Family Friday

This is the side of my family that I have been working on for the past few years. It is my father's paternal line.

From what I can gather, my father's line came to Canada in 1835 from Rathkeale Parish, Limerick, Ireland. I have connected with distant cousins by chance through my research and one of them related a story to me about our shared ancestor having to leave Ireland due to a duel. Sounds romantic eh?

You know how families often name the first born son after the father? Well in my family, my brother would be Joseph the 6th (it may be more but I have not started research back farther in Ireland. OK not strange? Well try this one on for size. A few years ago, I took off and had a weekend to myself travelling around southern Ontario searching for more information about this side of my family that had settled in and around Woodstock, ON. I visited gravestones, found the original family homestead, you know the drill. Anyway, I also lucked out and managed to locate my ancestor's last will and testament. In it I found the most curious fact. Here's a snipit...

"I give and devise to my grandson's named as follows that is to say Joseph son of Connell Evans, Joseph the son of my daughter Jane, Joseph the son of my daughter Charlotte and Joseph the son my daughter Hannah the sum of two hundred dollars each to be paid to them without interest as they severally become the age of twenty one years by my executor hereinafter named but should any of my said grandson's die before receiving his or their portion then his or their portion is to be divided in equal portions between his or their brothers and sisters as they severally become the age of twenty one and all without interest."

Just in case you aren't getting the weird part... Joseph, this first ancestor already had a son named Joseph to whom he left his estate. BUT, every child of his also named one of their sons Joseph! AND he only left money to those grandchildren who were named after HIM! Talk about vain, or something I don't know but bleh! Could you imagine having 5 first cousins with the same name?

So the family in the picture is the son Joseph (the 2nd) who inherited the estate from that first ancestor. Meet Joseph Evans, born 1841 and his wife Elizabeth Cook, born 1842 and their children Joseph James (moustache), Jonathon Vericar, Elizabeth Jane, Ida Matilda, Andrew Irwin, William Blake, Mary Annette and Edna Lorena. Edna would be the little one leaning on her father's knee. This picture would more than likely been taken around 1891. One of the boys is missing, I'm not sure who, I would have to take a look at the census information to see who was living in the household at this time.

On a present note. When my brother's girlfriend had their second child and it was a boy, I begged my brother not to give him the name Joseph. "Enough with the Joseph's - give this poor child his own identity!" I am happy to say he did.