Jan Vernon wrote: > I have just joined this list as I have discovered that my George Chadwick > who lived in Dublin City and Cavan Town actually was from County > Laois/Queens. On the occasion of his marriage in 1813 in Dublin he said > that he was from the Parish of Aferlin in Queens County. Unfortunately, I > have been unable to find any such parish and wondered if anyone could help > me with where that might be. > Jan, This is probably Offerlane, a large civil parish (over 48,000 acres) located on the western edge of Laois, along the border with Kings County (today called Offaly). > Also is anyone else researching this family? George married Hannah Young in > Dublin and named his only son Hutchinson Chadwick. I have also found a > William Chadwick in Bradford, York, England also with a son named Hutchinson > Chadwick who states by the 1891 census that he was born in Ballyfyn in > Queens County. Hutchinson is such an unusual first name, I suspect George > and William could be brothers. The townland of Ballyfin (about 239 acres) is located in the civil parish of Clonenagh and Clonagheen, a large civil parish (over 45,000 acres) adjacent to Offerlane and to the east of it. The townland of Ballyfin is about 3 miles northwest of the town of Portlaoise. It is within a few miles of the boundary with Offerlane parish. To locate Bllyfin, go to Google maps [http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl] and type into the search box the following string of place names: ballyfin, county laois, ireland The townland of Drim just WSW of Ballyfin is in Offerlane, which gives you an idea how close the parish boundary is to Ballyfin. There are 6 listings for William Chadwick in Griffith's Valuation, all in the townland of Ballyfin Upper, civil parish of Clonenagh and Clonagheen. These appear to be the only listings in Griffith's for the surname Chadwick in County Laois. On a 16-acre piece of land (lot 39a), he is listed as occupier (immediate lessor: Earl of Mornington, a big land holder in the area), and, in turn, Chadwick appears as immediate lessor for several houses and some of that land to Owen McCann (39b, house and land), Garret Kelly (39c, house), John Doheny (39d, house), Margaret Scythes (39e, house) and Johanna Ward (39f, house). This accounts for the the 6 listings in Ballyfin. It sounds as if the first name Hutchinson could have come from a surname. There are 57 listings in Griffith's (as both occupier and lessor) for people named Hutchinson in County Laois; 25 of these are in the civil parish of Offerlane and 4 in the civil parish of Clonenagh and Clonagheen. The townlands in Offerlane are Cardtown (7 listings for John D. Hutchinson), Cummer and Gorteennameale (1 each for John D.), Johnsborough (2 for Jno. D.), Monasop (11 listings for Jno. D.) and Rossadown (3 listings for Anna Hutchinson). The townlands in Clonenagh and Clonagheen are Ballylusk, Cappanacloghy, Knocks and Mountrath, this last one being a town about 4 miles SW of Ballyfin (I didn't locate the others); the names there are Alice, William, Thomas and Michael Hutchinson. I have no connection to either the Hutchinson or Chadwick families. I hope this helps. Geralyn Woods Barry in Oregon, USA

Geralyn Barry wrote: > There are 6 listings for William Chadwick in Griffith's Valuation, all > in the townland of Ballyfin Upper, civil parish of Clonenagh and > Clonagheen... There are 57 listings in Griffith's (as both occupier and > lessor) for people named Hutchinson in County Laois; 25 of these are in > the civil parish of Offerlane and 4 in the civil parish of Clonenagh and > Clonagheen. I forgot to mention that Griffith's Valuation in these areas of Laois was done in 1850. Geralyn Wood Barry in Oregon, USA