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St John the Baptist Church, Cobh (Queenstown) Via: Cobh Heritage Centre
St John the Baptist was the Catholic Church for Cobh from 1810 to 1868, when it was demolished to make way for the bigger St Colman's Cathedral |
Cobh Parish Office, were able to tell me that my 2x great-grandparents, Thomas Jones and Mary Harty had married, on 7 Jan 1844, at St John the Baptist Catholic Church in Cobh (Queenstown). St John the Baptist was the Catholic Church for Cobh from 1810 to 1868, when it was demolished to make way for the bigger St Colman's Cathedral. Witnesses appear to be a John Jamison and Cath[erine] Bowley. Nobody in the family had even considered the possibility of an Irish Catholic ancestor.
Thomas and Mary Jones had six children that I know of:
- Mary [Ann] Jones, bap. 15 Nov 1844 in Cobh, Cork, Ireland
- Rees Jones, b. 25 May 1849 in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire (1849 J Quarter in HOLBEACH Volume 14 Page 461), bap. 1 May 1851 at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Kings Lynn, Norfolk
- David Jones, b. 10 Jul 1850 in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire (1850 S Quarter in HOLBEACH Volume 14 Page 448), bap. 1 May 1851 at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Kings Lynn, Norfolk
- Anna Jones, bap. 4 Oct 1851 at Sacred Heart Church, Rath
- Nicholas Jones, b. 10 May, bap 17 May 1853 at Sacred Heart, Rath
- Thomas Jones, bap. 17 Sep 1854 at Sacred Heart, Rath
On the GRO birth registration for Rees, the mother's maiden name is correctly listed as HARTY; on David's it was HARDY (presumably misheard).
Thomas Jones, according to his merchant seaman's register ticket that was issued on 5 Mar 1847, while he was serving on HMS America (1810), states that he was born on 9 Apr 1817, in Swansea, Glamorganshire. On the 1851 census in England, he's also listed as having been born in Swansea. The merchant ticket also tells us that Thomas Jones, then a Ship's Corporal, was 5 ft 9½ in, with dark brown hair and, it looks like hazel eyes and had a ship [tattoo] on his left arm and a man & woman on his right; that he went to sea as a boy (of 10) in 1827 and, 'when unemployed', resided at Cove of Cork.
Son David listed himself as being born in Wales, when he must have known he'd been born in England and it's easy to imagine reasons why being Welsh in Ireland would have been more acceptable than being English in the era. Is it possible that Thomas, marrying an Irish Catholic girl in 1844, had had the foresight to do the same? Jones would make that claim entirely believable, because, there exists an alternative theory: Thomas Jones pension record, naturally, starts when he reaches pensionable age at 18, in 1835. In 1841 and 1843 thereon, he is listed with HMS Caledonia (1808). On 9 Jan 1831, a Thomas Jones, aged 12, Supy. Boy 2nd Cl., but born in Devonport, was discharged at Cove, Cork from HMS Windsor Castle (1790), which he'd joined on 6 May 1830 (and probably took him to the Mediterranean) to HMS Caledonia (1808). Both ships were fitted for Channel service.
This Thomas Jones was baptised at St George's church, East Stonehouse, Plymouth on 1 Nov 1817, the son of John Jones, Private Royal Marines Artillery (RMA) and his wife, Elizabeth. The Royal Marines copy of this baptism (under ADM 193: Admiralty: Royal Marines: Miscellanea), lists the child's father as a Gunner, 2nd Class. These latter records are listed, not in date or alphabetical order, but appear to group family offspring together, from which we can deduce that Thomas Jones was an only child. His parents, John Jones and Elizabeth Williams had married, again in East Stonehouse, on 6 Apr 1816. Then John Jones died, aged 36, and was buried in East Stonehouse on 12 Dec 1817. That would be a pretty good excuse for him not fathering further children and a reason for a boy of ten to go to sea. If this is the right family, it also explains why DNA matches only come up via those I already know I'm related to. It would also be easy to accept too that John Jones and Elizabeth with the surname of Williams were Welsh with his occupation bringing him to Plymouth. And as Thomas names his first son Rees, I do think 'someone' had to be actually Welsh and that much is confirmed by DNA.
There could, of course, be thousands of boys called Thomas Jones, but how many are going to be exactly the right age, in exactly the right place, even transferring to a ship he is known to serve on? This is no proof at all, but circumstantially, I think there's a fair chance this is 'our' Thomas Jones, although I accept this is speculation and may be impossible to prove.
Mary Harty, must have been born around 1821. Although she married in Cobh, I see no reason to assume that she was from there originally. My late cousin in Ireland had said that Mary later went "up country" to where her people were from, but we don't know where her exact place of birth nor original parish was. What we do know from that 1851 English census is that Mary was born in Ireland and, later from the 1901 Irish census, that she spoke both Irish and English. The only other clue is that Mary had a younger sister, Ellen Harty (b. 1825), who was visiting them in Sutton Bridge, England in 1851 and who was sponsor on both David's and Nicholas' baptisms.
Voyage to South America 1834-1837
After spending the second half of 1833 being fitted out as a brig, on
1 Feb 1834,
Sparrowhawk was reported at Portsmouth, expected to sail for the
South America Station shortly and departed
Spithead for the South American station on
13 Feb 1834. As I don't imagine Thomas was flown out later, I think it safe to assume he left with the ship on this voyage.
Around
24 Mar 1834, Sparrowhawk touched at
Madeira en route for South America. Then on
17 Aug 1834, she rescued the crew of the Mars (en route from
Launceston to London, foundered on the
Falkland Islands 3 July).
10 May 1835 she was at
Valparaíso (
Chile);
30 Oct 1835 reported to be off the coast between
Callao (Peru) and
Mexico;
17 Apr 1836 is reported to be calling at
Guayaquil (
Ecuador) and
Coquimbo (Chile), prior to returning to Valparaiso to meet
HMS Blonde (1819);
20 Aug 1836 she was reported to be due at Valparaiso shortly to relieve
HMS Rover (1832), and to sail for
Rio de Janeiro and England in Oct. Thomas Jones remained with this ship until the end of this voyage, on
4 Feb 1837, when he was paid off.
Cruise off West Africa 1841The next ship listed on his pension record that Thomas joined, as an Able Seaman, on
29 Apr 1841, was
HMS Forester (1832). Whilst there is no image available online of Forester, she was a Royal Navy 10-gun
Cherokee-class brig-sloop of the same era and ilk as
HMS Beagle. "Per a report made to Parliament in 1842, at some time during 1841 [Forester] was involved in combatting the Slave Trade". And, indeed, just two days prior to Thomas Jones joining this ship, the following entry appears, which would certainly explain why they will have suddenly needed men to replace those lost:
27 Apr 1841 [Forester] proceeded up the River Pongos with the ship's boats to ascertain the state of the slave trade in the river. Early next morning the boats of the Termagant joined the party, and as soon as the flood tide commenced at 7.00 am, they boarded several boats while proceeding up the river to Mrs Lightbourne's slave barracoons, which were burnt. However following an explosion, as they were departing a number of men were killed and wounded, and several went missing, in particular one man who would appear to have found alcohol in the barracoon, which he consumed to excess, and was awaiting punishment.
Thomas had presumably arrived in Accra on some other vessel, however, there's a gap of some 4 years, from when he was paid off from HMS Sparrowhawk on 4 Feb 1837, until joining Forester in 1841, where no ship assignments are listed and, thus I've not discovered how. At that time they signed on each voyage rather than a permanent navy, so he could well have been on a merchant vessel in the intervening time, which would explain both the gap and provide a means to reach Africa, but as
the requirement for merchant register tickets wasn't introduced until 1844, it seems unlikely that I'll ever find details. However, while his son David followed him into the Royal Navy, Nicholas had a long career in the Merchant service. It hadn't occurred to me that
both sons could have been following in their father's footsteps.
Being on this cruise does explain why Thomas was not on the Census of 1841, as he was at sea. Seamen on shore on census night were enumerated in the same way as the general public, in the place where they spent that night. There was no provision made for recording seamen at sea on census night.
There are no more details of what this cruise aimed to achieve - besides bringing the ship back to England - or where it went, merely the notice that, on
17 Sep 1841, it arrived
Plymouth Sound from the coast of Africa. On
29 Sep 1841, the date Thomas left this ship, in Plymouth and was paid off.
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HMS Belleisle later as a Hospital Ship in the Crimean War Edwin Weedon, CC BY 4.0
HMS Belleisle, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 April 1819 at Pembroke Dockyard, was converted to serve as a troopship in 1841. |
Expedition to China 1841-1843
On 30 Dec 1841, three troop ships, the Belleisle, Apollo and Sapphire, of this British naval expeditionary force, put into the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands, whose strategic position in the Atlantic, between Europe, Africa and America, made it a mandatory refuelling stop for ships from Columbus' time onwards. They'd left Plymouth Sound on 20 Dec 1841, bound for China, during the First Opium War (or First China War).
With HMS Caledonia (1808) - a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line - from 14 Oct 1841 to 21 Nov 1841, Thomas Jones had joined the 74-gun third-rate ship HMS Belleisle (1819), in Plymouth, on 22 Nov 1841, as an Able Seaman, but was assigned as Captain's Guard, on 4 Sep 1842, presumably somewhere up the Yangtze, as this was ten days before the force began to withdraw from the area. The captain of the Belleisle, who they will have been guarding, was John Kingcome (Admiral Sir John Kingcombe - 1794-1871).
On 18 Nov 1841, the Belleisle had been in Plymouth, being fitted out for sea, and as a troop ship. Two days later, Lieutenants George Winsor. D. Ferguson, J. Risk, and Philip De Saumarez, were appointed. On 28 Nov 1841, they went out to Plymouth Sound. A company of artillery brought to Plymouth by the steamer Alban, embarked on 5 Dec 1841, and the 98th was reported to be embarking shortly. On 7 Dec 1841, the ship's company was paid advance of wages, which will have been useful on their first stop off en route.
1 Jan 1842 [Belleisle] is reported to have been at Santa Cruz for the last 2 days, with the troop ships Apollo and Sapphire, and schooner Wanderer. The Belleisle arrived Teneriffe (sic) [...] where the officer commanding of the troops, at the request of the locals, allowed the band of the 98th Regt to go on shore and play on the Mole, where comparison was made to Nelson's welcome some 40 years previously, and his unsuccessful attack. The ships took the opportunity to top up with water and fresh provisions, with prices reflecting the demand for 2,500 men on board the ships.
The ships left Tenerife on New Year's Day and continued their voyage. On 2 Feb 1842 the Belleisle, Apollo and Sapphire arrived
Rio de Janeiro en route for China with reinforcements. They were there until
28 Feb 1842, when she departed Rio de Janeiro in company with her consorts, for China. On
14 Mar 1842 she arrived at the
Cape of Good Hope, in company with the troop ships Sapphire and Apollo and departed for China on
22 Mar 1842. It took them until
2 Jun 1842 before they arrived in
Hong Kong, from England, with part of the 98th Regt. On
5 Jul 1842 they were stationed at Chusan (
Zhoushan). And from
16 Jun - 29 Aug 1842, made their expedition up the Yang-tse-Keang, to the end of hostilities and signing of the
Treaty of Nanking. Following the signing of the Treaty, the force began its withdrawal on
14 Sep 1842; by
6 Oct 1842, the expeditionary force had completely withdrawn from the
Yangtze River.
"Shanghai was evacuated on June 23rd, and the troops and vessels fell back to Woosung. The expedition into the Yangtsekiang proper was then promptly organised. The European troops which took part in it were the 18th, 26th, 49th, 55th, and 98th Regiments, with some Royal Artillery and Engineers, the whole being under Sir Hugh Gough, Major-Generals Lord Saltoun, Schoedde, and Bartley, Colonel Montgomerie, R.A., and Captain Pears, R.E. Besides about forty transports, the following vessels of the Royal Navy and H.E.I. Co.'s marine participated :— H.M.S. Cornwallis, Blonde, Calliope, North Star, Dido, Modextc, Endymion, Clio, Columbine, Ahjerinc, Bellisle (sic), Apollo, Sapphire, Jupiter, Rattlesnake, Plover, Starling, and Vixen, paddle. H.E.I. Co.'s Sesostris, Auckland, Queen, Tenasserim, Nemesis, Phlegethon, Pluto, Proserpine, and Medusa — all paddle steamers. North Star, Modeste, Clio, and Columbine."
The Captain’s Guard
"
In addition to their combat role, Marines also acted as a vaccine of sorts against the infection most feared by ship’s captains: mutiny. Armed with muskets and bayonets, they served as the captain’s personal guard and moved quickly to quell any hint of insurrection on the lower decks. It certainly was not lost on sailors that Marines were billeted between the sailors and the captain’s quarters. Fully armed sentries were posted at key points around ships, including captains’ cabins, powder magazines and spirit lockers. In battle, Marine sentries stood guard at the entrance to the companionways to prevent any less-than-stalwart sailors fleeing to the relative safety of the lower decks."
It's interesting that Thomas was in a role that was more normally carried out by Marines. We did wonder if this was because there were no Marines on this troop ship, however, Thomas was also part of the captain's guard on his next two ships. If his father had been a Marine, I think this was likely of less influence than Thomas being 5ft 9½in. Thomas Jones remained as Captain's Guard on
HMS Belleisle until
28 Sep 1843. He went back to
HMS Caledonia, then under the command of
Captain Alexander Milne (
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet), again as Captain’s Guard, on
29 Sep 1843, in which capacity he was still serving at the time of his marriage in 1844.
In the Pacific Northwest 1844-1846
There's a note under entry for the marriage of Thomas Jones and Mary Harty, on 7 Jan 1844, which looks like it relates to this marriage. It's not clear, but seems to say something about a ship sailing. Thomas was, at that time, assigned to HMS Caledonia (1808), as Captain's Guard, however, on 1 Mar 1844, he joined HMS America (1810), again as [part of the] Captain's Guard.
HMS America, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line, since 22 Feb 1844, had been under the command of Captain John Gordon and, it appears, personal influence - with brothers in the cabinet and the Admiralty - got Gordon this command on the Pacific Station, and "could expect his appointment to prove lucrative". Initially, I found scant details of this voyage, other than that "during the rising tensions with the United States over the Oregon boundary dispute, HMS America was dispatched to the Pacific Northwest in 1845"; that circa to Jun 1845, she was reported to be on the California coast and in 1846: was at the Pacific and Otaheite [Tahiti] Station, until I found Gordon's biography.
Also on that voyage was Lieutenant William Peel (later Captain Sir William Peel VC KCB), son of then British prime minister, Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet. Peel had "ship-hopped" to the Pacific, eventually to the frigate America, in which he voyaged to Puget Sound. [Source: Lieutenant William Peel, British Naval Intelligence, and the Oregon Crisis by Barry Gough PDF] The ship was to give naval support to the Hudson's Bay Company and Peel became involved in a secret mission: to investigate the state of affairs of the besieged British interests at the Columbia River. Record tells us that HMS America arrived off Cape Flattery on 28 Aug 1845. They left Port Discovery on 26 Sep 1845, bound for Honolulu and reached England on 19 Aug 1846.
"As for Captain Gordon and the further voyages of America, it may be observed briefly that after reaching Honolulu and sailing for Mexican harbours he dallied taking on board a lucrative shipment of silver for the Bank of England, from which he stood to gain personally. His superior, Admiral Seymour (Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Francis Seymour GCB, GCH, PC), charged him with dereliction of duty and he was court-martialled on his return to Portsmouth."
These events, I feel, were not without consequences for Thomas Jones' career: Thomas stayed on HMS America, but on 1 Oct 1846, obtained a "sideways promotion" to Boatswain’s mate and, quite soon after, on 30 Nov 1846, was made Ship’s Corporal. These coincide with the appointment, on 10 Nov 1846, of Captain Thomas Maitland (Admiral of the Fleet Thomas Maitland, 11th Earl of Lauderdale, GCB) and it makes sense that there would be a clean sweep and changing of the Captain's Guard. It's reported that Maitland commanded HMS America off the coast of Portugal in November 1846, but I've not found any further reference to explain in what capacity. Thomas Jones remained Ship's Corporal on HMS America until 20 Oct 1847, after which, he was appointed Coast Guard Boatman on 28 Dec 1847.
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Houses at the junction of Lime Street and Custom House Street, Sutton Bridge
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Coast Guard Service
My late cousin in Ireland had told me that her great-grandfather (my 2x great-grandfather), Thomas Jones, had been a coastguard - this was confirmed on his sons,
David and
Nicholas' marriage certificates - and that she had been down to
Baltimore, West Cork in an attempt to find any trace of the family. She'd had no luck at the
Church of Ireland churches there - never occurred to try the Catholic ones. But from that information, eventually, I traced Thomas' posting - on 2 Jun 1851 - via the Coastguard Establishment Books for Ireland (
ADM 175/19) at
The National Archives at Kew.
That record also told me that his previous posting had been at
Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, where on Sunday 30 March 1851 on the England and Wales Census, 1851, we find the family resident in Lime Street, with Thomas Jones (33), Boatman Coastguard, wife Mary Jones (30), daughter Mary Ann (7), son Reece (1), son David (0) and sister-in-law Ellen Harty (26) visiting.
On Thu 1 May 1851, sons,
Rees and David, were baptised at
St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. My Latin isn't great (ok, non-existent), but on these baptisms, the mother's name is written, as you would expect, as
Marie Jones and her maiden name is clearly listed as Harty. On David's baptism, the sponsor is
Helena Harty, presumably Mary's sister, Ellen.
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Coastguard station and coastguard cottages: Mariner’s Row, the terrace of
coastguard houses on the edge of the Cove in Baltimore, Cork
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Crimean War in the Baltic 1854-1856
Thomas Jones, I imagine, must have been happy to get the equivalent of a desk job - or at least become captain of his own rowing boat - for the Coast Guard Service, which allowed him to have some family life. It cannot have been easy to marry in 1844, then go off to sea for three years. He won't have met his daughter, Mary Ann, until she was around 2 years old. At Sutton Bridge, Thomas and Mary added two sons and, at Baltimore, West Cork, they added another daughter and two more sons. Then along came the Crimean War. Thomas' 4th son and namesake was born, in 1854, after he'd sailed, so he won't have met this child either until he was around 2 years old either.
Whether he volunteered or was required to do so, Thomas Jones joined the crew of HMS Duke of Wellington (1852) on 14 Feb 1854, as a Petty Officer First Class - sufficient to distinguish him from ordinary ratings. (The timing of which means that Thomas could well be 'in the photo' (somewhere inside the ship) at the time the above photo was taken on 5 Mar 1854.)
On 11 Mar 1854 Duke of Wellington, it's reported, departed Spithead (which infers that she had sailed from Plymouth to Portsmouth during the intervening six days), with the fleet, for the Baltic, where, on 15 Apr 1854 she captured Russian brig Patrioten [Prize Money per London Gazette of 21 Jul 1857].
On 13 Jun 1854 the French fleet joined the British in the Baltic at Baro Sound. On 10 Aug 1854 guns were landed and sent up to the British battery, under officers from the Edinburgh, Duke of Wellington, and Euryalus.
On 9-11 Aug 1855, Duke of Wellington was involved in the Bombardment of Sveaborg, a.k.a. Battle of Suomenlinna, during the Åland War:
"British and French naval forces consisting of 77 ships arrayed for the long-expected battle on 6 August 1855. They formed into a battle line more than 3 km off shore beyond the range of the defenders' obsolete artillery. Three days later the bombardment commenced. It continued for 47–48 hours. All the while, the attacker sat beyond the range of the defenders' guns. The British and French bombarded only the fortress of Viapori and avoided firing at the town of Helsinki directly. While the bombardment caused damage to the structures above ground, including to several gunpowder magazines which exploded, the bulk of the defending forces survived unscathed with their weaponry intact, leading to a draw stalemate."
After the bombardment, the Anglo-French fleet sent no troops ashore and instead set sail for Kronstadt. Then, with little more fanfare, Duke of Wellington is listed, on 4 Feb 1856, "At Spithead".
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| Review of the Fleet at Spithead by the Queen, April 23, 1856 |
On 23 Apr 1856 Present at Fleet Review, Spithead; under Captain Caldwell CB. From February until April, one imagines, were several weeks of scrubbing, polishing and painting every component of the vessel until it was 'shipshape'.
In April 1856 the first recorded evening illumination of the fleet took place.
The Illustrated London News, 26 April 1856 reported the event:
"On Saturday, after some days spent in evolutions of a preparatory nature, the fleet anchored in a stately line, with the Duke of Wellington at its head, bearing the Admiral's (Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Saunders Dundas, KCB) ensign." [...] "At the head of this imposing squadron was the Duke of Wellington, her 131 ports shining in the sun, which showed her chequered sides, bright with paint." [...] "The Queen's yacht, emerging from the surrounding smoke, proceeded rapidly past Fort Monckton, meeting everywhere the same enthusiastic reception, and, having rounded into a position to return down the centre line, entered the squadron of gun-boats, disposed in double rows on each side of her course, and majestically proceeded on her way. She glided past the small vessels of the flotilla, passed steam-frigates of various strength and speed, passed the giant screw line-of-battle ships, till she reached the Duke of Wellington, greeted in all directions by the most enthusiastic cheers."
What a finale for such a fascinating career. It will have been a proud moment.
After Thomas returned from his last voyage to the Baltic during the Crimean War, on 6 May 1856, Thomas went back the Coast Guard Service as a Boatman, at Baltimore, West Cork, until Fri 31 Jan 1868, when he retired from the service, early, aged just 51, due to heart disease.
Nobody ever spoke of Mary Ann, Rees, nor Thomas Jr. Mary Ann only ever appears on that English 1851 census and I've been unable to find her since;
David did things one would associate with the role of eldest son, so I'm sure Rees perished as an infant; Anna never married and still lived with her mother in 1901 and later became David's housekeeper. Annie Jones (77) Housekeeper, died at Cobh Hospital on 8 Mar 1934 from Bronchitis & Asthma 1 month and Cardiac Failure; Nicholas was my cousin's grandfather. The first time I'd even heard of youngest son Thomas, was from his baptism.
The only other record I've found [so far] for Thomas Jones Jnr is when he was enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 14 Apr 1871. On it, there's a reference provided by a John Lombard, which states, "Thomas Jones is a Protestant Parishioner of Queenstown, and son of a Naval Pensioner. He is a steady, well conducted lad." Emphasising Protestant for what purpose? Also attached to the record is a Declaration Before a Magistrate in Thomas Jones (the father's) own handwriting - I recognise his signature - stating that, "I hereby certify that my son Thomas Jones was born in Baltimore, Cork on May 25th, 1855." Not when he was baptised in 1854, he wasn't! Clearly the date wasn't a mistake and can only have been a deliberate falsification, because later on the form, it states that, "Boys for the Navy must be over 15 and not above 16½ years of age ..." He was 17. Thomas Snr having retired in ill health, one can perhaps understand him doing this in an attempt to ensure that his son was taken care of. The most curious part of this record, however, is that the service record is blank. Thomas Jnr was not even assigned to a training ship: it's like he didn't even turn up. He then just disappears.
Thomas Jones died, aged 56, on 8 Jan 1873, at Castle Oliver, from Morbus Cordis (unspecified heart disease) 4 years certified (which ties in with his date of retirement) - p
resumably in the surrounding village, rather than Kim and Kanye's honeymoon castle itself. Could that be the "up country" area Mary had originally come from? Can't think of another reason to be in
Limerick.
The inscription on his grave reads,
“Erected by David Jones In memory of his beloved father Thos. Jones Who died Jan. 8th 1873 aged 56 years”.
In 1901, Mary Jones, widow, was living with her daughter, Annie (who
claimed to be 30, but was 50) at The Glen,
Passage West (Monkstown, Cork). Mary Jones (81), Widow of Thomas Jones a Coastguard Pensioner, died of senile decay on 14 Aug 1903 at The Rock, Queenstown, Cork.
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