My
interest in genealogy was sparked by my husband who, while waiting for his
Australian Residency status to come through, began his family journey. This spark stirred old ember memories of my
father sitting at his teak bureau with large sheets of paper writing out his
family tree. With my father’s
handwritten tree as a beginning guide the spark caught alight and I began the
search for my family.
Eighteen months later I have found many
family members, both alive and dead who I never knew existed. I now wish I had listened more closely to
family stories, they are such a source of knowledge ~ full of hints for
researching the past. If you have older
members of your family now is the time to pick their brains! Once they are gone, so goes with them a
wealth of information that can never be retrieved. Many, many times as I have sat for hours at my computer searching
census material and ‘Googling’ I have thought of my dad trying to put
together his family tree from memory.
He would have loved computers.
MCNALLY
My father’s line, has been researched
along my maternal grandmother’s line as my father never knew the name of his
father. Even on her deathbed, his
mother would not reveal who he was. Of
course, family rumours are rife but the truth is we will never know until we
meet on ‘the other side’ and maybe, just maybe someone will tell us. So for now, I have to be content with
researching one line. McNally Coat of Arms.
Granny Mac died in 1965 when I was five
years old so unfortunately I have no memories of her, but here are some photos
of her. Granny Mac I have often wondered what kind of a woman
she must have been. For a twenty eight
year old Catholic woman to keep and support a child born out of wedlock in 1922
must have taken considerable courage.
We share the same birth date of July 5th.
My father, Henry John McNally was born
in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England in 1922.
His mother Jane worked as a waitress to support them both. Their house was a small ‘two up two down’
next to the Mersey River. The rows of
houses have long since been torn down.
Like many others of his generation who lived alongside the Mersey River
watching the ships of the world come and go, he joined the Royal Navy as a boy
sailor at age 13. Photos of dad Dad served in the Royal Navy and Royal
Australian Navy for many years. Service Record. For an interesting rescue story told by Max
Horton, regarding my father, you can find it here. He died two months after his sixty-second
birthday in 1983, twelve thousand miles from where he was born.
My grandmother Jane was one of the six
children of Henry McNally and Jane Farrell.
Her brothers were William, Edward and Michael and she had two sisters,
Elizabeth and Mary. From what I can
gather Jane was close to William (known as Billy) and he took my father under
his ‘wing’ while he was growing up. Dad
often talked fondly of him. Henry McNally was born in Birkenhead in 1854 and
worked as a Dock Labourer. He married
Jane Farrell (b. 1860) on October 25, 1881.
Jane’s father was named Michael but alas I can find no further
information on either of them.
Henry’s father was Terence McNally (b.
1817) and his occupation was as a French Polisher. Henry’s mother was, I believe, Bridget Cunningham (b. 1824). Both came from Ireland sometime before 1846.
I know this (if anyone can know anything in genealogy!) as John, their son, was
born in Lancashire in 1846. They had five children I know of: Henry (my great grandfather), Hannah, John,
Mary and Michael.
It is at this point that the MCNALLY
line comes to a grinding, thundering halt.
Irish genealogy is fraught with difficulty. Records are few and far between and no passenger/immigration
lists were kept between Ireland and England.
I am hoping that one day some kind soul will pop out of the woodwork and
tell me where in Ireland Terence and Bridget came from. Once I have that information I will be able
to continue the search……….
JACOBS & DEVENEY
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