Okay same info a little more detailed.... however not sure where to from here (read as hands in the air) Long post but could be of use for others along the same path. (Thanks to Kay)
The Staunton family has a long history in England before George Staunton went to Ireland in 1634 to settle land given to him by Charles I.
See http://leighpark.stauntoninfo.co.uk/26657.html
However, the name is French and probably dates back to William the Conqueror's time. There are more details on that website.
See also Sir Knight Malgerus I of Staunton (1070-1082(, who was said to defend Belvoir Castle in the village of Staunton in 1084 against William the Conqueror. You can research him on http://search.ancestory.myfamily.com and http://nottshistory.org.uk/Brown1896/staunton.htm
An early Staunton of renown was Hervey de Staunton (1260-1327) who was Chief Justice of the King's Bench and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He founded Trinity College, Cambridge, originally Michael House. Unfortunately, I do not have the website, but you can do a search.
This history was compiled for our family by David Austin Larkin (1983) on the encouragement of Sydney George Larkin (1909-88).
Re Ribbon Men: my ancestor Peter Larkin b.1789- d.1879, probably in Gort, Ireland, died in Australia, was a Ribbon Man. He was well-off and well educated. After the Treaty of Limerick and defeat of the Catholic Confederation in 1691 a Penal Code was introduced, Catholics were barred from education or risk losing their land. By an Act of Parliament 1745 teachers were required to have a licence and the Protestant Bishop to swear an Oath of Allegiance. Those who did not were forced underground. Under these conditions the Hedge Schools remained the only Catholic education throughout the 18th and early 19th century. Violent protest was undertaken by Whiteboys or Ribbonmen, and were active particularly between 1815 and 1835.
The branch of Ribbonmen that they belonged to was called Hearts of Steel.
My ancestor, Peter Larkin married Bridget Cunningham. Sir Thomas Burke, of Marble Hill, invited disaffected Ribbonmen to his estate - Slieve Aughtey area and the Cunninghams were dairying at Derrybrien. You might be familiar with these areas.
Perhaps Peter Larkin was influenced to become a Ribbonman by his wife, Bridget. At any rate we know she was a feisty woman because after his arrest she walked to Dublin to plead with the Viceroy, whom she knew personally, for his life. Their eldest daughter, Catherine (1818-1865), married Patrick Staunton's son Patrick (1811-1870, which is where the Stauntons come into our family. My father's mother was a Staunton descended from this union.
Bridget also sold up everything and sailed to Australia to be with Peter. Peter requested her passage and she arrived with 4 children. There she established the farm 'Galway Farm' at Dapto, near Wollongong south of Sydney. Various children and relatives came out to the farm in the years to follow.
(Captain) Patrick Staunton (1774, Galway Ireland - 1851, Moruya NSW) was from Ballinasloe to the north-east near the border of Kings county," but distance was no obstacle to them as they went to any lengths for their cause". Before his arrest Staunton crossed into Tipperary at Lough Derg and back up past Lorrha and into Kings county before crossing the Shannon near Ballinasloe before being arrested. This appears to have been a common route for escapes
In June 1820, a concerted effort was made to capture the Ribbon Captains, Goode, Staunton, Concannon, Connoly and White leaders of their band of insurgents. On June 25th 1820 Captain Patrick Staunton was apprehended by the police, Mr Waters being the Chief Constable. Patrick was found hiding under the slats in the roo of a respectable farmhouse on the 9th October1820, Patrick who was not indicted on the capital charge but was the constant companion of Captain Michael Goode of Confert, along with Peter Larking, who had been sentenced to death, were removed from Galway Goal. After arrival in Australia, Patrick spent some time working on the road gangs from Parramatta to Windsor, while Larkin was exempted from hard labour and spent his first 6 months awaiting assignment.
They were convicted in 1820 and transported from Cork on the 'John Barry' in 1821. We have a copy of Peter Larkin's Ticket of Leave, his release from imprisonment in 1832, although he was released in 1827.
They were imprisoned in Galway Goal. "All alike were garbed in coarse frieze clothing, heavy hobnailed shoes and a round felt cap; all sleeping on a bare plank bed at night, and are intellectually starved, being kept without books or other mental occupation.
In another section: Patrick Staunton Sr came from a very substantial family, his wedding being one of the largest seen in east Galway with 80 carriages at his wedding (my grandmother ne Staunton, also told me this). His ancestors were English Norman gentry in Ireland since 1232, with later emigration of English settled at Claddagh in 1634. The later Stauntons were mainly Protestant Ascendancy but during penal times they became Catholic or were patriotic to their cause. The family were not without influence in Ireland, but this did not prevent Patrick from being deported to Australia.
Apparently, Patrick had a friend Father John Rigney who also taught in the hedge schools, and later came to Australia, marrying Patrick's son Patrick to Catherine Larkin and baptizing his children (11 in all)
