Did Your Ancestor Fight at Agincourt? › wisefhs › wp-content › uploads › past...Did Your...
Transcript of Did Your Ancestor Fight at Agincourt? › wisefhs › wp-content › uploads › past...Did Your...
www.wise-fhs.org
Volume 12, Number 1 Denver, Colorado January, February, March 2011
Did Your Ancestor Fight at Agincourt?
--Richard Savage
“We few, we happy few . . . ”
The anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt
came round again October 25, a day of nation-
al pride for all British descendants. That
was the date in 1415 when the English, led
by King Henry V, defeated the French at
Agincourt in northern France, a major battle in
the Hundred Years War. It also formed the
centerpiece of Shakespeare’s play, Henry V,
nearly 200 years later.
Have you ever wondered – as a genealogist –
whether you descend from one of the “happy
few,” as Shakespeare called the 6,000 men at
Agincourt? (The French fielded 36,000 men.)
There are at least two partial lists of the Eng-
lish army Henry V led to Agincourt. About 35
of the names on these lists correspond roughly
to the surnames of W.I.S.E. members. The
Agincourt names are:
Radous Alan, John Aleyn, John Barbour, Ro-
bert Barde, Robert Browne, John Burnam,
John de Chambr’, John de Chester, Alan Dal-
by, Andrew Gray, Davy Gray, George Gray,
Henry Gray, Sir John Grey, Richard Habra-
ham, John Huet, Henry Huse, Gerard Johnson,
John Kinge, William Moore, John More,
Thomas de More, Richard Parker, Nicholas
Perche, Richard Peryson, William Porter, Ro-
bert Roos, John Rous, Thomas de Routhe,
John Savage, Hugh Smyth, John Smythe, Hen-
ry Walker, John Walker and John Wilson.
These men are believed to be the “lances”
– the knights, squires and men-at-arms, not
the ordinary soldiers or the archers – who
were an important part of the victory.
However, at http://www.jacksdale.org.uk/
pages/JDHeritage/CastleKnights3.htm you can
read the names of all the men of Derbyshire
led by Sir John Grey of Codnor Castle, 222
men all told, including 162 archers.
Sir John Grey, in the list above, should not be
confused with Sir Thomas Grey, who, in Sha-
kespeare's play (and in
real life) was a traitor,
executed before the army
sailed for France. Like-
wise, some names men-
tioned by Shakespeare
do not appear on the list
– notably, the four “eth-
nic” representatives of
their peoples, Fluellen
(Welsh), Macmorris (Irish), Jamy (Scots) and
Gower (English), nor three ordinary soldiers,
Bates, Court and Williams. Of course, the
W.I.S.E. Members’ Interests list contains
many more names, some of which match the
Agincourt Honors List.
One of the sources is History of the Battle of
Agincourt and of the expedition of Henry
the Fifth into France in 1415, to which is
added the roll of the men at arms in the
English army, 2nd ed., London, 1832, by Sir
Nicholas Harris Nicolas. Good luck on finding
a copy of that.
-- continued on page 6
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 2 --~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
President’s
Message
With this edition of W.I.S.E. Words, our
society moves into new territory. We’ve gone
electronic.
Most of you will be receiving this newsletter
by e-mail for the first time. It’s yours to print
or save to your hard drive – or both. You can
read it on your computer screen, or print it
to read at your leisure. Others chose to
continue to receive it via U.S. Mail, but for a
$5 surcharge.
Storing it on your hard drive lets you keep it
indefinitely for easy reference. Keeping a
paper copy is a more certain way to outwit
capricious technology, which changes every
time you turn around and may make hard
drive storage obsolete before you know it.
Maybe you’ll want to store it on a “cloud,”
i.e., a remote storage facility.
To get with the program, as they say,
my household chose to have W.I.S.E. Words
delivered by e-mail to be printed from our
computer. I trust that all goes well with this
big change, whether you chose the digitized
or paper version.
W.I.S.E. moved into the technological age
later than many genealogy / family history
societies, which have been distributing their
newsletters by e-mail for several years. Our
board of directors had discussed this option
for at least that long, but we always
backed off, assuming that members want a
tangible reward for their $12 or $15 a year.
Also, because our members tend to be older
and less confident with technology, we felt
they’d balk at something as newfangled as
reading a newsletter on a computer screen.
But younger members of our board, at ease
with technology, prevailed, and last spring
we voted to go electronic at the start of
2011. In a way, I hated to see the end of the
paper era, if that’s what it was, but eventually
I came around. We must not stand in the way
of progress.
All this concern about technology brings us
to another point: W.I.S.E. needs volunteers
with computer skills to take us into the new
decade. We need backups for certain jobs,
such as editor of this newsletter; additional
aid for our webmaster; we’ve discussed
electronic storage of records such as financial
data. Assuming our treasurer is re-elected at
the Annual General Meeting in January, she’ll
be term-limited and her successor two
years hence will be required to know how
to manipulate the online accounts she’s set
up. Membership lists, mailing lists – both are
handled electronically now and will be passed
on to others sooner or later.
We need you technologically adept members
to volunteer your time and abilities to your
society. I can’t guarantee that these tasks will
take just a little time, a misleading promise
I’ve heard from time to time. As with most
volunteer jobs, the person who holds the posi-
tion will decide how it’s done, apart from
standard procedures, of course. You may see
needs which never occurred to our directors.
Whoever you are, please step forward. You
will be valued.
--Zoe von Ende Lappin
The W.I.S.E. Year in Review --Zoe von Ende Lappin
We started 2010 with Paul Milner leading our
excellent seminar on British Isles research.
But early on we were saddened by the
unexpected death of Gary Routh, our web-
master, as well the loss of members Ruth
Quirke and Michael Savage. Jan Prater
stepped in to fill Gary’s webmaster shoes,
but his other responsibility for W.I.S.E. – pro-
curer of genealogy materials for the Denver
Public Library – has not been filled. I hope we
can do that in 2011. Our website won high
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 3 --~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
praise from all who sampled it. If you have
not visited it, go to www.wise-fhs.org.
Sandra Ronayne organized first-rate pro-
grams. Highlights for me were Marylee
Hagen’s lavishly illustrated story of research-
ing her Irish ancestors and Richard Savage’s
concise and enlightening presentation on Brit-
ish Isles genetic genealogy.
Our membership rose from 156 to 178. We
researched in Salt Lake City, as we will again
in 2011. We loved participating in the Irish
Festival in July and the Scottish Highland
Games in August. In June, we visited
Cherokee Castle in Douglas County, built to
resemble a Scottish castle. Treasurer Nancy
Craig kept our numbers straight. Secretary
Sandra Carter-Duff kept our records straight.
Judy Phelps continued to produce a splendid
newsletter, and thanks to all who contributed
those original articles for W.I.S.E. Words. As
I’ve said before, if we’re not, we should be the
envy of all genealogy societies for the extent
of member participation in the newsletter.
Can we top that? Maybe, maybe not. At any
rate, as W.I.S.E. members we all have reason
to look forward to 2011. May all our high
hopes be realized.□
New Meeting Time
for W.I.S.E. Programs
The Denver Public Library has eliminated
Saturday morning hours at the Central Branch,
and that means that W.I.S.E. Family History
Society has changed its meeting time. We’ll
now convene at 1:30 p.m., a half-hour later
than usual, to allow us to set up the meeting
room – generally still on the fifth floor – on
our customary fourth Saturdays.
W.I.S.E. members, as well as the rest of the
Colorado genealogy community, were stunned
with the library’s decision to close the Central
Branch on Saturday mornings, effective
December 1, 2010. Not only did that mean
that the renowned Western History and Gene-
alogy Collection is closed to the public at one
of the busiest times, but the genealogy classes
and groups that have met during the
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. hours have had to find other
accommodations. (The W.I.S.E. board
will meet at an off-site locale on Saturday
mornings.) The closure was necessitated by
budget constraints, and we have been assured
by the DPL management and staff that, diffi-
cult as it was, this was the least disruptive
choice for the system as a whole.
W.I.S.E. made every effort to prevent the
library closure, first by writing paper letters --
not e-mails -- to four Denver City Council
members, including the co-chairs of the
budget-writing committee, and to City
Librarian Shirley Amore. In the letters,
President Zoe Lappin pointed out that
Saturday mornings are a top drawer item
for genealogists, who consider the library’s
fifth floor a mecca. Closure would be a hard-
ship for many.
Our secretary, Sandra Carter-Duff, accompa-
nied by Vice President Sandy Ronayne, took
the genealogists’ case one step further: to
City Council. She spoke at a budget hearing
on October 25, expressing genealogists’
disdain at the closure, an issue still in
the proposal stage at that time. She was well-
received, but the plan stood: Denver Public
Library downtown is now closed on Saturday
mornings.
The Western History-Genealogy staff, headed
by Jim Kroll, has worked with genealogists
to find other hours and accommodations,
and made a major exception to the closure:
It will be open for all-day genealogy seminars
in 2011 for organizations that had booked
facilities and / or speakers before the
December 1, 2010, cutoff date. That means
W.I.S.E. has a meeting room for our 2011
seminar next October. And, like all other users
of the fifth floor, we’re hoping that the hours
can be restored.□
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 4 --~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Annual Meeting
W.I.S.E. will host its Annual General Meeting
on January 22, 2011. At this meeting, officers
will be elected and the budget will be pre-
sented to the general membership for approv-
al. Zoe Lappin, current president, and Nancy
Craig, current treasurer, are standing for re-
election. Their biographies follow.
Zoe von Ende Lappin, candidate for
W.I.S.E. president, 2011-2012
It is with anticipation and
pleasure that I stand for re-
election as president of
W.I.S.E. Family History So-
ciety. In the two years since I
took office, W.I.S.E. has
grown from 123 members to
179 at the end of November 2010. I can’t take
credit for that hefty increase, but I can take
pride in our many accomplishments that drew
new members: We have a website, the quarter-
ly newsletter continues to be a trove of origi-
nal articles, and our programs have been in-
structive and imaginative. We have donated
books to the genealogy collection of the Den-
ver Public Library. When possible, we have
helped genealogical neophytes. We’ve contin-
ued to participate in the annual Irish and Scot-
tish festivals in metro Denver. We have a
logo, which you’ll see on our banner, newslet-
ter, stationery and book bags. We continue to
sponsor an annual research trip to Salt Lake
City and a field trip to a Colorado site with
roots in British Isles culture.
As president, personally, the biggest challenge
has been recruiting volunteers to fulfill the
many jobs our society requires. Mostly, you
have stepped forward to volunteer or those
whom we asked to take a responsibility wil-
lingly have done so.
Some personal details: I was a reporter, writer
and copy editor for a total of 38 years at both
The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain
News. Skills I learned there have served me
well as both a genealogist and as an officer of
W.I.S.E. For instance, one must be alert to all
angles of an issue in research as well as in
leading an organization.
I am a native of Wisconsin and a graduate of
the University of Wisconsin, Madison. My
husband, Jack Lappin, and I have a son,
Michael, and a daughter, Sarah. He lives in
Colorado with his family, which includes our
only grandchild. Sarah lives in Belfast, North-
ern Ireland, with her Belfaster husband. We
visit Belfast at least once a year, branching
from there to the four W.I.S.E. countries. In
2010, we saw Wales for the first time, and I
am still marveling at the beauty of the
lavender mountains of Snowdonia National
Park as we drove east across Anglesey. We
have ancestors from all four countries, includ-
ing both Northern Ireland and the Republic, as
well as Germany and French Canada. My hus-
band also has early colonial settlers in his
background.
I have been a member of W.I.S.E. since 1999,
serving two terms as secretary. I also belong to
the National Genealogical Society, the Colo-
rado Genealogical Society and its Computer
Interest Group.
With your confidence and support, I pledge to
continue to do my best as president of
W.I.S.E. I will strive to keep us growing and
whenever possible, support and encourage
your genealogical pursuits in the British Isles
and among the immigrants and their offspring.
Nancy Craig, candidate for
W.I.S.E. treasurer for 2011-2012
I have been active in history
and genealogy organizations
for many years. Some of my
assignments have been: pro-
grams chair for the Pikes Peak
Genealogical Society; treasurer
and membership chair for the Colorado Welsh
Society, HP / Agilent Alumni Club of Colora-
do Springs, and W.I.S.E. Family History
Society; served on Colorado Council of
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 5 --~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
Genealogical Societies as the Pikes Peak Ge-
nealogical Society delegate and also as Coun-
cil secretary; registrar for several council and
local seminars; and as chairperson of the Pikes
Peak Book Selection Committee.
My family history includes ancestors from all
the W.I.S.E. countries (Wales, Ireland, Scot-
land, England), Eastern Europe (area formerly
called Bohemia, now known as the Czech
Republic), and (we think, but not quite yet
proven) a link to the Eastern Band Cherokee.
I belong to historical and genealogical socie-
ties in the locales where my ancestors settled:
Alabama, Texas, Minnesota, South Dakota,
and Wisconsin. I enjoy reading, travel, and
crossword puzzles.□
Membership Report
Welcome to new members Marcia and
Norman Whitcomb who joined in September.
He was a W.I.S.E. program speaker in 2009.
Welcome also to Roberta Dice, George and
Hildy Morgan, Lola and Gary Stetesky, and
Elaine Osborn, who joined in October. Ron
Bice joined our group in November.□
In This Issue
Did Your Ancestors Fight at Agincourt? ........... 1
President's Message ........................................... 2
The W.I.S.E. Year in Review ............................ 2
New Meeting Time for W.I.S.E. Programs ....... 3
W.I.S.E. Annual Meeting .................................. 4
Membership Report ........................................... 5
W.I.S.E. Program Schedule ............................... 6
FHL Research Trip Planned .............................. 8
Tracing Your Mayo Ancestors .......................... 9
Sources to Help You Find Your
Ancestor’s Home in Ireland ................................ 9
Who Was St. Patrick? ...................................... 11
New Old Books on the Fifth Floor of DPL ..... 12
Book Review ................................................... 13
Of Celtic Curiosity & W.I.S.E. Weddings ...... 14
Rugby, the Main Game in Wales .................... 14
Photo Album ................................................... 16
Calendar of Events .......................................... 16
W.I.S.E. Family History Society
W.I.S.E. Family History Society is dedicated to re-
search in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, the
Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Attention is also
directed to the emigration and immigration of these
peoples as well as heraldry and one-name studies.
Monthly meetings are generally held the fourth
Saturday of most months at the Central Denver
Public Library, Gates Conference Room, 5th Floor.
Membership is open to anyone with interest in
family history and genealogy. Membership dues for
the calendar year are $12 for an individual or $15 for
a family living at the same address. The W.I.S.E.
Family History Society publishes W.I.S.E. Words four
times per year, and a subscription is included with
membership dues. Add $5 to the dues if you want a
printed copy of the newsletter mailed to you.
© 2000-2011, W.I.S.E. Family History Society, P.O. Box 40658, Denver, CO 80204-0658
All rights reserved.
Visit our website at http://www.wise-fhs.org
Officers and Board Members
President ................................... Zoe von Ende Lappin
................................................... [email protected]
Vice President .................................... Sandy Ronayne
Secretary ....................................... Sandy Carter-Duff
Treasurer .......................................... Nancy G. Craig
Past President .................................. Duane Woodard
Membership ...................................... Nancy G. Craig
Members’ Interest Coordinator ......... Terence Quirke
Publicity Coordinator .......................Cynthia Murphy
Archivist / Historian............................ John Mossman
CCGS Delegate .................................. Cathy Bowman
Webmaster ............................................ Janice Prater
Newsletter Staff
Editor ................................................ Judith S. Phelps
................................................... [email protected]
Book Review Editor .................. Zoe von Ende Lappin
Proofreaders ..............Jack and Zoe von Ende Lappin
Distribution Coordinator .......................... Sue Clasen
Country Editors
Wales .................................................... Samuel Kuntz
Ireland .................. Marylee Hagen and Marilyn Lyle
Scotland ............................................... Ken McIntosh
England ............................................. Richard Savage
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 6 --~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
W.I.S.E. Program Schedule
22 January
Celtic History and Weddings – Travis Butterworth
Travis, who is half Scottish/Irish, is a member of the Renaissance Scots,
a non-profit living history group dedicated to educating about life in the
“olde times.” Travis will give a brief history of the Celts from their begin-
nings in Russia through their modern contributions. He will then discuss
Celtic wedding traditions, including handfasting, unity candle ceremonies
and blessing of the family sword.
The annual W.I.S.E. general meeting is also scheduled.□
26 February
History of Ireland in Song and Story – Michael Thompson
Michael, who has ancestors from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England,
is a family researcher, storyteller and musician. His program will compress
10,000 years of Irish history into a short session of song and story. Michael
has performed at the Colorado Irish Festival, the Elizabeth Celtic Festival,
the Evergreen Arts Festival and Swallow Hill Music Association. His Irish
pub band is Mulligan Stew.□
26 March
Heirloom Family Trees – Becky Olson
Becky is the co-owner and founder of KeepsakesFamilyTrees.com. She
also was a corresponding secretary for the Colorado Genealogical Society
and a contributing subject matter expert for the History Channel’s 2001
Film, Family Trees. She has created custom family trees for the Glenn
Miller Family, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and the Molly
Brown House Museum. Becky will discuss historical family trees and show
how British Isles traditions can be incorporated into family trees that will
show your heritage.□
Did Your Ancestor Fight at Agincourt?
--continued from pg 1
Another source found on the Internet is
http://www.nltaylor.net/things/agincourt_list.
htm. It claims that Sir Nicholas copied the list
from three original sources, one in the British
Library, one in the College of Arms, both in
London, and another in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford. The Bodleian copy is in the hand of
Robert Glover, Somerset Herald, 1571-1588.
In the manuscript Glover states that he copied
the list from a longer original, which had con-
tained the names of archers as well as the
900-odd lances named (knights and men-at-
arms). So, sadly, the list is very incomplete,
lacking the really important guys, the archers
– unless Glover's source turns up again some-
where.
A popular on-line source is http://www.family
chronicle.com/agincort.htm, where you’ll also
find a well-written account of the battle. As
the Family Chronicle authors say:
“(King) Henry had planned his expedition
carefully and his army was not typical of the
times. Throughout Europe it was normal for
an army to be made up of a number of knights,
who regarded warfare as almost sport, and as
many peasants as the local feudal levy could
raise. In contrast, Henry's army was specially
recruited; his men were well-paid, well-trained
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -7-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
and disciplined. Most of his army comprised
expert archers using the English longbow.
Henry preferred a small, professional army to
a large untrained force.”
If you’d like a fictional, but realistic version of
the story, the latest is by Bernard Cornwell,
Agincourt, Harper, 2009. The novel focuses on
ordinary men, especially archers. Incidentally,
one of the names on the Honor List is Corn-
wayle, appearing four times. Ancestors of
Bernard Cornwell, perhaps? Mr. Cornwell, a
modest man, doesn’t claim the honor.
One of the names that Shakespeare uses to
good effect is (Sir) Walter Hungerford, whose
remarks on the battlefield have been pre-
served, regretting that:
“… they had not but one ten thousand of those
men in England who do no work today". Alas,
poor Sir Walter. His honest statement, facing
five or more-to-one odds, has been appro-
priated to the Earl of Westmoreland, cousin of
King Henry, who replied, “Wot you not that
the Lord with these few can overthrow the
pride of the French?”
Shakespeare is more elegant:
“If we are marked to die, we are enow
To do our country loss, and if to live
The fewer men, the greater share of honor …”
I can't, of course, pass the name of John
Savage without some comment. I wish I could
claim his ancestry – I can't – but some Ameri-
cans in Virginia, North Carolina and other
eastern states can. Their DNA study substan-
tiates that they are descended from a Norman
ancestor. John Savage (merely a squire at
Agincourt) was from the Cheshire family
of Thomas le Sauvage, one of William the
Conquerer's adventurers. John Savage was,
according to legend, knighted on the battle-
field by Henry himself. The Savages benefited
greatly by John's status as a hero of Agincourt.
They became mayors of Chester, and a son
of John led the left wing the army of Henry
Tudor, earl of Richmond, at the Battle of
Bosworth in 1485 at the end of the War of
the Roses, establishing the rule of the Tudor
dynasty. (See http://www.geni.com/people/
John-Savage/6000000003378552256).
It's also interesting to note from the list how
English names – once Saxon or Celtic or
Norman French – were changing. Alongside
John de Chester we find William Chesterton
(William of Chester Town) – both names iden-
tifying the men by their place of origin, one
in an older style (“de Chester”), one in a new-
er. There are many Fitzhughs and Fitzhenrys,
as there still are today, Fitz being the old
Norman “son of” appellation. And, John a
Wode (or John at Wode) sounds old Celtic to
me. There's a William Paternoster on the list,
whose name means “Our Father” -- taken from
the Latin Mass – though I suspect he wasn't a
chaplain.
There's also a Lowis Robesart, perhaps an an-
cestor of Amy Robsart, the first wife of Robin
Dudley, master of horse in the court of Queen
Elizabeth I, and her reputed lover. When Amy
died of an accidental fall, under mysterious
circumstances, insinuations of murder and a
coming royal marriage swept the courts of
Europe. The scandal made such a marriage
impossible. Speaking of royalty, did the House
of Windsor lose any ancestors at Agincourt?
Yes, indeed, 26 ancestors of Prince William
and Prince Harry died at Agincourt – all on the
French side.
And, of course, it's instructive to scan the eth-
nicity of the names. What of Shakespeare's
claim of broad British Isles membership? We
find Lewis Cadowen and Davy Cawardyn
(Welsh) on the list, with Lewys Cornwayle
(Cornish), Edward Mackwilliam and Nichasin
Scot (Scottish) and James P'drich (Irish?).
Apparently true, though Henry was concerned
with military competence, not political cor-
rectness. The complete list, including the
archers, would certainly show many more
Welsh members.
The list even tells us something of social
structure, revealed in the father-son names of
John Cheyne Sr. and Jr. – professional, mer-
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -8-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
cenary soldiers. After all, Agincourt was
a triumph in the Hundred Years War, and mili-
tary expertise was a way of life. I wonder
if they're related to former Vice President
Cheney. There's also a Clynton (Clinton) on
the list.
The Hundred Years’ War actually was a series
of wars, 1337-1453, in which England lost
all of its possessions in France except Calais,
the region that included Agincourt. Was
Agincourt a notable victory? Yes. Did it
change English history? Yes, and many would
say with unfortunate consequences for it cul-
minated in England’s transformation into an
aggressive, militaristic state. After the French
revival under Joan of Arc at about this
same time in the early 15th century, English
militarism turned inward, in the War of
the Roses – Lancaster against York, English
against English. As Shakespeare put it in
Henry V:
“Whose state so many had the managing
“That they lost France and made his England
bleed.”□
FHL Research Trip Planned
W.I.S.E. is sponsoring our annual research trip
to Salt Lake City next spring. It is scheduled
May 1-8, Sunday-Sunday, with accommoda-
tions again at the Carlton Hotel.
Margaret Kadziel and Dorothy Coltrin talk about
research results in the Family History Library.
The hotel, where W.I.S.E. has had its head-
quarters for several years, caters to genealo-
gists. It is three blocks from the Family
History Library, a pleasant walk, and also pro-
vides scheduled van service to the library in
the morning and evening. It’s known for its
friendly staff, cozy rooms, airport transport
and hearty breakfasts. Room rates are: $270
per person double occupancy, $440 for single
occupancy, and $210 per person in a triple, of
which there is a limited number. Breakfast --
ordered from the menu, not dished up from a
steam table -- is included in the price. So is the
van service to and from the airport and library.
Pat Allen copies family history information from
one of the many printed genealogies.
Atlas Travel of Golden is handling hotel res-
ervations; participants will make their own
travel arrangements. A $50 non-refundable
down payment on the room reservation is re-
quired by March 15 with the balance due by
April 15. Questions may be directed to Sally
Garcia at Atlas Travel, at 303-234-1040;
or [email protected], or Zoe
Lappin, W.I.S.E. president, at 303-322-2544
or [email protected]. The form for regis-
tration will be available on the W.I.S.E. web-
site at www.wise-fhs.org, and paper forms will
be available at W.I.S.E. program meetings, on
the fifth floor of the Denver Public Library
and at other locations popular with research-
ers. Also, the form will be coming to members
via e-mail after January 1. Zoe Lappin and
Sandy Carter-Duff are organizing the trip.□
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -9-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
Tracing Your Mayo Ancestors
--Marilee Hagen
Flyleaf Press has released a new resource for
genealogists: Brian Smith, Tracing your Mayo
Ancestors -- New Edition (Aug. 2010) 160
pages, hardcover, €13.00. This book sets out
the records available, where they can be ac-
cessed and how they can be used in tracing
Mayo families.
In comparison with most other Irish counties,
Mayo has fewer records of value to family
historians. This makes it important to use the
existing records to their best advantage. The
main Mayo families include Burke, Bourke,
Connor, Conway, Durkan or Durkin, Doherty,
Gallagher, Gibbons, Higgins, Joyce, Kelly,
Lyons, MacHale, MacHugh, McHugh, Moran,
Murphy, O'Malley, Reilly or Riley, Sweeney,
Sweeny and Walsh.
Other Flyleaf Press family history and
genealogy titles include:
Tracing your Galway Ancestors -- New!
County Longford & Its People
Tracing your Cork Ancestors
Tracing your Donegal Ancestors
Tracing your Dublin Ancestors
Tracing your Kerry Ancestors
Tracing your Limerick Ancestors
Tracing your Roscommon Ancestors□
Save the Date for the Next
W.I.S.E. Seminar
Saturday, October 15, will be the date of the
2011 W.I.S.E. Family History Society semi-
nar. The topic will be Scottish genealogical
research and the speaker will be Barbara
Baker of the British reference staff of the
Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It
will be an all-day event at the Central
Denver Public Library. Watch for details in
upcoming newsletters and save the date.
Sources to Help You Find Your
Ancestor’s Home in Ireland --Marilyn Lyle
On-line research has come a long way for
genealogists – and that includes Irish
researchers. Those of us researching in Ireland
from the mid-1800s to the present can find
the title Applotment books, Griffith’s Valua-
tion and now the 1901 and 1911 censuses
online. If we could find the General Valuation
Revision (aka Cancellation Books or Annual
Revision Books) on-line, we would have
it made.
The earliest records most of us who are
researching in Ireland can find are the Tithe
Applotments which were conducted under
The Composition Act of 1823. Tithes were
taxes levied to support the established
church, the Church of Ireland. It was a very
unpopular tax especially for those who were
not members. The tithe was previously paid
in kind, but from that time on, it was to be
paid in money and this made the tax
even more burdensome. The benefits of this
tithe for us are that the information taken
was county-wide and included the townland
name, the landholder, the area of land and
the tithe.
The Tenement Act of 1842, designed to
provide a uniform valuation of property in
Ireland, was executed by one Richard Griffith
(hence, its name), Griffith’s Valuation. His
completed reports included the householder
name, townland, and name of person from
whom the property was leased, a description
of the property, acreage and valuation. These
valuations were compiled in 1842, 1848 and
1864. You will need to know the name of the
county and townland or parish to get your an-
cestor’s valuation.
Use this website: www.askaboutireland, to
find your Griffith’s Valuation. View the whole
entry which also allows you to see the map of
your ancestor’s home in Ireland. These are
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -10-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
Google maps copied from the original Ord-
nance Survey Maps of Ireland.
The method of finding your ancestor’s house
or land starts with finding the location (county
and townland) of your ancestor in Ireland
which will be on the Griffith’s Valuation for
that ancestor. This is a big step since it details
the occupant of the land, the house and the
description of each and tells us the name of
the landholder or landlord of the property.
See below: Parish of Tullyfern of County Do-
negal. Under the Townland of Clooney, find
Alexander Davis as the occupier and Sir James
Stewart as the lessor of the land. The descrip-
tion shows that there was a house, offices
(actually the out-buildings) and land. The rest
of the line details the land and buildings and
the valuation. On the far left column you
will see numbers and letters that reference
the Ordnance Map. You will need those num-
bers to find your ancestor’s land and house on
the map. Item 3b would be the reference for
Alexander Davis.
Next you will need the General Revision
Books for that townland. These are also called
Cancellation Books or Annual Revision Books
and you can find them at the Valuation Office
in Dublin, at Public Records Office of North-
ern Ireland in Belfast or you can order the mi-
crofilm versions from the Family History
Library in Salt Lake City at any Family Histo-
ry Center. Check www.familysearch.org.
The Valuation Office was set up to carry
out the original Primary Valuation. There are
actually two sets of books, (1) Cancellation
Land Books and (2) Current Land Books.
These records detail the changes that have tak-
en place regarding the land from the time of
the Griffith’s Valuation until today. The first
set of books holds the original notebooks used
by the surveyors and contains the field books,
house books, and tenure books. The house
books recorded the occupier’s names and
measured the holdings. The tenure books list
the annual rent paid, the legal basis of the
holdings and the year of the lease.
These books can be helpful in pointing to the
date of emigration and identifying a living
relative. Information on a possible living rela-
tive may be found in a later census and since
the census is now online, you can check
both the 1901 and the 1911 censuses at:
www.census.nationalarchives. You can view
the census information by Household Return,
House and Building Return, Out Offices and
Farm-Steadings Return, or Enumerator’s
Abstract for a Townland or Street. Look at all
of them for additional information.
The procedure to locate your ancestor’s
home in Ireland seems very detailed and there
are a number of steps, but much of it can be
done online now. Gather as much information
as possible before you contact the Valuation
Office in Ireland to request a map or a Revi-
sion Book search which can be costly. Its ser-
vice fees are on its website: www.valoff.ie.
I have followed one of my ancestors (Rebecca
Davis, daughter of Alexander Davis) in
Donegal in this way. I first found her marriage
certificate which indicated the Parish (Tully-
fern) and Townland (Clooney) in Donegal and
named her father. Next, I checked the
Griffiths’s Valuation Books at Salt Lake City
and found Alexander Davis there. You can
now do this online at www.familysearch.org
and many other websites. This showed the
details of the house, land and offices and
buildings there as well as the landlord, the
acreage and other details. Using the Map
references on the left side of the page, I was
able to get the Ordnance map of the area from
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -11-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
Valuation Office in Dublin and view the
Revision or Cancellation book. This showed
me that the land passed to Richard McElwee
who was the son-in-law of Alexander. Finally,
I checked the 1901 and 1911 censuses for
Ireland and found this family on both census
years. There are many details on these
census records and it may be possible to
follow the family through one or more of the
children.
You may have also heard of The Surname
Indexes or Householder’s Index which was
put together in the 1960s. It was a project
of the National Library of Ireland to index
the surnames found in the Griffith’s Valuation.
We now call this the Index of Surnames
or Householder’s Index and it is also available
on-line. It is not a census and not so valuable
if the surname is a common name. More
recently a full name index has been produced
on CD ROM.
If you have many ancestors to work on in
Ireland, make a chart and tabulate the
land information at one time. This will make
it easier for you if you do have to order
records from Ireland.□
Who Was St. Patrick? --Eileen Langdon
Just who was St. Patrick, the man who lent
his name to schools, churches, colleges and
even parades? One would think that his name
was inherently Irish, as he is patron saint or
guardian of Ireland, and the name is found in
most of our Irish families.
However, his name is Patricius, and he was
born in Britain, about 389, where his wealthy
family was Christian and his father, an alder-
man. This could have been at a time when
there was still Roman influence in Britain,
hence the Latin name. He was captured by
pirates when he was sixteen, and sold to a
chieftain in Ireland. He worked as a shepherd,
but he planned to convert the natives around
him. When he escaped after 6 years of being a
slave, he went to a monastery in Lérins,
France to become a priest.
Returning to Ireland as a missionary in 432,
Patricius preached in northern and western
Ireland, where no one had previously taught
Christian doctrine. He is said to have estab-
lished more than 300 churches, and baptized
120,000 souls. He wrote of
his spiritual development
in Confession, which is
still extant. And he wrote
Letter to Coroticus, in
which he criticized a raid
on Ireland, led by the
named British chieftain. In
it, he complains about the
way British clergymen and
noblemen treated the Irish.
Many would wish that the British had heard
the message of Patricius / Patrick in the 400s.
Patrick lived and preached in Ireland for the
rest of his life, reportedly dying in 461.
Legends have sprung up around him; the
main one is that he drove all of the snakes of
Ireland into the sea. Since there is no proof
that snakes ever lived in Ireland, due to the
geography of the island, perhaps that is a
metaphor for the driving away of pagan gods
or of devils when he converted the people of
Ireland. Snakes symbolized evil in Judeo-
Christian stories; for example, a snake tempted
Eve in the Garden of Eden with fruit.
Patrick is also said to have used the three-leaf
shamrock to illustrate the three beings in one
God, the Trinity, as he preached. Three leaves
of the plant come together to become the sha-
mrock, therefore a symbol of Christianity. The
Irish adopted the shamrock as a national sym-
bol. That shamrock is seen in so many places
in Ireland, and in so many signs and maga-
zines, on beers and exports, such as cheese.
When the Irish in America united to celebrate
their roots, they often formed societies, which
in turn sponsored parades and parties, espe-
cially on the reputed date of Patrick’s death,
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -12-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
March 17. New York City has had the largest
in the world throughout the 20th century, hold-
ing their 49th parade in 2010. In Denver, thou-
sands of people dress up to celebrate and pa-
rade throughout the city. After all, everyone is
Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.
Traditionally, the seventeenth of March was a
religious holy day in Ireland, but borrowing
from the Americans, Dublin and some other
cities of Ireland now have big parades.
This past year saw only the 40th celebration in
Limerick City, in western Ireland.
St. Patrick was a holy man, who converted the
Irish to Christianity and is still remembered
and celebrated throughout the world.□
New Old Books
on the Fifth Floor of DPL --Zoe von Ende Lappin
The Boulder Genealogical Society’s extensive
donation of books to the Denver Public
Library has enriched the collection in ways
both broad and narrow. Here are brief descrip-
tions of three of these:
First, of broad interest to those researching in
England, Scotland and Wales (not Ireland), is
a handsome volume of 1982 Ordnance Survey
Maps. It’s glossy and appealing, and in addi-
tion to 126 pages of large scale maps – an inch
to five miles – you get a survey course in his-
tory of Great Britain and of the famous maps
themselves. The text covers both human and
natural geography, all in historic context,
though the book is too old to include anything
about the revolutionary approach to demo-
graphics that’s now possible through genetic
studies.
Genealogists would appreciate the book most
for the meticulous maps, a la 1982, and the
every-place index, but they won’t find obso-
lete place names such as those for Scottish
townships. Perhaps most valuable are two
maps that show county boundaries of England,
Scotland and Wales before and after 1974
when the lines were redrawn and some coun-
ties renamed. These will help place localities
in both the past and present. The volume’s
official title is The Ordnance Survey Atlas of
Great Britain, published by Ordance Survey
Country Life Books.
Next, we have a neat little volume of some-
what narrower interest: Births, Deaths and
Marriages of the Nottingham Quakers, 1680-
1889, by Alice L. Beard and published in 1989
by Family Line Publications, Westminster,
Maryland. The title may be misleading, how-
ever, for the records cover not Nottingham,
England, but instead the Quakers in Pennsyl-
vania and Maryland who originated at Not-
tingham, England. The author scoured the
monthly records of six meetings, as their ec-
clesiastical groups are called, for genealogical
material. The records are separated into two
sections, births and deaths combined, plus
marriages. Birth records were drawn not from
birth records, per se, but from death records
which often list the vital statistics of each
child of the deceased. From marriage records,
we learn the names of the principals and par-
ents as well as witnesses, of which there can
be as many as 100. The author wisely pro-
vided an every-name index. This 296-page
book would be a worthwhile resource for any-
one who has, or thinks she has, Quaker ances-
tors who settled along the Pennsylvania-
Maryland border.
The third volume here reviewed is of limited
interest except to those who can tie themselves
to one William Moncrief, 1721-1794. He was
a Scot, perhaps from Perth or Fife Shire,
who apparently lived in Ireland for a while
and settled in Salem, New York, in 1764. The
book is entitled Moncrief -- From the Scottish
Highlands to the Nebraska Prairie, by Laura
Moncrief Lee, 1980. William the progenitor
had three children, Mary Creighton, William
Jr. and Hugh, and it’s from William Jr. that the
author descends. She tells the reader at the
outset that it covers families with seven sur-
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -13-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
names besides Moncrief: Gould, Laing, Mack,
McLeary, McKnight, Miles a Safford, though
perusal of the book and its every-name index
reveals many more. This admirable effort
would have been enhanced with better charts –
a four-generation chart showing the immi-
grant’s descendants would have simplified and
clarified the rich detail. Otherwise, no com-
plaints: The research appears to be first rate,
the author a skilled sleuth, and the book worth
a look by anyone with any of those surnames.
Granted, it’s 31 years old, but as valuable now
as it was at first blush.□
Book Review
Durie, Bruce, 2009, Scottish Genealogy,
The History Press, London, 288 pages.
Dr. Bruce Durie’s book
entitled Scottish Geneal-
ogy claims to be a tho-
rough guide to research-
ing genealogy and fami-
ly history in Scotland.
Dr. Durie teaches Gene-
alogy Studies at the Uni-
versity of Strathclyde in
Glasgow, Scotland, and
is the author of several books on local history
and subjects related to genealogy, so one
would tend to believe that the claim is valid.
What I am offering up herein are the results of
my examination of Durie’s 300-page book in
the form of key findings. We should start
simply with the 19-chapter table of contents to
give you an insight into the work as a whole. It
is as follows: Preface, Introduction, The Scot-
tish Censuses of 1841 to 1911, Statutory Reg-
isters of Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD)
Post-1855, Old Parish Registers, Census
Substitutes, Trades, Crafts, Professions and
Office, Courts, and the Scottish Legal System,
Charters, Local Records, Scottish Wills and
Testaments, Land, Feudal Land Tenure and
Baronies, and Titles, Church and Religious
Records, Paleography, DNA Testing and Ge-
nealogy, Clans, Families, Crests and Tartans,
Resources, Internet Resources, Scottish Mo-
narchs: Reigns and Genealogies, and Orga-
nizing Your Research.
Taking in just what Durie explains in the Pre-
face and Introduction sections of the book is
important. He indicates that his book is not a
listing of books, archives and websites, al-
though many are listed. It is rather a working
manual with worked examples directed at a
wide audience. He also tells the reader that he
examines subjects not routinely covered in
most genealogy books, such as interpretation
of medieval documents and Latin inscriptions.
He also stresses the ideas that
genealogy isn’t the same as family history
(family histories are found in many
sources)
we need to be clear about our goals and
stick to these
we need to not forget about the female line
(one of my pet peeves too)
we need to understand that not everything
is on the Internet, and that
public records are very important.
His three basic starting steps are “start with
what you know,” “get charting (either manual-
ly or electronically)” and “arrange (and docu-
ment) your material.” No big news, but often
neglected.
Following is what I deem most significant for
us to consider in his first chapter, The Scottish
Censuses of 1841 to 1911. Censuses tell us
where people were at a particular time. From
there you can work backwards to births and
marriages, and forward to marriages and
deaths, and along the way to occupations and
land ownership. Durie also recommends using
local censuses as well as researching prison
hulks (ships) that were used to transport pris-
oners to the American colonies and later
Australia.
Durie points out the various problems with
specific sets of census records. He also
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -14-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
reminds us that, to comply with privacy laws,
census records are released every 100 years.
So the 1911 census will be released in 2012.
He goes on to list various sources of census
data.
A key point to consider anytime, but especial-
ly in Scotland, is onomastics. (I know, a new
word for me too.) It simply means the naming
practices of a particular group. He talks about
the use of given names and naming patterns
which can be a source of confusion, but also
useful if understood.
Finally in this chapter, Durie compares Scot-
tish censuses to their English and Irish coun-
terparts. He makes particular note that until
1922 Ireland was one country, and part of the
United Kingdom. We should therefore not
expect all records relating to Northern Ireland
to be in Belfast or Republic records to be in
Dublin. Each repository has records from both
the North and the South.
Durie’s book is well worth purchasing.
-- Ken McIntosh□
Of Celtic Curiosity
and W.I.S.E. Weddings --Cindy Stewart Murphy
May you strive for the health of the salmon,
a long life, a full heart, and a wet mouth.
-- Irish wedding toast
My daughter, Erica Maureen Murphy, recently
married her love of seven years. Reflecting her
personality, Erica’s self-planned wedding fea-
tured a curious mixture of formal and casual,
traditional and “who cares?” solemnity and
abandon. It was, in a word, wonderful.
With her Irish heritage in mind, Erica wanted
to incorporate the wedding horseshoe tradition
into her nuptials. She was having trouble
locating a small porcelain horseshoe to tie into
her wedding bouquet, so she called for back-
up. That would, happily, be me.
I was able to find the perfect Irish wedding
horseshoe in the form of a Christmas ornament
from Belleek. As the Irish tradition calls for
the horseshoe to be a gift, I made it my present
to the bride. No “something old, something
new, something borrowed, something blue”
existed in Erica’s eclectic plan. As my daugh-
ter also inherited my Scottish practical nature,
she was delighted that the wedding horseshoe
could afterwards be used on the family
Christmas tree each year to remind the couple
of their special day and its meaning.
As W.I.S.E. Family History Society members,
we are interested in tracing our British Isles
roots. It only stands to reason that many of us,
and many of our children, are interested in
keeping our Celtic traditions alive as well. If
this is true of you and yours, be sure to mark
your calendars now for our W.I.S.E. meeting
on Saturday, January 22.
Travis Butterworth, who is half Scottish / Irish
and a member of the Renaissance Scots, will
speak to our membership on “Celtic History
and Weddings.” He will give a brief history of
the Celts from their beginnings in Russia
through their modern contributions. Travis
will then discuss some Celtic wedding tradi-
tions, including handfasting, unity candle
ceremonies, blessing of the family sword and
others.
In the meantime, enjoy your winter holidays
and, as the Irish wedding toast above festively
advises, don’t let your mouth get too dry.□
Rugby, the Main Game in Wales --Samuel Kuntz
Rugby is the national sport of Wales, and it
has many seasons. In November, national
teams from the Southern Hemisphere come
north to play the teams in the Northern
Hemisphere. February is the start of the two-
month Six Nations tournament for the national
teams of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, England,
France and Italy. In the summer the national
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -15-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
teams from the Northern Hemisphere travel to
the Southern Hemisphere. The Ireland team is
made up of players from both Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland.
The birth of rugby can be traced to a game of
medieval football in Rugby, England, in 1823
when a player named William Webb Ellis ran
with the ball instead of kicking it. The game
has two styles or codes, rugby union and rug-
by league. Rugby union is the more popular,
and this article is about that style.
The Rugby Union World Cup is held every
four years. Twenty teams will meet in New
Zealand in September 2011 for the next World
Cup. Another four-year event is the British &
Irish Lions tour to the Southern Hemisphere –
the next one will be to Australia in 2013. The
Lions is an all-star team made up of players
from the W.I.S.E. countries: Wales, Ireland,
Scotland and England.
American football is somewhat similar to
rugby union. A rugby team scores by either
one of two ways: crossing the goal line, called
a try in rugby and a touchdown in football, or
by kicking the ball between the uprights or the
goalposts, called a conversion in both sports.
It is interesting that in rugby to score a try, the
player must not only cross the goal line but
must touch the ball down on the ground. In
football, the ball must just cross the goal line.
In rugby a try is five points and the conversion
two. In football a touchdown is six points and
the standard conversion is one.
However, there are many differences between
rugby and American football. There are 15
players on a rugby team whereas a football
team fields 11 men. Rugby players wear very
little if any padding. A rugby game has two
40-minute halves, and play is never inter-
rupted by television commercials. A rugby
game is usually finished in two hours, whereas
a football game is longer than three hours.
Terms unique to rugby in addition to try in-
clude scrum, ruck, lineout, touch line and
hooker.
In addition to the national teams, each country
has one or more regionals, that play in leagues
against teams from neighboring countries.
Wales has four regional teams, Ospreys from
Swansea, Scarlets from Llanelli, Dragons from
Newport and the Cardiff Blues. The regional
teams in Wales play in the Magners League
made up of teams from Scotland, Ireland,
Wales and Italy. Three of the teams from
Wales also play in the Heineken Cup league.
This league is made up of teams from Wales,
Ireland, Scotland, England, France and Italy.
The Welsh rugby regional teams also play in
the LV Cup league against teams from Eng-
land. The play in all leagues runs from Octo-
ber through May.
Players from one country may play on
regional teams of another country, but the
number is limited. Only players who were
born in the country or have parents or grand-
parents who are nationals may play on that
country’s national team. Thus, some players
have the choice of more than one national
team.
In Wales there is also club rugby, organized in
both semiprofessional and nonprofessional
leagues. The game is also played in colleges
and high schools and at the many parks
throughout the country. Most countries also
field women’s rugby teams. The Six Nations
Rugby Tournament is for women with games
on Fridays before the men play.
In summer 2009, two teams from Wales
came to Glendale to play the Glendale
Raptors at Infinity Park. One of the teams,
the Welsh Warriors, was made up of players
from various club teams. A group in Wales
is working with the city of Glendale to sche-
dule trips for teams from Wales beginning
next June.
Watch the Glendale city website for the next
Welsh rugby game there. Fans also may watch
televised international rugby during the season
at Fado Irish Pub near Coors Field in down-
town Denver for a fee of $20 a day.□
W.I.S.E. Words ~ -16-~ January, February, March 2011
www.wise-fhs.org
Photo Album
W.I.S.E. Holiday Gathering
Calendar of Events
Date Time Place Speaker Topic
January 23 1:30 pm. Denver Public Library
5th
Floor Gates Room
Travis
Butterworth
Celtic History and
Weddings
February 26 1:30 p.m. Denver Public Library
5th
Floor Gates Room
Michael
Thompson
History of Ireland in
Song and Story
March 12 10:00 a.m. 49th
Annual
St. Patrick’s Day Parade N / A Celebrate Being Irish
March 26 1:30 p.m. Denver Public Library
5th
Floor Gates Room Becky Olson
Heirloom Family
Trees
For details about upcoming programs sponsored by W.I.S.E., please turn to page 6.