Hello - this is an amazing photograph! Can you tell me where it came from? I have a photograph of my grandmother - Bridget Blake Browne's grandchild - where the high cheekbones and straight mouth are similar. My great-great grandparents were George Browne and Bridget Blake, and given that the dates I have for them are the same as yours, they must be the same people you are researching. They had a daughter Margaret (dob 11/05/1847 - 26/10/1926) who married my great grandfather - one of their children was my mother's mother. Like you, I heard stories about "gran" - Margaret, my mothers grandmother, and I remember my mother and her sisters discussing her in hushed tones. Gran, Margaret, was, they said, a very refined person with 'beautiful manners'. There was talk about 'the wrong side of the blanket' - meaning a person was born out of wedlock, and there was always lots of mention of the Blakes of Tower Hill. I had assumed they were speaking about their grandmother, but now think that it was their great-grandmother, Bridget Blake. One story was that her mother had been a nanny who had become pregnant perhaps by one of the Blakes but who had been looked after by 'the family' in the big house. There was some talk of her being sent to their relatives in Galway, and the child being reared in the Blake house. The Brownes were also one of the big landowners in the area, and were related to Altamont Browne who owned Westport House and several other Brownes. My mother commissioned some research but did not solve the mystery. My great-grandmother, Margaret Browne, was a teacher who married another teacher, George Garvey. He taught Irish to the boys from Moore Hall one of whom, George Moore, wrote several books including a series, Hail and Farewell, where he mentions my great grandfather. The Browne and Blake families were friends and in some cases intermarried with the Moores. The Brownes of Westport House, claimed descent from Grainne O Maile, the so called pirate queen. I would be very interested in hearing of any further progress you may have made in this area. Ann.
References
This is what I believe to be a photo of my 3rd great-grandmother, Bridget Blake.
I have been trying to find her parents as well as her husband, George Browne's parents.
They married in April 1844, in the Burriscarra Catholic Church, County Mayo.
I believe Bridget died in October 1875 in Carnacon, County Mayo, so the photo would have had to be taken before that
The story passed down says they were disowned by their families, but hers eventually relented.
The family homestead seems to be on what was the grounds of Towerhill, owned by Blakes, between the estate house and the school the Blakes built in the 1850s.
Through George Browne, we are supposedly related to the Browne's of Westport House.
I haven't been able to trace parents of either one or burial places for either one.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1820 (circa) | |
| Date of Death | 1st Oct 1875 | |
| Spouse (First Name/s and Maiden/Surname) | George Browne | VIEW SOURCE |
| Place & Date of Marriage | April 25, 1844 Burriscarra Mayo Ireland | VIEW SOURCE |
| Place of Death | 16 Oct 1875 Carrownagreggaun Hollymount Mayo Ireland rootsireland.ie | |
| Names of Children | Sabina Browne Michael Browne Margaret Browne John Browne George Joseph Browne Andrew Henry Browne Henry Browne Mary Browne | VIEW SOURCE |
Comments
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Ann
Thursday 2nd May 2019 03:19PM
