CONNIFF seems a possible alternative spelling.Three CONNIFF children were
born in Llanelly district a few miles from Swansea , Alexander 1869, Celia
in 1871 and Honora in 1873. A Thomas CONNIFF married in Pembroke
registration district in 1867, possibly to a Bridget CROTTY.
I assume you have seen another John CANNIFF in Pembroke in 1871 census, of
an older generation, age 50, a hawker, with a place of birth in Ireland. The
Ancestry transcriber thinks it is Lerwick but I read it as Limerick.
Brook Place in 1871 seems to have been Brook Street by 1879 detailed map of
the area in Swansea (Lower Swansea Valley 1879, on sale from West Glamorgan
Archives, Swansea) and was right in the middle of Greenhill, the Irish
quarter of Swansea at the time. The steel works the people in the street
were labourers at would probably have been the Landore Steel Works. The //
mark on the census means a different household in the same house, so the
CORKEY and BARRY families might not have been connected. The baptism records
for the Catholic Churches in Swansea are lodged in Swansea University
Archives, I understand, and permission is required to access them.
The address given is very close to what is now St Joseph's Cathedral, but
started off as a Convent and then St Joseph's Church adjacent to it. On
Google Earth look for Convent Street Swansea. Brook Place/Street has long
been replaced by more modern housing, in the 1950s or 1960s, and the
location now appears as Harrington Place. The housing to be seen on Google
Street View on the part of Neath Road near the junction with Bridge Street
nearby is much like what was probably in Brook Place/Street, but likely to
have been more substantially built for the employees of the Vivian & Sons
Copper works, rather than by speculative builders.
www.swansea.gov.uk/cambrian, the local newspaper, has some entries for Brook
Street which I think are this location, on 30 June 1871, 22 September 1871,
04 December 1874, 10 December 1875, 21 September 1877, 25 July 1879, 27
January 1888,23 March 1888, 04 May 1888, 06 July 1888, 20 July 1888, 10
August 1888, 26 October 1888,20 January 1903. Many of these refer to
residents of the street and drinking offences.
Looking at the census image, I think that all the names were actually
recorded in 1871 as CONNIFF except Mary. Look at the word 'son' on the same
page for example of 'on' and the words Donovan and Evans on the same page
for examples of how this writer wrote 'an'.
There is a book about Greenhill, Swansea in 19th century
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=17683
Little Ireland
by R.T.Price
SwanseaCity Council, 1992 ('Studies in Swansea's History' series, no. 1)
again available from West Glamorgan Archives.
Jeff
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bridget Canniff" <bcanniff(a)gmail.com>
To: <WLS-SWANSEA(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 8:40 PM
Subject: [WLS-SWANSEA] CANNIFF Swansea 1865-1873
Hello,
I'm looking for details on my great-great grandfather John Canniff
(also spelled Caniff/Canniffe), born in Swansea in (I believe) May
1868. His parents, James E (aka John) and Margaret (Corkery or
Corkey?) Canniff, came to Swansea from Ireland (town/county unknown)
about 1864-1865, where they had married and had their first two
children, James E (abt 1862) and Ellen Elizabeth "Nellie" (abt 1864).
Four more children were born in Swansea: Jeremiah W (Apr 1865?), gg
grandfather John (May 1868), Mary (Feb 1871) and Margaret E (Dec
1872). They appear (except for Margaret, not yet born) in the 1871
Wales Census (where the elder James is listed as John - he is James in
all other documentation I have found), living at 20 Brook Pl in Upper
Swansea. There are Corkeys (also born in Ireland) living at the same
address (along with a third family, the Barrys), who could be
Margaret's parents and sisters - Jeremiah (age 50), wife Catherine
(50) and daughters Anna (15) and Norah (12). I do not have any
independent corroboration for Corkery/Corkey as Margaret's maiden
name, but her name is given as "Corkery" on family charts by other
relatives.
I have located what I believe to be the entries for John, Mary and
Margaret's births in the England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, but
Jeremiah is nowhere to be found:
John Caniff (sic), Swansea, Apr-May-Jun 1868, vol 11a, pg 654, Civil
Registration of England & Wales
Mary Caniff (sic), Swansea, Jan-Feb-Mar 1871, vol 11a, pg 629,Civil
Registration of England & Wales
Margaret Canniff, Swansea, Oct-Nov-Dec 1872, vol 11a, pg 616, Civil
Registration of England & Wales
The whole family left Swansea and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts,
USA on 14 May 1873, according to passenger records of the steamship
Atlas which sailed from Liverpool (James E Sr's occupation is listed
as "farmer"). They settled in Canton, Massachusetts. Both John and his
son Harry (born in Canton in 1890) died in their mid-20s, and my
grandfather Nelson's mother (John's daughter-in-law/Harry's wife) died
the day after my grandfather's 11th birthday, so this branch of the
family lost much knowledge of its history.
What I am seeking is any help or suggestions for tracing the Canniffs
before or during their time in Wales. I would ultimately like to
determine where in Ireland they came from, when they arrived, confirm
Margaret's maiden name, and see if I can find James and Margaret's
parents/siblings. I know I can order birth certificates for John and
his sisters, which should list his mother's birth name, but from what
I can tell, parents' places of birth were not recorded before 1969.
Any advice or assistance you can give is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Bridget Canniff
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