To fill in a few gaps from a previous post, here is some more about the Fitzpatrick father and two eldest daughters.
Looking for Thomas Fitz Senior
We know that he was in Tudhoe in 1901 and we knew he was born in Ireland, sadly census records from this time in Ireland are very poor compared to the records in Durham.
There are a few Church records of Christenings of Thomas Fitzpatricks at the right time, but not in Co. Mayo - where I believed he originated. (I now know that he came from Tipperary - more on this later.)
Looking at the 1881 census.
I'd understood that Thomas came over the Irish Sea as an adult, and so when I found this entry in the 1881 English Census I thought I'd found our Thomas on his way from Ireland to Durham. (Note that when an immigrant resident fills in a census return, they only note the country of their birth, no further useful info - not even the County.)
No 14 Fisher St., Toxteth Park, Lancashire, England
Thomas FITSPATRICK, born 1855, Ireland, Age (26), Labourer, Unmarried.
Head of Household Henry CLARK
Relation to head of household: Lodger
But perhaps this young man better fits the bill? I looked thru the 1881 census in Durham county for a Thomas Fitzpatrick of birth year approx 1852 who was born in Ireland… Here we find a family with a young Thomas who almost "fitz".
Of Barnfield Blocks, Tudhoe, Durham, England, in 1881:
William FITZPATRICK Head of household (aged 60, born 1821) Born in Ireland, Labourer
Margaret FITZPATRICK Wife (54) Born in Ireland
Thomas FITZPATRICK Son, Unmarried, (24) Born in Ireland, Labourer
Patrick FITZPATRICK Son, Unmarried, (21) Born in Merrington, Durham, Labourer
Mary FITZPATRICK Daughter (14) born in Merrington, Durham,
Catherine FITZPATRICK Daughter (9) born in Merrington, Durham,
So Thomas was born 1857, and would be 44 in the 1901 census? I have him as born in 1852. Our Thomas in the 1901 census gave his age as 49 but it’s not unusual to be a few years out. Hilary has researched a lot of this family & she confirms young Thomas was born in Tipperary in 1854.
Hilary has confirmed I'm right with this family from the census data - Thomas' parents are William Fitz & Margaret (maiden name Cuddihy). So now we have the names of his siblings - though there could be older siblings, too.
Internet resources for Irish family history:
www.irish family research.co.uk, records Ireland, Ireland roots,
and www.your irish roots.com
Finally, the Genuki page for County Tipperary.
Two Sisters who had left home in 1901
Looking for the two older children of Thomas Fitzpatrick (who were not at the Tudhoe Mill home in 1901)
Margaret Ellen Fitzpatrick was the eldest child - born in 1882. We know she worked as a domestic: as a Housekeeper, in fact. The story goes that she had worked with a family in the North East, becoming the Housekeeper to Judge Meymell {or perhaps Meynell} and his sisters. (Possibly at 17, Elvet, Durham.) When they'd decided to move Down South, she moved with them, to an address we have recorded as 48 Harvey Rd., Guildford (see a map). She remained a spinster.
I searched for such a person in the 1901 census for other areas, and a lass of about the right age showed up…
Margaret Fitzpatrick, aged 20, born in Spennymoor, working in Jesmond as a Parlourmaid at Manor House, St George's parish, Jesmond.
Head of household was Alfred H J Cochrane, 36, Asst Secretary (Armstrong Whitworth & Co.) Born Mauritius.
Wife Ethel, 32, born Newcastle
Brother Wilfred, 20, Bank Clerk, born Derby
Bro in law John Noble, 35, Treasurer (Armstrong Whitworth & Co.), born N'cle
Niece Veronica Noble, aged 1, born London
and 7 Domestics includes the Parlourmaid, Margt (the youngest servant, born Sp'moor, aged 20) and also a nurse, laundrymaid, 2 housemaids, Cook, Lady's maid.
The 1911 Census
Further news on Margaret Fitzpatrick comes to us now in the form of the 1911 Census. A Margaret Fitzpatrick (29, born in Spennymoor) was by then a Parlour Maid for the Meymell family at 43, Old Elvet, Durham.
This was a pretty impressive house, (which is now Grade II listed) - it had 17 rooms, and four servants to tend to the whims of the 3 adults in the house: Mr Edgar Meymell and his 2 younger sisters (unmarried) who were all born in Durham City. Mr Meymell was aged 51 in 1911, and worked then as a barrister-in-law {or again, it could perhaps be Meynell}.
There's a mention of the Meynell family in this gushing page from the Bulmer's Directory of 1890 - they owned property in the Yarm area, including Kilvington Hall (map here: just North of Thirsk), and one Meynell became a Judge. Also some discussion about the Meynell family on British History Online. We can see that the Edgar Meynell living at Elvet in 1911 was the son of Edgar Meynell who was a judge (and was at the RC school Ampleforth College in 1837: read here). Questions in the Commons gives Edgar Meynell a mention: rumblings about nepotism as he worked in his father's courts. A book from 1919 which has been scanned & is available online - here - tells us that he was still living at Elvet in 1919, and that in 1911 his sisters were in his house as their mother had just died. Interesting that the younger Edgar Meynell was educated at The Oratory School in Edgbaston, which was an RC school founded by Cardinal Newman.
Also a group of documents are listed (here, on DMM.org.uk) tells of the interests of Edgar Meynell in coal rights for the Croxdale/ Burn Hall areas in the 1890's. So there's a link between the families, we can see how Margaret may have been put forward for the job now.
Meymell, on the other hand, is a name for which I can find no references.
The name is pretty much as Gran remembered it, so it seems right that this is the household with which Margaret got on so well that she moved away with them to Guildford.
In this photo we can see Aunt Margaret Fitzpatrick (left) visiting Lizzie and young Mary Sennett (born 1923). Aunt Margaret is remembered as very ladylike, nicely spoken and very like her mother, Frances.Bridget Fitzpatrick
I don't have any pictures of Aunt Biddy, sadly. If anyone has one they could share, I'd be grateful.
We know our Bridget was aged around 18 in 1901, and born in Durham.
We also know that Aunty Biddy married in 1914 to Fred Hedley and they lived at Fir Tree, Crook (and something else I can't read about High Bowden Farm??).
They had 3 children: Mary, Fred and Bill (who was particularly remembered for having suffered dreadful scalds from some hot water).
The English Census shows us the following possibilities for young Biddy: {Name, Age, Where Born, Civil Parish, Occupation}
Bridget Fitzpatrick, 18, Ireland Kilkenny, Middlesex Hendon, Student Pupil
Bridget Fitzpatrick, 19, Liverpool Lancs, Kirkdale
I had no luck yet in finding Bridget in the 1901 census. Her name could be misspelled, or she could have been in Scotland etc. There are sadly lots of reasons why people don't show up on the census!
Tried for Fred Hedley, who she married in 1914, when she would have been ~32 years old. Found several in the 1901 census – Co. Durham…
An old set of notes unearthed the memory that our Fred was a farm hand.
As for the 1911 census; here we see only one lass in Durham named Bridget Fitz. She was aged 27, and worked at White Lea Farm (Crook) area as a Domestic Servant. The farmer Mr Angus was also a Carting Contractor, and one of his Stockmen was his brother-in-law Frederick Hedley (living at the house in 1911). So that's how they met! Fred was aged 29, and we are told he was born at Cringle Dykes, Hunwick.
Famous Fitzpatricks (some not very famous!)
- Road Safety Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick
- Irishman awarded the VC, Francis Fitzpatrick
- A nuclear generating station, USA
- Irish artist, famous for the image of Che Guevara, Jim Fitzpatrick
A link here to details found on Fitzpatrick miners - from the Durham Miners Museum site.
Finally, here's a link to a local history website, it's got LOTS of details. It does include a picture of a house I used to live in, actually. Now it's up to you & your curiosity to guess which one!
Cheers, Lisa
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