About Ascendants and Descendants

“ Carr House ,Weldbank , Chorley, Lancashire , England , was the family home of  James and Mary Barton (nee Turner) in the closing decades of the 19th.Century and the early decades of the 20th. Century . 

James was a very successful estate agent and this was reflected in their home and their lifestyle. .His wife Mary came from an old and established  Lancastrian catholic  family , the Turners . She had two brothers who were Benedictan monks at Ampleforth Abbey and one of whom was the titular Abbot ofWestminister Abbey .Whilst they were the very epitomy of the late Victorian upper middle class, Mary was ,apart from being a devoted mother to her seven children,  a very socially conscientious  person , involving herself in parochial work and in charity . For more see her obituary in personal profiles . The ever presence of the  influence of the church in  family life was also to be seen in the ministry , James’ brother Richard being parish priest of Ramsey, Isle of Mann. 

The children of the marriage were : Thomas, John(known asJack),Oswald, James, Sarah(known as ‘Sissy'),Margaret,and Mary . Of these the English Branch of the family are descended from Jack . The Irish Branch are descended from Oswald , and ‘Sissy’ . Margaret also went to live in Ireland  after the Second  World War having married  Brigadier Vincent Kenny .They had no issue . 

Thomas entered Ampleforth Abbey as a Benedictan monk ,taking the name of Ildefonsus. He subsequently left the monastery and became a curate at Warrington where  he served until 1924 when he appears to have left the priesthood , an event of traumatic consequences for him and his family since he appears to have lost all contact and was not afterwards spoken of. 

‘Jack’, like his brothers, was sent to Ampleforth College for his schooling; he was groomed for the family business which he ultimately entered following a short sojourn in the army as an officer cadet. He married Beatrice (known as ‘Bea’) Clarke; they had two children, Peter and Mary. For more about them and their descendants see the English Branch of the family. 

Oswald went to agricultural college after Ampleforth but on the outbreak of war in 1914 joined the army becoming a cavalry  officer with the Royal Dragoon Guards. Wounded in 1915, he was recuperating in Dublin when the Rebellion of Easter week 1916 broke out .A trip down the country at the time engendered a life long love of the Irish countryside to which he returned after the Armistace in 1918 making Ireland his home . He married an Irishwoman Eileen Cooney and their children were James, Richard, Helen , Monica and Oswald Edward. For more about them and their descendants see the Irish Branch of the family. Oswald and Eileen are buried in Deansgrange cemetery ,Blackrock, Co,Dublin .

James joined the Army in 1916 straight from Ampleforth where he was  an officer cadet . He was mentioned in despatches and was a highly decorated soldier serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery being awarded the Military Cross and the Crois de Guerre. James was killed in action on the 17th of August 1918 near Harbonniers, France . He was unmarried.  For more about James and the letter home written by his commanding officer to advise of his death ,see personal profiles . 

Sarah ‘Sissy’, also went to live in Ireland at Beechmount, Nutley Lane, Dublin, after a high society wedding to Mr. Patrick Kelly J.P., celebrated by the Bishop of Portsmouth, her two uncles and her brother, followed by a honeymoon in Switzerland. Their children were Ruth and Patricia. For more about these and their descendants see the Irish Branch of the family. See also a report of ‘Sissy’s wedding in personal profiles.

Margaret married Brigadier Vincent Kenny, a highly distinguished army officer  who came from Ireland. They had no children. Vincent Kenny became PostMasterGeneral of the UK after the Great War and when the Second World War ended he and Margaret retired to live in Gordan Avenue, Foxrock, Dublin . She devoted her life in Ireland to her nephews and nieces and to works of charity. She had a great knowledge of  and interest in her family history and it is from her in large measure that my own interest derives . They are buried in Deansgrange cemetery, 

Blackrock, Co. Dublin. 

Mary died in childhood on the 5th of July,1918.