Hi everyone,
I know this has been marked as completed, but I've just made the discovery that my family is related to Nathaniel Walter Swan. His mother Elizabeth Greacen was the older sister of my 3xgt-grandmother Rachel C Greacen. Their father was Nathaniel Greacen, printer of Monaghan and Armagh (still working on their mother).
Rachel married Robert Black and they immigrated to New Zealand via Brisbane in the 1860s with their 7 children.
Blakely (or Bleckley) was the surname of Elizabeth's second husband Richard. He would have brought up James Swan's 4 children after James' unfortunate death in 1839. Richard was a witness at Rachel and Robert's wedding.
I haven't gotten much further back on the Greacen family. Current evidence suggests they were Quakers although John Blakely/Bleckly who presided over both Elizabeth and Rachel's weddings was doing so in a Presbyterian Church.
Would love to make contact with any of Nathaniel's descendants.
Thanks,
Sarah