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Dear IrelandXO volunteers,

Robert George Philpotts – SixMileBridge, County Clare

Seeking information for my great-grandfather, Robert George Philpotts.

Robert immigrated to U.S.A. in 1871 and lists his place of birth as SixMileBridge in Ireland in the marriage register at First Lutheran Church of Boston in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1883. His parents are listed with the names: Philip C. Philpotts and Ann.

Is there a way to confirm his birth in SixMileBridge?  I believe he was born in 1853 or 1854 and possibly on July 4. The family probably belonged to the Church of Ireland.

I believe his father’s real name could have been Patrick Campion Philpott or Philpot, who was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary in County Clare. It seems Patrick married three times, and my guess is that his first wife was mother of Robert. Patrick is listed in the 1901 census in Kilrush, County Clare, as a Protestant and retired from the RIC. He was born about 1822 in County Cork and I believe died in 1902.

It is possible Robert’s mother was Ann Cavanagh.

Thank you in advance for any information you are able to find, such as birth record for Robert, death record for his mother, births/deaths of any other Philpot/Philpott/Philpotts in SixMileBridge or County Clare, etc.

Most sincerely,

Martha Beales

Rochester, New York

mjbeales@rochester.rr.com

Martha

Thursday 10th Oct 2019, 07:31PM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Martha: 

    Thank you for your post.  I live in County Clare, and I may be able to put you in contact with someone in the local Sixmilebridge area where the surname Philpott still exists.  

    If you are interested, please email me directly at:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com

     

    All the best,

     

    Jane

    Jane Halloran Ryan

    Monday 14th Oct 2019, 02:56PM
  • Dear Miriam,

    Thank you so very much for all of your research with the Philpott name.

    Most of the information you found I already have, although I’ve now saved some of the original images of deaths from your links.

    The birth and death of Alexander Philpott, younger brother of Nicholas, was new for me; thank you.

    I agree with your findings of Patrick’s three wives and their names and presume that Ann nee Cavanagh was probably his first wife and probably the mother of my great-grandfather, Robert. Robert had two children: my grandmother in 1884, who was named Ann/Anne (I’ve seen it spelled both ways, and she was called Annie), and another daughter Emily in 1887 (both born in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA). So the naming pattern fits.

    Anne Cavanagh/Cavenagh first married Andrew Connelly in 16 July 1846 in County Clare and then was apparently widowed before marrying Patrick Philpott.

    I also had followed Patrick’s son Nicholas (his mother’s name I believe is Mary Anne Burrell), his visit to the U.S. to visit his half-brother, his vocation and teaching in Norfolk County, England, and agree that he probably never married and that he died in England.

    Nicholas’ half-brother Robert Lawrence lived in New York City as a lawyer along with his brother John H. Lawrence, who was in real estate. An old rather cryptic note in my mother’s handwriting mentioned that as a teen-ager my father went to visit them in ~1926 in New York City. To my knowledge these two Lawrence brothers also never married. I cannot find records, but the story passed on to me years ago was that one of them had a ranch in New Mexico and that my great-aunt Emily as an adult one time visited there for an extended period of time.

    Here is someone’s family tree for Robert Lawrence on Ancestry.com, though not all verified:

    https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/911111/person/-815707335/facts?_phsrc=iCQ7342&_phstart=successSource

    I had earlier found as you did that Patrick listed his father’s name as Robert in one of his marriage records and agree that this fits with the Irish naming pattern.

    What really connected me to Patrick Philpott was an old photo album in my possession. There is a nicely dressed young woman’s picture that is marked as Jane Ann Lawrence. My research found that she stayed in Ireland and married an O’Brien (Thomas I believe). Then I connected her name to her brothers John and Robert Lawrence….

    I read a book on the RIC written by Jim Herlihy. He explained that a constable was not posted in the same county where he was born. In an index book written by Jim Herlihy of all constables I found the RIC number assigned to Patrick, and at a Family Search library was able to look at the RIC record book for Patrick. It showed that he had been born in County Cork. It makes sense to me that he worked all his life in County Clare.

    The above record also showed the county where his wife was born, and presuming that was first wife Ann/Anne, she was born in Northern Ireland (I forget the name of the county offhand).

    I have had my DNA tested with Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, and FamilyTreeDNA. Results from one of those tests has been downloaded to GEDMatch.com. No doubt there are Irish matches from this Philpotts line, but I just don’t know which ones. And of course, none of the Lawrence/O’Brien offspring would match me anyway.

    One of my questions is: was my Robert George Philpotts an only child? My guess is that he was. I wonder if there is somewhere a record of Robert’s birth and a record of his mother’s death. Might there have been a child born to Patrick Philpott and Jane Blane?

    Some other interesting info is that when my grandfather Robert applied for naturalization in the United States, a William Philpott born in County Cork was a witness for his application (this occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1878). I thoroughly researched William Philpott once he lived in the U.S. but have yet to determine how he is related to Robert. William also applied for naturalization on the same day, but Robert was not one of his witnesses. Robert and William both lived in the Boston area but never in the same town. William married Catherine [Kate] Dundon 11 Jan 1862 in Dromtarriff, Cork, Ireland, and shortly thereafter came to the U.S. where they had six children, including a son named Robert! This family seems to be related also to John Philpot, born Ireland 1839, who married Bridget Condon in Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and they had six children, including a son named William.

    Philpot/Philpott/Philpotts is a more common name in England. I wonder if far enough back someone left England for Ireland.

    Miriam, this is not all the information I have but much of it. Again, thank you so much for your response. I don’t know how you found so much in such a short amount of time.

    God bless you!

    Martha

    Martha

    Thursday 17th Oct 2019, 06:49PM
  • Hi Martha:

     

    I have been in contact with a local historian in the area who may be able to assist further.  I will have his contact details to you in the email that you sent to me directly.

    Kind regards,

     

    Jane

    Jane Halloran Ryan

    Monday 21st Oct 2019, 08:50AM
  • Dear Miriam and Jane,

    Thank you both very much for your assistance. I am behind in looking at the links Miriam recently posted. Tomorrow I am scheduled for total knee replacement surgery and things have been hectic getting ready for the "big event!" I'm not sure how soon I'll be back on the computer and/or able to sit in front of it comfortably. But rest assured, I am definitely interested in pursuing leads with this Philpot name.

    Miriam, I should have mentioned, as you did, that the Philpot families (John and William) that settled in Lynn, Massachusetts from County Cork, were Roman Catholic. But I still think there is a connection to Robert George Philpotts.

    Blessings,
    Martha

    Martha

    Tuesday 22nd Oct 2019, 03:21AM
  • Hi Martha:  

    I will have that email contact for you in the next week.  Best of luck with your surgery!  

    All the best,  

    Jane 

    Jane Halloran Ryan

    Wednesday 23rd Oct 2019, 02:20PM
  • Dear Jane,

    Thank you for your well wishes for my surgery. After four months, following very successful total knee replacement surgery and then months of physical therapy, I am once again checking for Philpot/Philpott/Philpotts information. There seem to be additional members from this extended family that settled in the Boston, Massachusetts, area in the 1800s, although I have not been able to connect them.

    Do you have an email contact for me?

    Much appreciated,

    Martha

     

     

     

    Martha

    Saturday 22nd Feb 2020, 03:27PM
  • Yes, Martha.  I will correspond with him now to be sure that he is happy that I share an email address.

     

    All the best,

     

    Jane

    Jane Halloran Ryan

    Tuesday 25th Feb 2020, 12:38PM
  •  

    My mother was Jennie O'Brien, Central Hotel, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare. Her half-brother was Nicholas Campion Philpott. He lived my mother's family in his latter years and is buried in  the Church of Ireland graveyard with my maternal grandmother, Jane Anne O'Brien nee Lawrence.

    Nicholas studied the Classics at University and had many quotes which he had typed out himself!

    Joan Keehan (nee Quinn). 

    P.S. Patrick Campion Philpott was his father. Mary Ann Burrell (Kilrush) was another connection.

     

     

     

    Sunday 9th May 2021, 08:09PM
  • Sunday 9th May 2021, 08:16PM
  • Dear Joan,

    This is more than a year since your message; I apologize for taking so long to reply. Thank you for your information. I am thrilled that we are definitely connected to the same family, although you and I are not blood related, and we are probably about the same age. 

    Here is my understanding: 

    Your mother was Jane Anne "Jennie" O'Brien, dtr. of Thomas O'Brien (I would love his birth/death dates and places) and Jane Anne Lawrence (b. 1871 d. 1935).

    Your grandmother Jane Anne Lawrence mentioned above was the dtr. of William Lawrence (I do not have birth/dates for him) and Mary Anne Burrell (b. Abt. 1845 d. 1895 in Clare). They were married 21 Apr 1868 in Kilrush, Clare.

    After William Lawrence died Mary Anne Burrell Lawrence married the widower (of two previous wives) Patrick Campion Philpott in 1880. Their son was Nicholas Campion Philpott (b. 1881 Kilrush, Clare; d. 1952) He is the half-brother to your grandmother Jane Anne Lawrence and half-uncle to your mother.

    Do you know if Nicholas was ever married? Did he have any children? He supposedly taught in England as I find him in the 1911 England census living in Lancashire as a border with the Fletcher family.

    My great-grandfather, Robert George Philpotts (b. Six Mile Bridge, Clare ~1853, d. Boston, Massachusetts, USA 1895) was another half-brother of Nicholas. Robert was substantially older, the son of Patrick and his first wife Ann/Cavanagh. My father was John Freeto III, son of Anne T. Philpotts Freeto, who was the dtr. of Robert George Philpotts.

    Info I have on Patrick C. Philpott is b. ~1826 in Cork; d. 1902 in Kilrush, Clare. I would love to have more specific information, including burial, birth if possible.... And for his son Robert, if there is any birth record in the town of Six Mile Bridge. It appears this family was all Church of Ireland. 

    Joan, your name has been added to my gealogy database as the dtr. of Ralph Ignatius Quinn and Jane Anne "Jennie" O'Brien. Is this information correct? If you wish to share any other information, that would be lovely. My direct email address is mjbeales@rochester.rr.com (I live in Rochester, New York).

    Also, I have from an old photo album a cabinet card professional picture that is marked as Jane Ann Lawrence. She is beautifully dress in a long light colored dress, wearing a dark hat, and poised in a chair. If you do not have a copy and would like me to scan the picture and send it electronically, let me know.

    Two of Jane Anne Lawrence's brothers (your great-uncles) moved to the United States. Robert, b. in Kilrush 1873, was a lawyer in New York City. He was a major in WW I and died at age 49 from pneumonia in New Mexico. USA. His younger brother, John Henry Lawrence, b. in Kilrush 1878, was in real estate in New York City. He also died young, at age 47. Neither of them apparently married. Nicholas visited his half-brothers in New York.

    Blessings,

    Martha Beales (nee Freeto)

     

     

    Martha

    Saturday 21st Aug 2021, 10:10PM

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