Maybe changed a bit from my original posting on this - Wills and Deeds: Wills are important sources of genealogical information even at times for those whose ancestors did not write a will. Every will had witnesses and at times these witnesses were simply yeomen or servants of the testator. For the person who is familiar with general surname distribution in Ireland the surnames of the witnesses and the counties in which the testator owned land can point to places where a witness as possibly from. Putting sets of wills made by people of the same surname together can possibly build up a picture of familial relationships, cousins, siblings, parents, uncles and aunts. Wills can tell such stories about the people who wrote them, the good deeds done by landlords, that not all were terrible people, the marital breakdown, the disinherited children, the attachment to servants. They can tell of the way of life of the people, the movement around the country, or, they can tell nothing more than just a few names. Not everything went up in smoke in the fire at the Four Courts in 1922, a lot did - but not everything...too much for one mail There were two types of 'Court' dealing with wills and administrations. The Consistorial and the Prerogative Courts. The Consistorial court dealt with 'local' wills and deeds - that is those which referred to property/land within the boundary of that diocese only. The Prerogative Court on the other hand dealt with a will or administration bond if it involved property which had a value of more than £5 in a second diocese. So - the wills and Administrations of the Prerogative court in general would have been those of people who were relatively wealthy and who owned property in two Dioceses or more. Pre 1858: Wills & Administrations of the Consistorial Courts. Before 1857, the Church of Ireland as the Established Church was responsible for all testamentary affairs. Each Diocese had a Consistorial Court which was responsible for granting probate to a will. Probate is the legal authentification of a will and confers on the administrators the power to administer the estate. These courts also had the power to grant letters of Administration to the next of kin or the main creditor on the estates of those who died intestate (without making a will. Each Court was responsible for it's own Diocese, but if the person owned property valued at more than £5 in another diocese then the responsibility for the will or the administration passed on to the Prerogative Court. The Prerogative Court was under the responsibility of the Archbishop of Armagh. The Wills and Administrations of each Consistorial Court were held locally until the abolition of the testamentary authority of the church in 1857. After 1857 - the Pro began to collect these from the local courts and transcribe them into Will and grant Books, these were then indexed. All the original wills were destroyed in the fire of 1922 and most of the Will and Grant Books - the Will Books for the Dioceses of Down (1850-58) ; Connor (1818-20, 1853-58) survived. Also the Grant books for the Dioceses of cashel (1840-45) ; Derry and Raphoe (1818-21) and Ossory (1848-58) survived. As did a very few original documents. The indices were not destroyed although some are badly damaged and difficult to read - pages have been repaired as best as possible. Wills are indexed alphabetically - information : the testator's address, year of probate and sometimes occupation. Administration Bonds - indexed by year and under the initial letter of the person's surname. Information: full name, sometimes address and sometimes occupation. The Prerogative Court The court which dealt with property spread over two or more Dioceses. Up to 1816 it was not held in a 'fixed' location - usually the house of the presiding Judge. From 1816 on - it was held in the King's Inn Building. Records pre 1816 can be thought of as being incomplete - it is not known if all were collected and sent to this one central place for indexing. Again, as for the records of the Consistorial Court, all original documents were transferred to the Public Records Office after 1857 and the original Wills and Grants of Administration were transcribed into Will and Grant books. These were then indexed. The originals and most of the indices were also destroyed in the fire of 1922. Post 1857 The probate Act of 1857 took away the testamentary authority of the Church of Ireland. Now - there was a Principal Registry in Dublin and eleven District Registries. The rules and administration remained something the same. The Principal Registry was the equivalent of the Prerogative Court (but it also covered Dublin and a large area around it). Again with these documents - transcripts were made of the originals. A 'Calandar of Wills and Administrations' was produced for each year, arranged alphabetically. In these 'Calandars' are found the name and address of the deceased person, where and when they died, the value of the estate, the place of Probate and the name and address of the person to whom probate was granted..the relationship of this person is also mentioned if they are related. Copies of these Calandars survive and while these date from 1858 forward it is possible to find records of those who died prior to 1858. There is a consolidated index to the period from 1858 -1877. These are to be found on the shelves in the National Archives in Dublin and the Public Records Office in Belfast. After the fire in 1922 the Public Records Office made an attempt to put together something of that which had been lost. To this effect, they requested copies of originals from anyone who would or could supply these, lawyers, families, researchers and so managed to save some of the past. There is a card index in the National Archives in Dublin - alphabetical listing material recovered. Separate card indices exist for those abstracts taken by researchers such as Thrift, Jennings, Crossley and miscellaneous donations and bequests since that time. Currently - Ancestry.com have one of their ten day freely accessible databases: this is an index to those documents.

Hi, Thank you Jane, and William Flanagan for the info re Derryvullen, Irvinestown, Devenish etc. Originally someone had asked if the l901 census was available for Irvinestown. The info on the Fianna site indicated that Irvinestown is associated with the parish of Derryvullen. The info from the LDS which William posted indicates that Irvinestown is connected with the parish of Devenish. I can't seem to find l901 census info on the LDS site which lists Irvinestown directly - so I'm still confused as to which parish would include the l901 census for Irvinestown!! Entering Irvinestown as part of Fermanagh on the LDS search page gives some links re Irvinestown, Derryvullan. One is a list of l901 census films for Derryvullan, but no mention of Devenish. Thank you, Colman Ahern, Berkeley.

Ray Cassidy <terryc@javanet.com> writes: > I've been following the list for quite some time and am impressed with > the flow of information. Does anyone know if such a list exists for > County Meath? >From <http://www.rootsweb.com/~maillist/>, there is the list IRL-MEATH-L. Send a subscribe message to <IRL-MEATH-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com>. Scott Robert Cranston Anderson phssra@physics.emory.edu http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/anderson

I've been following the list for quite some time and am impressed with the flow of information. Does anyone know if such a list exists for County Meath? Ray Cassidy Asshfield, MA terryc@javanet.com

Over the few years I have been on the net and posting as Jane O'Brien I have had occasion to rant and rave and let fly at people on newsgroups.....I'vet let fly because they don't say thanks, I've let fly because they criticise those who would share through the lists, I've let fly because I was called a name or two. I've gotten on peoples nerves, made genealogical posts, posts re history, poetry, fairies....I've defended priests, landlords, I've told of good and bad in Ireland and that we can't judge any one group by what we've heard about them in general. I've been thrown off lists, asked not to post to lists, stretched the patience of listowners... and I've always had an awful lot of mail as a reponse to what I've posted... For all that I've ever done and said on any newsgroup nothing can compare to what has been coming in to my mailbox over the last 24 hours.....personally and through the newsgroups I've mentioned the word 'gobsmacked' on the Armagh list - and been asked its meaning - basically it means words fail me, I can't think of anything to say..... except Thank You to everyone. To those of you who have tried to offer me money - I can't accept - I'm not insulted, it was very nice of you. But - there are authorities here who should have some responsibility for funding gravestone transcriptions....and once my neck is thick enough, should they refuse me I will make an awful lot of noise <g> To those of you who have mentioned setting up a web site in order that others can find what I have, and buy it from me at a reasonable cost to themselves....I have thought of that option, but it would only be in the end - when I know i have everything there is to have currently on any surname in the county. There's no point in half doing something. To those of you who have suggested I go the CD route - again that is another option but again I would only think it viable when I have completely finishished all graveyards in the county I am working, the same as for a web site. I made a post yesterday to the Armagh newsgroup re Ireland and CD's.......while 'books' on video and CD are common in other countries around the world - we haven't progressed there yet - regardless of being the European base for many IT businesses. To those of you who suggested 'sharing' through some group or other - sorry - the 'vultures' out there would take what I would give and charge others for that.....I've had too many do that to me in the past when I was making look up offers. To anyone who has asked if I am an Angel - I think the last sentence above shows that I'm not :-) To all of you who have asked re transcriptions for particular counties - much work has been done by others, some of it by Heritage centres who keep what they have guarded as they do with all other material. There is a lot to be had in the literature. I do have references for papers published in the various journals, some I already have in my indices to what these journals contain - some I haven't....so I can check those and begin to make composite lists per county and post those. I won't guarantee that whatI post will be complete though. Any I give reference to can be obtained through inter-library loan. To those who have picked up on the surname Lyons - my family comes from Galway and before that - Cork and Kerry - while I have glanced through each post I haven't noticed any links...most of what I have seen would suggest that the Lyons mentioned came from the northern counties. I will try to get back to anyone who has asked me anything - in time. But - generally - thank you to everyone who contacted me, I never expected a response such as I have had and it really is going to have me gobsmacked and quiet for a long time. Jane

Hi, Sorry for the misinformation re Derryvullan/Irvinestown and the l901 census. The LDS site does show five film numbers for the civil parish of Devenish re the l901 census. Can you tell me what catholic parish is the civil parish of Derryvullan in or related to? Opening the Derryvullan link on the LDS site, then opening View related Places gives a link: Ireland, Fermanagh, Derryvullan, Irvinestown. Opening this link gives some links which seem to relate Derryvullan and Irvinestown!! One of the links says "Irvinestown (formerly Called Lowtherstown) is located in Derryvullan Parish," etc. Thank you, Colman Ahern, Berkeley.

Hi, The following site says that Irvinestown is a catholic parish located in (or is part of) the civil parish of Derryvullan: http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/county/fermanagh/ferrc.html When you get to Fermanagh at the following site, click on Related Places, this gives a list of civil parishes for the county, one is Derryvullan. The link for Derryvullan has 7 film numbers for the l901 census. http://www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp Just go: Place Search Enter: Fermanagh, Ireland This gets a list of links, including the Related Places one. Good Luck, Colman Ahern, Berkeley.

Hello...does anyone have information on how I can obtain an Ordinance Survey Map which would detail the townland of Milligans in Fermanagh? Thank you....J. Smith

Dear Listers, John JamesAIKEN is my Great Grandfather who was born1869 ,Ederney ,Fermanagh ,IRELAND,to his parents John AIKEN and Annie CLINTON.John died Kambia,QLD,AUSTRALIA in 1921,John had one known sister Margaret born 1865 also at Ederney.John married 1896 at Kangaroo Valley,NSW,AUSTRALIA,Where also can I find shipping records between those years for people leaving that area??,any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Leanne NSW,AUSTRALIA

To those who have mailed me already - yes, I did forget to mention that I do love working gravestones, they tell me so much about the people who went before. I've been in graveyards in Kildare where I saw graves of people I knew when a small child - and had little chats with them same for my grandparents. I've stood in front of my great Grandparents grave in Donegal and thought - wow this must be something like all those people who come to Ireland searching for their ancestors feel like....amazed that I felt that way. I've sat on Dursey island down off the cork coast looking at the graves there and wondering at the fact that the mounds had not sunk in all that time, and the fact that while what I looked at were grave markers - not stones - the people had put a marker at the top and bottom of the grave - showing the size - so that even if the mound had sunk - you'd see the chidren in a row immediately - all beside one another. I think about the people as I work usually - their lives what they did, how they lived. I see them in the literature - newspaper accounts of something during the 1800's and then I find them dead....I find them in the Tithes in all sorts of things...Not all of them - but some of them. I meet a farmer taking a break from ploughing or whatever and he'll tell me all about his family whose tomb I am sitting on, the ones who'll tell me the various local 'beliefs' about the land in front of that chapel - the bones found in the field next door, the man who was buried in the corner next to the pub because he spent his life in the pub and used to joke about how the publican could empty the guiness slops onto his grave every night so he woulnd't be without his pint. I've had it said to me that I'm crazy (considering my 'chats' I may well be <g>) - that leave the dead be - what's the point in transcribing - and my reply always is why did these people put up stones in the first place if they didn't want us to remember them and something about them. The Protestant stones are always the most elaborate and praisworthy of the person who went before. I always try to excuse what I do to those who tell me I'm mad by saying I'll publish and make some money from this - but- the fact is that for any like me it will cost us a few thousand pounds to publish that 500 volumes and the profit would only be a few thousand pounds and if you think in terms of the cost and time that goes into this work - then there's absolutely no profit in it for us....we'd be better off cleaning the streets! My original post was in response to the questions I saw re 'Tombstones of the Omey' on the Tyrone newsgroup....and whether or not it would be worth the persons while to buy it because they have very little money.....and I was trying to say something about those of us who do this work. I know that I will get the money to publish what i have done, there are a few 'possible' sources of funding -and that is a big 'possible' but I'll manage to publish eventually - beg, borrow or steal as we say. Depends on my sales pitch those of you outside Ireland do not realise how little the Irish are actually interested in family History. Unlike you, we have only a handful of family history societies....in the whole of the thirty two counties (maybe two handfuls). Gravestone works - they vary - Brian Cantwell worked stones to 1880 and any related t those he was reading - some others go to 1900 - these cut off dates being based on the fact that most RC registers which have been filmed had a cut off date of 1880....so whoever was buried by then was probably to be found if at all on film. The 1900 date is based on registers and the fact that the 1901 census is available. When I began initially - I stuck to the 1900 date except in those really small graveyards and then I began to realise the value of the more modern stones. Parish registers aren't open post 1900, and anyone who was born post 1911 would never be known to the searchers unless they already had all the names......not until the 1921 census is made available. On post 1900 stones you see who was born in 1912 and died in 1945..you get more names from a family. So, if you can get information pre 1900 on the greatgrandparents and you can find the grandparents in the 1901 or 1911 census - and you can find them dead and buried in some graveyard - you have more information. Plus, while the wifes' maiden name may not be on the stone, you can give a guess at approximate age at marriage and go hunting for a marriage entry - giving you her maiden name and then you go hunting for her family. Using gravestone information - for a whole county - you can see surname distribution, how it's changed n time, you can track them - where they came from maybe, where they went to - when a concentration of a surname happens close to a county border then you can head into th enext county and see what the distribution is like in the parish next door All a jig saw. Publishers and most others do not recognise the value of modern stones, the idea is to cut most things down to size....and let the rest of you go hunting for whatever you can in the census and registers...... Cost of publishing goes up the more you have in any volume - decreasing the number of publications - or increasing the cost to the author and the buyer. If there is a publication - it is usually on only a part of a county - a part you may not be interested in - why buy it? What I was getting at in my last post is that for any county, all publications should be of value to any researcher in that county because when you put the lot together you get the big picture..... But - to buy all costs money - and regardless of what I have said you may find nothing of value to you in it. The fewer people interested in graveyard publications - the higher the cost to us, the authors.....*But* outside ireland you have all these Family History Societies......and genealogical groups of one sort or another....and in whatever groups you are a member of you may know someone else interested in that county - maybe more than one - so - the solution would be to divide the cost of a publication between yourselves. The more interest the easier it would be for us to publish and sell......... It's not simple to say let every family history society buy each publication becasue each society has so many interests in so many counties in Ireland and so many countries in the world and there are so many publications of everything.......But to find one person as well as yourself interested - maybe more, then it can be feasible. There are also so many family surname newsgroups - and so many surnames are common to particular counties. Groups buying a publication between themselves - to share in a family newsletter..... There are solutions and these solutions would increase the 'popularity' of graveyard publications and then once that happens more and more work would be done and the value of graveyards recognised so that County Councils in ireland and Duchas and anyone else who has a responsibility for graveyards would begin to recognise them for what they are...... Antiquities which should be preserved - not talked about - not guarded and let rot - sources of genealogical and historical information. Maybe then the ones which people like me can't clean up, dig out would be unearthed and preserved.....and recorded in the future for posterity. Jane

I've noticed a discussion on the Tyrone newsgroup re the value of 'Tombstones of the Omey' - value may be the wrong word - it's more is it worth buying re information....... and I'd like to pass a few comments - to all the groups I am sunscribed to re transcribing gravestones and the publications which may or may not ensue....from the viewpoint of a transcriber and how I see them of value to those of you who search. I've read in the past how graveyards and the stones there in are of little genealogical value. I have to say that yes, for the most part if you are looking for information from the 1700's and early 1800's - then yes, gravestones will only be of value to those of you who had family rich enough and educated enough to put up a stone. Even then, if they did - a lot depends on the weather conditions in the area, how exposed the graveyard was and whether or not the inscription on the stone has withstood the test of time. *But* having said that - I see you all looking for gravestones in a particular area....that which your ancestors came from....way back then.....and it all boils down to what I have said since I first began posting on any newsgroup Geography - nad how you have your ancestors *penned in* nice little fences around those townlands.....keep em all there and Bob's your Uncle. They moved around, they travelled, they spread from townland to townland, parish to parish, county to county - and maybe all within a small radius but these people *moved* I am working and have worked the graveyards of Co. Laois - the earliest stone I've found is dated late 1670's 0r 80's - and only one of those. A good few 1700's but then when we get into the 1800's the numbers increase. i know the differences betwen Laois and other counties which people like myself have transcribed - and published.....Laois is not exceptional in the age of it's stone - really the bigest numbers for anywhere begin in the 1800's. You'll find earlier more like in the northern counties. What I also know and can see is how the people spread - i haven't got all that many names in my transcriptions compared to some counties where the same number of stones have been worked...it looks like our graveyards were all smaller On a stone - when the people were god enough to put place of origin on - they say late of X and then if you go to X you can see the same family there - or they may have put wife of X who is interred in Y and you go to Y and find himelf and the rest of his family. it may be 'erected by X of Y in memory of his father - so then you know where the son or daughter ended up living and can track their descendants from then on. That's just one point about looking at all graveyards. The other is that for every townland - there may have been more than one graveyard in the surrounding civil parishes.....and townland is irrelevant to where they went to be buried from what I can see......it may have to do with religion..the church in whichever parish they attended and it does not have to be the religious parish of the name of the civil parish from which they were from - or even the religious parish of the Union from which they were from. I once met a lady in a graveyard in a town in Kildare - she told me she was from Cork - had lived in this co. Kildare town for the last 40 years - but she was from cork and that's where she would be buried. The attitude of many......so while your direct ancestors may hve come from A, B or C - that's not to say that their parents actually originated there - and they may have gone home to be buried - wherever home was. Looking at Laois alone - the main graveyard for Portarlington is in co. Offaly. There is a graveyard on the borders of Co. Kilkenny which is in Co. Laois and it's full of Co. Kilkenny people - I can't remember the name off hand. Then another on the border with Co. Carlow and it's full of people from carlow and Laois... and if I was one of you - looking for someone from Portarlington, Co. Kilkenny or Carlow - it would never dawn on me to go searching thru graveyard information from Co. Laois...or thru that from co. Offaly for Laois info. At least not for the majority of you - because you don't know the geography of the area. My point being here is that you can possibly find family in any graveyard in any county - regardless of religion up to the late 1800's. There's something else to be considered also - i've asked people about parishes and parishes - civli and ecclesiastical and whether you can understand the info as published. i had intended getting back to my reply to those who replied - but I've lost all my mail again. however, the churches and graveyards, burial grounds you see on the current Discovery series OS maps - they may be medieval churches - they may have been used by catholics and Protestants alike. They may have fallen down and had a protestant church built on top of them.....the familiy mihgt have been buried there forever and so even when the religion of the church changed - they may continue to be buried there - from whereever they have spread to throughout the county/country. All that is just to add to the complications of finding your Irish ancestors and the state of our parish records..... But - to my mind - Graveyard transcriptions are very important - regardless of how many were buried in the early years. All you need is that one - the one stone which you can say - "Hey - that's one of mine" for......it can give you a driection for parish records while you search aimlessly through everything you can find on a county 'cos you just know your family came from that county. That's how important gravestones are to you the searchers. Now - then we get to the likes of me who transcribes......and there aren't very many of us in this country. The value of gravestones and graveyards is not recognised. A few counties have been done completely. Wexford, Wicklow , older graveyards in Dublin, some of Meath, Westmeath - and published. The various Heritgae centres around the country 'claim' to have transcriptions.......... Few of the people who have ever done transcribing have had funding. Brian cantwell did and it took him something like ten years to do Co. Wexford. his works were not really published - printed, bound and copies given to various Irish archival institutes - maybe a few sold to larger libraries. no great money making venture I'd guess......but he was a dedicated man. Like the rest of us are - and interested in doing the job properly or not at all. I have maybe 50 graveyards done, some with only a few stones visible, my county needs to get it's act together....gravestones and graveyards are protected - therefore let them rot rather than let someone work them or clean themup - I'm a cynic...please don't anyone say anything to me about not touching gravestones and their preservation - this is ireland and preserving means letting lie and suffer from the weather - don't say anything to me about kicking up a fuss either - we bang our heads off brick walls regularly in this country. me - I have no funding - it comes out of my own pocket. in one week alone last summer I drove 1000 miles. I worked from dawn till dusk....... and as an example - i spent 7 hours in one graveyard cleaning stones, and transcribing....a big graveyard so lots of walking from stone to stone as well. For that seven hours I had three-4 hours of tapes to type up. Each hour of tape took me a minimum of two hours typing - I ended up with approximately 300 names from that graveyard. Those three hundred names took me another 2-3 hours of typing while I indexed them....... and I still have to go back to that graveyard and check that what I have typed is correct - for each stone. and for what - the pleasure of paying a publisher to publish what I have done - or else my alternative is to go to the Archaeological/historical/genealogical Journals and say - here's a publication for you - spread it around. Where am I going to get the money to pay a publisher - I don't know. Why do I have to pay a publisher - because there's not much interest in Graveyard transcriptions....... how many publications will I be able to afford - maybe 500 if i'm lucky... and then - I will see people on the net posting the results of my work to all and sundry....yes. Will that encourage me to continue - no. Will it encourage any more who come along and may thing that this is something which is needed for any county - no. Will it help any of you in the long run - no so - we bang our heads off brick walls here in Ireland and we do so again internationally - on the net with those who search. and we don't even know we're doing it. I admire Cynithia Russell for recognising the work that has gone into production of 'Tombstones of the Omey' for recognising the value of that work - both to author and those who search. It is one thing to give information from something which is out of print but absolutely another thing to quote from that of a valid obtainable publication. Jane

Hi Everyone, I've just joined this list and would like to submit my surname interests. My gggrandfather was David Tierney b. c1845 in Fermanagh, Ireland. His parents were Patrick Tierney and Catherine McManus. I would really love to hear from anyone who may have information on David's siblings etc. He migrated to the Rockhampton area of Queensland, Australia, sometime prior to 1869, which is when he married my gggrandmother Bridget Dowling. Hope you can help. Regards Liz Smith

A subscriber to this site, Divin, Adress unknown was asking about the Devins family> A film in the Family History Center lists this book: Devins Family History 82 Divadale Drive Toronto, Onrario, Canada Mag 2P ISBN# for ordering : 0-9693441-0-4 William J Flanagan Fermanagh County Host Spokane, Wa, USA

The LDS Family History Library film # 6026280, pertains to the early 1600's about the" Plantation of Ireland ", by English & Scots. It includes the Archdale and their land holdings. It is 21 chapters, each indexed: EXAMPLES; Ch 7 about 1609 Ch 8 Magherry Boy (Magheraboy) Ch 9 Clanawley Ch 10 Clankelly Ch 11 Magherry Stephannagh (Magherastephana_ Ch 12 Tire Cannada (Tirkennedy) Ch 13 Knockninny Ch 14 Turath William J Flanagan Fermanagh County Host Spokane, Wa, USA

Hello everyone. I am researching the MCCORMICK family particularly Ellen McCormick. Her father was Terence and her mother's name on her marriage certificate was Anne - maiden name unknown.Interestingly enough on her death certificate her mother's name is given as Margaret O'Brien!. Ellen was married in Melbourne Australia in 1872 but I have no idea when she came to Australia or who with. On her marriage certificate it states that she was born in County Fermanagh and that is all I know. I would be grateful if any one could help me Many thanks Helen McManimm Townsville Australia

See http://proni.nics.gov.uk/records/private/erne.htm

Seeking info on Margaret CRAWFORD who emigrated to St John on the "James Redden" in 1850 with children Thomas CRAWFORD and Sally Jane (Sarah) CRAWFORD. Margaret was living in New Haven Connecticut 1870 with married daughter Sarah. Did she leave family behind in Fermanagh? Anyone researching this family please contact. This has been a fustrating dead end. Help! Louise in California

Hi John, There's some info on Fermanagh, the l901 and l911 census at: http://www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp Go Place Search, enter Fermanagh and you get some info on what records have been filmed etc for the county. The census was for all of Ireland, not really indexed but if you know the parish it won't be two hard to find the people you are interested in. Somewhere on the site there's a guide for doing Irish research which has more info on both census', how to use them etc. Good luck, Colman Ahern, Berkeley. Ahern, Burke, Fleming, Mowett, Roche, from Cork. Hanratty, Thornton, from Louth.

For Amy who inquired about Sandhurst: I found this site http://www.army.mod.uk/sandhurst At least it's a place to start.

Hi all, I am new the list and am interested in one obscure Lofty. My great grandfather, Ambrose James Molloy (of the then King's Co) was in India at the time of or just after the mutiny in 1856. He was in the Royal Engineers. In 1862 in Bombay he married Ursula Jane Loftie Maguire. I have a photo of a painting inscribed "Major William Lofty (note different spelling) of the 55th Regiment of Foot (Westmoreland Regiment). I cannot exactly date the painting but it would seem from the garb and hair, to be around 1780. I gather the Regiment was stationed in Fermanagh around that time. My mother said she thought that was where her grandmother came from. I calculate that Ursula Jane was born c1840 and WL was about 25-30 at the time of the painting and that Ursula Jane would have been his great granddaughter. Does anyone know where I can get information on this regiment and its movements - I think it was in North America for about 10 years - and if it is possible to find out about its officer! s? Clive Park in sunny Tasmania