Shelly of Halifax, Nova Scotia and County Kerry, Ireland

Jan:

I will make sure Martine sees your message.

Roger McDonnell

Thank you Roger.

Jan

Thanks Roger and HUGE CONGRATS Jan..persistence pays!! It may take me a few days but I will get back to  you as soon as I can.

Martine

Hi Jan, 

Mullane/Milone/Milane/Mullins/Moylan possible spelling variations but only 55 baptisms of Johanna Mullane in Kerry (exact spelling) or where the mother or godmother was Johanna Mullane and only 16 of those before 1860. I have

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?namefm=Johanna&namel=Mullane&exact=true&name2fm=&name2l=&location=&yyfrom=&yyto=&diocese=KERRY+(RC)&parish=&century=1800&decade=&sort=&pageSize=100&ddBfrom=&mmBfrom=&yyBfrom=&ddMfrom=&mmMfrom=&yyMfrom=&ddDfrom=&mmDfrom=&yyDfrom=&ddBto=&mmBto=&yyBto=&ddMto=&mmMto=&yyMto=&ddDto=&mmDto=&yyDto=&locationB=&locationM=&locationD=&member0=&member1=&member2=&member3=&member4=&member5=&member6=&member7=&member8=&member9=&namef0=&namef1=&namef2=&namef3=&namef4=&namef5=&namef6=&namef7=&namef8=&namef9=&namel0=&namel1=&namel2=&namel3=&namel4=&namel5=&namel6=&namel7=&namel8=&namel9=&event=B&keyword=&submit=Search

75 returns for Honora Mullane

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?name2fm=&name2l=&namefm=Honora&namel=Mullane&exact=true&location=&yyfrom=&yyto=&submit=Search&sort=&pageSize=100&diocese=KERRY+%28RC%29&parish=&century=1800&decade=&ddBfrom=&ddMfrom=&ddDfrom=&mmBfrom=&mmMfrom=&mmDfrom=&yyBfrom=&yyMfrom=&yyDfrom=&ddBto=&ddMto=&ddDto=&mmBto=&mmMto=&mmDto=&yyBto=&yyMto=&yyDto=&locationB=&locationM=&locationD=&member0=&member1=&member2=&member3=&member4=&member5=&member6=&member7=&member8=&member9=&namef0=&namef1=&namef2=&namef3=&namef4=&namef5=&namef6=&namef7=&namef8=&namef9=&namel0=&namel1=&namel2=&namel3=&namel4=&namel5=&namel6=&namel7=&namel8=&namel9=&keyword=&event=B

Only 14 returns for Mullane in Kerry in Griffiths Valuation c 1850

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=11&Submit.y=18&Submit=Submit&familyname=Mullane&firstname=First+Name&baronyname=&countyname=KERRY&unionname=&parishname=

Can you send me any possible dates you have for the arrival of the Shelly's in Nova Scotia?

Are they showing up in a Census?

Were the children born in Nova Scotia?

So far I am not finding a Shelly/Mullane marriage either in the Kerry Church records or in rootsireland. It begins to look like they may have married elsewhere?

Are there any Mullanes neighbours to the Shelly's?

Possibly baptism records for the children may give us something if any of the godparents are related?

I hope you won't be disheartened Jan and do come back to me with anything else you turn up. I'll do my best to help.

Martine

PS I'm just adding back the earlier research so I can keep it all together below.

There are no families called Shelly or Shelley in Kerry around 1850 according to Griffith's Valuation. There are only 6 returns for that name, all in Co. Laois (Queen's Co.) John, Jeremiah and William.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=20&Submit.y=7&Submit=Submit&familyname=Shelley&firstname=First+Name&baronyname=&countyname=&unionname=&parishname=

The Church records I sent you list Matthew, Joseph, Edmund, Catherine and Mary with the surname Shelley. Relations of Edward's possibly? (Since the surname pool in Kerry is so small)

I have sometimes seen Edward used interchangeably in Kerry records with Edmund.

The 1901 Census gives no returns for Shelley in Kerry and only 111 in the whole of Ireland.

Thinking about it, probably your best bet is to look for every single record you can find in Nova Scotia

Census Records

Passenger Lists

Land records

Newspaper Announcements/Articles

Wills

Headsones/Cemetary Records..... findagrave.com has 164 returns for Shelley, Canada

Church Records

Close Neighbours who may have travelled from the same place in Ireland

Military Records

Death Certificates which sometimes give a lot of information about a person. I recently found the birth surname of a woman called Mary in her daughter's death certificate. As far as I know it was not recorded in any other existing record.

since one of them may contain further information. My own great uncle Luke Brennan gave his complete address when questioned at Ellis Island about his place of origin! From a quick look at Canadian records for Shelley, you may be slightly hampered in that a number of Shelley families came directly from homes in England to Canada, but again the surname pool is small in comparision to many other Irish names.

Hello Martine,

Thank you so much for sending me the information you found about the MULLANE's to see if anything was possibly relevant. I do not know where Edward SHELLY and Johanna MULLANE married. I know his Father's name was Timothy as I have seen it in a family letter and on a Canadian census. They appear in the 1871 Halifax census, but not all family members are included. I think they arrived between 1844-1845 according to a listing I obtained from a publication that cited all the family members: daughters: Catherine born 1845/6, Elizabeth, Honora; Sons: Denis, Edmond, John, Michael, Thomas and ? Father Timothy (?born 1826). As far as I have been able to trace, only one of their daughters married: Catherine Shelly born Nova Scotia c1845 married Michael Mckenna 1871 at Halifax. Father Edward, Mother: Joanna. Timothy Shelly is Edward's father born 1826 in Ireland, according to the 1871  and born 1822 in the 1891 Halifax census. At the time of the 1871 census Edward is given as aged 70 and a widower in the same household are Timothy (45) clerk and Catherine aged 25. In the 1891 census Timothy,is 69 and in the same household is Mary Mckenna aged 16 who is a lodger.

I have been unable to find any baptism records for the children as yet but will keep looking!

Many thanks, 

Jan

Hi Jan, I was browsing newspapers online and found this which made me think of you. 

Martine

Thank you for the interesting article Martine. What a brave little girl. A shame I am not related!  I have been perusing some death records in Halifax and came across death records for Honora Shelly, born Kerry, died 1870 aged 30 of consumption. She would have been born 1840 in Ireland. Timothy Shelly born Ireland, died 1899,single, aged 77 of senile debility, a pauper in the poor asylum; Edward Shelly born Ireland, died aged 87 of old age. Thank you for your continued interest in my SHELLY's. Jan

Hi Jan, I do hope that some of these prove to be a match to your family. I have been finding Death Certificates in the States for my own family which give the deceased mom and dad names, so I am very excited! Do your records give much detail?

M

No, the details are given as I have seen them on the NS Archives records for the time period. I guess I may have to look further afield. I do not know what happened to their married daughter Catherine but Elizabeth died before the 1881 census and James remarried I think according to a marriage certificate I have seen. I never heard it talked about by my Grandmother. Maybe I will get time to go to the NSArchive office when I visit there at the end of June and find some more detailed records.I need to find a paper trail of when they arrived in Nova Scotia.

Thanks again,

Jan

Hello again Martine,

Whilst at the NS Archive in Halifax, I found out that my SHELLY/MULLANE family were from Dingle, County Kerry recorded in the second volume of Terrence Punch's publication regarding the Irish in Atlantic Canada. I have looked at the Griffith Valuation records you sent and found two MULLANE's from the parish of Bhallihover in the Union of Dingle with family names of Denis and Edward. Johanna and Edward SHELLY names two of their sons Denis and Edward. Is it possible that this is my MULLANE family? I have not been able to find any baptisms for Johanna MULLANE in this parish as yet. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts Martine. Many thanks,

Jan

Hi Jan, you must have been absolutely thrilled! 

As you know some Civil Registration records are now online free of charge a quick search of Mullane Dingle gives 11 returns you might like to check them to see if they are of any help. https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie There are 2 Johanna's listed but both spinsters.

In the church records on the same site I found a Johanna Milane 1826 mother of John Sheehy https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/e9d3ba0186121

AND Honora Milane (did you say Johanna was sometimes known as Honora?) Milane born 1827 https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/a42af90186557

ANOTHER Johanna born 1837 https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/1de0f80186831

So Jan, no easy way around it but to make a list of all the couples in the right time frame and eliminate them one by one, unless something about the above entries pop out. Do note how many variations of the surname spelling there are!

If you are on Facebook, you might like to share your quest with The Kerry Family History Society as there are some folk from Dingle there who might be able to help you more.

Let me know how you get on! I have rarely 'met' a person who works so hard on their family history as you do.

warm wishes

Martine

PS There are 13 returns for MILLANE, Dingle on the Civil Registration records

Hello Martine,

Yes, I was thrilled to confirm that my MULLANE and SHELLY ancestors were from Dingle. My late husband and I visited counties Cork and Kerry in 1999 and actually spent three memorable nights in Dingle. This was before I even knew I had a personal connection. It was special then and even moreso now. Thank you for your compliment regarding my tenacity ......I shared all the information I had with my cousins and this was my way of honouring my ancestors. However, my journey is not finished. I have looked at the civil registrations and the MULLANE's were all RC from the registration district of Annascaul which includes the parish of Ballinhover (?Ballanhovir) which I got from the Griffiths Valuations information you sent me.  They lived in ? Ardroe which I will have to look up. I will continue to look at other spellings for both MULLANE and SHELLY as they may have been SHEEHY/SHEHY and recorded as SHELLY/SHELLEY when they emigrated.

Thanks again for all your helpful information which is much appreciated. I will continue to look at each one and try and eliminate/confirm the entries. I will also look at FB County Kerry FHS.

Jan

Ardroe

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlker/bvoher1.html

Mullane Ardroe 1901

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Kerry/Inch/Ardroe/1407529/

Good luck Jan

Martine

Thank you so much Martine for sending me the map and the census information.It helps to put it into context for me, I am going to contact the Kerry Genealogical Society and hopefully there are some descendants remaining in that area who might be able to help! It would be so nice to be able to tell them what happened to their ancestors as well! 

Have a lovely weekend,

Jan