Charles Shortt (1753 - abt. 1833)

Born 1753 in Wingfield, Tipperary, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Grace (Gilbert) Shortt — married 1779 in Ireland

Descendants

Died about 21 Dec 1833 at about age 80 in Roscrea, Laois, Ireland

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Biography

1753 - Charles Shortt was born in 1754 and he was the youngest son of John Shortt of Wingfield and his wife Frances Spunner. He was most likely named after his grandfather Charles Spunner.^[1]

This record of their eldest son Jonathan's education confirms his parents and that they were from Shinrone. Shortt, Jonathan, First son of Charles of Shinrone, Kings County, and Grace Gilbert, over 16, educated Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, afft (by parent, guardian or friend) Easter Term, 1798 (attorney, Exchequer, 1805 (entry from Exchequer roll).”^[2]

The record of Education of his son Rev Francis Shortt establishes that he was a Farmer.^[3]

In addition there is additional evidence which establishes that Dr John Shortt, Rev Francis Shortt and William Shortt are also sons of Charles Shortt of Shinrone and connected. The combined grave of Dr John Shortt and Rev Francis Shortt establishes that they are siblings. In addition there is evidence through William’s wife Sarah Webb of the connection to Charles Shortt.^[4]

1806 - Suddenly at Loughbrickland, on the 21st inst, Mr James Short aged 20, 3rd son of Charles Short of Shinrone, Kings County.^[5]

1807 - Charles Shortt of Shinrone is mentioned in a "To Let" advertisement as a contact regarding the letting of a Spunner family property, Glasshouse. The other contact is John Spunner of Milltown near Roscrea, most likely John Spunner. ^[6]

1812 - This information from the Registry of Deeds (thank you John Shortt for sharing) also confirms a connection to Jonathan Shortt and Dr John Shortt (siblings). 1812 663 107 454943 1812 Joseph Antisell of Arbour Hill, Tipp (1st), Anna Maria (eldest dau) (2nd), Jonathan Short of Dublin^ gent and attorney in law (3rd), James Sheppard of Knochshegowna, Capt in Tipp Reg of Militia and John Short, Surgeon in 47th Reg of Infantry (4th) - re Settlement 1790 - Christopher Antisell, Sharaduff, Tipp and Joseph Antisell (3rd son) and Eliz Gilbert on marriage to Joseph - re land and bog leased in 1719 by Howard Egan of Annameadle to Thomas Antisell - Derrinarafey(?) (Derrinavassy?), Lower Ormond.^[7]

1813 -There is evidence that shows that Charles Shortt of Shinrone also had another son named Thomas Spunner Shortt (snr). This particular son died at the Storming of San Sebastian in 1813. Jonathan Shortt (attorney) named a son Thomas Spunner Shortt (jnr 1) who was born in 1820 in Ireland. Dr John Shortt also had a son he named Thomas Spunner Shortt (jnr 2) who was born in Cadiz, Spain in 1813.

1818 -Following the death of Thomas Spunner Shortt, his father Charles applied for a pension which was granted.^[8] Shortt, Charles - Father of the late Lieutenant Thomas Spunner Shortt, of the 47th foot, who was killed at the storming of St Sebastian, he being left with a large family in confined circumstances.

1833 -Charles and his wife Grace are buried in the Shortt family plot in Dunkerrin Church graveyard, although there is no inscription on the burial tomb showing their names, the records show they are buried in this graveyard and the burial record shows them as from Roscrea which is supported below.^[9] The photograph shows the tomb in front of Dunkerrin Church. It is interesting that the tomb is a very similar style of tomb as the grave of his son's wife Martha Shortt.

This newspaper article (Thank you Marilyn Cully) also connects Thomas Spunner Shortt (snr) to Dr John Shortt as his brother.

Another veteran departed from the Forest, express Feb 13. Dr John Shortt DIGAH departed this life on the 22nd Jan at Rathmines Dublin at the advanced age of 92 years. The deceased held the position of Principal Medical officer in 3 regiments 47th, during the seiges of Tarnia 1811; Cadiz 1812 and while Lord Wellington led the English armies in Spain and Portugal. After a brief period on 1/2 pay, he was gazetted to the 79th or Cameron Highlanders on the eve of its departure for Canada in 1825. In 1830 in TO. He served for 30 years and retired on full pay and after a few years spent in Toronto and Kingston returned to end his days in his native land. He was father to the late Rev Jonathan Shortt DD of Port Hope etc see above. He had the happiness of seeing the 4th generation of his family before he passed away to a better Land. His family has given no less than 5 officers to the British Army and one of his brothers Lieut Thomas S Shortt was killed at San Sebastian while leading a forlorn hope.^[10]

Further Research

Further speculation: Perhaps Charles had a middle name of Augustus. A grandson of Charles was named Charles Augustus Shortt. A descendant of Grace Shortt also named a son with the middle name of Augustus. It seems likely there is some relationship to Montague Leaver Shortt's family too (he appears to be the son of Augustine Question Shortt. He also named a son Richard Whatley Shortt (as did Rev Francis Shortt) and he named a son Augustus C. Shortt.

Notes on Montague Leaver Shortt

Samuel Burrows married Elizabeth Thomas Shortt (b 1771 Minehead, Somerset d 1854 Highley, Shropshire) and they had a large number of children including Elizabeth Burrows (b 27 Jan 1797) at Highley, Shropshire d 19 Sep 1841, Dublin) She married Montague Leaver Shortt (b 1788 Dublin d 19 Sep 1841, Withycombe Hall, Somerset ) who was the son of her mother's brother Augustine Question Shortt, and who married Arabella Marsh Leaver 20 Aug 1787 at Mathon, Worcester. The children of Montague and Elizabeth were Arabella Elizabeth (b 6 Aug 1827 d 10 Sep 1827, Dublin), Matilda Elizabeth Shortt (28 Aug 1827 baptised), Augustine Charles Shortt (18 Mar 1829 Dublin d 23 Feb 1875 Shrewsbury), Elizabeth Shortt (b. 17 May 1833 Dublin, married Rev John Stanton), and Richard Whatley Shortt (b 31 Dec 1835 d 12 Dec 1859 Dublin) If there was relationship it is unclear where the connection is, the available deed information does not show any close relationship.

DNA Notes

A descendant of Dr John Shortt and two descendants of Jonathan Shortt have had good DNA matches with their autosomal test at Ancestry. It would be good to have some additional descendants tested for comparison. This does support our evidence that Dr John Shortt and Jonathan Shortt are brothers.

A descendant of John Stephenson has had a match to a descendant of Charles Shortt. This is most likely to be a Shortt DNA match. It supports that this John Stephenson is a descendant of Jonathan Shortt of Wingfield. The Ancestry match is 10.4 centimorgans shared across 1 DNA segment.

A descendant of sons of John Shortt and Frances Spunner, John Shortt and his brother Charles Shortt have had a DNA Match.

Sources

1. ↑ Kings Inn Register
2. ↑ Kings Inn Register
3. ↑ Trinity College Register
4. ↑ Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland
5. ↑ Belfast Commercial Chronicle 26 March 1806 pg 2
6. ↑ Dublin Evening Post 2 April, 1807
7. ↑ Registry of Deeds
8. ↑ Estimates and Accounts, 1818 pg 66.
9. ↑ Dunkerrin Parish Records
10. ↑ Feb 20 1875 Port Hope Guide Newspaper

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 15 June 2017, 20:11), entry for Charles Shortt(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:MMB2-Z7M); contributed by various users.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to M.J Cully for providing information regarding the Obituary of Dr John Shortt.