Hi Back on the list after a few years' absence. Recent research is helping us zero in on a geographic location for our Cork ancestors. It now looks like our lines go back to the Schull and Ballydehob areas. My gg grandfather George BEAMISH was born in Cork ca 1820 and we have not yet been able to identify his parents for certain. He and a number of other BEAMISHes were in Canada (Toronto) by the early 1830s - some settled in Peel County, others remained in Toronto. George married Mary SWANTON in 1843. Her parents were George SWANTON and Charlotte WRIGHT. Mary was born ca 1827 in Ireland and her baptism is in Louise Swanton's book. We believe that we are dealing with a large case of chain migration which continued up into the 1870s at least. In 1872, Evis Swanton Beamish Raycroft, widow of Thomas Beamish, who was one of the early 1830 arrivals, brought her two neices Annie and Sarah SWANTON (daughters of Samuel SSWANTON and Elizabeth SHANNON) and possibly another girl (maybe another neice) Anne SHANNON to Toronto. The two Swanton sisters married two Beamish brothers (sons of the above George and Mary) in Toronto. We have spent many years trying to sort out all these individuals and are finally starting to make some progress. There are a number of other surnames connected with the SWANTON and BEAMISH lines - marriages, witnesses at weddings, sponsors at baptisms, but this is enough for the first post. If you see any connections we're happy to exchange information. Patty Ottawa, Canada.
My ancestors came from the same area -- although SWANTON is the only ancestor surname that matches. I have cousins who married all the other names in your list. My other ancestral names are VICKERY WOLFE , WARNER. LEVIS. I have Wolfe and Vickery trees showing inlaws who had your names - and we must surely be able to fill in some holes for each other. For example, when my great grandfather revisited Ireland in the late 1800s, he mentioned visiting Beamish cousins among others, My families were Protestants, and the Vickery's are said to have been among the first Methodists in S.W.Cork. (We have an interesting story about one of John Wesley's visits.) I have often found that cousins can be very helpful in my search for an older generation of relatives. Barbara Rice Lafayette IN