Hi Skippy,
I too am looking for a Ford family from Co. Cork. My Great Grandfather, John Ford, was born in the Kinsale area of Co Cork, c. 1834. His father was called Daniel.
The family maintained that John and his parents lived in the same village as Henry Ford, but how true this is I have yet to find out.
The information on John came from the 1861 census for Stroud, Glos: He was living in Stroud, a Tailor by trade, along with his wife, Mary, who was born in Queenstown, Co. Cork. They had a 4 year old daughter, named Mary Ann, born 1857 in Newport, Wales.
Mary, the wife of John, died late in 1861 and John remarried in 1862. This marriage took place at The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Beeches Green, Stroud. The information on the marriage certificate gave the occupation of Daniel, John's father, as a Farmer, but he was deceased. I have no idea if Daniel ever came across to the UK.
John and his new wife, along with Mary Ann, moved to Trowbridge in Wiltshire, more children were born, Charlotte, Lily, John, and Percival, (my grandfather) Sadly, John Ford senior died 5 months before my grandfather was born. The family returned to Stroud, but after the 1871 census I lost trace of what happened to Mary Ann. I do know that she worked in the tailoring trade.
I found a photo of Henry Ford on the Internet and was surprised to see that his features were very similar to that of my Great Aunt Lily Ford. See attachments. This is probably a sheer coincidence!
I do not know whether John had siblings, but I should imagine he did.
Strangely, John's eldest son was named John Daniel Percival Ford, and my grandfather was called Percival John Daniel Ford, Maybe the reason for this was because John's widow was still in a state of distress due to the death of her husband and decided to give the baby the same names as her oldest son but changing them around a bit. Just a guess on my part!
Hope you find this useful,
Regards,
Jane.
