Beautiful Shores

                                                         Kilfenora, C Cavanagh 1994. Thomas Quigley. My 3rd great-grandfather, Thomas Quigley (1817-1895), enlisted in the Honorable East India Company (EIC) Artillery at Limerick on 26 May 1845.  He stated that he was born in Kilfinora town,  Kilfenora parish, in County Clare, Ireland.      Thomas Quigley served 20 years with the EIC and British Army in India. After his discharge in 1865, he and his wife and three children settled at Kapunda in South Australia. Research in Kilfenora and in Kapunda revealed a wealth of family connections. Quigley Siblings - weddings on 17 September 1853 The marriage of 4 siblings in Kilfenora, County Clare in Ireland was thought to be of sufficient interest to be copied for publication in various Irish newspap...

The Wedding of Edward Canny Published on page 19 of the 13 March 1925 issue of the Southern Cross newspaper in South Australia was a poem, which was originally printed 50 years previously.   The tune can only be guessed at, but the words give a sense of the  gaiety of the event and family connections of those celebrating the wedding of Edward Canny. The entry begins with the following statement - "We have been requested to reprint the following poem, which will be of interest to many of the old settlers in the district and their descendants."   No details are given as to who requested the reprint, or where the copy was obtained.  The writer states that "the music and words are by Billy and Edward Carne."  I wonder if "Carne" is actually Canny.               Edward was actually Edmund Canny, born in County Clare, Ireland in about 1842, the son of William Canny and Bridget Quigley. Edmund married Margaret Dund...

For all of us Cavanagh's dreaming of a trip to Ireland, here is the beginning of a plan  to allow us to walk in the paths of family who left there long ago. A map has been created using Google maps. The link is provided below, and a copy with the details included.  I will keep updating this as family research reveals more information. An abbreviated family tree is included afterwards. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/edit?mid=1vOkyIUIY4-4dZEJGXXUNPCOpEECB0yQW&usp=sharing         Family connection to listed places, supplemented by Family Tree included below -  My Family tree:  6 generations - Christine Cavanagh    Updated 21 June 2024 

Leonard Ernest Cavanagh  (14 June 1923 - 23 June 1943)   Leonard Ernest Cavanagh was born on 14 Jun 1923 in Perth, Western Australia, the son of James Thomas Cavanagh and Alma Irene Gawned.  Len was the pilot of a Handley Page Halifax II bomber, serial number JD259, that was shot down over Leest in Belgium on 23 June 1943. There were no survivors.  Family and Early Life Leonard Ernest Cavanagh and cousin Noel James Cavanagh, c1936 Len's father James was born in Subiaco in 1899, enlisted in the AIF at the age of 18 and served in France in World War 1.   He returned to Perth in 1919 and married Alma Gawned in 1922. James worked as a carpenter, and he and Alma only had one child, Len.  James died in 1930 at Fremantle, when his motorcycle crashed into the rear of a stationery taxi. Alma was flung out of the sidecar and was reported to have sustained only minor injuries. Alma married Edwin (Ted) Stamp in 1936. Ted died in June 1945 and is buried at Kar...

  Great grandfather - Benjamin John Elford Harris, was born in 1878 at Kapunda, South Australia, and died in 1908 at Broken Hill, NSW. DNA analysis was undertaken to  evaluate whether he was the biological father of John Leslie Harris, who was born on 10th June 1901 at Kapunda. Benjamin was married to Annie Sexton at the St Rose of Lima Catholic Church at Kapunda i n December 1900. The couple had no other children together, and were living in different areas at the time of Benjamin's death. The question arose because children and grandchildren of John have done DNA tests, and no Harris family matches are apparent in their match lists. A presentation was made to the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney NSW in February 2021.  The recording was provided by the Society and I uploaded it to my YouTube channel. The presentation was aimed at a level of understanding for people who have an interest in family research, but who might be unfamiliar with DNA testing. It provi...

Most helpful to my research on the Smawfield family has been a book found during a Google search, called  "Rifted Clouds, or The Life Story of Bella Cooke."     Bella was the author, and the book was first published in 1885 in New York. Bella Cooke was the daughter of John Beeton and Elizabeth Smawfield, and she was the niece of my 5th great-grandmother, Ann Smawfield. Bella Beeton was born on 13 July 1821 in Hull in Yorkshire, and was baptised in the Holy Trinity Church in Waltham Street on 11 October 1821.  It  was a Methodist Church, and her devotion to the faith was evident throughout Bella's life. Bella married Joseph Cooke in Sheffield in Yorkshire on 7 October 1840, and they emigrated to New York in 1847 with their 3 daughters.  Her husband died in 1849 and her sisters and friends stepped in to provide for Bella and her small children.  Bella then began an active ministry, soliciting funds on behalf of the poor, as well as visiting them to ...

The Raven family - Part 2 - Mrs. Ann Good. My 3rd great-grandfather, Richard Raven was born in about 1833 in an area of Sheffield called Ecclesall Bierlow.   The earliest record that I have for Richard Raven is his marriage certificate, which was included in my previous post about this family.  (see  The Elusive Raven Family  ) The wedding took place on 25th December 1856, and Richard stated that his father's name was Robert Raven, a bricklayer.  Searches have failed to find any trace of Robert Raven in the area, or  a birth or baptism record for Richard Raven.  A Census record from 1841 includes a child aged 8 named Richard Raven, who could possibly be "my" Richard Raven.   The Census record has an address as Whitelock Court on Russel Street, North Sheffield. The residents on the night of 6th June 1841 were Richard Good, aged 50, a tailor born in Ireland ; Ann Good, 50, born in Yorkshire ; and Richard Raven, 8, also born in Yorkshire....