RootsChat.Com

Some Special Interests => Occupation Interests => Topic started by: janglover on Monday 26 July 10 21:21 BST (UK)

Title: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Monday 26 July 10 21:21 BST (UK)
Hi Everyone,
Just looking for some advice please. I have traced my ancestors to 1830s in Co. Kerry and have hit the proverbial brick wall. I have exhausted all church records. My family's name is Glover and there was a group of them living in Killeentierna in the early 1830s. They were all stonemasons and with a name like Glover, it is unlikely they were originally from Kerry. I am trying to find out where they came from before that. A local historian told me that they came from Northern Ireland to build churches. Does anyone have any idea if a register of stonemasons exists or is it possible to look up any Northern Ireland or UK census returns prior to 1830 to see if they were living somewhere else at that stage. Any suggestions/ideas would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: Bilge on Thursday 29 July 10 19:43 BST (UK)
Maybe this site can shed some light on your mystery:

http://www.unionancestors.co.uk/Stonemasons.htm
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: behindthefrogs on Thursday 29 July 10 22:58 BST (UK)
In 1830 the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland did not exist as a separate country.

You might find some information in the papers of the Masons' City Livery Company which are held in Guildhall Library in London.

David
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Saturday 31 July 10 18:55 BST (UK)
Thanks for the leads Bilge and David. I will check them both out and see if something turns up. Thanks again for your help
Jan
Title: Re: Stonemasons and Glovers
Post by: sharfoley on Thursday 12 August 10 00:20 BST (UK)
Hi there,
I was delighted to find your thread regarding Glovers in Kerry. My great-grandmother was Mary Glover (nee Manning) from Dingle and was the poet/artist. She wrote the song Dingle Bay apparently. She was married to William Glover, stone-mason and they resided in Dingle.
I too am trying to search back the Glover and Manning line. Getting confused as to who was William Glover's (b.@1876 in Kileentierna) father. Was it George or another William as tracking back getting a bit confused at this point.
What have you found regarding military links? As I am fascinated also as to where they originated from.
Best regards
Shar
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Thursday 12 August 10 12:05 BST (UK)
Hi there cousin !
William's parents were William and Gobnait (Brosnan) and they were married in Killeentierna in 1837. I have a copy of the register entry. My plan is to follow a lead to a Walter Glover from Castletownbere who may be William's (the older one)father. Unfortunately my lovely Mam died on Saturday so my head is all over the place. I was just checking my emails and noticed your post. I am going away for a couple of days and I will get back to you when I return. I have lots of information for you including a copy of Mary's poetry book. Where are you based ?
Kind regards
Jan
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: sharfoley on Thursday 12 August 10 22:11 BST (UK)
Hi Jan-Yes, we must be cousins!

I'm absolutely thrilled to hear any info you may have.Any info will be invaluable.
I remember my Grandmother mentioning a poetry book her mother had written.
I have never seen this book so would definitely love a copy.

I am based in the UK but travel over to Kerry regularly.

Still a bit confused about William Glover(my Great G.F) as he was born circa 1876.

I've tracked him in the 1901 census and he was boarding in Castle street, Tralee and aged 25.
His occupation is recorded as stonemason and his placeof birth is recorded as Kileentierna.

In the 1911 census he had moved to Dingle(presumably for work) and was boarding in Green Street,Dingle and my Great G.M Mary was also living in another address on Green Street.
His age is recorded as 35 and her age as 23.

As William and Gobnet married in 1837,I can't see how William could be there son!?

I'm thinking George Glover(son of William and Gobnet) and Agnes(O'Connor) could be his parents as they married in 1874.

Still researching but if you could shed any more light it would be fantastic and we can now work together towards a common goal!

I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum.

Shar






Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Thursday 12 August 10 22:54 BST (UK)
Hi Shar,
Don't panic, I replied to you earlier from work and did not have my Glover file. I have just checked and it turns out that William and Gobnait are George's parents. Their first child was William (my gg grandfather) born 1840, Catherine 1841,Peter 1844 and George 1853. As you have discovered George married Agnes Connor and they had William 1875 (your g grandfather) Catherine 1876, Peter 1879, James 1881, Ellen 1881, Margaret 1886, Dennis 1888 and finally John 1891. George and Agnes both died in Ranalough in 1927. I might have copies of their death certs.
When I started my search I thought that my ancestors might have wandered through Kerry looking for work but I was amazed to see them in 1830s. It is unusual to get to before the famine when researching in Ireland.  Our ancestors must have been made of strong stuff to survive the famine in such a remote area. Are you on GenesReunited, if you are I can send you a link to my tree. You can contact me on (*)  I  won't be back from Kerry until Tuesday so I will dig out some more stuff for you then.
Kind regards
Jan (based in Dublin)




(*) Moderator Comment: Personal details removed in accordance with RootsChat policy,
to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.

The Rootschat personal message system will be automatically activated
when a member has made two or three posts on the boards.
See Help-Page: http://www.rootschat.com/help/pms.php
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: djvg on Saturday 31 August 13 20:40 BST (UK)
Hello Jan.
My sister Maureen and her daughter have just been on a four day visit to Dingle.
They were hoping to track down more information about our ancestries, Our grandmother Mary Glover/William Glover lived there.
Your name popped up. (if it is you)
Our family had a hand written exercise book of drawings and poems written by our grandmother Mary.
As  a child I can remember an old photo of a cottage,  Apple cottage/ orchard cottage / apple tree cottage /?? where Mary and William lived.
do you know anything about this lead?
kind regards from Denmark
jack
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Sunday 01 September 13 13:34 BST (UK)
Hi Jack,
Great to hear from you, I can definitely give your some information on Mary and William. Is is Mary that you are related to ? William was my Great grandfather's cousin. He comes from a long line of stonemasons. He was born in Currow in May 1875, he married Mary Manning in 1913. Mary was born on 8 April 1888 at Green Street, Dingle. She died before William in Dingle on 26 June 1943. She was a poet and some of her work was published in a book called "Ancient Town of High Renown - Rhymes and Poems from Dingle Town and Peninsula" compiled by Tom Fox. The book was published by Holy Stone Publications, The Mall, Dingle,Kerry. I have a copy of her death cert which I can email to you.
My late Dad remembers visiting her when he was a young fella but I'm afraid I don't have any photos. If you want to pm me your email address I can send you an ancestry link to my tree.
Kind regards,
Jan
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: djvg on Monday 02 September 13 01:35 BST (UK)
Hello again Jan. First off , Thank you for your quick reply.
 William and Mary had four daughters, Nancy, Mary , Gertrude (Lynn) and Theresa. Mary lived in Castlegregory. Tess and my mum Lynn  (she did´nt like being called "gertrude") moved to the UK, Liverpool.I was the first child to be born out of Ireland in 1944.
Nancy stayed in Ireland (Dublin I think)
I was in Dingle in 1978. There I met a pub owner Tom ?. He remembers the girls.
Id love to find out more about that cottage. I seem to remember it very vividly.
My email add is djvg@icloud.com
Once again thanks a lot
Kind regards from Denmark
Jack

Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Thursday 05 September 13 16:16 BST (UK)
No problem Jack, keep an eye on your inbox as I have sent a couple of things to you.
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: sambassi on Thursday 19 September 13 14:44 BST (UK)
Hi!My name is Samantha and Mary and William were my greatgrandparents. Could you send me the link ti the family tree?How did you find out about Mary´s death date?

Thank you so much for all the info!
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Thursday 19 September 13 15:28 BST (UK)
Hi Samatha,
Nice to hear from a cousin ! I have been researching my Glover family for years and William is the son of my GG Grandparents. They were William Glover and Gobnait Brosnan who married in Killeentierna in 1837. Their son William is my G Grandfather and their son George is your William's Dad. Hope that all makes sense. I found Mary's death cert when I was searching the registers for Glovers. If you give me your email address I can send you a link to the Glover tree and a copy of the death cert. Mary was a poet and some of her work is published in a book that I got in Dingle. Great to heat from you and I hope I can fill in a few gaps for you. I'm not sure if you can post email addresses here but I'll give it a go anyway. My email is sully@esatclear.ie.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Jan
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: MoranD on Monday 30 September 13 22:47 BST (UK)
Hi Jan,
Having many stonemason ancestors myself I've spent considerable time trying to come up with a source of guild information. So far haven't found anything. I do know however that it was very usual for stonemasons to follow the work, whether that be building bridges during the development of the rail networks or whatever. As one poster said the UK included England, 32 county Ireland, Scotland and Wales equally and I know of some stonemason ancestors who worked freely among them. There must have been a guild to cover all. I'll keep you posted if I do discover an organisation.
Declan
Title: Re: Stonemasons
Post by: janglover on Monday 30 September 13 22:56 BST (UK)
Thanks a million for that Declan. It would definitely appear that my lot followed the work alright. From what I have discovered they were building churches in various parts of Kerry. I'd really appreciate you letting me know if you discover anything
Cheers !