Robert Smallhorn from Newown Westmeath

Just found ColCaff's response to Gerrard Abrams in 2013. Gerrard is a cousin so that adds a bit of info to the story. There has got to be more!

Christine Lawrence

Christine.

On a slightly different note . There is still Smallhorn (e) in Ireland so I will copy & paste .& the site can be found on Face book justice for Smallhorne & Barrett.

bout

Dedicated to the Memory of Pte Derek Smallhorne and Pte Thomas Barrett

46th Infantry Battalion UNIFIL 79/80

“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”

Mission Statement:

On the 18th of April 1980 three Irish peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Pte John O’Mahony, Pte Derek Smallhorne and Pte Thomas Barrett, were captured and disarmed by members of the Lebanese De Facto Forces (DFF) operating in the Enclave area of South Lebanon. Pte’s Smallhorne and Barrett were subsequently murdered and Pte O’Mahony was seriously wounded. To this day the perpetrators of this act have still not been brought to justice.

The alleged and self-confessed murderer of Pte’s Smallhorne and Barrett is a former DFF Militia member Mahmoud Bazzi. Mahmoud Bazzi is known to be living in the Detroit area of the United States of America since shortly after the capture and murder of the Irish Peacekeepers. As a result of Mahmoud Bazzi applying for United States citizenship last year a new investigation was launched by the United States Department of Homeland Security (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) which found alleged immigration irregularities and possible illegal entry by Mahmoud Bazzi into the United States. Their view was that Mahmoud Bazzi would face an Immigration Deportation Hearing. This investigation has not progressed since September 2013 and no Immigration Deportation Hearing has been scheduled to date.

Justice for Smallhorne and Barrett are a non-aligned coalition of, former colleagues from the Irish Defence Forces, friends and family of John O’Mahony, Derek Smallhorne and Thomas Barrett. The group’s primary aim is to seek justice for the murders of unarmed Irish peacekeepers Pte Derek Smallhorne, Pte Thomas Barrett and the serious wounding of Pte John O Mahony and request that the United States Authorities act on the information the Department of Homeland Security investigation into Mahmoud Bazzi uncovered in 2013

The group is committed to using all legal means to form an effective conduit to publicize and raise the awareness of this case both in Ireland and in the United States, recognising the special relationship and history that exists between our two nations. It will actively lobby and engage with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to achieve its aim. It will at all times carry out this endeavor in a dignified and respectful manner, respectful of the families of Derek Smallhorne and Thomas Barrett. 
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Hi Christine, I am a Fetherston whose ancestors were living in northern Westmeath, in the parish of Mayne near Coole/Castlepollard, in the early to late 1800s. They were a family of master carpenters & farmers. I have been researching Fetherstons for 15 years.

Was your Elizabeth Fetherston Roman Catholic or Church of Ireland (Protestant)? The large landowning Fetherston's were all related & were Church of Ireland, as were mine. I haven't found a connection to them yet. The majority of Catholic Fetherston's seem to be farmers from Co. Roscommon so it may be worth looking there. 

Your ancestors were farm labourers/servants, do you know if they were working on an estate or an independent farm? If it was an estate there may be estate records.

Have you done a DNA test & have you uploaded it to GEDmatch? I am happy to have a look for them.

Marie Fetherston Davison in NSW

How nice to hear from you Marie

I have been researching my wider family for 50 years now and entirely new stuff rarely pops up any more. Its a very pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately none of my Irish ancestors, nearly all of whom arrived as Bounty immigrants, volunteered much about their Irish lives. There is also next to no family history passed down from those first settlers. I can get below county level for very few of them. 

I do have a copy of Robert Smallhorn's indent which tells me he was Catholoc, literate, a farm labourer who gave Westmeath as his native place. So definitely not related to the land owning Featherstons which does not surprise me at all.

I know nothing about Robert's life before he came to Queanbeyan, apart from the fact that his daughter Elizabeth was born in Newtown in Westmeath and neither he or his wife were young when they made the decision to come to Australia.

That he was indeed a farm labourer is evidenced by his first assignment here and the fact that he knew how to manage livestock. I have no info about where he acquired those skills, I have had little luck pinning Robert himself down to any place in Ireland - so no estate records. For most of his life in Australia he ran his own bullock wagon between Queanbeyan and Sydney and died as a result of an accident with same.

Knowing that I might find Robert's Featherstone relatives in Roscommon is a new trail worth exploring and I thank you for the tip.

 I have not done a DNA test but obviously with all these dead ends it is something to think about.

I may well be back here soon.

Regards

Christine

I'm Omar Smallhorn from Jamaica. Was always told by my dad that my great great greats were from Ireland. But it seems the name originated in England from my research.