Matrimonial Expedition kills two birds with one stone.

Drumshanbo early 1900's

‘Dairy of a Family Tree Researcher’

Celebrating Census Day in the UK with access to the Times archives, I decided to perform a search on my   2 x Great Grandfather; George Henry Taylor I, I did not expect to find anything. I’d always been told by my Grandmother that  once Widowed, George had advertised for a ‘wife of means’ and I  had been lead to believe that was in a newspaper in North Yorkshire. To date I had not been successful, seeking out the elusive advertisement. There was also a family rhyme about George, that had been handed down and survived over 100 years :

‘He courted a Swan and married a Crow, he lost his money at Drumshanbo’

George’s first wife and mother of all his children was Elizabeth Mary Crow, quite who the Swan was we are yet to ascertain and the reference to Drumshanbo, exploring many reasons, we had been unable to find any why George would travel across Ireland , first by boat and then overland – it would just be such and arduous journey and for what?, so we had put it down the  ‘sense of humour’ of our family. 

The Times had to be worth a try ? and so it was, at the top of the list of searches was this :

‘The Times, Wednesday, Nov 20, 1872; pg. 7; Issue 27539; col A Ireland.’

It could not be? Could it?

20 Nov 1872

The story (duplicated in the image)read that George Henry Taylor, a Gentleman from Lincolnshire had embarked up a ‘Matrimonial Expedition’ to Drumshanbo in Ireland. A venture that had ended in him being robbed of his possessions and also hit in the eye by a man with a stone.

Quite what the outcome of the case was, I am not sure but what I have now is sufficient information to track down the Court Documents to find out in more detail. 

What I am certain of is that George lived to be 81 years old , and undeterred by this episode, married a further 3 times ! Perhaps finding each new wife , by taking a less complicated route.

Newspaper articles are a great find and tell you more about your ancestors than many other documents.

For more information about how I can help you with your family search, please contact me