Susan Mary SMYTH(E)

[sheilat]

Yes, I have most of the Connell information and the data from the Navan cemetery. Including eight kids for Susan Mary. It's her background that has been rather elusive. Her age and her father's name seem pretty certain, from the church entry in Adelaide. I wish they'd seen fit to tell us her mother's name as well! That could have narrowed down which Bernard was her dad.
Oh, well. On with the hunt. Thank you all for your help.
SheilaT

[tropicalj]

Were all  the children born in South Australia?

If you  list  their names and birth years that will  help  if  other researchers in  the same family  line see your  postings.

Jenn

[sheilat]

I hope these help someone: I have these children of Susan Mary Smythe and James Connell: John, 1859; Owen (Eugene), 1861 (m. Ellen Little); Anne, 1863 (m. Terry Murphy); James Francis, 1866 (m. Annie McManus); Patrick, 1868?; Mary Teresa, 1872 (m. Michael James Meaney); Francie, 1873; Joseph Stephen, 1878 (m. Mary Josephine Sherlock); all born in South Australia.
Any further information and/or confirmations would be most welcome.
SheilaT

[krisesjoint]

I note Sashar was looking at a possible connection here also. Wondering if she has progressed at all. I have alerted her to this thread. Hopefully she will join us here.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,241338.0.html

Cheers Kris 

[SASHAR]

SMITH Terence 22 status not recorded father Bernard SMITH = CONNOR Cecily 22 status not recorded father Peter CONNOR 22 Aug 1856 Penrice Dist Kap 27/211

I'm a descendant of the above couple.   I tried to unscramble this years ago and could only come up with the possibility that Terence and Susan could have been siblings.   Some early records have SMYTH as the surname but it soon changed to SMITH.

I also eliminated the Bernard & Margaret SMYTH (nee Slattery) being related to Terence.

I'll go back to my notes but I don't think I ever found anything concrete to link Terence and Susan other than the fact they both had a father named Bernard, were a similar age and originally spelt their surname SMYTH.

I'll get back once I've checked my notes.
Regards,
Sashar

[SASHAR]

Sorry I can't shed any further light on Susan Smyth 

I have no proof my SMYTH/SMITH's were Irish but Terence certainly married an Irish girl and they were of Catholic religion.   Terence's children b. 1857-1861 Truro Sth Australia if that's of any help.

Sheila - where did you get your info from that told you Susan & her father Bernard were born in Cavan?    Could that mention other siblings?

Kind regards,
Sashar

[sheilat]

Sashar -- I'm afraid I have no further information on Bernard Smyth. Someone in an earlier generation had mentioned Cavan, so I quickly noted it. It seemed to be commonly understood in my son-in-law's family, but there was no proof. No mother's name. No siblings for Susan.
It's strange that Susan and her husband didn't name the second son Bernard, but called  him Owen -- and he was known as Eugene! I've tried to draw some conclusions from the names of their other children, but haven't come up with any ideas.
SheilaT

[SASHAR]

Hi Sheila,
The name Bernard was used by Terence in the naming of his last son.
Other children were Peter(that would be after Terence's father in law), James Edward, Thomas Stuart & Terence.
Terence (the father) died in 1866 when he was 31yrs old and his wife Cecily never remarried.   Would love to know how she managed with 5 small children to raise on her own.   Cecily (nee Connor) came to Australia on her own and I've yet to find any other relatives for her here in Australia.
Terence & Cecily's eldest 2 sons married in Melbourne when they were around 30yrs of age and the youngest son Bernard although marrying in SA had his children all born in Vic as well.   The eldest son married a girl born in Clare, Ireland (maybe she lived Vic), the second son married a girl born and lived Vic.
The youngest may have moved to be closer to his brothers.
That sort of elimanates a Vic connection on the SMYTH side but I guess it is still a possibility.
Following generations certainly kept the names Terence, Cecily and Connor as family names.   Maybe Bernard wasn't very nice and nobody wanted to hand the name down 

Thanks for getting back to me, I have a feeling this may all remain a mystery.
Kind regards,
Sashar

[sheilat]

Well, Cavan begins to seem quite likely a place of origin for these people, anyway! I've just come across several websites that reproduce an 1821 census for Cavan. I didn't spot any households with Bernard and Susan Mary, of course,  BUT I did find several Bernard Smyths, and a Susanagh Smyth (though this would be too early for Susan Mary herself).

Another entry says a school was at one site, operated by an Owen Smyth. This intrigues me because Susan Mary Smyth named her second son Owen, which didn't seem to be all that common a name in the family in Australia.
 
Maybe I'm grasping at straws now!

Sheila