DIGGING INTO MY FAMILY'S PAST

Frances (“Granny’) Smith, was born into a family of six girls.  Her father, Walter Bryan, according to the notice of his death in 1846, was a well-known and respected farmer in the county. So far there is no trace of his birth or marriage records.  He was probably born around 1805. His wife’s maiden surname is unknown but her first name was Lydia.  Walter was one of the Church Wardens in 1837 who signed a letter of thanks on behalf of “the Parishioners of the Union of Ratoath” to the departing Curate of the parish.  The letter and the response from the Curate were published in the Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent, 4 March 1837.   In addition in the same newspaper on 26 December 1835, Walter was a signatory to a petition addressed to the High Sherriff of the County of Meath.  The issue was not absolutely clear to me but it could have been related to what is sometimes called the Tithe War that occurred around that time in Ireland....

This is the story of a link I hadn't realised was missing.  However, re-reading the story of the Bryan and Smith Families that I put together a few years ago, I discovered that I hadn't found the missing child of Hester Bryan and William Bates. Walter Bryan Bates is the subject of this story.  After my break from my family history, I decided to relook at the family of my mother. Her father's mother, Sarah McDowell, died when her children were small. Sarah was married to James Fraser. I've never been able to find a birth record for her.  Her four older siblings were born in Northumberland but at some time after that her family moved to Tipperary.  It is, I think, likely that she was born in Ireland and the birth records were destroyed in the big fire at the Four Courts, Dublin, during the Civil War.  Sarah's younger sister, Agnes, was married to Alexander Fraser, James' older brother. The 1901 and 1911 Census records show that Agnes was born in Ireland.  Sar...