looking for a grandfather: an ordinary man

Looking for a Grandfather: An Ordinary ManAuthor(s): Kathleen ShepherdSource: North Irish Roots, Vol. 10, No. 2 (1999), pp. 33-34Published by: North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27697267 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 20:59

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to North Irish Roots.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.229.129 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:59:38 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Looking for a Grandfather - An Ordinary Man

Kathleen Shepherd, Member A 0810

My grandfather, Edward McDonald Keenan, was killed in a mustard gas attack at 8.30 am on 13th April 1918, in Ayette, France, when my father was three years old. Edward's legacy to me was to set me off on

the family history trail.

Little was known about "Eddie". His name is on the Roll of Honour for Glasgow Corporation employees, which now stands in the Transport Museum, as he was in the Tramways Division of the HLI. We also

knew he had been in Quarrier's Homes and his two sons were Presbyterian, whereas the "rest of the

Keenans" were Catholic.

My grandmother kept a lot of papers but sadly after her death her husband (she remarried in 1921 ) burnt

them, so goodness knows what was 'lost'. Therefore by the time I started on the family history trail there

wasn't really anyone to ask as my father's information was minimal.

I made my first visit to the Record Office armed with my grandparents' date of marriage, obtained from

my father's birth certificate. I found their marriage quite easily and discovered Eddie's parents were both

deceased at the time of the marriage. "Not true," said my father when I went back with the information. "I

was at my granny's wake and was held up to see her in her coffin. We used to visit and she'd say, "Here

come my two Protestant grandchildren." He remembered she spoke with an Irish accent and smoked a

clay pipe. He thought his grandfather had been a seaman who'd gone to Canada and failed to return. I

later found Eddie's mother's death in 1924 but still have not found his father's.

I was desperate to make another trip to the Record Office but for various reasons had to bide my time.

This was in the days before fiche and computers, so fewer people had access on a daily basis and we

had to take turns to be taken upstairs to see the entries where we were given 20 minutes or 3 entries -

whichever was the quicker.

In the meantime I wrote to Quarrier's Homes with the little information I had ie. Eddie's date of birth (his

age was on his marriage certificate so it had been easy to find), the Canada story and the name of

someone who'd been in the Home with him.

They quickly replied and although the records were minimal I learned quite a few things. Edward had

attended Oakbank School in Glasgow. He smoked, he was not apprenticed, and his father was dead, while his mother had been away for 3 years and was also believed to be dead. He had a brother in

Canada and he had entered the College Home, then the St. Vincent Street Home before going to the City Home in 1910 when he was 17 years old. Why did he go into the home then? Where were his other

siblings, including one who was 7 years younger? The younger brother was the only one I ever met as he

had kept in contact with my grandmother. Those are questions still waiting to be answered.

He'd had a friend in the home; George Fancy, who had also kept in contact with my grandmother after

Eddie's death, who had taken my father and his brother to the Home's 'open days'. At one point Eddie left

the Home for three months to stay with an aunt, but returned after having been "fairly beaten" and asked

to be readmitted. He remained in the home until 1913 when he left and lodged with my maternal great

grandparents which is no doubt how he met my grandmother.

The next letter I wrote was to the War Graves Commission who were able to tell me when my grandfather was killed and where he was buried. I was later to visit France where I took photographs of Edward's

grave for my father, who by this time was more or less bedridden.

33

This content downloaded from 91.229.229.129 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:59:38 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Meanwhile over the next few years I continued my search at the Record Office, backwards and sideways. I didn't spend all my time on the Keenan family as other lines were proving to be more productive. 1 have

several Irish ancestors but I couldn't pin down a location for the Keenan family. I searched Census

returns to no avail. I even matched names and ages with entry numbers for the 1891 Census to find

people for whom I had no address.

The family, who had come to Scotland between 1836 and 1851 (more probably during the famine years), had become iron moulders. They had settled mainly in the Milton area of Glasgow so I had taken to

collecting the details of any Keenans in the area hoping to tie a few people together.

One day as I sat perusing the information 1 had gathered 1 suddenly realised two death entries had

similar names for their parents. In 1856 when my ggg grandfather Owen had died, his parents were given as Laurence Keenan and Mary McLarty and in 1869, Francis Keenan, son of Terence Keenan and Mary

Malarky died. Could they be brothers I wondered? Considering that the family was illiterate at the time,

written records were reliant on the Registrar's transcription so I decided that this was a strong possibility. How to prove it though? Fortunately, a little luck came into play. Francis' nephew, Peter Keenan, had

registered his death. He lived at 9 Lyon Street. All I needed to do now was prove Peter was Owen's son.

. We are very fortunate in Scotland in that although we pay to see the indexes we can look at endless

numbers of records to assist our search without having to worry about the cost of certificates. I therefore

started a search of the Records for Peter's children. Eventually I found one at the correct address at the

correct time. This supplied a date of marriage for Peter which, when checked, proved that Peter's parents were indeed Owen and Helen (my 3 times great grandparents).

I already had some details of Francis' family so was able to add them to my tree also. More Census

returns were searched but still only showed Ireland.

The next step was to search the Poor Law records in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, again. Owen hadn't

claimed Poor Relief. His wife had made one claim after his death but again the birthplace was recorded

as Ireland. Now I looked for Francis who, at the age of 80, was looking for medical help but again I got no

further than Ireland.

At this point I decided to search through as many Keenan entries with a name and age which fitted my

family as possible. I confess to feeling rather guilty when a trolley, piled high with books, was brought to

my side! At last, I obtained the information for which I had been looking. Peter Keenan, Owen's son,

made two claims for Poor relief and his wife made one as a result of an injury to Peter's shoulder which

affected his ability to work. Peter's birthplace was given as Co. Monaghan. The first claim, in 1889, said

Scotstown and the second claim, about a year later, said Rosslea. I assume that, as the family were

farmers, they farmed somewhere in between.

The applications also supplied other information, like which house the claimant occupied in Glasgow

(remember Glasgow has a lot of tenements with a common entry) the state of the house, and listed

children of the claimant, their marital status and their earnings. I even discovered some relatives had

migrated to Philadelphia.

I still have a bit of work to do, as I need to complete details of some of Owen's other children though I'm

beginning to suspect they migrated. Eddie's life though, is no longer a blank page as I now know about

his background, his education, his unhappy early life, where he worked and his early death.

"He didn't have much of a life, did he?" said my father who felt the loss of a father he never knew. The

epitaph on Eddie's gravestone is however wholly appropriate, "Gone but not forgotten, by wife, family and friends." No, he has not been forgotten.

34

This content downloaded from 91.229.229.129 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:59:38 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions