Rebecca Jackson

Where did William Jackson go to?

Miss W. Jackson , , , ,
mohamed_hassan / Pixabay

William Jackson both senior and junior are a couple of my brickwalls.

Background to the problem

Rebecca Jackson was sentenced to seven years transportation on 1 January 1847 at the petty sessions court at Lifford in County Donegal. She was sentenced with three other members of her family: her father William, her younger brother William and Jane Steele (not known yet if she is related).

Anne Jackson, yet another member of the family but still not proven how related, was also a member of the Jackson gang who had been stealing for many years in the Carrigans area of  County Donegal. But on 1 January 1847, she turned on the gang and dobbed them in to the authorities.

Three cases were reported on that day:

  1. Anne Jackson of Garsney??? and John Craig of Corneamble  a(gainst) William Jackson the Elder and Jane Steel both of Garsney
  2. Anne Jackson of Garsney and Anthony Gallagher of Ruskey? a(gainst) William Jackson the Elder, William Jackson the Younger, Rebecca Jackson, Jane Steele and Mary Jane Gallagher
  3. Anne Jackson, Caldwell Motherwell of Monglass, sub constable James Love?, Nelly Jackson of St Johnston and Joseph Wray of Curry free? County Derry a(gainst) William Jackson the Elder, William Jackson the Younger, Rebecca Jackson, Jane Steele and Mary Jane Gallagher

Remember this is the time of the potato famine in Ireland, so was William and his family stealing just so they could eat and survive? What would happen to the rest of the family once they were convicted and sent to prison or transported to Van Diemens Land?

But this is where the brickwall occurs…

This is the information about William Senior in the Irish transportation database

William Junior was aged 13 and had the same document reference as his father. Rebecca was aged 16 and Jane Steele aged 53. Both their document references were TR 6 p 256.

Rebecca and Jane (plus two children named Mary Jane and John Gallagher) arrived in Van Diemens Land on board the ship Waverley in July 1847 after spending time from 13 February 1847 at Grangegorman prison in Dublin.

But where were the Williams?

I checked the Irish prison registers on Find My Past and can find no William Jackson at all. But I did read that Irish male transportation to VDL was stopped for a few years so where could the two William Jacksons have been in Ireland before they were transported? Or perhaps they weren’t transported at all?

I have checked all the William Jackson arriving in VDL (Tasmania) since 1847 and none match with my Williams.

Have checked the website Digital Panopticon and no William Jackson with similar circumstances.

Checked convicts of New South Wales post 1847 and two possibles with info found at convict records website

  • William Jackson on ship Hashemy in 1848: 2 convicts – Warwick Boro’ of Birmingham Quarter Sessions and Lancaster Boro’ of Manchester Quarter Sessions
  • William Jackson on ship Hashemy in 1850 to Western Australia: tried Somerset. Assizes at Taunton
  • William Jackson on ship Randolph in 1849: tried Middlesex. Clerkenwell General Sessions

So where are my William Jackson’s hiding in Ireland after 1847?

How Irish am I?

Miss W. Dawson, Jackson, Somers, Using DNA , , , , , , ,
Leamsii / Pixabay

After taking part in the twitterchat this week about researching our Irish ancestors, I decided to check out how Irish I truly am via my DNA tests.

LivingDNA:

  • Sue is 96% British and Irish. Out of that, Northern Ireland and South West Scotland 13.5% and 6.3% Ireland
  • Mum is 100% British and Irish. Out of that, Northern Ireland and South West Scotland 14.9% and 2.3% Ireland
  • Dad is 100% British and Irish. Out of that, Northern Ireland and South West Scotland 3.2% and 24.8% Ireland
  • My brother is 100% British and Irish. Out of that, Northern Ireland and South West Scotland 15.1% and 17.2% Ireland

Ancestry:

  • Sue is 32% Scotland and Northern Ireland and 10% Ireland.
  • Mum is 19% Scotland and Northern Ireland and 7% Ireland.
  • Dad is 39% Scotland and Northern Ireland and 19% Ireland.
  • My brother is 31% Scotland and Northern Ireland and 11% Ireland.

We have all tested with Ancestry but I am the only one tested with LivingDNA. I uploaded from Ancestry to LivingDNA for mum, dad and my brother.

From these results, looks like my brother is a bit more Irish than me (LivingDNA). I’m also wondering where my 4% from Basque came from. Maybe if I uploaded my Ancestry result at LivingDNA, it would then tell me 100% British and Irish.

From all my research so far I only have the following names and places: Convicts highlighted

Maternal side:

  • 1830’s – Jackson family in Donegal around Garshooey and Carrigans area possibly St Johnstown area as well – Rebecca, father William  senior, brother William Junior, Nellie Jackson,  Jane/Sarah Steele, Ann Jackson who then emigrated to Quebec with two children – she died on Ile Grosse, Rebecca’s mother possibly Catherine Campbell

Paternal side:

  • 1830’s – McCrewney? family in Newry parish, Down, Northern Ireland – Mary with father Francis, brother Thomas also sent to Van Diemens Land
  • 1810’s – Dawson family near Berwick upon Tweed or Eyemouth – William, a brother at Eyemouth
  • 1830’s – McKay family in Cowgate area in Edinburgh – Catherine, father John, siblings Elizabeth, George and Mary
  • 1810’s – Somers family near Wexford – Patrick, wife Johanna nee Cullen (blind), sons John and Thomas – these three then came to Van Diemens Land between 1841 and 1851 as free settlers, Father John in America, brother John and sister Mary Catherine in Wexford.

Now I know a lot more resources to check out for my Irish ancestors, I might spend more time on those especially on dad’s side of the tree. The convict records give some good information including religion, age, trade, literacy level and parents and siblings often. But where does mum get her 20% total from Scotland/Ireland?

Readers: How Irish are you?