JAMES DAVID CROWLEY and CATHERINE CAMERON

This is my new focus in my family research.  James David Crowley states on his papers that his parents are David Crowley and Catherine Mehegan.  I have exhausted every avenue in trying to find a link to them even to the point of putting an advertisment in an Irish Newspaper to which i had a couple of replies but nothing worked out.

I don't know what is the big secret about trying to find out about the CROWLEY family.

I know James Crowley emigrated to australia in 1868
Married Catherine Cameron in 1873
Read the newspaper reports of Divorce proceedings
I know where James is buried and when he died
The dates to when he was born are conflicting - some say 1843 others say 1837.
There are Irish Church Records for James David Crowley being baptised in November 1837 to David Crowley and Catherine Mehegan.

On his death certificate he stated he had never been married nor had any children.

He stated that his parents were David Crowley and Catherine Mehegan.

Some of my Crowley relatives have been to Ireland and could find nothing.

I am just interested in knowing what kind of a person my great grandfather James Crowley was.  My grandpa James Duncan told me that he grew up with his
CAMERON Grandparents in Beaconsfield, Victoria.

I don't really know where to start looking anymore.

Maybe Yarrawonga where he and Catherine lived.  I doubt Corowa NSW would have anything on him - that is where he died.

Have to rethink where i look next.

Suz

END OF THE ROAD

Well i have searched exhaustively for many years...BUT STILL NOTHING....this is all i am left with:

James David CROWLEY born in 1837, Kilbrittain, Ireland, to parents David and Catherine Mehegan CROWLEY.  His papers state he was born in 1843.  Which is truth and which is NOT.
The only James David CROWLEY i could find born to Catherine and David Mehegan CROWLEY was a church record saying he was baptised in November 1837.

There is a Daniel CROWLEY in the same family baptised in May 1843 and David CROWLEY baptised 11 November 1840.

Somewhere along the line the records are wrong.

Well i did try.  I can find a record of Catherine Mehegan and David CROWLEY who were married in 1829, in Ireland, but when i try to connect the children up to these parents they come up with other parents.

I will never know who James David CROWLEY really was or if that is even his real name. A search of him with birthdate 1843 just put him with other parents.

Enough is Enough!!!!!!

I started this journey hoping to find something out about my family heritage, it was all a waste of time and i am left exactly with what i started with.

Suzanne

Remember that song...The Beat Goes On......Well, this is "The Search Goes On"

I wish i knew what i was doing wrong, i had a good idea, i put an advertisement in an Irish Newspaper, one person replied to me, gave me some good tips and even did a little searching for me, i was very grateful.  The dates seem to match OK, but when i go to put them together......ZILCH............one good thing did happen though, i finally found 1 record of David Crowley being the spouse of Catherine Mehegan.  BUT...when i go to look for records on their children, there are always with different parents, cannot find one person whose parents are David Crowley and Catherine Mehegan, SO, no further ahead.  They tell me to keep searching for the sponors of the baptism of children, that will lead me somewhere...BUT, a dead end again.

The problem i keep having is that no-one has parents DAVID CROWLEY and CATHERINE MEHEGAN.

I don't know what to do next!!!!!!

Someone gave me a record....Baptism of Catherine Mehegan in 1809 with parents Thad Mehegan and Joanna Quinlan but do you think i can find them, holy hell NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

What am i missing.

Well i cannot see what is wrong or where to go next.

Why can't i find records for the following:

James David CROWLEY and Catherine CAMERON
Found David Crowley christened in 1876 at Saint Malachy's Church Nagambie, Victoria but nothing for his siblings.

Later

A TIRED AND WORN DOWN FAMILY RESEARCHER.....

The search goes on, now i have decided to change tactics and look for my Victoria CROWLEY ancestors.

James David CROWLEY b. 1843 Kilbrittain, Ireland
emigrates to Melbourne Australia in January 1868 on
ship "southern cross".
Gets married in 1873 to Catherine Cameron
daughter of Duncan and Flora Buchanan CAMERON
Has children
David
Dennis
James Duncan
Flora
Catherine
Cornelius
Johanna

I found a baptism entry for David Crowley b. 1876
Saint Malachy's Church, Nagambie, Victoria

James Duncan is my Grandpa

Cornelius i know about

Dennis i know about

The others i cannot find anything out about.

James David CROWLEY d.  1900 in Corowa, NSW, Hospital

I have heard stories about Catherine Cameron, but i don't know what is true
and what is not.

Irish records do not show James David Crowley being born in 1843 only in 1837 with parents David and Catherine Mehegan CROWLEY.

BUT i found a record of David Crowley and Catherine Mehegan married in 1843.

I found a prison register entry for James CROWLEY in 1861 for assaulting Daniel CROWLEY.

I have a picture of Catherine Cameron with 2 other ladies but i do not know who they are.  Perhaps to me it looks like Mother and 2 daughters.

Suzanne
sjriddle@mail.com

Which Scenario to Use................

Well i have a few scenarios to my genealogy search and i am not sure which one to go with:

a.  My ancestor James David Crowley states he is born in 1843 Kilbrittain, Ireland and his parents are David and Catherine Mehegan Crowley but the only Church record i can find in Ireland states he was born in 1837 and Daniel Crowley was born in 1843.

Therefore, begs the question is he James David or Daniel?

All his record dates match up that he was born in 1843.

b.  I guess i will never know who my ancestor really is or anything about his family.

c.  He came to Australia stating he was a Labourer and on his death certificate it stated he was a Labourer.

d.  Either nobody knows anything about him or doesn't want to tell me anything about him.

e.  I have seen a record where David and Catherine Mehegan Crowley were married in Kilbrittain in 1843, did they get married the same year James David was born?

f.  Strange that his death certificate said he had No Religion when all the Crowley's in my family (except for me and my siblings - our Mother was Church of England) are Devout Catholics.

Final Scenario - i will never know what kind of family he came from, or anything about him, no photos have ever been sited, it just seems to me that he was a drifter with no purpose in life or running away from someone or something.  On his death certificate he stated he had no family, only a mother and father.  When he walked out and deserted his wife and 7 children, he must have never given his children another thought.  He was buried by the undertaker at the gravesite with two witnesses.  A very sad ending to one's life.

He is the second ancestor of mine who is buried in an unmarked grave.

This is the end of the ancestry trail.

Still On The Ancestor Trail

Well here i go again......i actually found a new record, which i hope will lead me in the right direction.  Somebody suggested to me that i try spelling the surname a different way, this is what i achieved:

David Crowley married Catherine Meghan in about 1843 (lists Catherine as being born
about 1822)

My irish/australian ancestor was James David Crowley whose certificates state
he was born in 1843 Kilbrittain, Ireland, with parents
David Crowley and Catherine Meghan.

This David and Catherine were married in Kilbrittain, Ireland.

Maybe James David Crowley was born the same year as his parents got married.



But i still have some hurdles to get over.

One of James David Crowley's grandson's went to Kilbrittain, Ireland and brought
back the following records:

David Crowley marries Catherine Mehegan in 1829, Kilbrittain, Ireland
with baptism dates of the following children:

Johanna            1832
Timothy           1835
James David    1837
David               1840
Daniel              1843
Cornelius         1847
Dennis             1853

I engaged the services of an Irish Genealogist who sent me the following church
record:  David Crowley and Catherine Mehegan married in RC Church, Minister
Rev. Taylor at Ballymodan Kilbrogan Desertserges near Bandon, Cork.

Then i myself found the following:

Baptism Records:

Johanna            1832
no 1st name      1835
James David     1837
David                1840
Daniel               1843
Cornelius          1847
Dennis              1853

Which ones are right and which ones do i discard.

The saga continues. 

STARTING ALL OVER

Well i am back, i have decided to scrap all my ancestry notes and start a fresh, i haven't really destroyed them, just put them away out of site.

I decided to change the spelling of the surname of my Ancestor's Mother on advice from other family history researchers, i did that and it paints a completely different picture, but still need to confirm it.

If my new information is correct then my ancestor was born the same year as his parents marriage, we shall see. This spelling i had before, but couldn't find anything so i changed to a different spelling.  Everywhere you look the spelling is different, no wonder people get so confused and it takes so many years to find any information.

So off to the National Library i go again tomorrow to see if i can confirm my new information.  Then again, it might turn out to be a false lead again.  I found someone in Ireland who is related to other people with the same surname and sent him some information, he was very appreciative, as it was his family.  In one of the photos he said was his Mother.  I was very glad that i could help someone else.  He said he would look to see if he could find anything on my ancestor, for which i am truly grateful.

I have no idea how long this search will go on for, i seem to be able to find all the information on other families of the same surname, just not mine.

The person in Ireland doesn't think my family is connected to his.  Sometimes  i feel as if all the research i have done has been for nothing.

Onwards with the search, i  have a renewed vigour, let's see how long it lasts.