Yesterday I accidentally stumbled on 5 unbroken generations of descent from Thomas Allen Lascelles the First, who died in Geelong, Victoria, Australia 11/02/1859. Are you aware that this Thomas Allen Lascelles and his widow, Mary Anne nee Wainwright otherwise McCarty, are buried in East Geelong Cemetery, Geelong, Victoria, Australia? (At any rate,the photograph of the inscription on his gravestone clearly commemorates his widow Mary Anne. (Previous historical sources claim that she ended her days in Hobart as a teacher, of all things! She was almost certainly illiterate!!!) You will be able to discover this unbroken line of descent for yourself until you finally arrive at the death of Thomas Allen Lascelles V, who died unmarried in 1950. (Thomas Allen Lascelles V was born Adelaide 2/08/1912 and died 24/06/1950 aged 37 at St. Morris, Norwood, South Australia.) You can find all these details and more on the amazing website findmypast (I use findmypast.ie because I live in Ireland and can access public and historical records in Australia and New Zealand.)
Another thing I discovered only a few days ago is that Mary Anne's first husband, Denis Carty (who put the Mc back into his name when he arrived in Australia as a transportee) is undisputably a McCarthy. (Carty and McCarthy are two entirely different surnames in Ireland.) Denis's great-great grandfather was Edmond McCart(ie) of Tomcoole, Co Wexford, Ireland. His grandfather was Denis Carty of Birchgrove, Co Wexford. (From about 1740, they excluded the Mc from their surname in an effort to anglicise and gentrify themselves - and indeed they attracted better land deals because of this name-change; Birchgrove was a famous farm in Wexford and Denis McCarty of Tasmania named his New Norfolk house and farm Birch Grove in honour of his grandfather's house and farm. Indeed, I have been in New Norfolk myself in 2010 and was gobsmacked when I discovered that the location and appearance of "Denis's Birch Grove homestead" on the river Derwent is the doppleganger of Wexford;s Birchgrove, which is located on the river Slaney. When Denis Carty sailed up-river with General Joseph Holt (another Irish transportee) and nailed the ideal spot for the new settlement, he had found his perfect home from home! I wonder if he even mentioned this to Joseph Holt?
If you'd like to contact me and share information, my email is pwhays@gmail.com.
Kind regards,
Paula Hayes
