Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi

Does anyone know of an ancestor of mine, James Walsh, born in Wexford, Ireland in 1880 and who may have married in Liverpool between 1897 and 1900 and then emigrated to South Africa 1900/1901?

Thanks

Kevin

Kevin.

Do You know Who James married in/around Liverpool C1897-1900?

There are 3 possible Liverpool Marriages & 3 in West Derby.

Here are the 5 I found on the Lancashire BDM site:

1897

WALSH James & HARVEY Catherine, West Derby, Register Office or Registrar
AttendedLiverpool(ref: REG_WD/162/178)

WALSH James & ROBERTJOHNS Maud, West Derby, Register Office or Registrar AttendedLiverpool(ref: REG_WD/169/36)

1899
WALSH James & GIBBONS Ellen, Liverpool, Register Office or Registrar AttendedLiverpool (ref: REG_LP/241/74)

1900
WALSH James & EBUNDY Mary A, West Derby, Register Office or Registrar Attended Liverpool( ref: REG_WD/187/129)

WALSH James & LANDY Norah, Liverpool, Register Office or Registrar Attended Liverpool (ref: REG_LP/245/75).

Hope one of the is Your James!

There is quite a gathering of Walsh's on a Rootschat messageboard, all getting to know one another, you might find it useful to drop in there also.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.ph ... 541.0.html

Thanks to MaryA and PEGASUS for their information. I am in correspondence with all my Walsh relatives who have written on various web sites. The problem is that I'm told that James Walsh had a wife and family in Liverpool before coming to South Africa. This is unlikely given that he was born in 1880 and came here 1900/1901. But needs to be disproved (or proved). Can it be established whether or not any of the James Walshs mentioned by PEGASUS were born in Ireland? That would at least eliminate some, if not all, of the candidates. Kevin

Really we would need at least an age to go by before searching the 1901 census, but since he may have emigrated prior to the census date he might not be there anyway.

To find out the age of each would necessitate obtaining the marriage certificates, or at least have sight of the parish register in each case, unfortunately since LancashireBMD site gives all of the entries as "Register Office or Registrar Attended " this may well mean that the marriages took place in an RC Church. Gut feeling says that some of these will indeed be Irish because of this.

Having checked the Liverpool History Projectssite I can confirm the churches the following marriages took place in.

To Ellen Gibbons - St Albans Q3 1899
To Nora Landy - St Augustine Q4 1900
To Mary Ann Bundy - St Francis Xavier (James Edward Walsh) Q4 1900
To Mary Monaghan - Holy Cross Q2 1901

With both church and quarter date, you could request somebody assist you with look ups for these marriages if they had the time spare from their own research and didn't mind helping. Please read these guidelines http://liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/phpBB ... php?t=6937

With the marriages where the church isn't known, you would need the marriage certificates from the GRO which you could order if you wished using the following information.

To Catherine Harvey Q1 1897 West Derby 8b 766
To Maud Robertjohns Q4 1897 West Derby 8b 1026

Looking at the 1901 census and using a birthdate 1876 +/- 5 years I suspect that

James Edward Walsh (m Mary Ann) was born Liverpool
James (m Nora[h]) is Irish
James (m Ellen) might be Liverpool

I can't spot a possible Maud or Catherine

The above are purely speculation and would need sight of the marriage certificates giving addresses, ages and occupations, to even be partly sure about them.

Thanks very much MaryA for providing so much information. I will follow up as much as I am able from here. Kevin

Hi Kevin
Do you know which port in S. Africa James landed?
There are a few Walsh's travelling at that time to Cape, Durban & Port Elizabeth in findmypa@@. (S'hampton & London, only 3 from Lpool, I would say would be one family not yours)
Thanks
Tina

Thanks Tina. Cape Town. Apparently "jumped ship" in Table Bay. Kevin

Hi Tina

Should have added......he almost certainly would have been crew. Kevin

So James Walsh could have jumped from the frying pan into the fire, given that the Second Boer War was in full swing at the time? Are you certain he was crew and not in the Army?

Dickiesam

Hi Dickiesam

He was an Able Seaman so almost certainly crew.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
The Second Boer War was extremely costly in terms of killed and injured as far as the British were concerned. It was as bad as, if not worse than, WW1. The men were poorly trained and equipped for the terrain they were fighting over, so there were constant manpower shortages in the field.

I am wondering if James may have been seconded to an Army unit, as a gunner perhaps. I have come across two instances where a Navy man found himself ashore attached to a field gun unit.

Dickiesam

Interesting reply Dickiesam!

If he jumped ship, I don't think he'd be recorded in findmypa@@

Tina

Thanks for your interest Dickiesam. In 1900/01, to get ashore one had to have a certificate from an office in London which cost 50 pounds and one had to prove that one had 100 pounds with which to provide for oneself. You can bet James had neither. He must have been "illegal" and a fugitive for a while. How he then became "legal", got a job and was able to marry here in 1905 we do not know. Kevin

Hi Kev
You think he may have married in UK before he jumped ship in S.A and married there in 1905?
Have I got this right?
Thanks me dear

Tina

Hi Tina. He definitely married here in 1905. I have relatives in Ireland who
say he had a wife and 2 children in Liverpool before coming to the Cape. He would have been 20 in 1900 possibly the year in which he left. Therefore, it is possible, but improbable, that there was a family in Liverpool. The way the story is told is difficult to refute but needs to be proved or disproved. Bear in mind, it seems to me from looking at old newpapers, that bigamy was common in Liverpool at the time. Kevin

Hi Dickiesam. Your comment about the army bears some thought. He must have been a fugitive. If he was apprehended, he could then possibly have ended up in the British army. I will investigate this angle. Thanks. Kevin