Author Archives: Maria

Edward Weddall, Master Mariner

Edward Weddall received his Master’s Certificate from the Board of Trade in July 1870. At the young age of 26, he was included in the Lloyd’s of London Captains’ Register after serving eleven years at sea.

Sources

Lloyd’s List 19 July 1870

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14086888

https://search.lma.gov.uk/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/LMA_OPAC/web_detail/REFD+CLC~2FB~2F148?SESSIONSEARCH

The Tatler 5 August 1908

Chancery Court

Over the years, Emily’s great-grandfather found himself in the Court of Chancery in Dublin. The court was set up for plaintiffs and defendants from all over Ireland to settle disputes with debtors and creditors. All members of the public could find themselves as either plaintiffs or defendants in court, depending on whether they owed or were owed money. As a printer and businessman, Daniel Graisberry had a better than average chance of having to attend the chancery court. In June 1817, his name appeared in the Book of Chancery for that year. It is not clear whether he was a plaintiff or a defendant, but it is possible he could have been either. Other than his name, there were no other details. His name appeared the previous year too, because he could not pay his creditors. At that time, the book and print business was not nearly as lucrative as it had been during the previous century.

Below is an example from the Saunders’s News-Letter from June 1817 of a case in the Chancery Court.

Below is a ‘lighter’ example of a Chancery Court case from 1911.

Sources

“Ireland, Court of Chancery Bill Books, 1627-1884”, database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6J3N-VKPZ : 23 September 2022), Daniel Graisberry, 1817.

https://search.findmypast.ie/record?id=IRE%2FCOURT%2FCHANCERY%2F007635216%2F00192&parentid=IRE%2FCOURT%2FCHANCERY%2F0001173024

Birmingham Mail 29 November 1911

Saunders’s News-Letter 27 June 1817

Emily Graisberry’s Marriage

In June 1825, Emily’s great aunt, whom she was called after, got married. Emily Graisberry, according to her baptism record from July 1807, was not quite eighteen at the time. The marriage was most likely arranged by her mother, Ruth, who had five single daughters and a blind or deaf elderly mother to support. Ruth had been widowed in 1822 and, in spite of her difficult situation, managed to not just survive but thrive. At a time when women lost their husbands and did not have a son to take over as head of the household, they could end up living in poverty. Not Ruth Graisberry. When Daniel Graisberry died in 1822, she petitioned the powers that be at Trinity College to allow her to retain the position of chief printer. They did not object, and she partnered up with Campbell Printers under R. Graisberry and Campbell.

Emily was the second of the Graisberry girls to marry; her older sister, Abigail, married Rev. Henry Revell the previous year. In the years that followed, four of the five Graisberry girls found husbands, with Charlotte marrying a second time after she was widowed. Only Sophia remained single, staying with her mother Ruth to help run the family print works.

Sources

https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/display-pdf.jsp?pdfName=d-277-1-4-050

Saunders’s News-Letter 15 June 1825

Irish Booklore: A Galley of Pie: Women in the Irish Book Trades Author(s): Vincent InaneThe Linen Hall Review, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter, 1991), pp. 10-13 Published by: Linen Hall Library. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20534214. Retrieved 07-05-2015

https://search.findmypast.ie/record?id=IRE%2FIET0090%2FB_0426&parentid=IRE%2FIET0090%2FB_0426%2F024

One Hundred Years ago

On this day, one hundred years ago, the Civil War ended. It concluded with a ceasefire rather than any formal ending. The ten-month conflict claimed between 1,500 and 1,700 lives, including civilians, while the real number of fatalities is unknown and likely higher. It ended the lives of many prominent figures such as Michael Collins, Liam Lynch, Cathal Brugha, and Arthur Griffith; although the latter died of natural causes, the stresses of the conflict contributed in no small part

The effects of the civil war were numerous and immeasurable. The passage of time has gone some distance towards healing the animosity between both sides. For many years, the Irish population hardly ever mentioned it, as it was perceived as taboo, although there were attempts in political circles.

Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette 15 August 1936

Sources

https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Art-and-Industry-Collections/Exploring-the-Irish-Wars,-1919-1923/Bitter-Divisions/The-End-of-the-Civil-War

https://www.theirishstory.com/2012/07/02/the-irish-civil-war-a-brief-overview/#.ZGKeHx17nVo

Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette 15 August 1936

North Star (Darlington) 29 August 1922

Read more:https://www.theirishstory.com/2022/06/11/book-review-spiritual-wounds-trauma-testimony-and-the-irish-civil-war/#.ZGPmKh17nVo

Read More: https://www.theirishstory.com/2012/07/02/the-irish-civil-war-a-brief-overview/#.ZGKeHx17nVo

End in Sight

Frank Aiken later when he was Minister for Defence

As April 1923 faded into May, the anti-Treatyites campaign against the National Army began to lose its potency. By then, it was more of a destruction of property than a felony against the person. A great number of republicans were captured and imprisoned, and more were demoralised by the adverse conditions they existed under in the mountainous terrain of the south and west of Ireland. After the death of IRA leader Liam Lynch in April 1923, Frank Aiken, his successor, prompted his comrades to stand down. It was becoming obvious that victory was not theirs.

Sources

https://www.theirishstory.com/2012/07/02/the-irish-civil-war-a-brief-overview/#.ZFVTCx17nVo

Weekly Dispatch (London) 29 April 1923

Irish Independent 17 August 1932