Gathering Leaves

In a previous post, I mention the discovery that my 4th great grandfather, Andreas De Backer, and his first wife, Maria Catharina Josepha Mollaert, were 2nd cousins. To this I commented that I didn’t think that this degree of consanguinity was legal in 18th century Austrian Netherlands. As it turns out this union was legal, provided the couple had received a dispensation from the Church to marry. My contact in Belgium provided an example such a dispensation that he found in the church registry of the marriage in 1706 of Judoca De Backer, daughter of Gerardus De Backer, to Adrianus De Bruycker: cum dispensatione pontifica super 3° gradus (a dispension to allow cousins in the 3rd degree (2nd cousins) to marry). He also sent to me an image of a document dated 1794 and this is the marriage contract between Andreas De Backer and his 2nd wife, Anna Marie Van den Daele (a 4th great-grandmother). Click images below to view the documents in full.

When my maternal grandmother died in the late 70′s she left us a photo album that mostly contained identifiable photos from the thirties and forties. There were some photos that dated from her grandmother’s time and no one knew who or what these photos were of. A number of years ago my mother gave the photo album to her brother and about ten years ago Uncle Bob gave the album to me. The three of us sat around looking at the pictures and when it came to the “ancient” photos neither my mom nor my Uncle had any idea who was in the photos or when they were taken. I wagered that I could figure out who was in the photos and when I told my mom that I figured that this was a photograph of the Bannon’s taken in the 1850′s she insisted that I could not be right because the women’s fashions were all wrong for the time.

As it turns out mother was right and I was wrong…

I was recently contacted by a woman in Northern Ireland who it turns out is a cousin – her great grandfather, Henderson Kelsey, was a brother of my great great grandmother, Henrietta Kelsey. Our common ancestors are William Kelsey and Mary Emily Knox. My North Ireland correspondent is very familiar with scene shown in one of the photographs as it was taken at the place where she was born near Lisburn, outside of the Belfast. The place, known as the Plantation, was the family farm that was inherited by her great grandfather, Henderson Kelsey, and by her grandfather, William Henderson Kelsey, and father. The Plantation is located at  52 Plantation Road Lisburn, UK.

The house was originally built in 1784 by John Barbour, a Scot. He started a linen mill on the property and when he died in 1823 his son John continued the factory at Plantation and another son William started his own factory at Hilden outside Belfast When John died in 1831 his brother William purchased the plant at Plantation incorporating it into the Hilden works. The Barbours were world famous linen thread makers and had factories in America.

William Kelsey took over the tenancy of Plantation in 1840 and he operated a corn mill on the premises and farmed the land . His son, Henderson, inherited the farm from his father as he seems to have been the only son who remained in Ireland.

Before William and Mary Emily Knox Kelsey moved to Lisburn they lived at Drumnenockan outside Dromore Co Down according to the freeholders records for 1824 D/654/A3/IT held in PRONI.  Some of their children were born at Dromore and the younger ones at Lisburn.

See also Another Mystery Photo, Mystery Photo, and The Case of the Will of William Kelsey

Thanks to the efforts of a 7th cousin in Belgium, I have added three new DeBacker ancestors; extending the DeBacker line back two generations. The previously known Geert De Backer and father of Livina De Backer has been determined to be also the father of my 6th great grandfather, Jacobus (Jacques) De Backer. My Belgian correspondent has found records for Geradus (Geert) De Backer which has him marrying a Judoca Braeckman in 1679 and gives the name of his father as Adrian De Backer. This would be my 7th great grandparents and a 8th great grandfather on the side of my paternal grandfather, Leopold DeBacker.

Finding that Livina De Backer and Jacques De Backer were sister and brother reveals that my 4th great grandfather, Andreas De Backer, and his first wife, Maria Catharina Josepha Mollaert, were 2nd cousins. I didn’t think that this degree of consanguinity was legal in 18th century Austrian Netherlands. They were married for four years until her death and I am descendent of Andreas and his 2nd wife, Anna Maria Vandendaele.

The new information provided adds six or so new sibling branches. In total, 86 individuals were added. See Descendants of Adrianus De Backer for more details.

There are two photos that I misidentified as being of the Bannon Family and taken in the 1850’s. As it turns out these two photos are of the Henderson Kelsey family and taken in the 1890’s.

The photo above appears to have been taken outside The Plantation (52 Plantation Rd, Lisburn, UK) and is of Henderson Kelsey and his family.
Back row (l-r): Maggie Clarke Kelsey – Thomas Kelsey (1875-1948) – William Henderson Kelsey (1872) – Maggie Emily Kelsey (1876-1964)
Seated on bench (l-r): Walter Kelsey (1880-1960) – Anna Mary (Dolly) Kelsey (1882-1961) – Henderson Kelsey (c1839-1910)
Seated on the ground Louisa Malcolmson Kelsey (1884-1968) She looks about 10 years old so perhaps the photo was taken about 1894.