Walsh Family 

Walsh: From the old English word ‘waelisc’ meaning ‘foreigner’, a popular surname in Ireland [1]

 

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Part 1: Michael Walsh (c1757 - 1815)

Little is known of Michael Walsh. He was born c1757 and lived in Chipping Barnet, Hertfordshire. It is possible he was not born in the county. He married Sarah (surname unknown) and they had twelve children: Mark, John, Philip, Sarah, Elizabeth, Eliza, Michael, Philip, Samuel, Mary and Ann. (There was possibly a thirteenth child: William, baptised 1795, who married Ann Mays and had four children.) Sarah was born c1766, birthplace unknown except that it was not in Hertfordshire. Michael died, aged about 58, in 1815 and was buried in St John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, 01 June.  

In the 1841 census, Sarah was living in the Ravensworth Alms Houses in Wood Street, Chipping Barnet. Alms houses provided local people (particularly the elderly) with a place to live when they could no longer earn any money for rent. Some alms houses were founded for the benefit of certain guilds (i.e. former leather workers or their widows and dependants). Although some of her children left the area, there were still children who stayed so it was unusual that Sarah did not live with one of them, as most elderly parents did. Sarah died, aged about 77, in 1843 and was buried 03 December in St John the Baptist Church.  

More information about Mark (c1791 – 1854) appears in Part 2.  

John (c1792 – 1851) was baptised 16 December 1792 in Chipping Barnet. He married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) and they had eight children: Elizabeth, John, William, Mark, Jane, Mary, Samuel and Thomas, three of them dying in infancy. Elizabeth died in 1831 a few months after the birth of their last child. There is no confirmed record of John in the 1841 and 1851 censuses so it is not known what his occupation was. He died in 1851 and was buried with his family in St John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, 11 July.  

Philip (c1796 -?) was baptised 05 January 1796 in Chipping Barnet. Nothing else is known of him and it is likely he died in infancy.  

Sarah (c1797 - ?) was baptised 19 April 1797 in Chipping Barnet. Nothing else is known of her but she may have married blacksmith Michael Cripps and had two sons Edward and William.  

Elizabeth (c1798 - ?) was baptised 28 October 1798 in Chipping Barnet. Nothing else is known of her and it is likely she died in infancy.  

Eliza (c1799 – c1853) was baptised 01 December 1799 in Chipping Barnet. She married James Whiteman 16 December 1819 in Chipping Barnet. James was a tailor and later a master tailor and parish beadle. A beadle was a local official, sometimes acting with the church’s authority, who carried out various duties. They had four children: Eliza, William, Sarah Harriet and Henry. Eliza died c1853 and James in 1857.  

Michael (c1801 – 1845) was baptised 25 June 1801 in Chipping Barnet. He married Sarah (surname unknown) and they had eight children: William Michael, Sarah, Robert, Michael, William Henry, George, Emma and Martha. The family lived in Islington, London, where Michael worked as a farrier. He died aged 45 and was buried 05 January 1845 in St Mary’s Church, Islington. After Sarah’s death in early 1851, their 21 year old son Robert brought up his younger siblings.  

Philip (c1803 - 1803) was baptised 19 May 1803 in Chipping Barnet. He died just over a month later and was buried 05 July 1803 in St John the Baptist Church.  

Samuel (c1804 – 1859) was baptised 07 June 1804 in Chipping Barnet. He married Charlotte Elizabeth Chandler 22 December 1836 at St Olave Old Jewry Church, London. They had four children: Frederick Henry, Charlotte Compton, Alfred and Sarah. Samuel worked as a baker then later as a porter (possibly as a door or gate keeper). He died in 1859 and Charlotte c1878.  

Thomas (c1806 – 1806) was baptised 30 January 1806 in Chipping Barnet. He died less than a month later and was buried 26 February in St John the Baptist Church.  

Mary (c1807 - ?) was baptised 18 January 1807 in Chipping Barnet. There is no confirmed record of her after that and she may have married.  

Ann (c1812 - ?) was baptised 16 September 1812 in Chipping Barnet. It is likely she married Thomas Foskett 05 October 1828 in Chipping Barnet and they had one known son, William. William may have died aged 3 in 1832 but nothing else is known of Ann and Thomas.

Next: Mark Walsh

 
 

Footnotes

[1] www.surnamedb.com/Surname