Mahood family

Kathryn:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

We have a parish liaison in Bailieborough and I will e-mail her to alert her to your message.

Roger McDonnell

Thank you. I should have added that the family were not Catholic, and probably Methodist.

Hello from Australia  I am a Hunter researcher from Bailetjamesduff and  Bailieborough and Roger McDonnell said he would pass my request on the the Bailieborough Parish Liaison . Have not heard from her .  Is there something I should do  . I have had wonderful help from Donegal and Tipperary helpers    Laurie Thompson

Laurie:

Let me followup with our HQ folks.

Roger

Hello Kathryn.

I've been looking at the Mahood family for a cousin.

I have a working theory, which might turn out to totally wrong, that Joseph and Mary Mahood (who went to South Australia in 1858 on the General Hewett, where Joseph died in 1862 and Mary died in 1884) might have had the following children:

- James, born Drumhillagh; baptised Knockbride Parish, 22 July 1827 - possibly married Ellen Beaty, Knockbride, 1852

- Robert, born Drumhillagh; baptised Knockbride Parish, 23 November 1828 - arrived in South Australia in 1858 on the General Hewett - possibly married Jane Davison, South Australia, 1865 - died 1906

- Sarah, born Drumhillagh, baptised Knockbride Parish, 20 February 1831 - possibly married Robert Davison, South Australia, 1857 - died 1901

- Martha Anne (aka Martha Jane), born Drumhillagh; baptised Knockbride Parish, 2 June 1833 - married Joseph Gray, South Australia, 1863 - died 1904

- Joseph junior, born Drumhillagh; baptised Knockbride Parish, 19 April 1835 - arrived in South Australia in 1856 on the Lord Raglan - married Ann Jane Heaslip, South Australia, 1868 - died 1909

- Margaret, born Drumhillagh; baptised Knockbride Parish, 4 June 1837 - possibly married George Fitzgerald, South Australia, 1879 - died 1917

- George, born Big Drumhillagh; baptised Knockbride Parish, 5 May 1839 - arrived in South Australia in 1858 on the General Hewett - married Eliza  Heaslip, South Australia, 1869 - died 1903

- Mary Ann, born about 1847 - arrived in South Australia in 1858 on the General Hewett - died South Australia, 1869 - did not marry

The Manoora General Cemetery has a headstones commemorating: Joseph and Mary Mahood; Joseph and Martha Gray; George Mahood; and Mary Ann Mahood.

I think that Joseph Mahood senior had at least one brother also migrate to South Australia.

The Mahood family who went to South Australia in 1858 on the Bee, from Ayrshire, Scotland, also seems to have been from County Cavan, Ireland.

Dear WillieBlacksmith, Thank you for your reply about the children of Joseph and Mary Mahood which is extremely interesting. I have recorded all of these children except the oldest, James. It would appear that he did not go to South Australia with the rest of the family.

My records show many similarites and some differences. The main difference is that none of the birth dates you gave align with my research. For example, Margaret was 78 when she died in 1917, so I have her birth date as 1839. However, people often lied about their age! May I ask the source of your information? Have you seen the baptism records in Knockbride?

You are right about Joseph's brother; it was John Mahood. In fact, two of John's grandchildren (siblings Jane and Robert Davison) married their second cousins, two of Joseph's children (siblings Robert and Sarah Mahood). The family tree is quite a tangle!

I have extensively documented this family's lives in Australia and will happily share with you. darleys@bigpond.com.au is my direct email; I would love to chat more. Regards, Kathryn 

Hello Kathryn.

I will contact you direct - but I will also post a bit more here, to help other people.

Regarding ages, unless the Mahood men were away fighting in the Peninsular War/Battle of Waterloo, I think that John Mahood and Catherine Wallace and Joseph Mahood senior and Mary (possibly Porter) were probably all born closer to 1800, than in the mid-1770s. Irish birth dates are most problematic - and the general feeling is that they can be a decade or two out! I get the feeling that the Mahood men possibly didn't have the best of health.

For the eight children whom I have atttibuted to Joseph senior and Mary, I have used baptism records that I found on Roots Ireland for seven of them. I couldn't find one for Mary (aka Mary Ann) - but when J&M set out for South Australia (1878/58), Mary Ann must have looked about eleven yrs of age (which was the age specificied on the passenger list) - so her calculated birth date of about 1847 was probably not out by more than a couple of years.

Regarding James Mahood (baptised 1827), there is much confusion. Some trees have him dying in 1857 in West Virgiinia (which I think is correct) and some have him dying in New York State in 1898. I believe James went to the USA in 1852 on the Joseph Walker, with new wife Ellen and, it seems,his sister Martha Jane (aka Martha Anne), who later found her way to Australia. After James died in 1857 in West Virginia, Ellen seems to have re-married - to Joseph Smith Cosser around 1857. In various records (e.g. birth records of her subsequent children), she is referred to as Ellen Beaty/Beatty Mahood.

Joseph senior and Mary and three children (Robert Porter, George H A and Mary Ann) arrived is South Australia on the General Hewett in 1858. Joseph junior had already arrived on the Lord Raglan in 1856. I haven't found arrivals for the other three girls, but Sarah must have arrived no later than 1857, Martha Jane no later than 1863 and Margaret no later than 1870. There was an unclaimed letter in 1855 in South Australia for a Sarah Mahood - which might have been her.

The family is certainly a tangle! As well as the Davison tangle, Joseph junior married Annie Jane Heaslip and George married Eliza Heaslip. And to make it even more confusing from a DNA point of view, the Mahood family and the Heaslip family were both from County Cavan, Ireland.

After looking at with whom people are buried and the names given to the children, I feel pretty comfortable with the eight children whom I have attributed to Joseph and Mary (but I'm happy to be proven wrong!). After reading in Margaret's marriage notice that she was the 3rd daughter of the late Joseph Mahood, I was very pleased to find her as the 3rd daughter in my list.

My cousin knows very little about the Mahood family - but when I send her the bits and pieces that I've put together it is possible that a few bells might begin ringing.

Hi

If I may belatedly join this conversation, my wife Jane is descendant from John Mahood and Catherine Wallace who came to South Australia on the Mary Dugdale in 1840.

 John’s son William married Jane Smith in 1861 in Saddleworth, South Australia.  I note that Robert Mahood also from Saddleworth married Jane Davison in 1865.  I would be interested in sharing information on the connection between the various Mahood lines in Australia and on their Irish origins.

Mile