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This name "Audley" seems to me to be peculiar to Co Tyrone, or to the Caldwell and Bestall families, which seem to have been strong in the area in the eighteenth and nineteenth Centuries, and earlier.

My grandfather, Hugh Alexander Campbell married Charlotte Elizabeth the daughter of an Audley Bestall, of Creduff House Tyrone, in 1881, and sister of the next Audley Bestall. Her  mother was Mary Jane Caldwell, first wife of Audley Bestall Snr.

I have a writing slope presented to my grandfather, a JP, at Xmas, 1902. Among the names of those who presented it, inscribed on a brass plate, is an Audley S Leary, as well as Jeanette Mc Cormick, Lottie Howe, and Audley Bestall.

Because of the Audley name, I wonder if the Leary Family is also in some way connected to the Bestalls and Caldwells ?

The Kingdom

Hi Jill,

This is much more complicated than I had ever imagined.

I have a fairly comprehensive Campbell lineage document, going back to the late Eighteenth Century, tracing the Descendants of John and Jannett Campbell, through their son Robert, who married Susanna McDowell of County Down about 1801. I will let you have a copy of this, in due course.

This traces the history of that line down to my Grandfather Hugh Alexander Campbell and beyond, and who who married Charlotte Elizabeth Bestall, sister of Audley William Bestall, both children of George Bestall, by his first wife, Mary Jane Caldwell.

I note that you are searching for George Bestall, and his remaining posterity, with his second wife, Mary P Campbell. Well, you may, or may not know that, from the Campbell records, she seems to have been an Aunt of my Grandfather, who married Charlotte Elizabeth.

Could it be that after Mary died, George was left with several children, and times were hard in Tyrone, so he took them to America, perhaps only for a while, and came back later. That would involve Liverpool and passenger lists. I have not checked any dates on this, so they may be away out, but my Uncle David Campbell did tell me once that his mother had been orphaned, and had been mainly raised in America.

Finally, I also have a writing box (an expensive looking one, handed down through the Campbell  line), which bears a brass presentation plate. It bears the inscripion:

Presented to Hugh Alexander Campbell, JP by
Audley Bestall               Jeanette Mc Cormick
Lottie Howe                  Audley S Leary
                          Xmas 1902

There is no clue as to which Audley Bestall this is, but perhaps the other names might provide a clue, as presumably they were his friends/relations, at the time.

I hope this moves things on, and I entirely agree that we should exchange E mail addresses.

Perhaps we can both ask the Moderator to do this.

Best Wishes,

Hugh

I hope that minimac is still there.

Charlotte Elizabeth Bestall married my Grandfather, Hugh Alexander Campbell from Ballynahinch, Co Down, and I am a direct descendent of them, and of course of Audley Bestall. Our family history is littered with Bestall and Caldwell names, and I have some Bestall heirlooms, as well as anecdotes from my parents, uncles and aunts.

I have been studying these postings for several days, and all of what I have been told seems to tie in or sensibly derive from them, except for one thing......... My Grandmother, Charlotte Elizabeth's birth date is given as 1880, and her marriage date as 1881. The marriage date in another family history is also 1881- so something wrong here!.

Perhaps we could join forces on this.

I am retired and living in South West Ireland