I would like to hear from anyone who has an opinion about what happened to Henry and Elizabeth CORDIAL’s son John, and whether in fact the evidence I have gathered is sufficient to link “my” John CORDIAL to this family.
I am descended from John CORDIAL who was born in abt 1828 and died in New Zealand in 1881. I will refer to him as John CORDIAL (NZ).
I would be very happy to attach John CORDIAL (NZ) to the Henry CORDIAL-Elizabeth FIELDING family tree but don’t want to do so if there is another John CORDIAL out there with a stronger claim.
Evidence which would suggest that John CORDIAL (NZ) is descended from Henry CORDIAL and Elizabeth FIELDING:
John’s only son, born in Australia in 1865, was named Henry Fielding CORDIAL. I think that this is very strong evidence, especially as there was a long history in John’s wife’s family of giving their children a maternal surname as a middle name.
John first appeared in Australia in 1855 which ties in with the time in which the CORDIAL family went “missing”.
John consistently gave his age/date of birth as being 1826-1831, with the period 1828 being the most common result. He died in 1881 aged 53.
John owned a “Patent Siccama Flute” which suggests that he came from a musical background.
Evidence that does not support this theory:
John CORDIAL (NZ) made various statements about his birth and place of origin. These include London, British and Britain. If researchers still haven’t traced John CORDIAL’s birth in Galway it might be worth looking in London, as Henry might have been posted there? Otherwise John might simply have decided to refer to himself as English. Or he could be of English birth, with other parents but I have not managed to find any families in London that he could belong to.
There were other John CORDIAL records around this time:
John CORDIAL married Barbara DAVIDSON in Quebec in 1847. There is a striking similarity in the signature of this John CORDIAL and John CORDIAL (NZ). Does anyone know more about John and Barbara CORDIAL in Canada?
John CORDIAL aged 19 emigrated from Ireland to USA in 1849 but he travelled with Simon, William, Ed and Pat, all names that are different from those attributed to Henry and Elizabeth.
John CORDIAL married Sarah PARKINS in Southwark, England in 1858. I believe that this John belongs to Violet’s family who wrote in the “Claregalway CORDIAL family” discussion.
John CORDIAL was naturalized in New York in 1868.
There are also migration records for men called “J CORDIAL” in the 1850’s but there is no knowing whether “J” stands for “John”.
I look forward to hearing any opinions that are out there
Judith
