Hi to possible relatives!
I've been so busy for so long I'd even forgotten I'd already registered on this site.
One of the things I've done is to move to Northern Ireland.
My mother's family (Bamford) come from Fermanagh, but I have not yet been able to trace my grandfather, James Presley McVitty's origins. He could have been from Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan or Tyrone.
The spicy family story is that he was a commercial traveller, aged 29, and my grandmother a girl of 18, when they went off to Dublin to get married by special licence. I suspect her parents were not happy about the relationship. My grandfather did become a most respected businessman, with a very profitable business in Scotch Street, Armagh, so maybe they came to terms with it.
There they lived in a house called Woodford. This was after 1912.
They were living in Clones, in a house called Greenbank, when most, if not all, of the children were born: Gerald Sidney, Dorothy Lillian, William James Denis, Laura Presley (my mother), and James. All are now deceased - hardly surprising when you think that my mother, the second youngest, was born in 1908.
I had also heard, Carol, that McVitty derives from Beattie, and interestingly enough, my mother used to talk about cousins with the surname Beattie.
At least two of my great-uncles moved to Ontario, possibly three: Reverend S.R. McVitty (the S could be for Samuel) seems to have arrived on the Virginian in 1908, and was principal of the Mount Elgin school at Muncie, Ontario for many years. In his death record I see a name for his "brother", another Reverend: William McVitty. This is the one I know nothing about. The third was William Bamford, who worked on the farm at Mount Elgin for a while before branching out on his own.
I have become very intrigued by the McVittys, as they are so difficult to find. I'm quite surprised I haven't found more about my grandfather, as he was a justice of the peace as well, and even today is remembered by people in Armagh. He died during the war - I don't have the date to hand.
If any of these names ring a bell, particularly Canadian connections, I would love to hear from you. My son now lives in Ontario, but I have not had a chance to visit since I found out about great-uncle S.R. or the two Williams, for that matter. I do have more names, but I yakked enough for now.
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