The Former Mrs Carroll

Bernard Carroll and Ann Dickson married somewhere in Ireland. I imagine it was sometime before 1846, as their eldest surviving child's year of birth would suggest. 

In Ireland they already had one child named William who was born around 1846. The Carroll family arrived in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland during the potato famine years, where they had a further five children. 

Ann Jnr was born in about 1849, Patrick followed in 1851, then Francis in 1854, Bernard Jnr in 1856, and finally Thomas, who was born in 1859. Sadly only William, Ann and Bernard survived early infancy. 

(Above) Patrick and (Below) Francis Carroll's baptism at St Columbkille's church, Rutherglen.

(Above) Bernard Carroll Jnr's birth registration. Notice "Barny."
(Below) Thomas Carroll's birth registration.

I know Francis died of scarlet fever, and Thomas was frail from birth, but it was neither of these illnesses which killed their mother.

Ann Dickson Carroll died on 4 April 1860, just short of a year after the birth and death of baby Thomas. Her cause of death was stated to be "Cauliflower excrescence of the uterus," which she was said to have suffered from for 12 months. This is also known as uterine cancer.

Ann Dickson Carroll's death registration.

Ann was laid to rest in the churchyard at Rutherglen, no doubt where her infant babes were also buried. 

On 6 July 1860, just over three months after the death of Ann, her widower married again. Bernard Carroll married Jean Duffy at Rutherglen, where she lived on Main Street, and worked in a paper mill nearby. They are my 3x great-grandparents. 

Bernard Carroll and Jean (Jane) Duffy's marriage registration.

It was a rather hasty marriage, but it is to be expected. Bernard was a single father with three young children, the youngest, Bernard, being only 3-years-old when his mother died. Jean was already the mother of little Elizabeth, who was born out of wedlock two years before. At that time Elizabeth was being raised back in New Kilpatrick, Dunbartonshire by her uncle and his wife - so both parties had what some would call 'baggage.'

In that sense, it was completely necessary for Bernard and Jean to find a spouse, and they certainly didn't waste any time. The marriage took place so quickly after the death of the former Mrs Carroll, some may deem it insensitive or cruel, but I think it is completely understandable.

Bernard and Jean went on to have nine children together, of which only four survived infancy.

The Scottish Bigamist

Last week I told the story of Elizabeth White, the illegitimate half-sister of my 2x great-grandmother, Agnes Carroll. This week I will tell the scandalous and sad tale of Elizabeth's daughter, Agnes Duffy.

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Agnes Duffy was born in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 19 November 1879. Her parents were John Duffy and Elizabeth White. Agnes's mother was the illegitimate daughter of Jean Duffy and Peter White, a ship carpenter. As far as I can tell the two Duffy families were not related.

Agnes Duffy's birth registration.

Soon after her birth, the Duffy family moved to the nearby coal-mining town, Larkhall. They lived there for a few years, but migrated to the United States in about 1884. After a short stint in America, the family returned to Larkhall, living there throughout the 1890s. 

On 30 December 1898, when Agnes was nineteen-years-old, she married a man named Robert McCord at Larkhall. One week after the wedding, Robert deserted Agnes, but not before telling her that their marriage was a mistake and she could marry again if she wished. 

Agnes and Robert's marriage entry.

Ten months later, Robert returned. The couple moved to Shotts, Lanarkshire and lived together there for six weeks, until again Robert deserted Agnes. He firstly went to Glasgow, but then to Yorkshire, England. When he was settled, he sent for Agnes to join him there, which she did. All alone and miles away from her family, Agnes was again deserted, and this time wasn't left a penny. 

Agnes somehow got back to her family in Scotland, who now moved to the Methil area of Fife. There she met a man named Michael Boyle. On 3 April 1904, Agnes received a letter from her estranged husband. In the letter, Robert stated he was happily married. So on 24 December 1904, Agnes married Michael Boyle in Edinburgh. Agnes was now a bigamist. 

The entry of the bigamous marriage.

The marriage was short lived, and just over three months to the date, Agnes was imprisoned on 25 March 1905 on the charge of bigamy. Agnes pleaded guilty to the offence at Edinburgh on 6 April, and on her behalf a solicitor told her side of the story. Taking into consideration that she had been so ill-treated, the Judge was lenient and sentenced Agnes to thirty days in prison. The sentence was to start from the first date of imprisonment, 25 March 1905. After prison, Agnes reunited with Michael Boyle and raised a family together in Wemyss, Fife. 

Fifteen years later, the bigamy scandal was resurrected when Robert McCord started the proceedings to divorce Agnes on the grounds of infidelity, after years of estrangement, as he was in a relationship and wished to marry again. The divorce was granted on 6 July 1920, and Robert remarried ten days later.

Not even two years later Agnes died at her home on 30 January 1922. She was only forty-years-old, and died of pulmonary tuberculosis. Her second 'husband' Michael Boyle had died years before.

Looking for Lizzie

Last April I wrote a blog post on the life of my 3x great-grandmother, Jane or Jean Duffy. On 5 March 1858, when Jean was around 20 years of age, she gave birth out of wedlock to Elizabeth White. Elizabeth's father was reputed to be named Peter White, a ship carpenter. In my original post, I presumed that Elizabeth had died in infancy, as I could not find a later record of her. I can now admit that my presumption was wrong and I have uncovered her story. 

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Elizabeth White was born on 5 March 1858 at Netherton Colliery, New Kilpatrick. Her father was recorded as Peter White, a ship carpenter who was not present at the registration of her birth. Elizabeth's mother Jean was working at a paper mill at the time. 

Elizabeth's birth entry.

Elizabeth was later baptised on 27 March, although her birthdate was given as the 26 February, which is obviously a mistake on the priest's part. Elizabeth's only godparent, or sponsor, was a woman named Mary Callaghan. 

Jean Duffy married my 3x great-grandfather, Bernard Carroll, on 6 July 1860 at Rutherglen, and so Elizabeth became a step-sister to Bernard's children from his first marriage. Although her mother went to live at Rutherglen, Elizabeth stayed behind in New Kilpatrick and lived with her uncle William Duffy. 

Little is known about Elizabeth's childhood, but by 1871 she was back living with her mother, step-father and siblings. She later worked in a cotton mill.

On 20 December 1877, Elizabeth married a coal miner named John Duffy at St Bridget's Catholic Church, Baillieston. Although John shared his surname with Elizabeth's mother, it is believed that they were not related. There are a few lies on the marriage entry, but they are fairly typical of an illegitimate child. 

Her father was recorded as William White, rather than Peter, who was a coal miner. Her mother Jean Carroll was reported as Jane White, formerly Duffy. It was quite common back then for illegitimate children to make up a history of themselves, inventing a father to name on the marriage certificate. Elizabeth must have told the priest that her parents were married. One of the witnesses to the union was Bernard Carroll, either her step-father or step-brother.

Soon after marrying, Elizabeth and John moved to Blantyre, a mining town not very far away. Here Elizabeth gave birth to the couple's first child in November 1879. They had a baby girl and named her Agnes. I can only assume that their baby was named after my 2x great-grandmother, Agnes Carroll. 

From Blantyre the Duffys moved to Larkhall, where they had their second child John, born in February 1881. Shortly after the family moved to the United States where they had two more children, Patrick and Robert. 

Back in Larkhall, Elizabeth's half-sister, and my 2x great-grandmother, Agnes gave birth to a baby boy in March 1894. The baby was named John Duffy Leslie in honour of his uncle-in-law. Baby John sadly died in December of the same year of pneumonia. 

The Duffy family were back in Larkhall by September 1896 when Elizabeth gave birth to the couple's fifth child, Peter, followed by their sixth, Joseph, in September 1898. In the mid-1900s the family moved to the Kirkcaldy area of Fife, where they remained for many years. 

Elizabeth White Duffy died on 3 May 1927 at Denbeath, Wemyss, Fife. She died of chronic cholecystitis, a sudden inflammation of the gallbladder. On her death certificate her mother was recorded as Jane White, formerly Duffy, so perhaps the family believed this to be true. Her father was noted as Peter White, a ship wright. 

Elizabeth's death entry.

Edward's Curse

The Leslie family were another of my families who fled Ireland to escape the potato famine, arriving in Glasgow in the early 1850s. They were three brothers and a sister; Edward along with his wife and children, Patrick (sometimes known as Peter), Margaret and James. 

Civil registration only came about in Scotland in 1855. Patrick had already married a woman named Margaret Galligan in 1853, and James married Ellen Mellon in 1855. 

On the three brothers' death certificates their father was listed as Edward Leslie (1), a labourer. On Peter and James' deaths their mother is listed as Catherine Brady. However on their brother Edward's (2) death certificate his mother is recorded as Mary Docherty. It is unknown whether Edward Leslie (1) was really married twice, or simply whether the informant of Edward's (2) death was mistaken. 

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In late 1855, Edward (2) and his wife Bridget Leckie welcomed a son into the world. The couple already had three children who had all been born in Ireland. They named their new baby Edward (3), obviously after his father and grandfather. 

Sadly in February 1856, aged only three months, baby Edward (3) died of diarrhoea. Incredibly tragic, this is only a small reflection of how high the infant mortality was at the time. Edward Leslie (2) died in 1886 at the age of 66.

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Peter and Margaret Leslie had three children; Catherine, John and Charles. Unfortunately Catherine died aged only 21 of phthisis, or tuberculosis. 

In 1884 Charles married Agnes Carroll and together they had seven children. Their first child was a son named Patrick. In 1907 he married Margaret Wood at Larkhall. Together Patrick and Margaret had many children including one son named Edward. In the late spring of 1915, little Edward grew ill. Sadly he died of diphtheria only just 1 year old.

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Charles and Agnes' second son was named Edward. In 1910, aged 20 he married Catherine McTaggart in the local Roman Catholic church at Larkhall. Only three months into the marriage, Edward was taken to the Royal Infirmary Glasgow as he was suffering with an abscess in the appendix. There he died on 8 March 1911. 

When Catherine married Edward she was already heavily pregnant. Only one month after Edward's death, Catherine gave birth to a little girl and in honour of the baby's late father, she was named Edwardina. However, tragedy struck yet again and aged only three weeks old, baby Edwardina died of congestion of the lungs. Only 19 years of age, Catherine had lost her husband and infant daughter.

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Charles and Agnes' penultimate son was also named Charles. He married Jane McComb McLean in 1920. From Larkhall he moved to Buckhaven, Fife with his young family. On a return visit to Larkhall, their youngest son fell ill. His name was Edward Carroll Leslie. Aged 11 months, Edward died of acute broncho pneumonia.

The Edward Leslies who died young,
spanning the generations
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AncestryDNA - Part 3

Amazingly, there was no 6-8 weeks wait. 

My DNA testing kit arrived on 26 June 2015. I took the test almost immediately and sent it off the same day. 

My progress bar updated to 'Arrived' on 3 July, and on the 6 July updated to 'Processing'.

Now today, 15 July 2015 I received the results of my DNA test! 

The Ethnicity Breakdown

I am most definitely not an expert in DNA or genetics, but after mulling over taking the test for quite a while I did have to do some research - a kind which I wasn't used to. 

My results are as follows:

I am 100% European - no surprises there at all. I knew for a fact I had no foreign blood in my more recent ancestry. By foreign, I mean not from the UK or Ireland. Knowing the general history of Great Britain with countless immigrants from all corners of the globe coming here over the generations, I did know that I couldn't be 'just' British or Irish.

My ethnicity was then broken down further.

I am 63% British. In comparison, my result is actually 3% higher than the average native person.

I am 19% Irish. In truth I did expect this result to be higher, purely because of my own family research. Due to the nature of the test I think a lot of my British result is actually Irish, because of the migration to and from each place. The average Ireland native is 95%.

I am 10% Scandinavian. I did actually expect this result. Living in the North East of England and knowing my family have lived here for centuries, and also knowing the history of the area. In particular the invasion of the Vikings on this coast. Not a surprise for me at all. The typical native of what is deemed to be Scandinavia is 48%.

I am 5% Western European. This is primarily Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The average native is 48%. This is not really a surprise for me either, purely down to geography and migration over the generations. 

The next percentages are my Trace Regions, where I literally only have "a trace amount of genetic ethnicity". Due to the estimated amount and range of the Trace Regions, it is entirely possible that these results appear by chance and are not actually part of my genetic make-up. 

I am 2% Iberian. This is DNA from the Iberian Peninsula which is primarily Spain and Portugal. The typical native is 51%. 

I am 1% Finnish/Northwest Russian. In comparison, the typical native of this area is 99%.

DNA Matches

This is the part I was most excited for when I decided to take the test. I currently have 21 DNA matches under 'Fourth Cousin'. I also share Ancestry Tree Hints with one of these, so I know exactly how I am related to them. This Ancestry User is descended from Bernard Carroll and Jane Duffy, my 3x Great Grandparents. These matches all have confidence levels of Extremely High in relation to being a cousin of mine. 

Unfortunately the majority of these matches do not have a family tree linked to their profiles. They might've just wanted to see their ethnicity breakdown and are not actually researching their family. 

All my other DNA matches are listed as 'Distant'. They are mostly all probably 5th to 8th cousins of mine. There is one of these with a shared Ancestry Tree Hint, so I am also able to confirm that they are cousins of mine through Samuel Dykes and Marion Findlay, my 5x Great Grandparents.

I have quite a lot of these distant cousins to check out, as I have 52 pages of DNA matches! 

Conclusion
Do I think that the AncestryDNA test is worth it? Yes I do. I think the genetic side of things is very interesting, and well worth researching.

I am also very excited to see my DNA matches increase as more and more people take the test. 

Mrs Carroll's Lodger

Jane Duffy was born in around 1838 somewhere in Ireland to Patrick Duffy, a labourer and Margery Harkins his wife. Jane was my 3x Great Grandmother. It is thought that she was the youngest of seven children, and her siblings were James, Rose Ann, Hugh, Patrick, Edward and William.

The Duffy siblings migrated to New Kilpatrick, Dunbartonshire, Scotland shortly after 1851, and their parents were already deceased, having died in Ireland. Patrick Duffy, Junior however, went to Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 

In 1857, Jane was a witness to her sister Rose Ann's marriage to Patrick Tonner.

Jane's name, written as a witness
to her sister's marriage.

On 5 March 1858 Jane, who also went by Jean, gave birth out of wedlock. The baby girl was named Elizabeth and her father was said to be Peter White, a ship carpenter. Jane was stated to be working in a paper mill. It is unknown what happened to Elizabeth, but it is presumed that she died young.

An extract from Elizabeth White's birth certificate.

Two years later, Jane Duffy married Bernard Carroll on 6 July 1860 at St Columbkille's Roman Catholic Church, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire. Bernard was said to be aged thirty-four, whereas Jane was twenty-two. Bernard had been widowed the year previously, and had three surviving children. The youngest, Bernard Junior was only four years old. The eldest were William and Ann, who were only around eight and ten years younger than their new stepmother, Jane. 

Bernard and Jane's marriage record.

There have been a total of nine children found for the couple; Agnes, Patrick, Agnes, Margaret, Hugh and Margaret (twins), Marjory, Edward and Robert. Sadly, not many of their children lived to see adulthood.

Bernard Carroll died on 5 March 1887 at Bothwell, and was buried two days later at St Peter's Cemetery, Dalbeth, Glasgow in common ground. He had died of phthisis, or tuberculosis which had ailed him for about one year. Bernard was around fifty-six years old.

An extract from Bernard's death certificate.

In the years following Bernard's death, Jane lived with her two youngest sons and opened up their house for lodgers for some extra income. One lodger was Patrick Ferns or Fearon, an Irishman, who Jane went on to marry in August 1891. They married at St Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Shettleston.

An extract from Jane's second marriage certificate.

Jane Duffy died on 7 December 1908 at Tollcross, and was buried two days later at St Peter's Cemetery, Dalbeth. Like her first husband, Jane was buried in common ground. Jane had died of chronic bronchitis, which she had suffered from for over two years. 

An extract from Jane's death certificate.

St Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day truly is a day I reflect on my Irish heritage. I think of those in my family who were forced to migrate to England and Scotland to escape the potato famine, and simply to live.

There are quite a few Patricks in my family, and fortunately I am able to trace the name through to Scotland and all the way back to Ireland.

A pedigree of the Patricks in my family.
Spanning the generations.

The first Patrick I have in my family is Patrick Duffy, my 4x Great Grandfather. I don't know much about him at all, and his name only appears on the marriage and death certificates of his children. His wife's name, Margery Harkins appears on the certificates also. Six of their children went from Ireland to the area of New Kilpatrick in Dunbartonshire, Scotland in the late 1840s. One son, Patrick actually went to Massachusetts, USA.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit!

'Til Death Us Do Part - A Family Coincidence

On the 12 June 1884 at St. Bridget's Catholic Church, Baillieston, Lanarkshire, Scotland my 2x Great Grandparents, Charles Leslie and Agnes Carroll were married. Together they had seven children, and came to reside in the mining town of Larkhall.

Charles and Agnes' marriage

Two decades after having their last child, Charles became seriously ill. Eventually he died of liver and stomach cancer, on the 12 June 1921 - his 37th wedding anniversary. He was buried in the local cemetery at Larkhall.

The Leslie family moved around shortly after, but eventually settled in the mining village of Twechar near Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire. By this time Agnes was aged and frail and it was not long until she moved to a St Joseph's House, Glasgow, a home for the poor and elderly. There Agnes died of a cerebral haemorrhage, or stroke on the 12 June 1943 - 59 years to the day that she married Charles. 

Agnes was also buried at Larkhall, in the same lair as Charles. As is common with poor families, the two do not have a headstone. 

The Leslie family plots at Larkhall Cemetery. Taken April 2014.