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Hi
This is amazing - I'm really impressed that you've gone back further than we've ever managed to do with the Heaffey's in Ireland. We really had given up! Would love to get in touch via Facebook but not sure how we can do it as sure they won't let us swap too much information on this site, so try googling Facebook and Creakey crafts as I do craft fairs etc under that name that might get you to my Facebook site. Other than that a clue to your Facebook page would help me find you. I was born on 12 December in Hammersmith, but I don't live in London now. Did you manage to look at the Woodburn family tree on ancestry? The tree isn't called  the heaffey family tree as my sister set it up and she decided to use my name
Ps I'm a bit of a novice as regards Facebook as I've resisted it until a couple of months ago when I succumbed as I felt it might help me promote my crafts! 
Good luck with the Facebook search.
Diane W

John William, Jack and Catherine's father, was my great grandfather. Jack  was his youngest child and Jack's second son Arthur was my father. Jack died when my father was a young child, and my grandmother Jack's wife Alice married again. I don't think my father knew much about his father's family and my grandmother Alice didn't like people knowing she had been married before! I was also born in December 1950 so we are cousins of some sort but no good at calculating second, third, removed etc. if you look at the Woodburn family tree on ancestry that might help you, I think my sister has made it a public tree so you should be able to view it.
I can't really tell you much more about John William and his wife Catherine that hasn't already been said on this site.  He isn't always consistent about where he was born ie Ireland/London. Catherine always says she was born in Nova Scotia but I've never been able to trace her birth there, but I think that's probably because I don't know where to look. I think she's likely to have Irish ancestry, or even maybe Scottish. The name Harper certainly appears in both countries. Once married they then travelled with the army to many parts of the world, the West Indies first, where a couple of the eldest children were born. It's the Irish Ancestry that's so difficult to trace. I think Mallow, Doneraile and  Castlepooke are all significant and if you Google Heaffey and Castlepooke in 1833 you should be able to read about the murders and trial. It's very interesting I don't know if they are direct ancestors of ours but I do think we are related to them. Heaffey is not a popular name in Cork where currently they seem to be know as the Cork Mafia! When we went there so taxi driver told us he wouldn't have picked us up if he had known that was our name! He was serious!
I really don't hold much hope of tracing the family back before the marriage of Catherine and John William in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but new records are added all the time so who knows maybe one day. Good luck and thanks for the information.

Di

Ps on Norah's workhouse records there were 2 children mentioned will have to look again but I think they had different names from the 3 you mentioned. I've also found Catherine's death record.

Hi
A couple of weeks ago I came across a workhouse record for Norah and 2 children so made the connection with her being an illegitimate child of Catherine's, who I think was already dead, but you might be able to confirm this. The only other thing I can really add to all these posts is that I have begun to wonder if a David Heaffey born about 1823 is related in some way as the dates seem to tie together and also he lived in Westminster. I don't think it's his father as he's another William John! I got this from the Canadian marriage certificate. The spelling of David Heaffey has also been corrected on one census by someone and on another it's spelt Hayfie. It's all a bit of a nightmare really.  It would be lovely if we could get back further but not hopeful.  We've got so many strands of other parts of our family history that links us to Ireland especially Cork and we just get stuck.  I will keep you all posted but don't  hold your breaths!!!  Di

Hi I think we had all but given up on the Heaffey's. I can't say that Albert was one of those we did much research on as we are more interested in Jack who is our grandfather. However, my sister has all the records so she's going to see what she has and I'll get back to you.

If you have any further info re Jack and Albert's parents we would be very interested because we couldn't even find their births. Too much travelling around and nearly all their sons died young, including our grandfather Jack.

Certainly have never  come across O'Heaffey as a possibility before. JW I know was in the ASC which is the army service corp as were some of his sons. I don't know if this was linked in anyway to an Irish Regiment. As for the Castlepooke if you just google Castlepooke murders you'll get lots of information. When we read about it in newspapers of the time there was some suggestion that the wrong people had been hung - but who knows. We had a lot of negative response to the name in Cork as currently the family seem to be the local mafia! Although they spell it Heaphy. One taxi driver said he wouldn't have picked us up with that name and he wasn't joking! I think that like you my family had very little information about previous generations  my father was only 6 when his father died and his mother then remarried. I also don't think you will get very far with JW's wife Catherine Harper as she says she was born in Nova Scotia - I have tried. You can see the marriage certificate on line, it says how in previous correspondence. I'll keep you up to date on any developments but this maybe the end of the line. Di