Victoria (Oz) man's 1957 research, Ellen Conway b.1850 Ennis

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smcarberry
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Victoria (Oz) man's 1957 research, Ellen Conway b.1850 Ennis

Post by smcarberry » Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:26 pm

Here is the link for a fairly long article which appeared in The Age newspaper edition of 11 May 1957, in which an Australian descendant of Ellen Conway describes his family history quest which took him to S.S. Peter and Paul Pro-Cathedral in Ennis, where he found her baptismal record (screen shot below) in the old parish book which he reviewed in a church office.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A1 ... unty-clare

Note that the elderly woman's photo accompanying the text is not a relative, used only for illustration.

Sharon Carberry
Ellen Conway 1850 Ennis baptism.jpg
Ellen Conway 1850 Ennis baptism.jpg (4.95 KiB) Viewed 3591 times

Sduddy
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Re: Victoria (Oz) man's 1957 research, Ellen Conway b.1850 Ennis

Post by Sduddy » Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:25 pm

I read, again, the above account by Royston F. Porthouse, of his visit to Ennis in 1957, posted by Sharon Carberry back in August, 2009. And then I thought of Sharon’s comment to me recently, when I’d completed a transcription of the Carriaholt baptisms: “Could we have imagined back in 2010 that we in 2021 would have so many resources available?” (http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... 227#p14227). And, yes, it is true that searching is much easier now, but I think the finding is as hopeless as ever it was. Mr. Porthouse was looking for his ancestors when he came to Ennis in 1957. His only success was in finding, in the “brittle registers,” the record of the baptism of his great grandmother, Ellen Conway, who had gone to Australia about 1870. That record showed that Ellen’s father was John Conway and her mother was Bridget Murphy; their address was Drumbiggle Road. He mentions that Ellen’s mother arrived in Australia three years after Ellen’s marriage in Dunolly, Victoria, and that Ellen’s brother had a fashionable bootery at the top of Collins Street in Melbourne. Her mother came to Dunolly, but left very soon afterwards. I suspect that she did not return to Ireland; her son was doing well in Melbourne and I feel sure she hoped he would provide for her. The name of that son (brother of Ellen) is not given in the article, but Ennis baptism records show that there were at least two sons born to John Conway and Bridget Murphy in the 1850s: Patrick baptised 30 Jul 1852 and John baptised 12 Jun 1855. There was also a girl called Catherine baptised 3 Feb 1858.
Who did Mr. Porthouse hope to find in Ennis in 1957? He probably hoped that someone would remember his family, and maybe he hoped that he would find a record of the death of his great great grandfather, John Conway. But John Conway had probably died before 1864 and, even if Mr. Porthouse wanted to find that record now, he still would not find it. I looked at the headstone inscriptions for Conways in Drumcliff and there is a headstone for the Peter Conway whose house Mr. Porthouse visited, but there is no headstone for any other family of Conways.
If Mr. Porthouse set about looking for his Conway ancestors today, he would not find anything more than those baptism records. The difference between then and now is that he would not have to travel all that way.

Sheila

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