The Tree of Me

Francis Henry Daniel Sneyd was the youngest of nine or possibly ten sons born to Robert Hardcastle Sneyd and his wife Elizabeth Dawson. He was born in 1890 and lived with his family at Mount Gamble, Swords, Co. Dublin. One day in 1913 he went to Dublin and I believe his family did not hear from him again. After the death of his father Robert Hardcastle in December 1923 the following notice was placed in The Freeman's Journal. Freeman's Journal, 23 Feb 1924, p.1 There was no reply to this advertisement and two years later a court case was necessary to declare him deceased before the death of his father. Evidence during the case stated that: "every possible form of inquiry had been made to find him all the world over, but without result. He was described as a noted sportsman, having been a footballer and county cricketer. He came into Dublin one day in 1913 and disappeared."  Irish Independent 23 Feb 1926, p. 11. What happened to Francis Henry Daniel Sney...

I have written a couple of posts about Samuel Dawson in the past few weeks. After publishing a letter written by him in 1878 I decided to see what else I could find out about him. I have followed up with an email to the Maritime Museum in Liverpool seeking information about Samuel. Last week I received these images from John Winrow, the assistant curator. I now have more information to include in Samuel's story. He attended the Swords Endowed School which I will have to research further. Under terms of admission it states the fees were £42. It looks as though his father Richard Dawson had to pay for Samuel to become a Conway cadet. Both his naval and school reports while on the Conway were outstanding. In one of my earlier posts I surmised that he won a telescope for either the Chairman of the Conway Committee Prize or the Royal Geographical Prize. I now know his prize was in Geography. Samuel's report comments read: 1877 Gained? class prizes in Geography and Histor...

I have been meaning to start a genealogy blog for some time. I agonized over what to call it and have already changed the title twice today. Over the summer I have revived my genealogy twitter account (@shazbrennan) and begun to follow several blogs via Feedly . Shelly from Twigs of Yore set an Australia Day challenge for genealogy bloggers, so I thought it’s now or never. The Challenge Find the earliest piece of documentation you have about an ancestor in Australia. If you don't have an Australian ancestor, then choose the earliest piece of documentation you have for a relative in Australia. What is the document?  The document I have chosen to discuss is one that is actually in my possession. It is a single sheet of paper giving details of the births of my great great grandfather Dr William Lee Dawson on 16th September 1819, his brother Richard and sister Catherine. Although not an Australian document, it does document an Australian ancestor. William Lee Dawson Born...