Last time we looked at the erroneous headstone of my distant relative, David Bell.

Like many of my Irish ancestors, David was born in the townland of Dunmore, which lies about 8km north-west of Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. At the time of these events, Ireland was a single entity; nowdays, these farms are part of Northern Ireland.

Dunmore is nestled sleepily between the eastern peaks of the Sperrin range; at an elevation of about 250m and touching on the picturesque Lough Fea. The eastern boundary of the townland is marked by the Lissan Water, a stream running down from the Sperrins to the Lissan House; at the time a landlord’s seat, but now a tourist attraction.

I’ve previously mentioned that I had only one blood relative at Oxford Cemetery – John Phillips. However it turns out there is another: David Bell.

David was the second cousin of my great-great-grandmother – a distant relationship, to be sure. Many people – families, and singles – left Ireland to seek a new life in the colonies. David was one of the latter; first coming to New Zealand in 1907 to work in coal mining at Westport, before switching careers and becoming a Canterbury farmer in partnership with other Irish relatives who emigrated after him.

Last time we looked at the erroneous headstone of my distant relative, David Bell.

Like many of my Irish ancestors, David was born in the townland of Dunmore, which lies about 8km north-west of Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. At the time of these events, Ireland was a single entity; nowdays, these farms are part of Northern Ireland.

Dunmore is nestled sleepily between the eastern peaks of the Sperrin range; at an elevation of about 250m and touching on the picturesque Lough Fea. The eastern boundary of the townland is marked by the Lissan Water, a stream running down from the Sperrins to the Lissan House; at the time a landlord’s seat, but now a tourist attraction.

I’ve previously mentioned that I had only one blood relative at Oxford Cemetery – John Phillips. However it turns out there is another: David Bell.

David was the second cousin of my great-great-grandmother – a distant relationship, to be sure. Many people – families, and singles – left Ireland to seek a new life in the colonies. David was one of the latter; first coming to New Zealand in 1907 to work in coal mining at Westport, before switching careers and becoming a Canterbury farmer in partnership with other Irish relatives who emigrated after him.

Last time we looked at the erroneous headstone of my distant relative, David Bell.

Like many of my Irish ancestors, David was born in the townland of Dunmore, which lies about 8km north-west of Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. At the time of these events, Ireland was a single entity; nowdays, these farms are part of Northern Ireland.

Dunmore is nestled sleepily between the eastern peaks of the Sperrin range; at an elevation of about 250m and touching on the picturesque Lough Fea. The eastern boundary of the townland is marked by the Lissan Water, a stream running down from the Sperrins to the Lissan House; at the time a landlord’s seat, but now a tourist attraction.

Last time we looked at the erroneous headstone of my distant relative, David Bell.

Like many of my Irish ancestors, David was born in the townland of Dunmore, which lies about 8km north-west of Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. At the time of these events, Ireland was a single entity; nowdays, these farms are part of Northern Ireland.

Dunmore is nestled sleepily between the eastern peaks of the Sperrin range; at an elevation of about 250m and touching on the picturesque Lough Fea. The eastern boundary of the townland is marked by the Lissan Water, a stream running down from the Sperrins to the Lissan House; at the time a landlord’s seat, but now a tourist attraction.

I’ve previously mentioned that I had only one blood relative at Oxford Cemetery – John Phillips. However it turns out there is another: David Bell.

David was the second cousin of my great-great-grandmother – a distant relationship, to be sure. Many people – families, and singles – left Ireland to seek a new life in the colonies. David was one of the latter; first coming to New Zealand in 1907 to work in coal mining at Westport, before switching careers and becoming a Canterbury farmer in partnership with other Irish relatives who emigrated after him.

Ever found yourself passing a cemetery and wondered if any of your family are buried there? In this article we’ll look at how to answer that question with the help of WikiTree’s Connection Finder.

We will also look at using FindAGrave’s Plot Details to help wht planning a route around the cemetery.

Firstly, you’ll need to be logged in to WikiTree and have yourself connected to the world tree. You’ll know you are connected if you see the Weekly Connections at the bottom of your profile:

I’ve previously mentioned that I had only one blood relative at Oxford Cemetery – John Phillips. However it turns out there is another: David Bell.

David was the second cousin of my great-great-grandmother – a distant relationship, to be sure. Many people – families, and singles – left Ireland to seek a new life in the colonies. David was one of the latter; first coming to New Zealand in 1907 to work in coal mining at Westport, before switching careers and becoming a Canterbury farmer in partnership with other Irish relatives who emigrated after him.

I was down at the Oxford Museum this morning. Chatting to one of the custodians, Mr. Dunlop, he mentioned a family mystery regarding his grandmother, Jane (Gillespie) Dunlop. We will write more about her in a future post; this one is about her husband and in-laws.

John Dunlop & Jane Holmes’s marriage

Jane Gillespie’s husband Robert Dunlop was born 6 January 1870 in the townland of Magherahaan, which is just outside the village of Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland.

This is part 1 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb.

Francis & Catherine McNabb, my great-great-grandparents, came to New Zealand in 1873/4 aboard the ship Isles of the South with four children – recorded as: Jane (7), Edward (5), Catherine (3) and Mary A (5 months).

Francis & Catherine were from near the village of Drumquin, County Tyrone, Ireland. His parents were Michael McNabb & Jane Mullins, while her parents were Patrick Farnan & Catherine Percy.

I’ve previously mentioned that I had only one blood relative at Oxford Cemetery – John Phillips. However it turns out there is another: David Bell.

David was the second cousin of my great-great-grandmother – a distant relationship, to be sure. Many people – families, and singles – left Ireland to seek a new life in the colonies. David was one of the latter; first coming to New Zealand in 1907 to work in coal mining at Westport, before switching careers and becoming a Canterbury farmer in partnership with other Irish relatives who emigrated after him.

Ever found yourself passing a cemetery and wondered if any of your family are buried there? In this article we’ll look at how to answer that question with the help of WikiTree’s Connection Finder.

We will also look at using FindAGrave’s Plot Details to help wht planning a route around the cemetery.

Firstly, you’ll need to be logged in to WikiTree and have yourself connected to the world tree. You’ll know you are connected if you see the Weekly Connections at the bottom of your profile:

Ever found yourself passing a cemetery and wondered if any of your family are buried there? In this article we’ll look at how to answer that question with the help of WikiTree’s Connection Finder.

We will also look at using FindAGrave’s Plot Details to help wht planning a route around the cemetery.

Firstly, you’ll need to be logged in to WikiTree and have yourself connected to the world tree. You’ll know you are connected if you see the Weekly Connections at the bottom of your profile:

Always wondered what we’re talking about with DNA? In this post we’ll cover how it works, and then what you may be able to learn from the test results. We will look at the benefits of testing, as well as some of the possible down-sides.

At the time of writing, the major providers have Black Friday sales on, making this the best time to get started down the DNA trail.

This is part 2 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb.

Last time, our trail of Jane McNabb had gone cold – there just seemed to be no New Zealand documentation about her; we only knew she was still alive as of 1928 by inference from the list of living children in her father’s death certificate. Was she even still in New Zealand?

My father – a great-grandson of Francis & Catherine McNabb – tested his DNA through MyHeritage. By the way, having your parent test their DNA will give a clearer picture of their ancestors, than testing yourself. You only have half of each parent’s DNA, and the half you don’t have from one parent might have held the vital clues you’re looking for. If your grandparent is alive and willing to help your journey with a DNA test, even better!

I was down at the Oxford Museum this morning. Chatting to one of the custodians, Mr. Dunlop, he mentioned a family mystery regarding his grandmother, Jane (Gillespie) Dunlop. We will write more about her in a future post; this one is about her husband and in-laws.

John Dunlop & Jane Holmes’s marriage

Jane Gillespie’s husband Robert Dunlop was born 6 January 1870 in the townland of Magherahaan, which is just outside the village of Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland.

I was down at the Oxford Museum this morning. Chatting to one of the custodians, Mr. Dunlop, he mentioned a family mystery regarding his grandmother, Jane (Gillespie) Dunlop. We will write more about her in a future post; this one is about her husband and in-laws.

John Dunlop & Jane Holmes’s marriage

Jane Gillespie’s husband Robert Dunlop was born 6 January 1870 in the townland of Magherahaan, which is just outside the village of Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland.

I was down at the Oxford Museum this morning. Chatting to one of the custodians, Mr. Dunlop, he mentioned a family mystery regarding his grandmother, Jane (Gillespie) Dunlop. We will write more about her in a future post; this one is about her husband and in-laws.

John Dunlop & Jane Holmes’s marriage

Jane Gillespie’s husband Robert Dunlop was born 6 January 1870 in the townland of Magherahaan, which is just outside the village of Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland.

I was down at the Oxford Museum this morning. Chatting to one of the custodians, Mr. Dunlop, he mentioned a family mystery regarding his grandmother, Jane (Gillespie) Dunlop. We will write more about her in a future post; this one is about her husband and in-laws.

John Dunlop & Jane Holmes’s marriage

Jane Gillespie’s husband Robert Dunlop was born 6 January 1870 in the townland of Magherahaan, which is just outside the village of Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland.

This is part 3 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb. See here for part 1.

Last time, we followed a DNA trail to find that Arabella Janet Melville, who married James McKendrick Jack on 31 December 1891 in Christchurch, seems to be a daughter of Jane McNabb’s parents, Francis & Catherine.

Now that we suspect Arabella and Jane to be the same person, can we find some documentary evidence to prove it?

This is part 2 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb.

Last time, our trail of Jane McNabb had gone cold – there just seemed to be no New Zealand documentation about her; we only knew she was still alive as of 1928 by inference from the list of living children in her father’s death certificate. Was she even still in New Zealand?

My father – a great-grandson of Francis & Catherine McNabb – tested his DNA through MyHeritage. By the way, having your parent test their DNA will give a clearer picture of their ancestors, than testing yourself. You only have half of each parent’s DNA, and the half you don’t have from one parent might have held the vital clues you’re looking for. If your grandparent is alive and willing to help your journey with a DNA test, even better!

This is part 1 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb.

Francis & Catherine McNabb, my great-great-grandparents, came to New Zealand in 1873/4 aboard the ship Isles of the South with four children – recorded as: Jane (7), Edward (5), Catherine (3) and Mary A (5 months).

Francis & Catherine were from near the village of Drumquin, County Tyrone, Ireland. His parents were Michael McNabb & Jane Mullins, while her parents were Patrick Farnan & Catherine Percy.

This is part 3 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb. See here for part 1.

Last time, we followed a DNA trail to find that Arabella Janet Melville, who married James McKendrick Jack on 31 December 1891 in Christchurch, seems to be a daughter of Jane McNabb’s parents, Francis & Catherine.

Now that we suspect Arabella and Jane to be the same person, can we find some documentary evidence to prove it?

This is part 1 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb.

Francis & Catherine McNabb, my great-great-grandparents, came to New Zealand in 1873/4 aboard the ship Isles of the South with four children – recorded as: Jane (7), Edward (5), Catherine (3) and Mary A (5 months).

Francis & Catherine were from near the village of Drumquin, County Tyrone, Ireland. His parents were Michael McNabb & Jane Mullins, while her parents were Patrick Farnan & Catherine Percy.

This is part 1 of 3 in a series about tracing Jane McNabb.

Francis & Catherine McNabb, my great-great-grandparents, came to New Zealand in 1873/4 aboard the ship Isles of the South with four children – recorded as: Jane (7), Edward (5), Catherine (3) and Mary A (5 months).

Francis & Catherine were from near the village of Drumquin, County Tyrone, Ireland. His parents were Michael McNabb & Jane Mullins, while her parents were Patrick Farnan & Catherine Percy.