All what we know about these two girls and their family comes mainly from family memories, information found in their marriage certificates and in the faire-part for one of the two weddings, as well as a few elements discovered through our research.
Our hope is that, by publishing these lines on the Internet, we will be able to find either cousins or people who will give us some help or provide useful information to assist us in our historical and genealogical investigations. If any of the names mentioned here is familiar to you, do not hesitate to contact us using this e-mail adress :
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Fanny STAFFORD-HENDERSON married on May 26, 1872, Élie Théodore Albéric du PUCH (1839-1915), only son of Félix Gabriel (MORAND) du PUCH and Marie Anne Aricie BRÉJOU du BOUSQUET, then a captain in the 4th Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (« Spahis »), knight of the Légion d'honneur. Fanny died between 1885 and 1900 in Tunisia, where she and her husband had settled after he participated to the country pacification with the French Army. They are our ancestors.
In the marriage certificate was found the following concerning the bride's parents :
* her father was Richard STAFFORD-HENDERSON, a former captain in the British Army, but also secretary-treasurer of the Northern Railway of Ireland company. According to his daughter's declaration, he died circa September/October 1854 in Merrian Terrace, near Dublin ;
* her mother was Mary Ann HARRINGTON : she officially died on May 31, 1862, in an unknown place, perhaps Merrian Terrace.
The faire-part for this marriage indicates that the bride had at least two uncles still living :
« M. HARRINGTON », a brother of her mother : he has been identified as Nicholas Herbert HARRINGTON, living in the Burton Villa at York in 1872, postmaster of York ; he was a former soldier in the British Army, having served in Spain during the First Carlist War (for this service he had been made a knight of the Spanish royal Order of Saint Ferdinand and awarded the Spanish Medal of Saint Sebastian). Nicholas Herbert HARRINGTON died on January 19, 1887, in London where he had retired after leaving his postermastership. As an author, he wrote several pieces in the 1850s, sometimes in collaboration with Edmund Hodgson YATES (1831-1894), a British novelist and dramatist but also one of his colleagues at the Post Office. HARRINGTON was also a close friend to the illustrious novelist Charles DICKENS (1812-1870), who cites him in one of his letters (see the volumes The Letters of Charles Dickens : 1865-1867).
« Lord James Henry MONAHAN », Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland : he was born in 1804 or 1805 in Portumna, County Galway, son of Michael MONAHAN and Mary BLOOMFIELD, and married in 1833 Frances HARRINGTON, daughter of Nicholas HARRINGTON from Dublin (also the father of Mrs. HENDERSON and Nicholas Herbert HARRINGTON). Lord MONAHAN's extensive biography can be found in the Dictionary of National Biography (available on Google Books). Lord MONAHAN and his wife Fanny HARRINGTON were interred in a chapel which stills exists in Glasnevin cemetery. They had six children, among whom we identified :
* James Henry MONAHAN, lawyer, Queen's counsel, who married Fanny O'BEIRNE, daughter of Hugh O'BEIRNE (see below) and had at least :
** Francis John MONAHAN, who died on November 20, 1923, aged 58 ; he married in 1900 Ida O'KELLY (1872-1957), Kaiser-i-HindMedal of the first class for public services in India, daughter of Charles O'KELLY from Newton, County Galway, Queen's counsel, County Court judge and chairman of Quarter Sessions, vice-president of the Royal Dublin Society, knight of the Légion d'honneur, and his wife Berthe de BUISSERET ;
** Ada MONAHAN, died 1942, married 1919 to Bernard Henry NEWDIGATE (April 12, 1869 - May 24, 1944), scholar, printer and publisher ;
* Henry MONAHAN, registrar of the consolidated Nisi Prius court ;
* Mary Josephine MONAHAN, married to Charles E. MARTIN ;
* Frances (Fanny) MONAHAN, died December 4, 1907 ; she married in 1860 Alfred Wilson TREVELYAN (1831-1891), 7th baronet of Nettlecombe Court, son of Alfred Wilson and Matilda Margaret BOYCE, and they had issue :
** Alfred Wilson TREVELYAN (1862-1892) ;
** Pauline TREVELYAN, died June 3, 1897 ; she married on October 15, 1891, Gilbert Redvers HEATHCOTE, a lieutenant-colonel, son of Sir William Perceval HEATHCOTE and Letitia Maria DALY (no issue) ;
** Madeleine TREVELYAN, died January 5, 1944 in Crowborough, East Sussex, married in 1909 to Joseph MONTEITH of Cranley, Lanarkshire;
* Elizabeth MONAHAN, who died soon after her second son and married in 1860 Hugh O'BEIRNE, justice of the Peace, high sheriff, brother of Fanny and son of Francis O'BEIRNE, justice of the Peace for the county of Leitrim ; they had four sons :
** Francis O'BEIRNE (1864-1889) ;
** Hugh James O'BEIRNE, born September 7, 1866, diplomat, counselor of the British Embassy at Saint Petersburg (1906), minister plenipotentiary in Bulgaria (1915-1916) ; he perished on June 5, 1916, along with Lord KITCHENER and other passengers of the HMS Hampshire ;
** Joseph O'BEIRNE (1874-1895) ;
** Georges John O'BEIRNE (1877-1883) ;
Fanny HENDERSON's sister, Jane Eleonore STAFFORD-HENDERSON,
married on April 11, 1875, Jean Léopold
Alexandre du RIEU de MARSAGUET
(1848-1919), doctor in Law, (from an old family with roots in Périgord),
son of Henri Philibert du
RIEU de MARSAGUET and Adélaïde
Eulalie CHABANEAU. Jane de MARSAGUET died on April 20, 1923.
Friends
of ours found in the
Booterstown parish the (catholic) baptism certificates of the
two sisters :
- on October 13, 1845, was baptized « Mary Frances HENDERSON » : her godfather was John MURPHY, her godmother was Elizabeth HILL ;
- on November 7, 1849, was baptized « Jane Elenor HENDERSON » : her godfather was Henry MONAHAN, her godmother was Elizabeth HENDERSON ;
This research also led to the discovery of two more children, brothers of Fanny and Jane Eleonor :- on March 18, 1847, was baptized « Nicholas HARRINGTON-HENDERSON » : his godmother was Esther CONNELL ;
To conclude with the information currently available to us, we can add that Gaston du PUCH (1881-1951), son of Albéric and Fanny, had a probable relative of his mother as his godfather : John NOLAN FARRELL, esq., from Loughboy and Ballyhaunis. Despite the fact that we do not know the exact link between him, the HENDERSONS and the MONAHANS, it must be noted that NOLAN FARRELL is buried with his wife Julia and at least two of their sons in the grave that contains Lord MONAHAN's remains.
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Here ends the little we know about our
great-great-grand-mother Fanny du PUCH and her sister. We would be
extremely grateful to anyone who could provide information about any of
the people cited on this page. Please do not hesitate to drop us a line
at the e-mail address mentioned above.