Parents of Benjamin Henry Chapman, born 1820 in Wicklow

[Erato]

Bearing in mind that I live far away and have no way to undertake on-the-ground research in Ireland, is there any hope of tracing the parents of Benjamin Henry Chapman, born in Wicklow in 1820?  B.H. Chapman was my gg grandfather. 

What I know of B. H. Chapman's early life comes from my grandfather who would have gotten the information straight from the horse's mouth.  According to my grandfather, Benjamin Henry Chapman was born on 24 October 1820 in Ballyloughlin Parish, Wicklow.  His parents were Joseph Charles [possibly Charles Joseph] Chapman and Sarah Hudson.  My grandfather said that Joseph Chapman was also born in Ballyloughlin and that his [almost mythical] father was James Chapman, possibly from Leeds.  According to my grandfather, Joseph Chapman died young and his wife, Sarah Hudson, was remarried to a man named Charles Johnston.  They had several children, half siblings to Benjamin Henry Chapman.  One of the half siblings was John Johnston.

According to my grandfather, Benjamin Henry Chapman was educated at a CoE school in Newtown, Wicklow.  He married Mary Esther Pepper who was born on 29 June 1819 in Avoca, Wicklow.  Her parents were Matthew Pepper and Ellen Jenkinson.  B.H. and Mary emigrated from Ireland in the early 1840s, going first to Canada and later to Wisconsin.  Their history in the New World is clear enough.

In 1873, the widow and nine children of John Johnston [B.H. Chapman's half brother] also immigrated to the United States.  Most of their descendants are readily traced.  Confusingly, John Johnston's wife was named Anne Chapman.  I don't know if she was in any way related [some kind of cousin??] to B.H. Chapman.  Several Ancestry trees identify Anne Chapman as the daughter of Benjamin R. Chapman [of Three mile Water, Wicklow] and Martha Richardson [of Dublin].

I am looking for any information on Joseph Chapman, Sarah Hudson and Charles Johnston.

[shanew147]

quick note on the location mentioned.. Ballyloughlin is a townland of about 130 acres, the civil parish is Newcastle Lower, and the Church of Ireland parish is Newcastle.

CofI baptism and marriage records for Newcastle go back to the 1790s, and transcripts seems to be included on the pay-website at RootsIreland. There are a number of Chapman baptisms listed for the county including a Benjamin in Newcastle parish, but in 1813 ...

You can search their index free and check the number of results for each search, but have to pay to see the extended index, or the transcripts. CofI baptisms from that time would usually include child's name, date of baptism and father's name. Mother first name (only) is usually included, and sometimes date of birth for the child, and also sometimes included is the father's occupation and residence for the family.



Shane

[shanew147]

Ballyloughlin townland is about half-way between the towns of Kilcoole and Newcastle, and is shown on the 1st OSI maps dated c1837 :

  Ballyloughlin, Co. Wikclow   (the townland borders are shown in red)

The townland is shown on the Tithe records, c1837 for this area, as Ballyloughin, Ballyloughlin and possibly Ballyloughan, but no sign of any Chapmans or Hudsons. (The Tithes cover mostly agricultural properties). Several entries do show up in the parish for the surname - all named William (or several entries for the same people) - one at [Newtown] Mount Kennedy, the other two at the townlands of Quarryfarm and Kilmachulla (probably Kilmacullagh)

Just one entry for the townland on the later Griffith's valuation, a John Hatton - he, or maybe his father is also mentioned on the Tithe records for the townland.

The CofI parish church at the time was located a few miles south at the town of Newcastle. I suspect the location of the School mentioned was likely at the town of Newtownmounkennedy, which is in the same parish and slightly inland of Newcastle and Ballyloughlin.

Some details of the parish of Newcastle and town of Newtownmounkennedy are included in Lewis Topagraphical directory on 1837 on the Library Ireland website - see :

  Newcastle parish
  Town of Newtown-Mount-Kennedy

 
Shane

[Erato]

Thanks, Shane.  I have previously checked that site and I didn't see any possibilities that looked worth paying for, especially given the hassle of trying to pay from Ecuador.  If I can remember my password, I'll have another look; maybe they have some new records.

[Erato]

Thanks, again, Shane.  I have copies of those maps and even have photographs of one of the old [1820s] buildings on the Ballyloughlin property that I received from its current owner.

[Newey]

Hello Erato,

I've some correspondence with a descendant of Benjamin R. Chapman (b 1813) the eldest child of Benjamin Chapman and Martha Richardson.

The other children were John         1815
                                    Henry        1817
                                    Catherine  1821   my G.G. grandmother
                                    Ann           1824

I've just had a quick look through my notes and found one his emails contained the following information...............

" Their sister, Anne Chapman Johnston, also came to Minnesota from
Ireland about 1873, or so.  Only siblings Catherine and John stayed in Ireland."

And from a letter written about 1930 by Catherine Parker who would have been around 80 at the time of writing. Catherine was the daughter of Catherine Chapman

"The flower of Ireland leave her for foreign lands.  A great many go to America.  I do not hear from any of my Mother's family in America now.  There must be crops of them there.  One branch went to Canada."


Jan.

By the way I did make it to Ecuador last November as part of a 6 week trip around South America.

[Erato]

Hi Newey -

Yes, it is true.  There was a mass migration of these people to the United States.  The widowed Anne [Chapman] Johnston migrated in 1873 with her nine children.  Initially, they went to Minnesota where Anne's sister Martha [Chapman] Tyndall was located.  The Tyndalls had immigrated in about 1865 with their 9? children.  From Minnesota, some of the Johnston and Tyndall descendants spread west to North Dakota, Montana and Washington; a few went to Canada.

One of Anne [Chapman] Johnston's daughters, Charlotte Elizabeth Johnston, married her cousin, Henry Charles Chapman, the son of my gg grandfather, Benjamin Henry Chapman.  Another daughter, Martha R. Johnston married a Tyndall [presumably a cousin of some sort].  And Anne's son, John Johnston married someone named Hattie Chapman [I don't know who she was but the name suggests she was a relative of some kind].

It is a mare's nest of cousin marriages which is why I have wondered if Anne Chapman's father, Benjamin R Chapman, was related somehow to my own gg grandfather, Benjamin Henry Chapman.

Any further insights you have would be much appreciated.