Charles Dillon Payne was born in County Cork about 1825. About 1851 he was in Liverpool, England, listed in the census as a visitor in the home of Michael and Mary Barrett. He met his wife, Jane Gabriella (Jennie) Craven in Liverpool, and they married in the second quarter of 1862. It is said that he wrote poetry about Jennie. They had 4 girls before Jennie died in 1871, possibly of pneumonia. Their children were left orphaned in 1875, when Charles died, possibly in a street accident. All the children except Helen Kate were sent to New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, to live with Charles' brother George, who had made a comfortable living in the mercantile industry. Helen Kate was married in Ballaghadereen, County Roscommon, where her grandparents Thomas and Esme Dillon Payne, were buried, and had probably lived.
