Farrell or Fearghail

I have been doing most of my research lately on my father’s line – the Farrell Family. At this point I have only gone back to my great great Grandfather and so far I have found that we come from Ballyreagh in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. But apparently this is not where the name Farrell originates from.

This Irish surname, with variant spellings O'Farrell, (O) Ferrall, and cognates O'Farrelly and O'Ferrally, is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic Ó Fearghail. The Gaelic prefix "O" indicates "male descendant of", plus the personal byname "Fearghal", composed of the elements "fear", man, and "gal", valour; hence, "descendants" of the man of Valour" (I like that!).

This great sept originated in the Leinster Co. of Longford and their chief known as Lord of Annaly resided at Longphuirt Ui Fearghaill (i.e. O'Farrell's fortress) from which the name of the county derives. So important was the sept that much space is accorded to them in the "Annals of the Four Masters". There were two main branches of the O'Farrell's, the chiefs of which were distinguished as O'Farrell Boy from "buidhe", meaning yellow or Golden, and O'Farrell Bane from ban meaning "fair" or "white". Several of the family distinguished themselves in the Irish brigade in France, and Sir Thomas Farrell (1827 - 1900), was a noted sculptor many of whose statues adorn the city of Dublin.

A Coat of Arms granted to the (O) Farrell family depicts a gold lion rampant on a green shield. The colour symbolizes Hope, Joy and Loyalty in Love. It also reflects the hopes, ambitions and aspirations of its original bearer. On the Crest there is a black greyhound springing from a ducal coronet.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Father Richard O'Farrell, which was dated circa 1615 - 1663, in Annaly, Co. Longford, during the reign of King James I of England and VI of Scotland (1603 – 1625).

Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

This post was written for the 13th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture , Irish Names, hosted by Lisa at Small-leaved Shamrock.

What good are Census Reports?

My sister told me recently that when the last Census was taken a few of years ago, her youngest son balked out filling it out. His comment was "What good are Census Reports? It's just another way for "Big Brother" to keep his eye on us!" At 20 yrs. old, he is that cynical! She told him that it will help future generations to know more about us and how we lived.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at her house and updating her on things that I had found on our family. I was rattling off information that I had found using the Scottish Census Reports. Her oldest son was in the room and she turned to him and said "You see, that's what Census Reports are good for!"

When the next Census is taken, make sure you fill it out. And try to do it as accurately as possible to avoid giving headaches to your descendants when they are trying to find you!

Another Award - Wow!

I've been offline for a few days so was surprised to see that two geneabloggers gave me the Friendly Blogger Award. Thank you to Judith at Tennessee Memories and Robin at Where I Come From. It is very much appreciated.

I know that this award has been going around for awhile, so I'm going to cheat and take the easy road out and present this to everyone who hasn't received it yet, as you are all friendly bloggers!

Our Prince

After four years of marriage, my mother and step-father didn’t have any children of their own, so they decided that they would try adoption. Since my mom already had three girls, they were hoping for a little boy. Back in the mid 1960’s there were a lot of restrictions with adoptions with regards to race, religion, etc. At the time the only boys that were up for adoption were either children of colour or children of the Catholic faith (we were Protestant), both of which my parents didn’t “qualify” for.

Now at this time, I was about 6 or 7 years old and used to go to bed at 7:00 p.m. Because of his work shift, my step-dad only got home around 8:00 p.m. After about a year of trying to adopt, my step-dad called home one night and told my mom to keep me up until he got home as he had a surprise. He said it was a little boy about 9 weeks old. I was so excited because I thought, finally I was getting a little brother and I wouldn’t be the baby any more. Around 8:00 p.m. that night in walks my step-dad carrying a cardboard box. I thought it very funny that my new baby brother would be in box! My step-dad put the box down on the floor and, to my surprise, out popped this little brown head that started licking me in the face. It was a new puppy and boy did he every look funny! He looked like an oversized sausage. I didn’t know it was because he was a dachshund and he was supposed to look like that. He was soooo cute and tiny and we called him Prince.

My mom spent 3 months sleeping on the sofa training him. She trained him not to go on the furniture, not to go up the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms were, and not to go in the dining room where we always ate. We had a huge front lawn with no fence and she even trained him to stay on the lawn. Not one paw touched the sidewalk without permission.

With the type of shift that my step-dad worked (he worked on the commuter trains), he was always able to come home during the day for a nap. One day he came home, took one look at Prince and said “come on boy, let’s go to bed”. That’s all it took – after all that training, he was now allowed to go upstairs and sleep on my parents bed. Next thing we knew, he was allowed up on the sofa. But that’s all my mom gave into – Prince was still not allowed in the dining room unless my mom gave the O.K. If we were eating dinner, Prince would sit on the edge of the doorway and not even his nose would cross that threshold. If my step-dad called him in to get a piece of food, Prince would look at my mom first and wait for her to give the O.K. and then he would slink in, take the food and then dash back out.

Whenever we would be playing outside the front of the house, Prince would always be out there too, sitting on the lawn. There were no concerns that he would run away. The only time that he was allowed off the front lawn was when my step-dad would be coming down the street. My step-dad would take the bus home whenever he came home during the day and he always had a set time to arrive. Mom would let Prince out the front to sit and wait. We always knew when my step-dad would be coming down the street because Prince would be sitting on the corner of the lawn wagging his tail so much you would think he was going to take off. My mom would wait a few minutes and then say “go on Prince” and Prince would take off down the street to meet my dad, give him a big Hello and then run back home to wait. It got to the point the neighbours all knew when my step-dad would be coming down the street just by watching Prince’s tail go.

My step-dad was a big hockey fan and Prince would always sit and watch the games with him. My step-dad would sing the National Anthem and Prince would sing right along with him. I thought this was so great to think we had a dog that could sing that I entered him in a talent show put on by our local park. I watched as all the other dogs did these really neat tricks. When it came to my turn, I got up my courage and started singing the National Anthem expecting Prince to join right along. All he did was lie there and sleep! I was so embarrassed! I guess my voice just wasn’t deep enough. I should have gone with the "cookie on the nose" trick.

When Prince was about a year old we got a kitten we called Mittens (she was allowed to sleep with me). For the most part Prince and Mittens got along fine, unless the cat was in a bad mood. If she was, she always took it out on Prince and would knock him upside the head with her paw! One day we found a stray kitten, that couldn’t have been more than 5 or six weeks old. Prince became very protective of this kitten. I think he was afraid Mittens would do something to it. He would let it sleep in his bed and make sure that it ate its food. We eventually gave the kitten to a little girl who’s cat had just got hit by a car.

Prince was my step-dad’s baby and they did everything together. As Prince got older, he went deaf and blind and could barely walk because of his arthritis. After 17 years, we knew it was time to put him down. My step-dad took this very hard and couldn’t do it, so I was the one that had to take Prince to the vet. It broke my heart to have to leave without him. Prince wasn’t just a dog, he was the baby brother I never had.

P.S. I’m still the baby of the family!

This post was written for the 13th Edition of Smile For The Camera - All Creatures Great and Small.

One Lovely Blog Award

I was so pleased to read Jessica's Genejournal and see that she nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. I haven't been posting too much lately so it was really nice of her to give me this. It's going to be tough to nominate 7 more - there are so many to choose from. My nominees are:

Amanda at A Tale of Two Ancestors

Lucie at Acadian Ancestral Home

Miriam at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors

Apple at Apple's Tree

Valerie at Begin With "Craft"

Claudia at Claudia's Genealogy Blog

Delia at Delia's Genealogy Blog

Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Part 4

1. Lieut. James Kay
2. Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Update
3. Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Part 3

On July 22, 1915 James enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent to England where he was later posted with the 5th Canadian Siege Battery – Canadian Garrison Artillery. While he was in England, he sent a postcard home to his mother, dated January 16, 1916. It reads:

“Haven’t heard from you for a long time – what’s up? Still in England. Expecting to move any time. Weather gorgeous. Have hired cycle. Don’t mind staying here. Jim”

I’m not sure when James’ unit was finally shipped out, but having found the War Diaries of WWI at Library and Archives Canada, the 5th Canadian Siege Battery were in Poiziers (France?) in October 1916. By July 1917 they were in Angres. These diaries give a day to day account of everything that occurred. Although these are very interesting to read, my goal was to see if there was an account of when James died. Since I knew he died on July 28, 1917, I quickly scanned the diaries until I found that day. I found the page that I was looking for and this is what was written:

“28-7-17: The Battery Position was shelled today with H.E. Lieut. J. Kay was seriously wounded and died on way to Dressing Station. 346828 Cpl. H. Sheldon was also wounded.”

Lieut. James Kay was commissioned from the ranks and laid to rest at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. He was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. A Memorial Plaque and letter from Buckingham Palace were sent to his mother, Elizabeth, after his death.

Online memorials have been set up for those who died during WWI and James’s memorials can be found here, here and here.

“All Gave Some
And Some Gave All”

Rest In Peace Uncle James.

Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Part 3

1. Lieut. James Kay

2. Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Update

James Kay was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on January 22, 1888 to Adam Bishop Kay and Elizabeth Muirhead Sinclair. Already knowing that he was living in Montreal in July 1915 (the date he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force), I was curious as to when the Kay’s had arrived in Canada. In searching the 1911 Canada Census, I came up empty.

I then decided to see when they were last in Scotland and found them on the 1901 Scotland Census. According to this census, they were living at 37 Queensferry Street in Edinburgh. Adam Bishop Kay (listed as Head of the family) was a Joiner and Cabinetmaker. James was 13 years old and his brother Adam Sinclair (my step-grandfather) was 5 years old. Going back a little further to the 1891 Scotland Census, I found Elizabeth, aged 27, living with her mother, Helen Sinclair, and a sister, Catherine Sinclair, living at No. 14 Melville Place, Edinburgh. Elizabeth was married at the time (she is listed as Elizabeth Kay), but Adam Bishop is not listed as living with them. James was 3 years old and a daughter, Helen aged 2 months, is also listed. Adam Sinclair was not born until 1896. If Adam Bishop was serving in the Military in 1891, he obviously made it back home safe and sound since he still had one son to father! (and as mentioned, he is listed on the 1901 Census.

I then decided to check the Canadian Passenger lists from 1865-1935. I found an Elizabeth M. Kay, age 44 (widowed) and Adam S. Kay, aged 16 arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the Numidian on December 14, 1911, via Glasgow, Scotland (they obviously arrived after the 1911 census was taken). James was not with them at this time. There is also no mention of a daughter Helen . (I have not found any records of a daughter Helen, except for the 1891 Census and the 1923 income tax receipt – was she perhaps living with another family member?).

On continuing my search of the Canadian Passenger Lists, I found James Kay arriving on the Carmania, leaving Liverpool, England and arriving in New York City on November 24, 1913. He was listed as a returning Canadian with a final destination of Montreal. It shows that he originally arrived in Canada in 1908 and had lived here for 5 years. I haven’t found the passenger list for this arrival yet.

It’s Data Back Up Day

I work in the Quotations Dept. of a large manufacturing company. Every day I work on large multi-million dollar quotations that take weeks to prepare. The last thing I want is to lose my data. Every night our servers are backed up, once a week my computer backs up to the one beside me, that backs up to the one beside it, etc. and once a month I’m very vigilant about backing up my data directory onto flash drives or CDs. I’m not so vigilant at home – or at least I didn’t use to be.

As previously mentioned, I belong to the Order of the Eastern Star (Masonic affiliated) and I am my local chapter’s secretary. I also put together their jurisdictional newsletter. Between correspondence, mailing lists, chapter by-laws, etc., the newsletter, I have a fair amount of data on my computer. About four years ago, I had a Trojan Horse sneak in the back door that shutdown my computer. Of course, I didn’t have anything backed up! I lost everything! Most of the data lost wasn’t that important, but having to retype from scratch the by-laws and redoing the newsletter just broke my heart.

Lesson learned - I now back up at least once a month if not twice. I was going to do it this coming weekend, but with the threat of the Conficker Worm that was supposed to strike today, I did my back up last night, both at home and at work. I certainly don’t want to retype those by-laws again and I certainly don’t want to lose all the work I have done on the family history.

Have you done your back up yet?

Blogs and Sourcing

I have been reading with interest the discussions about the validity of blogs in genealogy research and whether or not to post sources.

Being new to genealogy and blogging, I enjoy reading the various blogs to aid me in the “how-to” aspect of my research. I have learned many things with regards to where to search for information, ideas on how to break down brick walls and reading about other’s frustrations and happy moments in their research, all the while nodding my head. I do not, however, use these blogs as sources in my own research (I have a family booklet that my cousin put together and I don’t even use that as a positive source as he didn’t include any sources).

I started my blog, for my benefit to keep myself organized and motivated and to share with those who are interested, my findings and my trials & tribulations in my research.

Should anyone who might be researching the same surnames be interested in my sources, they are more then welcome to contact me and I am more than happy to share. However, I will not be listing my sources on my posts. If this, in turn, causes others to stop following my blog – so be it (although I certainly hope that doesn’t happen!).

My two “unsourced” cents.

Tombstone Tuesday - Robert Allan Farrell

Ever Remembered, Ever Loved

Allan Farrell

1927 - 1962

In God's Keeping

Allan Farrell was my father who passed away when he was 35 yrs. old. from complications due to Diabetes. He was buried on my parents 9th wedding anniversary. I took this picture about 20 years ago when I visited his grave for the first time.

Anyone else in the distant family would have a hard time finding this tombstone because his full name is not one it! His full name was Robert Allan but he always went by Allan. For some reason either my mother or my grandparents didn't think to put his full name on the tombstone! The below picture is a closer look of the stone before it was placed on his grave.