The Poole Family Connection

Posted by Diane Duncan on September 25, 2016 in Blog Posts, Community & Family History, Featured Flag | 4 comments

Research notes

My Great Grandmother was Alice Charlotte Margaret Poole who married John Ferrier 24 Mar 1886. Until recently I’d not thought much about this family connection but a phone call, out of the blue, from an acquaintance of long ago, age 91, started me thinking about it. I can go back to my2G grandfather and 3G grandfather, and identify their family members without too much trouble, but there the trail starts to get muddy. My interest is in the story of these people so I have spent considerable time of late trying to use some ‘barebones’ genealogical info as a starting point, to seek more information about the origins of this family.

The Poole Name

The Poole name is one based on geological description and doesn’t have a clear national alignment  – people who live near a pool,  ‘pol, pool, poole or the German puhl among others. That didn’t help to narrow the search!

My Options for Research

A bit of general research gave me three options:

• My initial research was leading me towards thinking that the Poole’s might be one of the ‘Old English’ families descending from medieval Norman settlers who arrived in Ireland circa 1169 to Bannow Bay on the southwest coast of Wexford, Ireland. That may be so.

• It is also possible that they arrived in England at an early date and arrived in Ireland from the northern England area, the borderland of Wales or the Lanarkshire area of Scotland seeking land grants of ‘Plantation estates’ (1000 acres or more) or purchasing acreage (shillings per acre) as part of the ‘plantation’ of Protestant families under James I between 1641-53. The land grants and low prices were offered in exchange for monies to pay for the raising of a private army. In 1649, thanks to the loyalty of this region to the English crown, the County of Wexford area was sacked during Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland.

Either of these options might work. I’ve identified Wexford marriages as far back as 1675 and I’m sure they go back further than this. I’ve only started my search of records. But how to narrow the options?

A third starting point exists. I have also been told that members of the Wexford Poole family, believed to be my likeliest ancestors, were Palatines. This led me down a different rabbit hole!

• In a report dated 29 September 1720, 20 Palatine families are listed as living in Gorey and 15 living in Old Ross on the estates owned by Abel Ram. Among those listed in the Gorey group are John, Jacob and William Poole. Could I link one of these men to Thomas Poole and Sarah Duffield of Drummond Township, ON, Canada? That is my challenge.

My Starting Point – Thomas Poole and Sarah Duffield

Thomas Poole, born October 1796 in Chestershire England; christened in St. Michael’s, married Sarah Duffield, born circa 1803 from County Wexford, Ireland in St. James Anglican Church, Perth, ON in January 1827. He raised a family in Drummond Township on Lot 6 Concession 4 (near Wayside); died 01 January 1888 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Perth.

Actually only part of this information was know when I started! I’ve been able to fill in a number of holes with hours of research online and through family collections of genealogical information! This is my starting point for trying to identify the generations before.

(To be continued)

[1] Mulligan, Mike, Wexford Palatines, 20 April 2011 http://palatines.blogspot.ca