Wakefield - Ireland/New Jersey/Toronto

[fruitytooty]

Lisa,
I reread the threads again for the Wakefields. And I went back into the Wakefield Memorial page 250 and looked at that information again concerning Edward Wakefield, a shoemaker-and yes I have some Wakefield ancestors that were shoemakers! The memorial says Edward, the father of Jane resided in Ballinasloe until he immigrated to America in 1839. Edwards father is supposingly David Wakefield-a different generation than my David Wakefield. I do not know if you have contacted Mayflower1951-she has a thread Wakefields-that concerns Edwards sister Sarah. And we ran across each other because the information for Edwards father David Wakefield "born on the family estate, on the road between Aughrim and Ballinasloe, Galway county, Connaught, Ireland" matches up with my David Wakefield without the dates! And there is a Wakefield Village. You should contact her about your connection. From the reserch I have done-and I have found very little in records-but the that family site I referred you to had pictures of the area and references to a Wakefield Village-where my Wakefields seem to be from. I do not know how to go about checking the records for David Wakefield's brothers or his uncles listed in the Wakefield Memorial but I believe it is possible for a book written in 1898 not to have all the children correct. The records just do not seem to be there for the 1750's-18030's. I would think yours would be easier. If this family would be of Scandinavian roots I would say that all the Wakefields just took the Village name as their surname. But I assume in Ireland they really had surnames in 1600 & 1700's?Good luck-fruitytooty

[Lisa in California]

Hi fruitytooty:

Thank you for trying to help with my Wakefields.  After reading your Wakefield thread, I talked to my mum.  She remembers looking through the Ovens family bible when she was young.  She remembers seeing Tuam in the bible (she apparently asked family members about the town), which is strange, because the Ovens were not from Galway and I believe John Ovens met Jane Wakefield in New Jersey.  Either Tuam was referenced after Jane Wakefield Ovens' death, or perhaps it was written down after she married John Ovens.

I started researching when I was in college (and stopped and started many times throughout the decades).  I was interested in finding out about my surname, and I wanted to learn more about John Ovens.  It would be wonderful if someday I could learn more about Jane Wakefield's family.

Regarding your Wakefield ancestors who were shoemakers...one of my Sullivan ancestors was a shoemaker, so it could have been a somewhat common occupation at that time?  Do you know when your Wakefields were shoemakers?

I have not been in contact with Mayflower1951 and will contact her when I return home after an errand.  Thank you for mentioning her.

I looked through one of the sites you referenced on your thread - it was very fascinating!  As I mentioned in your thread, I look forward to reading more about your Wakefields and will try to help with your thread.  Thank you for your help, fruitytooty.

[fruitytooty]

I have did a couple more replies on my post on the Wakefields in the Galway forum-I do not know if you are notified when replies are for that site. the 2nd post today includes information from the Wakefield Memorial and info from books concerning the early Wakefields-emigrant and military chieftian John Wakefield and his son Dr. Albert Wakefield. I am pretty sure these are your relatives. In the 2nd post you will see a reference to David B. Pilch from the Wakefield Memorial page 214. You should know that he is the son of Edward Wakefield's sister Sarah, both children of David Wakefield. Sarah Wakefield married David Pilch and they had a son David B. Pilch. He is listed as an ancestor of Dr. Albert Wakefield. I believe there is a link missing between Albert and Robert's children. Or the son of Robert who stayed in Ireland-one of his children had a son named David and this is your DAvid. I quote directly from the Wakefield Memorial. fruitytooty

[Lisa in California]

Hi fruitytooty:

Thank you for continuing the Wakefield search and for notifying me.  I believe due to problems on my end (I always seem to have computer problems), I do not receive every notification of replies.  I did (just) read the latest entries on your post and it is quite interesting!  Thank you for letting me know about the recent postings.

[fruitytooty]

Whether of not these records relate to your Wakefield branch, or Mayflower1951 and her Sarah Wakefield sister of Edward Wakefield both children of David Wakefield- I do not know. A reply concerning familysearch made me remember these records but I found them on a different site. Your David Wakefield was born probably around 1780? And he did not emigrate to America. Available at familysearch Ireland Tithe Appt Books-1824-David Wakefield, Townland Curragh and Barnacragh Parish Kilcloony County Galway. Also there is a Probate record for a David Wakefield-1862-Volume Date Jul-Dec 1862 County Galway.
I am interested in the records for Townland Urraghy (recent visit to Ireland the current Wakefields live Urraghy and their is a church there that supposingly my Wakefield branch attended)Parish Clontuskert County Galway 1823. There are listed 4 Wakefields and I do not know why others come up with the same names differing places! And it depends on which one you look at but it is possible that this family is that of Andrew Wakefield, uncle to my David Wakefield. Andrew remained in Ireland on the family estate and he was married to Margaret Reddick. He had sons John and Daniel. Depending on which one you look at one of the records looks like John. Andrew may of have more children than what is in the Wakefield Memorial-info is from the American branches-none was rec'd from the Irish branches and as I have stated this may be where your David stems from-Andrew or one of his children.fruitytooty

[fruitytooty]

http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.wakefield/821/mb.ashx I forgot to include this in prior post. This thread concerns the family listings and Griffiths Valuation-a gentlemen looking for the Wakefields listed and explains why and his connection. He also states trying to fill in the gap from Dr. Albert Wakefield. I too am working with a few to solve this but not on rootschat.fruitytooty

[fruitytooty]

In reply to Michael's question from a previous thread...Michael, I found a copy of Wakefield Memorial...compiled by Homer Wakefield, M.D., 1897.  Paraphrasing from the book:

Edward Wakefield was the son of David Wakefield.  Edward was born on the Wakefield family estate, which was on the road between Aughrim and Ballinasloe.  Edward was a shoemaker.  He lived in Ballinasloe until 1839.  The paragraph describes a bit about his later life.  Edward, according to the book, had a sister named Sarah.

From the dates you list above and utilizing the info from Nebeker Family History and the location of the Wakefield Village-the description for the Wakefield Family Estate is the same as the description for my David Wakefield on page 217-and Urraghy is where the current owners of this estate list as the residence-pictures in the Nebeker Family History-from http://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VX53-KL8 lists Tithe Appt Book record 1824 for a David Wakefield is it possible that this is the father of Edward and Sarah Wakefield-he did not emigrate to America so he must be in Ireland and the date may actually work for your David. There is also records for Lands of Urraghy, Parish Clontuskert, County Galway 1823 tithe Appt Record-do you think any of those listed are related to your David? I did go ahead and do a possible Irish Line Tree for Charles Wakefield b 1781 Urraghry, Clontuskert parish, near Aughrim, County Galway, Ireland. William Wakefield b 1791 d 1 Mar 1867. I will not list all the family I have listed for them but they are on the Griffiths Valuation 1855 Urraghry and I feel they may have ancestors that are possible children stemming from John Wakefield, Robert Wakefield, or even Albert Wakefield-my branch where your branch may not be listed. Let me know what you think about the Tithe appt record. fruitytooty

[Kovens]

To Lisa in California,

My name is Kyle S. Ovens, I am an armature genealogist who has been researching the Ovens surname for many years now. I have traced my particular branch of the family from the USA to Ireland where they began to appear sometime between 1670 and 1695. Prior to being in Ireland the family had a presence in both Lowland Scotland (mostly Midlothian) as well as parts of South western & central England.

In one of your posts you mentioned "I talked to my mum, She remembers looking through the Ovens family bible when she was young." I would be extremely interested in any information you could share about your particular branch of the Ovens family and especially any info you might have on the whereabouts of the family Bible you mentioned.

My goal is to collect as much information about the Ovens surname as is possible in one place; www.ovensfamily.net I also have both a Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/557422481015699/) and page for the Ovens surname as well as 2 Ovens trees on Ancestry.com.
In addition to this I have access to multiple Ovens DNA results and have had the Big Y test conducted on myself to trace the origins of the male line back as far as possible. When funds permit I plan to subsidize the testing of Ovens from other branches of the family. I would be happy to share any information you might be interested in. As you can see I am more then a little interested in researching Ovens and linked surnames.

I look forward to your reply,
Kyle S. Ovens

[Lisa in California]

Hi Kyle:

Thank you for notifying me.     I believe we have communicated in the past; your name seems very familiar.

Unfortunately, it appears that the family bible is now lost.  When my great-uncle passed away, one of his nieces took the bible.  During the 1980's, I contacted her several times asking for information from the bible; each time she would reply that she would get back to me.  While she was a very nice lady, she never got around to letting me know what was included in the bible.

A few years ago, I "found" her son - unfortunately, he does not know what happened to the bible.  He seemed disappointed as I believe he also was researching our Ovens ancestors.

My mum was told by her family that our Ovens ancestors "originated" in Holland.  Supposedly, they "came over" with William of Orange and their name at that time was Van Oyen.  My research stops with "my" John Ovens, born c1809 c1811, (possibly Co. Fermanagh) Ireland, who was possibly the son of William Ovens and Elizabeth Stinson ("their" John Ovens was baptised in Corclune/Corcloon, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland in 1811).

Coincidentally, last night I started a thread on RootsChat about DNA testing, inquiring about the "best" test for my mum to have done.  She would like to have the test done as soon as possible.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=752112.new#new

We believe there is a connection with our John Ovens and Major John Ovens and Captain John Ovens, but it has not yet been proven.  My mum's great-aunt researched our Ovens and we don't believe she ever mentioned our Ovens ancestors/family living in Scotland nor England.

I will contact you later today (or before the end of the weekend).  I welcome your feedback on DNA testing (link mentioned above).  Thank you again for contacting me.  Lisa