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« on: Sunday 27 August 06 14:14 BST (UK) »
Hi Claudia,I thought I would give you an update on my search for Catherine & Louisa.
I am by no means at the bottom of it yet but progress has been substantial.
I have a 2nd.cousin whom I have never met,(I am 65 now)my 2nd.cousin is the grandson of Catherine.It took me months to trace him and he was amazed at my question.
It seems he has 3 sisters and they all know of Catherine as Catherine Boyd,this has caused much dissent in their family because many years ago my cousin had been told either by his mother or by Catherine herself,he wasn't sure who,that Catherine had been born Catherine Boyle,not Boyd,the 3 sisters were not aware of this and would not have it.
Armed with this new information I searched the birth indexes for the girls and found them very easily.Their parents,my gt.grandparents were James Boyle & Mary (nee Doran).I can find no marriage cert.for the couple so it appears they were not married.James Boyle was born in Ireland in 1841 (no county,town,or parish is mentioned) Mary had been married previously to a John Whitehead,and they had a daughter named Mary J Whitehead.James Boyle and Mary also had another daughter named Mary who was born in 1877,I was completely unaware of her existence. At this time that is as far as I have got,but I still have no explanation for James Boyd or as to why the girls took his name on their marriages rather than their own father's name.
Sorry to be so long winded but I thought you deserved a detailed run down since you were right with your theory.
Best wishes
Abbeyfield