James Hurley 1833 : Short Biography

Comments

Number of children is six. I cannot save the correction.

Wendy Hurley

Wednesday 20th June 2018 09:56AM

I am a Herley- was always told Herley was the shortened version of O'Herlihey- do you know if this is true?

Wednesday 27th June 2018 05:33PM

Good Day, I have only recently joined and I'm not sure of the origin of the name Hurley/Herley and its several other spellings.

According to various internet sources which I have seen, it could well come from the Gaelic "O hUirthile" and its anglicised form of "O'Herlihy". 

Regards.

Wendy Hurley

Wednesday 27th June 2018 08:45PM

Greetings from South Africa.

JAMES HURLEY was apparently born in Cappamore, Limerick, around 1832, based on his age at marriage. His father was James Hurley, a Weaver. His mother's name is unknown.

He married Ellen Lacy in Dromkeen, Emly, Limerick on 7 September 1856. They were both residing in Doon at the time and their occupations were listed as Labourers.

Ellen was apparently born in Newport around 1836, according her age at marriage. Her father was William Lacy, a Shoemaker, and her mother's name was Mary.

James and Ellen Hurley had a son, John, born in 1858 and baptised in Doon Parish.

They then emigrated to South Africa aboard The Tudor, which left Southampton on 3 December 1859.

They settled in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape and had five more sons there: Patrick, William, James, George and Thomas Hurley, all baptised in St Patrick's Catholic Church.

James was a stock farmer and died of Consumption and Heart Failure in 1905 at the stated age of 75 years, which puts his birth date around 1830.

Ellen had died of Bronchitis some 10 years earlier in 1895 at the stated age of 56 which means that she could have even been born around 1839. 

They are both buried in the Grahamstown Roman Catholic Cemetery.

James and Ellen Hurley are the great-great grandparents of my late husband and the 3x Great Grandparents of my children.

I have only recently managed to trace the family that far back and am hoping to find out some more about their background in Ireland.

I would like to know exactly where and when James and Ellen were born, precisely who their parents were and what their lives were like. 

It would also be interesting to know about any brothers and sisters they might have had. 

With best regards.

 

Wendy Hurley

Wednesday 27th June 2018 10:28PM

Hi Wendy Hurley, my wife's maiden name is Hurley and her Grand-Father was Geoge Thomas Hurley born on 1 March 1898 in Cathcart, Eastern Cape South Afica which is +/- 180 klms from Grahamstown. His father was a James Hurley born about 1864 but we have no other information backing this up. I realise I'm clutching at straws but do you have any other information on the five sons that were born in Grahamstown and baptised at St. Patericks? It seems that her father's and grandfather's name 'James Henry' and 'George Thomas' are coincidentally very similar to the five brothers names as well as her Great Grandfather who was James born about 1864. Hopefully being two years later you might still pick up on this thread.

Many thanks,

Brian and Denise (Hurley) Lord

Johannesburg, South Africa

 

 

BJL222

Monday 25th May 2020 05:08PM

Dear Brian and Denise,

Our Hurley ancestors are also from Cathcart and Johannesburg.

It is quite possible that your James Hurley is the brother of our Patrick Hurley. They would be two of the six sons of James Hurley and Ellen Lacy from Ireland.

The son James was born on 27 October 1864 which matches your date. Unfortunately I don't have any other definite information on him.

In fact, I haven't been able to find much information on any of the other brothers either, except for William James Hurley, and even that is scanty.

Have you done any research? There are several people with the same names as that family and it's difficult to identify who is who without more information.

I did come across a James Hurley, Wagonbuilder, born in the Cape, who died in Boksburg/Benoni Hospital on 31.3.1941, age 76, making him born around 1864/1865. 

Could this be your person?

Regards, Wendy.

 

 

Wendy Hurley

Thursday 28th May 2020 03:27PM

Hi Wendy, many thanks for your response. Certainly does look a liitle promising particularly the fact that Denise's Grandfather is also from Benoni where he raised his family.. There might therefore be a link to the CT James Hurley except his DoD being 1941 is a few years out from ours at 1924.

The six brothers and sister that we have on reord (only two are confirmed) are William, Thomas, John, Walter, Denise's G'father - George Thomas (B 1.3.1898 D 9.6.1964) and Violet her Aunt (B 1897 D 1967). The latter two married siblings, Johanna Blanche Ferreira and James Henry Ferreira. James Hurley, their father was born 1864 and died 1924 but these dates are not confirmed. Unfortunately also no reference to a Patrick in this group :(

I have attempted emailing St Patricks in Grahamstown but no response so far. How have you managed to obtain your details of your family and also the James Hurley from Cape Town?

I did ask IrelandXO.com to provide you with my direct email address and hopefully we can continue this communication directly?

Much appreciated, Brian & Denise

 

 

 

 

BJL222

Sunday 31st May 2020 08:00AM

Good Afternoon, Brain and Denise.

E-Mail will be good so I can also send you copies of any relevant documents and the contact infomation for St Patrick's Catholic Church records.

The James Hurley who I mentioned above is just a random find with no other information available and no known connection to me other than his date of birth being around 1865. His Death Notification Document just says that he was born in the Cape Province, and not Cape Town, so there was still hope. His address was 86A Howard Avenue, Benoni. His age of 76 (making him born around 1865) was even marked as correct by the Registering Authority (currently Home Affairs) but I have now also found a picture of his gravestone in the Benoni Rynsoord Cemetery showing the dates of 27.9.1861 - 31.3.1941, which changes everything.

If grandfather George Thomas Hurley's parents were James Hurley and Charlotte Emily Henrietta Schaup, then I have information on the child William who you mention.

Hope to chat again soon. Regards, Wendy.

 

 

Wendy Hurley

Sunday 31st May 2020 11:26AM

Wendy thanks for your prompt response. Yes, James Hurley was married to Charlotte Emily Henrietta Schaupe. I had mentioned her name in my first email to you this morning but lost the message when the website asked me to log in. In my subsequent message to you I unfortunately left off that detail! Can't wait to receive what images you may have.

I have been communicatting with a lady named Laura at IrelandXO.com and she had said she would check whether you would be happy to communicate directly by email and i asked that she provide you with my details. Hopefully that will come through on Monday.

We are really making good progress having tied three of the six brothers together. Just need to find the descedants of John, George and Thomas.

Hopefully will be in touch directly the next time we communicicate.

Kind regards, Brian and Denise

 

 

 

 

 

BJL222

Sunday 31st May 2020 02:59PM