John Martin (abt. 1795 - abt. 1849)

Born about 1795 in County Wexford, Ireland [uncertain]

Husband of Esther (Swain) Martin — married 1820 in Wexford, Ireland

Descendants

Died about 1849 at about age 54 in County Wexford, Ireland [uncertain]

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Biography

The first known record of John Martin is in the Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage License Bonds for the diocese of Ossory. It records his marriage in 1820 to Esther Swain.^[1]

John Martin is named in the tithe applotment books for Ballyeland and Ballinavary, Clonmore, Wexford, Ireland^[2]

He is also named in the Valuation office books dated 1844 for Clonmore, Wexford, Ireland.^[3]

This is the last known record of John Martin. According to a family story, he passed away before his youngest son, who was born about 1836, was 15 years old. This means he died about 1849. He is not listed in Griffith's Valuation, so this appears to be the case.

Research Notes

DNA evidence connects John to Christopher Martin of Tomsallagh, Clone, Wexford, Ireland. It is unknown how they are connected.

There is unfortunately very little information on John Martin. A search of the Ferns parish records by a private researcher shows that Christopher Martin and his wife, Elizabeth Griffith, had two sons named John. One was baptized 1 Dec 1794 and one baptized 20 Aug 1809. At first glance, the elder one would have been the correct age for this John Martin, but generally the reason a family baptized a second child with the same name is because the elder one died. The younger one in this case would have been too young to be this John Martin.

Further research into the parish records provided the following baptism that could be this John Martin.

20 Jun 1779 John son of John Martin Frances Bolton.

A transcription of the 1776 Ferns religious census and a Martin family appears in the census, which was transcribed from Ferns Register in the Representative Church Body in Dublin.

They are at Tomsallagh:

Mary Martin age 50-60, Thomas age 20-30, Richard age 20-30, Christopher age 10-20

There are a number of baptisms for children of Thomas Martin and his wife Esther Griffith in this same register, however they didn't appear to have a son named John, and a number of other Martin baptisms but they are all later.

This brings up some questions that require further research. DNA evidence clearly states that John Martin of Ballinavary is somehow related to Christopher Martin of Tomsallagh, but exactly how is unknown.

There aren't any baptismal records for children of Richard Martin in the Ferns records, so is it possible that he is the father of John and his children were baptized elsewhere? Is it possible there was an error made on the second John, son of Christopher, or did they really have two sons named John? Was there another unknown brother of Christopher Martin?

Research done in the spring of 2018 was fairly unsuccessful. Other than finding the death date for John's wife, Esther Swain Martin, no baptism records for any of their children was found. Parish registers that were researched at that time were Enniscorthy, Templeshanbo, Ferns and Ballycarney. However, the person doing the research had limited time and her focus was not on Martins. She also told me that the records for the parish of Clonmore were mixed in with those from Enniscorthy and were hard to get through. There may be other records available for future research, but it would mean a trip to the RCB in Dublin.

Sources

1. ↑ Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage License Bonds National Archives of Ireland
2. ↑ Tithe Applotment Books National Archives of Ireland
3. ↑ Valuation Office Books National Archives of Ireland