editions are not on line and London is 600 miles away.
I was hoping that the Clare library being "on the spot", even on the same street Arthurs Row, as the mentioned Patrick O'Hennessy a breakthrough might come ?
Best regards Clive

mgallery
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:27 pm

Re: O'HENNESSY in Ennis & London

Post by mgallery » Thu Jun 18, 2015 11:18 am

Patrick O'Hennessy of Arthurs row may not be related at all. I would be more inclined to try to track down the waterloo Hares who in fact are easily researchable on line, See below this took me ten minutes.

I looked at the Waterloo roll call which is scanned in online https://archive.org/stream/waterlooroll ... t_djvu.txt. I see only two Hares officers (I doubt the relative was noted in his obit if he was not an officer)One Captain John Hare was later a Major General. I would expect you could research him online especially with access to ancestry. I kind of suspect it wasn't Major John Hare as he was so well known I think he would have been mentioned by name in the obit. He was Irish and commanded the Royal Iniskilling fusiliers who had Ennis connections, You can write to the regimental museum or try ancestry or go to the Royal Archives at Kew. (Just by googling Major John Hare" waterloo and looking at the waterloo roll call I have found out he is probably from Monaghan or Fermanagh not Clare see below. Similarly I can see it would be relatively easy to get info on William Henry Hare (lieutenant). If neither Hares are related his mother probably wasnt a Hare as there are not any others at Waterloo, so at least you can close off that avenue of research.

I looked up Tarbet Fencibles who were commanded by a Leslie and see he was probably from round Monaghan or Fermanagh as he was in the Tarbet Fencibles and then Inisklilling a Fermanagh regiment.
see below on John Hare
1 Afterwards Maj.-Gen. Hare, C.B. and K.H., Gov. of the Eastern District
of the Cape of Good Hope. Began his military career as ensign in the
Tarbet Fencibles, when he volunteered with 300 men into the regulars, and
joined 69th Regt. Embarked for the Helder, and served in that campaign
under the Duke of York. Served under Abercromby in Egypt. Also in
Naples, Sicily, Calabria, and the Pa. Bt. It.-col. for A\ aterloo. Lt.-col. of
this regt. 31st March, 1825. D. on his passage home from the Cape in
March, 1847.

On googling William Henry Hare Waterloo I got this
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/LotD ... ID=1705133

You could write to the regiment or The bugle magazine and find out where the letters were written home to

As you can see there is a lot you could do with google from home to narrow your search.

Your ancestor would probably have had to convert to get a commission but his family may have stayed Catholic and it was quite common to have mixed marriages then hence both churches mentioned.

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