●John England ●Jane O’Connell ( 2.12.1825 – 18.3.1916) m
21.7.1863 (? - 14.1.1874)
↓
Jane
Mary John Joseph Philip Augustus Thomas Alphonsus ●Patrick Joseph
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| Professor John England [England family collection] |
John was born in Bandon on 2-12-1825[1] and baptised on 3-12-1825. His sponsors were Daniel O’Sullivan and Ellen Bransfield.
John was a bright boy.
Mr. John England, of Bandon, son of Mr. Michael England of that town, and nephew of the late Right Rev.Dr. England ...a pupil of Mr. Browne, obtained a first honour in Science at the late term examinations.[2]
Also, “John England of Bandon obtained a 1st Science Honour and an honour in Logic at the examination in Trinity College”[3] and “being as usual the best answerer in the class.”[4]
In 1848 he was awarded a gold medal for his work in Mathematics and Physics.[5]
In 1853 John was appointed to the chair of Civil Engineering at Cork.
We watched the career of this fine young gentleman during his collegiate course in Trinity College till he obtained the highest honours open to a Catholic unwilling to sacrifice his religion. Being prevented from seeking a Fellowship he has since devoted himself to the study of Civil Engineering in which he became a distinguished tutor thereby qualifying himself for the appointment which the Government has most judiciously conferred on him.[6]
He did this for two years and then he changed to become Professor of Natural Philosophy (1855-1894) at Cork University. There is a portrait of him there with a large telescope. [6a]
In 1857 Professor John England delivered an afternoon lecture on: ‘The Transatlantic Telegraph’ at the Town Hall, Queenstown. All contributions were in aid of the Queenstown Royal Sailors Home. “The lecture will be over in time to enable the public to return by the 4pm steamer.” [7]
In 1861, at the Devonshire Arms Hotel, he lectured on ‘Light’ to the Bandon Scientific and Literary Society.[8]
He also gave a course of four lectures on ‘Electricity and Magnetism.’ These lectures,
fully illustrated by experiments, will be delivered by John England in the Great Hall of the Athenaeum on the evening of Wednesday 25th May, Thursday 26th, Friday 27th and Monday the 30th at 8.00pm each evening.[9]Reserved seats were 1s 6d, unreserved 1s.
This did not take up all his time as he was the chairman of the South Parish Penny Savings’ Bank which met at the conference room at St Finbarr’s Church, Cork.[10]
Professor John England lived at College View, 30, Sundays Well Rd, Cork. We know this as the address is given in letters between John and his brother Thomas who was an architect in San Francisco.
John married Jane O’Connell on 21-7-1863 at St Finbarr’s Church, Cork. The witnesses were Jane’s father, Philip O’Connell, a solicitor of South Mall, Cork and Michael Seymour.[11]
“On Tuesday the 31st, [May 1864] at Sunday’s Well, the wife of John England Esq QCC of a daughter.”[12]
This girl was Jane, the eldest child. QCC refers to John’s place of work – Queens College, Cork.
Mary, the second child, was born on the 12th July, 1865 at Sundays Well.[13]
John and Jane had four more children: John Joseph was born in 1866, Philip Augustus, 1867, Thomas Alphonsus, 1869 and Patrick Joseph, 1871.
On the 14-1-1874 his wife, Jane, died at Sunday’s Well, aged forty one. The death certificate noted that the cause of death was a pulmonary abscess.
Three years after Jane’s death John, now aged fifty two, married Jane’s sister, Susanna O’Connell, on 21-4-1877 at St Finbarr’s, Cork. She was forty and also known as Nannie. The witnesses were Charles Frederick O’Leary and Catherine O’Connell. A document, in Latin, accompanied the marriage certificate so perhaps a dispensation was required.
In 1877 Nannie’s father, Philip O’Connell, died and Nannie was named as the primary beneficiary and John England the secondary beneficiary of his will.
A solicitor, Philip O’Connell, “late of the South-Mall, Cork, was proved at Cork by the oath of Nannie England of Sunday’s – well, Cork the sole Executrix. Effects under £200.”[14]
Nannie England, with an estimated date of birth 1837, was registered as dead in the first quarter of 1882, in Cork. The causes of death, as given on the death certificate, were inflammation of the liver which she’d had for two years and cirrhosis for three months.
She died on the 10-10-1881 and was buried on Tuesday 18th October 1881 at St Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork. The owner of the grave was John England of 2 Ardeevin, St Lukes, Cork.
St Joseph’s Cemetery Registry of Internments, Cork, also noted that she was forty five and lived at 7, Smyth Grove Terrace.
In the 1901 Census John was living at Ardeevin, Cork. He was, according to the census, born in Bandon, a widower, head of the household and aged seventy five. He had been a Professor at Cork University.
Other household members were: Mary England, his daughter, aged thirty five, born in Cork.
Norah England, John’s sister, seventy nine, and born at Bandon in April 1821.
John’s nephew, Arthur Patrick O’Connell aged twenty three.
Mary Murphy, aged forty five and Ellen Sheehan, fifteen, were domestic servants.
In the 1911 Census John was still at Ardeevin aged eighty five. Other household members were: Mary England, forty five, John’s son, John Joseph England, a civil engineer, single and born in Bandon. Nora (Honora) England, eighty nine, Mary Murphy and Fanny Joyce, twenty nine.
His daughter, Mary, also known as Minnie, died on 2-7-1913, aged forty eight. The death certificate noted that the cause of death was due to a cerebral haemorrhage.
Three months later his sister, Honora, also known as Nora, died on the 14-10-1913, aged ninety two.
John died on the 18-3-1916 at 2, Ardeevin, St Lukes, Cork. His death certificate noted that the cause of death was due to acute bronchitis which he’d had for a week. His son, John Joseph was present at his death.
He, Nannie, Minnie and Nora were all buried in the same grave.[15] The chief beneficiary of his will was John England, presumably his son, John Joseph England.
Possible links to John
According to the BMA archive an Arthur Patrick O’Connell registered as a medical practitioner in Edinburgh in 1907 and lived in Leeds.
A Matthew Daniel O’Connell, registered as a doctor in Ireland in 1870, became a medical officer in the British Army and served in India.
Footnotes
[1] See the 1901 Irish Census.
[2] Cork Examiner, 19-5-1845
[3] Cork Examiner, 13-11-1846
[4] Cork Examiner, 6-5-1846
[5] Southern Reporter, 14-11-1848
[6] Cork Examiner, 6-5-1853
[6a] I have been informed by my cousin, Michael, that John's portrait is actually a photograph hanging in his old lecture room. The telescope was made by Howard Grubb in Dublin and won the Gold Medal Award at the Paris Exhibition in 1878 and is housed in a purpose built observatory.
[7] Cork Examiner, 13-8-1857
[8] Southern Reporter, 12-1-1861
[9] Southern Reporter, 21-5-1859
[10] Cork Examiner, 26-12-1862
[11] Southern Reporter, 22-7-1863
[12] Southern Reporter, 1-6-1864
[13] Cork Examiner, 17-7-1865
[14] Wills and Administrations 1877
[15] There is a photograph of the grave stone in England family records.
Place names
Bandon: nineteen miles south west from Cork City.
Queenstown: a tourist seaport town on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. It was renamed Cobh in the late 1920s. Facing the town is Spike Island mentioned in ‘The Second Child.’
Sunday’s Well: a suburb of Cork.
South Mall: one of the main streets in Cork city. Like St Patrick Street it is built over what was once a channel of the River Lee.
Ardeevin: an area of Cork City very close to the University College Cork.
Smithgrove Terrace: on the Glanmire Road, Cork city.
In 1845, a certain Edward M. Barry was living at number 6, Smith Grove Terrace. He was a Doctor of Medicine. [1845 Aldwells General Post Office Directory of Cork.]
John England and Jane O'Connell had six children. The next post deals with the first four children.
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