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The Wolfes of Cork City – an Overview with Some Family Notes (As of April, 2012)

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The Wolfes of Cork City – an Overview with Some Family Notes (As of April, 2012) The Wolfes Of Cork City 1 The Wolfes of Cork City – an overview with some family notes (as of April, 2012) This is a draft based on the information available at time of writing. Additional information may become available and the interpretation of any information may subsequently change parts of this narrative. Contents Bandon Origins ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Major General James Wolfe ................................................................................................................................. 3 Cork, Kinsale and West Cork ................................................................................................................................ 3 Was John Wolfe father to Alleyn? ............................................................................................................................ 4 Changing conditions in West Cork 1800-1845 ......................................................................................................... 5 Alleyn Wolfe ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Elizabeth Wolfe – born 1822 ................................................................................................................................. 8 John Wolfe – born 1823 ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Alleyn Wolfe – born 1826 ...................................................................................................................................... 9 William Wolfe – born 1827 .................................................................................................................................. 10 Barnabas Wolfe – born 1829 .............................................................................................................................. 11 George Wolfe – born 1835 .................................................................................................................................. 15 Abraham Jennings Wolfe – born 1839 ................................................................................................................ 16 Interlude - Of Hares, Ducks and Wolfes! ................................................................................................................ 19 Isaac Jennings Wolfe – born 1841 ...................................................................................................................... 21 Jane Wolfe – born 1842 ...................................................................................................................................... 22 Jacob Wolfe - born 1843 ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Shanghailanders ............................................................................................................................................. 24 Joseph Alleyn Wolfe – born 1845 ....................................................................................................................... 28 Wolfes of Cork in the 1911 Census ........................................................................................................................ 29 Of Coopers and Wolfes from Skibbereen ............................................................................................................... 32 Index....................................................................................................................................................................... 34 Endnotes & Source Documents ............................................................................................................................. 35 2 Bandon Origins Although there has been an Anglo-Norman family of Wolfes in County Limerick since the 12th Century, most of the Wolfes in County Cork are assumed to be descended from John Wolfe, one of the original settlers of the walled town of Bandon in 1604. Most of these settlers were from Somerset and the West Country of England. John Wolfe witnessed a Bandon will in 1629i and died at Kilbrogan, one mile north of Bandon, in 1637. Major General James Wolfe Many Wolfes claim some connection to Wolfe of Quebec but this connection may be with the Anglo-Norman Wolfes of Limerick. Following the Cromwellian siege of Limerick in 1650-51 and the Williamite siege in 1690-91, most of the Wolfes were disposed of their property. One branch of the family is supposed to have gone to England, converting to Protestantism. From this family is descended General Edward Wolfe, James Wolfe’s father. One biographer has James Wolfe travelling to Dublin and Limerick to visit relatives about 1750. Cork, Kinsale and West Cork Later Wolfes appear in Kinsale (William Wolfe will dated 1649, Judeth Wolfe will dated 1688, Aretus Wolfe died 1707, Thomas Wolfe was a draper in 1789.) By this time, Wolfes were in Cork City also. Phillip Wolfe’s will was proved in Cork in 1738, that of Margaret Wolfe proved in 1765. John Wolfe, merchant of Fish Street, was admitted as a Freeman of the City in 1773. By 1789, there is Michael Wolfe, merchant of Batchelor’s Quay; Patrick Wolfe, merchant of Paul Street and Michael Robert Wolfe, merchant of Ann Street. By the Eighteenth Century, Wolfes appear widespread in Clonakilty, Dunmanway and Skibbereen and the Ballydehob area of the Mizzen Peninsula. From the register of marriages from St Finbarre’s Parish, Cork between 1753 and 1832 we can see several Wolfe marriages. In 1779 Thomas End married Sarah Wolfe and John Wolfe married Elizabeth Good; in 1787 John Wolfe married Elizabeth Dean; in 1783 Joseph Wolfe married Susanna Stanley; in 1809 John Wolfe married Mary Kingston; and then on April 4 1821 Alleyn Wolfe married Jane Jennings from Courtmacsherry. These were my great-great-great-grandparents. 3 Was John Wolfe father to Alleyn? Numerous sources, including deeds and published lists and accounts, place John Wolfe as a farmer in Droumgarriffe townland in Kilnagross parish near Clonakilty between 1800 and 1841ii.The deeds identify his wife as Elizabeth, daughter of Allen Wilsoniii. They also identify John’s father as Richard of Beanhill or Knocknapaneryiv, a townland adjacent to Droumgarriffe and his grandfather, also named Richard, of Ashgrove, several miles to the south of Droumgarriffe. Alleyn’s marriage in 1821 states he is a farmer from Kilnagross but the remaining marriage license index does not record his father’s name. However, the baptismal record of Alleyn’s firstborn, Elizabeth, in 1822 states he is from Droumgarriffe – and a John Wolfe is sponsor. Additionally, Alleyn’s firstborn son was named John, following the West Cork convention of naming after the father’s father. The named convention seems to account for some of the other names. The second son was named Alleyn for the mother’s father Allen Wilson (and for Alleyn himself based on the spelling). (There was an Alleyn family (or Alleyne or Allin) located just outside Clonakilty at Ballyduvane since since about 1719 to 1850. Was the Alleyn name used for generations of Wolfes noting some tie – marriage or otherwise – with that family? They were large landholders and related by marriage to the Beamish, Townsend and Becher families in the area. The Alleyns also had property at Ring near Ashgrove and the early Wolfes. Certainly a name with enough prestige to be worth preserving. Ballyduvane is just south of Coolcraheen. The third son would be named for the father but Alleyn had already been used so William may possibly have been named for the father’s eldest brother. Next son Barnabas may have been named for the mother’s eldest brother – certainly the mother’s father was Barnabas. The convention seems to hold for the daughters also. Elizabeth would be named for the mother’s mother. The second daughter would be named for the father’s mother but as she was also Elizabeth, Jane took her mother’s name. (There was no convention for the subsequent sons. After George came Abraham Jennings Wolfe. I could speculate that Abraham represents the Plains of Abraham where General Wolfe (to whom the Cork Wolfes always seemed partial) won Quebec. Or perhaps they went to the Book of Genesis for the name of the patriarch. In any case, they went to Genesis for the naming sequence of the remaining sons as Abraham begat Isaac, who begat Jacob, who begat Joseph.) (There is perhaps a cousin Alleyne Wolfe (1820)v who was born about 1820. He enlisted in the British Army in 1844 and from his discharge papersvi we know he was born in Kilmeen near Clonakilty and his trade was shoemaker. Perhaps he was a son of Thomas Wolfe, shoemaker of Clonakilty, brother of John, Richard and Robert. Alleyne swerved in India, rising to Sergeant Major and seeing action throughout the Indian Mutiny. He won one of only four medals granted his regiment during the Mutiny, two DCMs and two VCs. His Distinguished Conduct Medal was for an action where he “"slew three Sepoys in single combat at the storming of Jhansi" He was discharged in 1865 and after several years attached to the Wiltshire militia in England, returned with his family to Ireland. Several of his son’s joined the Royal Irish Constabulary. His descendants live in Kilkenny and Wales.) 4 Changing conditions in West Cork
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