Family History
Fergus Quinn
Fergus's mother has both English, Irish, and German ancestry. On the English side, he has managed thus far to trace his Jackson ancestors back to one James Jackson Esq., born 1580 in Church Broughton in Derbyshire. His son was Thomas Jackson who moved to London to serve an apprenticeship and went on to became a noted pewterer with a shop in Old Jewry. His son, Issac, was captain of a regiment in the Cromwellian Campaign in Ireland in 1650 and the family later went on to hold estates in counties Kilkenny and Tipperary. Captain Jackson was buried in the churchyard of St. Audeon's in Dublin in 1675. The Jacksons were landowners and neighbours of Colonel Sir John Ponsonby in that newly planted part of Ireland. The families intermarried and even in the last century some of his ancestors continued to use the name Ponsonby Jackson. The Ponsonbys, through some very well-chosen marriages with the Cavendish family (the Dukes of Devonshire), went on to become the most enobled family in the British Isles. Two of the daughters of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, married Ponsonby men. Most notably, the Princes William and Harry descend from the Ponsonbys on their late mother's side. He believes that he is a distant cousin.
His 3rd great-grandfather was Bernard Ponsonby Jackson of South Lodge, Clonmel, who married Catherine Power in August 1811. The Power family also held land in South Tipperary and were neighbours of the Jackson family. He believes that Catherine was a niece of James Power who established the famous Power's whiskey distillery in Dublin in 1791. Her first cousin, Sir John Power, later took charge of the business and was knighted by Victoria in 1841. He's credited with inventing the 'Baby Power', the miniature bottle of whiskey which has been imitated worldwide. Another family connection in the county of Tipperary was his great-grandfather, Daniel Davoren, who was on the winning Tipperary hurling team in the very first All-Ireland Hurling Final held in 1887. Actually, he played for Thurles who represented the county that year.
His mother's German ancestry (Schüssler) stems from the relocation of his 4th great-grandfather, Gottlob, from Leipzig in the 1740s to London and then to Bristol. He later became an eminent book publisher and burgess (councillor) for the city of Bristol with responsiility for the poor of the city. He was naturalised as a subject of George III in 1790 by an Act of Parliament. At that time, naturalisation could only take place by an act passing through both houses of parliament. Amazingly, his father studied mathematics at the University of Leipzig in 1710. His grandparents were married in Leipzig in the church where JS Bach was the choirmaster. Fergus has traced his ancestors back as far as the Thirty Years War, the family appearing to have been early followers of Martin Luther.
Irish family history research is made very difficult as a result of the War of Independence and the Civil War in the early 1900's. Many of the usual records that are used for research were destroyed by fire. Because of this, his father's family has been a lot harder to trace. They appear to have been Dubliners through and through though, living in Aungier St and later in the Portobello area. A cousin is believed to have been one Joseph Brady who was hanged in Kilmainham Gaol for his involvement in the Phoenix Park Murders which took place in Dublin in 1882. He was a member of the infamous Fenian group, the Invincibles.
Other branches of his family tree hail from the counties of Somerset, Wiltshire, and Dublin.
Sarah Quinn (née Hockley)
Sarah's family history is very interesting in that her paternal grandfather (Paul Hoche) came to Britain in 1910 from Szczecin (pronounced Stettin) which was then part of the German Empire but is now in Poland. He was naturalised as a UK citizen in 1914, changing his name to Hockley, and served in the British Army in Belgium and France throughout the First World War. Sarah's father, Stafford, went off at 14 in 1936 across Europe to visit his relatives in Szczecin and to attend the Berlin Olympic Games. He recalls how his cousin had to leave him behind at home some evenings when his Hitler Youth friends called to the door!
Sarah's mother's family are Londoners through and through. They can all be traced through North London from Southgate to Tottenham to Islington and Shoreditch to inside the walls of the City itself. Her great grandfather owned a 'beer house' in Tottenham in the 1890s. Sadly, it's no longer in the family.
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