Hello! I desperately need some informed feedback. I am really asking
TWO questions:
This message is primarily to the Mike Hall's and John Ball's of this
world, knowledgeable about mining and emigration.
We have finally established, that YES (some of you will say "Obviously!
Glad she finally got it!") my Charles CALLEN was *Not born in County*,
but instead *Born Ireland, Scotland or Other* from the 1841 census. And
he doesn't have just a counting hash mark, he has a full blown check
mark. Unfortunately his father's just is marked *Not born in County.*
I've sent a few messages to mining lists, and checked for the placement
of the CALLAN/CALLEN surname. CALLAN is primarily Irish, whereas CALLEN
is in every instance I could find: (i.e. IGI, surname indexes, census
forms, parish registers) was Scots based. ALL of my CALLEN's have shown
the spelling with an "E" or an "I", never an "A", however, I
am NOT
ruling out CALLAN and Ireland as a possibility at this time. (That is
generally the reason I am writing this long winded message).
CALLEN Scots were primarily in Lanarkshire or Ayrshire, with both of them
being mining communities. I was playing around with the Scots Origins
site and threw my GBP 6 to the wind to see where it would lay. In the
meantime, I received a message from the Scot Mining list from a lady who
had mining Callen's in Muirkirk, Ayr. I told her that I had no clue as
to the origins of my Callen's, but "Thank you for the message."
Ten minutes later I had a return on Charles CALLEN from the Scots Origins
Database, where I searched for birth/ christening within 5 years of his
birth year 1809. Two Charles' born 1814, and...
wait for it...
one Charles CALLEN christened 2 Jul 1809, Sanquhar, Dumfries, Scotland -
fifteen miles from the young lady who e-mailed me about her Callen
family.
Charles CALLEN was 41 years old when he died 2 Apr 1850, according to his
burial record.
HELP ME HERE ---------
QUESTION #1:
Is it possible that a mining from Scotland would have come to South
Wales???
It does seem that there was a slow down in the lead mining in the
Ayr/Dumfries area in the early 1800's from what I can glean.
I am REALLY not trying to grasp at straws. I am REALLY trying to do good
research.
I have tried running the names Charles and other family names which are
all Old Testament names Absalom, Isaac, Jacob, etc. WITH the
CALLAN/CALLEN combination. It does not stand to reason at this point in
time that the family (THIS PARTICULAR GENERATION WHICH I AM CURRENTLY
SEARCHING, please bear in mind) emigrated to Wales from Ireland, based on
this generation's names.
I have found a match for John CALLEN ( CALLIN), which is the father of my
Charles CALLEN, at the right birth years on the Isle of Man.
QUESTION #2 (Probably directed to John Ball): How would the 1841 census
takers characterized the IOM. Born in this Country or Other?
I have no other clues as to the family origins of this family. The only
other data source I can think of is the Land Tax Assessment records, but
for Breconshire/ Powys they only list the years 1798-1800. The Brothers
John and Isaac CALLEN did not bring their families to Beaufort until 1815
at the very earliest (according to parish records and all other adjoining
parish records).
I have written to a number of Scottish mining sites about slow downs in
Scots mining during the early 1800's and whether miners left for more
fertile digs, but to no avail at this point.
So, lead this horse to water. I know I will probably end up in Ireland,
but cannot make the connection at this point with these darned OT first
names. Not many Methodist enclaves with the name CALLAN attached during
the late 1700's-early 1800's that anyone has yet brought to my
attention...
Any and all responses will be duly noted and appreciated.
My most sincere thanks. I am sorry to be clogging up the works with my
CALLEN branch. Just think, the sooner you get me off the Island the
sooner you won't have to be put thru the misery or my postings!!! (
However, all of my other relatively *harder* surnames such as SMITH,
DAVIES and MILLER are posing no problems - doesn't it just figure?)
TIA<
Dawn Perry-Taft