EARLS FAMILY CHRONICLES

© Christopher Earls Brennen

CHAPTER THREE

THE CHILDREN OF JAMES AND SARAH EARLS OF AUGHAWARD

  1. John Earls (1801-1854), our ancestor, was the eldest son of James and Sarah Earls. It is believed that he was born at Aughaward in 1801, though in the 1851 census of Larne, County Antrim, John lists his birthplace as County Derry. He joined the Constabulary which at that time was a force under the jurisdiction of the Grand Juries responsible for settling disputes, collecting the cess and other duties. John Earls moved to Glenarm, County Antrim where on Feb.22, 1826 he was married by William Wolseley to Mary McCloy of Glenarm in St. Patrick's Church, Glenarm (for McCloy family see next chapter). At the time of his marriage John Earls was described as ``of the Constabulary, a Sub-constable''. He was 25 and she was 23. In their early years, John may have been posted elsewhere for their son, Thomas, was born in Gortin, County Tyrone, in 1835. However, their next son, James, was born in County Antrim in 1837. Mary McCloy was a Unitarian or old Presbyterian and she refused to attend the Church of Ireland with John. Legend has it that they compromised and attended the Methodist Church. However Mary cheated a bit and also sent the family to the Unitarian Church on Sunday afternoon. In total, John Earls and Mary McCloy had eight children, Sally, Jane, Alexander, Thomas, James, Sarah Ann, William and John who are described in a later chapter. In the 1851 census of Larne, County Antrim, the family is listed as living in Pound Street, Larne, and John is termed a ``civil bill officer''. At that time their children Thomas, James, William and John are listed as living with their parents and it is noted that the first two could read and write and William could read. James, William and John were at school while Thomas was a ropemaker. Residing elsewhere on the night of the census were their daughter Jane, a servant in Larne, their son Alexander, a printer in Belfast, and their daughter Sarah. John Earls died in Larne, County Antrim in 1854. Tradition has it that he died as a result of injury received in settling a faction fight in Larne while doing his duty as a constable. His tombstone can be found in the graveyard of the Larne and Inver Parish Church and reads: ``Erected by Mary Earls in memory of her husband John Earls who died 29 Aug. 1854 aged 53 years. Also her second son Thomas Earls who died Jan.28, 1858 aged 23 years and of her eldest son Alex who died March 11, 1859. The above Mary Earls died May 5,1884 aged 75. Also her daughter Jane who died Feb.24, 1892 aged 62'' Mary (McCloy) Earls died on May 5, 1884 aged 75 at the home of her son James at Mullaghboy, Islandmagee, County Antrim.

  2. Henry Earls (1802-1899), the second son, became a farmer. He is listed in the Griffith Valuation as leasing just under 16 acres in the townland of Gortmessan from the Earl of Enniskillen. However the house is listed as unoccupied. The reason for this may also be found in the Griffith Valuation for it lists almost 15 acres in the nearby townland of Watinery (Woaghternerry) as being rented to a Henry Earls and this land has a more valuable house. We do not however know for certain that this is the same Henry Earls. In 1966, Stewart Burns, a farmer in Gortmessan, said that the Earls homestead in Gortmessan was a ruin by that time. On Aug.1, 1845 a Henry Earls was married to Sarah McMillan in Inishmacsaint Parish Church. Henry's father is given as James Earles and Sarah's as William McMillan. Henry was of full age, Sarah was underage. If this was indeed our Henry then Sarah must have died shortly thereafter for on Aug.10, 1849, a Henry Earls, a farmer and a widower of Waterinerry, was married to Mary Graham, a widow of Gortmessan, in the Registry Office in Enniskillen. On their marriage certificate his father is listed as James Earls, a farmer, and hers as James Graham, farmer. Note that the Grahams were long time residents in Gortmessan for the Hearth Money Rolls for County Fermanagh in 1788 include Robert, William and James Graham in the townland of ``Gortmessin'' and John Graham in the townland of ``Drumharrow''. We might speculate that Henry aquired his land in Gortmessan as a result of this second marriage but had little use for the house and continued to live in Watinery. Mary died on Mar.10, 1891, aged 76 and is buried at Garvary Parish Church where a pink granite gravestone reads: ``Erected by Henry Earles in memory of his wife Mary died 10th March 1891 aged 76 years'' Henry died a farmer and widower on Dec.13, 1899, and was buried in Garvary graveyard. He had at least two children:
    1. John Earls. In 1966, Stewart Burns said that his father, James Burns, remembered John Earls. John had the reputation of being a great reader. He was also somewhat eccentric. With fifty pounds borrowed from his sister, Mary, he went to Texas because, he said, that he had had a vision that the Indians needed a leader.
    2. Mary Earls was born about 1853 and must therefore have been the daughter of Henry and his second wife Mary Graham. In the fourth quarter of 1885 she was married to Joseph Hall. Mary Hall registered her father's death in 1899. Joseph must have died before the 1901 Census for Mary Hall is listed as a widow and a farmer in the returns of that Census. Her farm in Gortmesson must have been the land passed from the Grahams to Henry Earls for the Census lists the land as belonging to Henry who had died shortly before. The Census also lists Mary as belonging to the Church of Ireland and being able to read and write. And it lists two men as living with Mary Hall. One is a ``farm servant'' named William Magill, a 21-year-old Roman Catholic who was born in Leitrim. The other is a 22-year-old visitor and farmer named John Spratt who was born in Fermanagh and belonged to the Church of Ireland. Later Mary married John Spratt.

  3. Thomas Earls (1806-1885), the third son, became a carpenter. Though not listed in the Enniskillen directory of 1839, Thomas appears in the Griffith Valuation of the early 1850s as renting offices and a timber yard on Water Street, Enniskillen (worth 8 pounds) from the Earl of Enniskillen.
    Grave of Thomas and Mary Earls
    He inherited a land holding at Aughaward from his father and may have resided there for he is identified as Thomas of Aughaward on his death certificate. Thomas married a woman named Mary (1820-1889) and they had at least two children listed below. Thomas registered the death of his mother, Sarah, in 1864 and that of a John Earls of Market Street in 1878. He died at Aughaward on May 27, 1885 and is buried in Garvary. The headstone reads: ``Erected by Thomas Earls, Aughaward in loving memory of his father Thomas Earls who died 27 May 1885 aged 79 years and also his mother Mary Earls who died 14 Sept. 1889 aged 69 years. Thomas Earls died 29 Jan. 1904 aged 59 years. Also George Crozier who died 25 Nov.1924 and his wife Mary A. Crozier died 21 April 1930. A dearly loved mother and father.'' As this tells us, Mary Earls died on Sep.14, 1889, and is buried in Garvary. Strangely one Anne Earls died the same day at Aughaward. An inquest was held into Anne's death, the verdict being that she died of natural causes. Anne's relationship within the family is unknown at present. The children of Thomas and Mary Earls:
    1. Thomas Earls (1845-1904) who erected the above headstone became a woodworker like his father and worked in the premises on Water Street, Enniskillen. He never married. In the 1901 Census he is listed living in a boarding house at No.6 Water Street run by Susan Hanan, a 68-year-old widow. In that same return Thomas is listed as a 50-year-old cabinetmaker who belonged to the Church of Ireland. Thomas died in 1904 and is buried Garvary as the above gravestone inscription attests.
    2. probably Margaret Earls who married William Kidney, a widower and innkeeper of Ballinamallard, parish of Magheracross, on Sep.24, 1852, in the Parish Church of Enniskillen. On the marriage certificate Margaret's father is listed as Thomas Earls of Aughaward. John Ball and John Earls witnessed the marriage.
    3. Mary Anne Earls married George Crozier, a bachelor and a carpenter from Ashford, Derryvullen, on April 25, 1877, in the parish church of Enniskillen. On their marriage certificate, George's father is given as William Crozier, a farmer, and Mary's as Thomas Earls, carpenter of Aughaward. Thomas and Teresa(?) Earls witnessed the marriage. George took over the carpentry business from his father-in-law, Thomas Earls. In the 1901 Census George and Mary Anne are listed as living at No.7 Water Street, Enniskillen with their two daughters, Elizabeth and Annie. George is described as a 48-year-old carpenter and Mary's age is given as 45; they belonged to the Church of Ireland. As the above gravestone inscription from Garvary graveyard states, George died on Nov.25, 1924, and Mary on Apr.21, 1930. Their children:
      1. Elizabeth F. Crozier was born about 1881. Before 1901, she married T. James MacDonagh who was born in Ballinamallard. In the Census of 1901 she is listed as living with her parents on Water Street, Enniskillen. Elizabeth registered the death of her uncle Thomas Earls in 1904. In the 1920s she was living in Dublin. James must have died quite young for Elizabeth married again, to W.F.Lundy sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s. They lived in Dublin and Elizabeth died sometime between 1955 and 1959. James and Elizabeth had at least one son:
        1. Norman Crozier Earls MacDonagh was born in Enniskillen. He had a daughter Marilyn MacDonagh who lives (2005) in Tacoma, Washington, and provided information on this branch of the family.
      2. Annie Crozier was born about 1884 and was living with her parents on Water Street, Enniskillen, at the time of the 1901 Census. In that return she is listed as unmarried and a pupil teacher in a Model National School. Annie became a schoolteacher and married another teacher, Robert Maguire from Northern Ireland. In the 1920s they were living and teaching in Dublin. Annie and Robert had 2 children:
        1. Doris Maguire was born in the early 1920s and never married. She worked for the Guinness Brewery in Dublin all or her adult life and was still living in 1960.
          Bishop Maguire
        2. Robert Kenneth Maguire was born in Dublin about 1923 and was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church in 1948. Never married, Kenneth emigrated to Canada in 1949 where he served in the Church of St. James the Apostle in Montreal. He returned to Ireland for several years to serve as rector at St. Patrick's Church in Armagh before returning to Montreal in 1960 to become Dean at Christ Church Cathedral. He was consecrated bishop in 1963 at the age of 39, then the youngest bishop in Canada and served for 12 years during turbulent times in Quebec. He stepped down in 1975 at the age of 51. He died of pancreatic cancer on Oct.14, 2000, and left his 3 million dollar estate to the Anglican Church of Canada.

  4. James Earls (1819-1900), the fourth son, moved to Doon, Tempo, County Fermanagh (near Pubble Methodist Church). In the Griffith Valuation of the early 1850s James is listed as leasing nearly 33 acres worth nearly 18 pounds and a house worth 25 shillings in the townland of Doon from James Johnston. He is also listed for an unoccupied house worth 10 shillings. On Feb.6, 1849, in Aghalurcher, Fermanagh, James married Anne Jane Shaw. They had five children:
    1. Thomas Earls was a representative of Pimms in Dublin. He married Ada Moore of Limavady, County Derry; they had no children.
    2. William Earls (1852-1933) moved to Clones, County Cavan where he was a boot merchant with a shop in Fermanagh Street. The 1880 Ulster directory lists him as a grocer and leather merchant in Fermanagh Street, Clones. William married Rebecca Elenor Troughton from County Armagh on Oct.12, 1877, in Armagh Wesleyan Methodist Church. They had nine children:
      1. Frances Elizabeth Earls was born in Clones in 1881. She married Fred Banford a farmer of Lisnaroe, Clones, County Cavan. She died in 1960. The Banfords still farm in Northern Ireland.
      2. Anne Jane Earls was born in Clones in 1882 and died unmarried.
      3. Thomas James Earls (1884-1953) went into his father's business as a boot merchant in Fermanagh Street, Clones. He died unmarried on Oct.22, 1953.
      4. Emma Florence Earls (1886-1915) sailed to New York aboard the Lusitania from Queenstown and arrived in New York on Feb.24, 1912. She is listed as a housekeeper bound for 14 E. 15th Street. About a month later on May 25, 1912, Hugh Hetherington arrived in New York aboard the Adriatic from Liverpool. He was a unmarried Methodist clergyman from Clones, County Cavan, born in Lisnahanna, the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Hetherington of Kilskerry, Tyrone. He was going to preach on an Indian Reservation under Rev. Sam McVilly, Mt. Elgin Indian Reservation, Muncey, Ontario. They may have been married in New York and travelled where Hugh became the Principal of a school on an Indian reservation at Bandon.
      5. Walker Rennick Earls was born in Clones on Oct.10, 1887, and joined the army serving with the 6th Regiment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers in 1907. He then went to Canada where he first worked as a ranch hand. In 1914 in Ottawa, Canada, he joined the Canadian army, Princess Patricia's Light Infantry, and was sent to France with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was killed in France on Sep.15, 1916, and is named on the Tomb of the Canadian Unknown Soldiers in France.
      6. Twins Rebecca (Ruby) Eleanor Earls and Margretta (Gretta) Shaw Earls were born on Jan.29, 1891. Both went to Queens University, Belfast and became doctors. They lived and practiced on Newtonbutler Road, Clones. Rebecca died unmarried on Sept.10, 1951.
      7. Adeline Olive Earls (1892-1949) married Edgar Murray Hill, Chief Engineer for the Canadian National Railways in Winnipeg, Canada. They had 3 children:
        1. Mary Frances Stewart Hill married Robert Purdy of Amherst, Nova Scotia. They had 3 children Margaret, John and Michael Purdy.
        2. John Murray Earls Hill became a chemical engineer. He married Anne Christie and had four children, Murray, Kathleen, Jean and Mary Hill.
        3. Margaret Eleanor Anne Hill married David Hart of Nova Scotia and had 3 children, Susan, Peter and Stephen Hart (who contacted me - address sjhart@sympatico.ca).
      8. Edith May Earls was born in Clones in 1894 and graduated from Queens University, Belfast in Modern Languages. She married John Andrew McNutt who was a manager in the Northern Bank. In 1957 they lived at 9 Ashley Park, Bangor. Edith told Irene Calvert that the Earls family had been Church of Ireland but became Methodist when John Wesley visited Ireland. The McNutts had three children:
        1. Margaret Olive McNutt was born in 1922 in Ballybay, County Monaghan and was educated at Ashleigh House School. She became a physiotherapist and married a dentist, Ronald McLeod Veitch. They lived at 48 Lauderdale Gardens, Glasgow; they had two sons, Ian McLeod Veitch, born March 22, 1952, and Ronald McLeod Veitch born Jan.28, 1954.
        2. John Kenneth Earls McNutt who attended Coleraine Academical Institution and in 1957 was in the Bank of Australia and New Zealand living at 351 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia.
        3. Donald Noel McNutt was born on Dec.5, 1932 and attended Campbell College and Queens University, Belfast where he graduated in agriculture. In 1957 he was an entomologist living in Kawanda, Kampala, Uganda.
    3. Emma Earls, born about 1856, married Henry Wilson of Tyralton, near Tempo, County Fermanagh in 1875. They are commemorated by a gravestone in the Tempo Parish Church which reads: ``In fond memory of Henry Wilson, Tyralton, died May 30, 1913, aged 84 and of his son Crozier Wilson who accidentally drowned Aug.10, 1919, aged 22. Also his son James died Jan.13, 1883, aged 7 years and his wife Emma Wilson died Nov.2, 1942, aged 86. Also his sons Henry died Sep.4, 1961, aged 84, Thomas died Mar.18, 1962, aged 73. Also his daughter-in-law Annie Jane died Feb.14, 1984. Also his son John died May 31, 1988, aged 97 years.'' Henry and Emma Wilson had a large family:
      1. Catherine Wilson married a man named Moffet and had a son Earls Moffet who was a Captain in the R.E.M.E. in World War II.
      2. Anne Jane Wilson was born about 1879. She married Crozier W. Phair and lived in Feddan, parish of Derryvullan, County Fermanagh. In the 1901 Census Crozier W. Phair is listed as a 35-year-old farmer and head of household living on his farm in Feddan. Living with him were his dumb 37-year-old brother Henry Phair, his widowed 30-year-old sister Catherine Hurst, his 15-year-old nephew Crozier Hutchison and a 26-year-old domestic servant, Margaret Flannely. All belonged to the Church of Ireland. Crozier died on Mar.22, 1949, at the age of 89 and Anne died on Jan.20, 1961, aged 82; they are both buried in the Tempo Church of Ireland graveyard where a Phair family gravestone includes their names. Crozier and Anne had four children:
        1. James Norman Phair was born in 1904. He died unmarried on Nov.9, 1949, at the age of 45.
        2. William Henry Phair was born in 1909 and married Mary Jean Elliot and, in 1983, they were living in Feddan in an old home built in the early 1800s. Their son:
          1. Thomas Phair was born on May 16, 1948, and married Eva Clark, born Aug.27, 1952. In 1983, they were living in a modern home close to his parents in Feddan. Thomas and Eva Phair have four children:
            1. Jillian Ann Phair was born Mar.17, 1978.
            2. Lynne Jane Phair was born May 1, 1980.
            3. Alison Mary Phair was born Oct.10, 1983.
            4. Susan Phair was born Jun.19, 1987.
        3. Emma Elizabeth Phair.
        4. Crozier Wilson Phair.
      3. Emma Wilson and Ruby Wilson became missionaries.
      4. James Wilson, born about 1876, died on Jan.13, 1883, at the age of 7 and is buried at Tempo Parish Church.
      5. Henry Wilson was born about 1877 and became a farmer at ``The Mill'', Mullyknock, Tempo. He married Annie Jane Beattie and they had a number of children listed below. Henry died on Sep.4, 1961, at the age of 84; Annie Jane died on Feb.14, 1984 and they are both buried at Tempo Parish Church as the above gravestone inscription attests. The children of Henry and Annie Wilson:
        1. Eric Wilson lived in Enniskillen.
        2. Crozier Wilson married a woman named Sylvia and they lived at Tyralton, Tempo.
        3. Mona Wilson married William Millar of Coleraine.
        4. John Ivor Earls Wilson was born about 1941 and worked for a few years at Pubble forest nursery. When his father died he took over the family farm at ``The Mill'', Mullyknock, Tempo, where he kept a suckling herd and raised beef cattle and sheep. He also worked as an excavator operator. He was unmarried and died suddenly in Oct., 1992. He is buried at Tempo Parish Church.
      6. Thomas Wilson, born about 1889, died on Mar.18, 1962, aged 73 and is buried at Tempo Parish Church.
      7. John Wilson, born about 1891, may have inherited his father's place in Tyralton. He died on May 31, 1988, aged 97 and is buried at Tempo Parish Church.
      8. Crozier Wilson, born about 1897, was accidentally drowned on Aug.10, 1919, aged 22 and is buried at Tempo Parish Church.
    4. Walker Rennick Earls married Florence ? and had three daughters:
      1. Mona Earls married Professor Baxter, formerly of Queens University, Belfast and then of Cardiff University. They had a son, Rennick Baxter who in 1957 was studying medicine at Cambridge University.
      2. Norah Earls trained as a nurse (beginning in 1926) in the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), Belfast, in Scotland and in Omagh, County Tyrone where she was a theatre sister and tutor before returning to the RVH as a sister in the out-patient department and office sister with matron. In 1939 she joined the army with the Queen Alexandra Nurses Reserve and spent 5 years in the Middle East. She was awarded the A.R.R.C. for being in charge of the last nursing unit to leave the seige of Tobruk. After the war she rejoined the RVH and was Deputy Matron from 1950 until her retirement in 1966. She never married but liked travel, archeology and reading.
      3. Peggy Earls was the second wife of Fred McCoy, Q.C., M.P. and had two sons.
    5. James Earls, born Feb.4, 1867 who died in infancy at Doon, near Tempo, County Fermanagh.

  5. Mary Earls married John Kerr, a bachelor farmer in the Lattin parish of Enniskillen (and son of Robert Kerr, farmer) on Feb.20, 1849 in Tempo Church, parish of Enniskillen. The marriage was witnessed by James Earls and James Kerr. John and Mary Kerr lived in Lettin, County Fermanagh and had a son Robert. Anne Wilson, Mrs. Crozier Phair (see above) reported in 1938 that John and Mary Kerr went to live in New York for a period.
    1. Robert Kerr was baptized on May 12, 1850 in Tempo.

According to Anne Wilson who became Mrs. Crozier Phair (see above) there were at least two other daughters besides Mary Earls. Legend has it that they emigrated to the United States. Other possible children of James and Sarah Earls are outlined in Appendix 3A.

Last updated 7/30/99.

Christopher E. Brennen