Tracing Matilda's younger son, Francis Cavannah

 

                                                 Will I be able to add anything to Francis Cavanagh's part of this tree?

In the hunt for records about Francis Cavannah, the younger son of Benjamin and Matilda Cavanagh, I became aware that there were two men with the same name of approximately the same age; one in London and one in Liverpool. There were criminal records for the Liverpool Francis as well. Perhaps Benjamin and Matilda's son was out of the picture because he had moved to a different part of the country? The man in the Liverpool area was slightly older though but I wasn't sure which one was correct until I had a close look at all of the criminal records for the Francis Cavannah sentenced at the Old Bailey. One of those records recorded a description of the prisoner "5/4 ? ? blue slender Holborn. Holborn must have referred to his place of origin. That was the clincher. The Francis Cavannah I was tracking was the one sent to Australia.

New South Wales Convict Arrivals on Find My Past, showed Francis Cavannah arriving on 9 February, 1838 on the ship Emma Eugenia. After that finding, I checked Public Family Trees on Ancestry to see if any likely trees had further information about Francis Cavannah and his family but no such luck. None of them had anything further than his name indicating he was one of the sons of Benjamin and Matilda.

It was time to follow Francis to Australia. I've researched families there before. It's tricky because there are no census returns to rely on. They did keep records of convicts, however. The MHNSW database had records for Francis which included his Certificate of Freedom of 11 May, 1846. His Ticket of Leave indicated that the district was Yaas and he was tried in Sydney in 1854. I need to look into those records further to understand exactly what they mean. Perhaps there is more to learn about this errant member of the family.

Sources:

Ancestry                 Public member trees

FMP                       Various databases including New South Wales Convict Arrivals

MHNSW               MHNSW State Archives Collection https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/  Convicts Index 1791-1873

An unexpected twist in the search for Matilda's family

 

                                                      My London ancestors sometimes end up in court

While I haven't been able to find out anything more about Matilda Cavanagh or her husband, Benjamin, I have been able to find out more about their youngest son, Francis. When I couldn't find an entry for him in the 1841 census, I thought he might have left town. Because I've been down this road with London ancestors before, I checked out the Proceedings of the Old Bailey on the off chance. There I found an entry for the trial of Francis Cavannah, Matthew Pearson and Margaret Pearson for theft and housebreaking. 

Criminal records are so wonderful. There are so many of them, keeping a record of the trial and then, later, keeping track of the prisoners and writing down different information about them. One record that I found even gave his description and recorded that he was from Holborn. So I had a young man of around the right age, from the correct place. Not only that, I had a reason why I couldn't find him on the 1841 census. He was the only one of the three on trial found guilty and he was sentenced to transportation.

The New South Wales Convict Arrivals show that Francis Cavannah arrived on the ship the Emma Eugenia on 9 February, 1838. No wonder I wasn't able to find him on the 1841 census in England! Now to see if I can find any more records for him.

Sources:

 

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey https://www.oldbaileyonline.org 

FindMyPast – Record Set: England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935

More on the search for Matilda and family

 

                                                     I haven't found any information to add to this family tree yet

There are no extant census records between the 1815 marriage of Benjamin Cavanough and Matilda Fletcher and the first major census of England in 1841 - at least not that I know of. Over the years I haven't been able to find their son Benjamin in the 1841 census of England, the first one that is widely available. However, I was able to find him in the 1851 census when I tried the Find My Past website. By that time he and his wife, Sarah, were shown with 7 children and it was possible to track their moves through the birthplaces given for each of their offspring. The first 4 were born in St. Luke, Middlesex, the next in Aldgate and the the last two, twins, were born in St George, probably St Georges in the East.

So son Benjamin and his family didn't stray from their London roots although their mother, Benjamin's wife, Sarah, came from far away Norfolk. But what happened to Benjamin's birth family? What of his parents, Benjamin and Matilda? It's quite likely they died before the 1851 or even the 1841 census were taken. Then there's Francis Mark John Cavenaugh. I trawled the 1841 and 1851 census looking for him but had no luck.

At this point, I've only been able to track Benjamin Cavanagh, Benjamin and Matilda's first son. I have no idea where or when Matilda and the first Benjamin died. I don't even know how old they were when they got married or had their children. I'll keep digging to see if I can find out anything more. I may have a lead on their second son, Francis, though. More on that later. 

Sources:

Find My Past   1851 census for England, Wales & Scotland – St. George in the East, London & Middlesex, England

Starting the hunt for Matilda

 

                                             The Benjamin Cavanagh/ Matilda Fletcher part of my family tree

As I wrote last time, I'm starting my search for the Matilda Fletcher who married Benjamin Cavanagh on May 29, 1815 in Saint Andrew Holborn by licence. Information on marriage entries in those days was even sketchier than that found in the civil registration entries which became the requirement in July of 1837. In England in 1815, marriages were required to be performed in the Church of England. This became a requirement after the Hardwicke Act became effective as of March 25, 1754. So it didn't matter what denomination the couple was, they had to get married in the C of E, unless they were Jewish or Quakers (there's always some exception to the rule.)

The fact that the marriage was by licence, might mean that they were nonconformist or it might not. In any case, it meant that the banns weren't called in the church for three weeks as they would have been done for a couple who married by banns. A licence could also be used to married in haste, say if the bride was already pregnant.

Finding that out got my suspicious mind going. There was also something else that didn't seem right. The baptisms of Benjamin and Matilda's two sons were odd. The entry for their first son, Benjamin, stated that he was baptized in the parish church of St. Andrew Holborn on February 11, 1820. A note on the entry indicated that Benjamin was actually born on February 11, 1816. In the case of the next son, Francis Mark John, his baptism took place on September 8, 1823 in the same parish as his brother and, like his brother, he was also born in a different year from his baptism. His entry indicated his actual birth date was September 8, 1817. Why didn't both baptisms happen at the same time if they were late anyway? Francis would have been born before the date of Benjamin's baptism.

What if the timing of the first baptism was due to the fact that Matilda was pregnant at the time of the marriage? They then waited until later for the first child, Benjamin, to be baptized. No one would be counting the months after 4 years had passed. Then the couple waited to get Francis baptized because the sizes/maturity of the boys would obviously not go with their ages if they were seen together. The dates of birth are strange as well, both being the same days as the actual date of the baptism in each case. 

So I'm going into this search with a great deal of skepticism. It will be interesting to see if I can discover anything conclusive!

Sources:

Ancestry.ca     1815 marriage entry for Benjamin Cavanough and Matilda Fletcher in St. Andrew Holborn, London, England Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1941

                        1820 baptism entry for Benjamin Cavannaugh in St. Andrew Holborn, London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1925

                        1823 baptism entry for Francis Mark John Cavenaugh in St. Andrew Holborn, London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1925

 

Searching for Matilda

 

                                                        Benjamin and Matilda: a part of my family tree I want to expand

My own personal family tree is pretty solid back to the 3 x great grandparent level. It should be, I've been working on my tree for a long, long time. Some of my family lines I've taken back even further with some confidence. Others are more of a challenge. One of those challenges includes my paternal line. Once I hit the fourth great grandparent level on that line I ran into some challenges. My third great grandfather, Benjamin Cavanagh, was the son of Benjamin Cavanagh but I've searched in vain for more information on the first Benjamin. It doesn't help that he made his home in London, a genealogical quagmire if I've ever seen one. To top that off, I have no idea if the first Benjamin was born in London or perhaps was from Ireland as his name might indicate?

I've spent years trying to find out more about my fourth great grandfather, Benjamin, but now I've switched gears. Surely it will be easier to dig back further into my paternal fourth great grandmother's line. That grandmother was Matilda, Benjamin's wife. The marriage entry showed that Benjamin Cavanough married Matilda Fletcher, so hunting down Fletchers should put me on the right path. Not so fast. The marriage record also stated that Matilda was a widow at the time of her marriage to Benjamin Cavanough and AI informs me that a widow would go by her married name. So Fletcher was probably not the name she was born with. My task, as I see it at this point, would be to expand upon the information that I have for Matilda and maybe by doing that I might also find out more about her husband, Benjamin. And so it begins.

Information gleaned from the marriage entry

Help with my genetic genealogy journey

 

                                                                  Richard III lying in state in Leicester Cathedral

It's strange how things come to you when you state an intention. A few days ago I walked into a book store (that's not an unusual occurrence). Heading to the left after I entered the store I saw a book on the top shelf facing out to entice shoppers. It was about DNA, entitled The Secrets of Our DNA: How Genetics Has Changed the World. One of the shop employees asked if I needed help - of course I did, it was on a high shelf. When it was in hand I realized the author's name rang a bell.

The name was Turi King, and that brought me back. Remember all the excitement about the discovery and identification of Richard III's remains? I do. In fact, I made a side trip to Leicester to see for myself what the fuss was about. Turi King was one of the people involved with IDing the skeleton they'd unearthed. The collaborative Richard III project is one of the subjects she talks about in the book. She also covers many other DNA related subjects. There's even a chapter about epigenetics, I checked. What's more, the book was published in 2026, a plus in the ever evolving world of genetic discoveries and genealogy.

Sources:

King, Turi, The Secrets of Our DNA: How Genetics Has Changed the World, Doubleday Canada, Toronto, 2026 

Time to find out more about epigenetics

 

                                                                          Some of my books about Epigenetics

I've been researching my family's history for many, many years now. My quest began so long ago that I can remember ordering films from the LDS church in Salt Lake City through my local Family History Centre, then waiting weeks for them to come in. Finding genealogical links was a lot slower in those days.

When I think back to why I started on my genealogical journey though, it was the stories that intrigued me. I've always had a thing for mystery stories; devouring Agatha Christies in my early teens. But even more intriguing were the mysteries involving my own family many of which I half overheard when my mother was chatting with her mother.

It's those stories that told me what my ancestors were made of and the consequences of their actions, many of which would be far reaching. What was even more intriguing was when genealogy became enhanced by DNA testing and eventually connection was made between our genetic inheritance and those stories. It showed how our genetic makeup influences how we react and what paths we take. It's a fascinating subject I want to know more about. Looks like it's time to actually read those books about epigenetics that I've collected.