The Winters of Waterford

That the Winter family under investigation is not Irish is fact. Where they came from is bounded in myth and family legend, the latter not always without its basis of fact.

MacLysaght in Surnames of Ireland says "This well-known English name is used in Co.Tyrone as a synonym of Mac Alivery". However, Mormon records from the US suggest that Winter is a German name. A great deal of genealogical investigation has been done in the US and in Germany involving families of Winter from Germany but it is unclear if in fact the German, English and Irish families of the same name are connected or if in fact any of the Irish Winters are indeed Mac Alivery. An interesting observation is that in some cases the German family is Vinter. One such family originating in what is now Czechoslovakia anglicised the name to the common one of Winter but one of its connections used Wintra.

That there was a Dutch Admiral de Winter is true, suggesting a Dutch or at least continental maritime origin. That Richelieu had a woman spy, the "wicked Lady de Winter" of Dumas's "Three Musketeers" is also true. That they may have been connected to the family under investigation is speculative in the extreme though a nice story! It is, however, worth mentioning that de Winter is recorded as being in use by one Irish family.

Of more solid basis is the brass memorial in Wyberton Parish Church in Lincolnshire erected in 1622 by Edmund Winter to the memory of his brother Francis who died 9 October 1620. Wyberton is located close to the seaport of Boston. The Wyberton church records show that a large number of Winters lived in the village.

Family tradition suggested that Robert Winter, the great-grandfather of the author, was a sea-captain from Swansea and had three brothers, one of whom went to New York and became harbourmaster. There was  a strong suggestion that Robert was a Baptist and had a family in Swansea.

For this reason the extracted data from the Welsh church records were examined. Winter turned up in a number of areas (including one spelling of Wynter) but there were only three references from Swansea. A daughter, Emily, was born in 1870 to John Winter and Emma and a son, John Henry, was born in 1871. In 1873 a son, James, was born to Fanny wife of George Winter. These references are being further investigated.

Aside from this speculation it is true that the name Winter or Winters was established in Ireland by 1848 in widely scattered locations especially in Ulster where Winters is the usual variation. However, an investigation of all Winter or Winters born outside Waterford in the period 1867-1872, a total of some 300 separate entries, show no apparent connection between the various families. The vast majority appear to have been farmers or labourers (from the context probably farm labourers).

When investigating the connection between the Winter and Memory families it was discovered that the latter came to Ireland from Brixham, Devon together with a number of other Devonshire fishing families about 1820. It was therefore surmised that the Winter family might, in spite of family suggestions to the contrary, also come from Devon. A study of the LDS IGI records show that the Winter family was firmly established in Brixham and other Devon towns and indeed had married into the Creese family. This was another of the migrant Devon fishing families who had links with Memory. In addition it was found that there was use of the name Winter as a Christian name in the Memory family before the documented marriage with the family under investigation.

New information now to hand suggests that the Winters came from Dorset, migrating into Devon. John Winter, brother of Robert was definitely born there. A re-marriage of Robert's father, Samuel, gives his father as Abraham. It has not been possible to identify a Dorset Abraham as the father of Robert and his siblings. There are no reference to any of these in the Dorset parish registers which would be explained if they were in fact Baptists. John Winter and his family subsequently migrated to Swansea which explains the original family misconception that a family originated there.

There is a record of a Winter in Dublin around the period 1800+ who is definitely from the Brixham area.

The first documented reference to a Winter in the Waterford area is in 1769 when on 4th January David Power is recorded as marrying Eliza Winter. This was followed by the record of the christening of Jane, daughter of Shadrack and Elizabeth Winter, in Irishtown Parish Church, Dublin in 1848.

The first documentary evidence directly connected to the family under discussion is in 1848 when Robert Winter aged 23 and occupation mariner was married in the Parish Church of St. Olave in Waterford to Catherine White who is listed as living in High St., Waterford. Her father is listed as John White, a farmer. Robert's address was given as "Port of Waterford". His father Samuel is also listed as a mariner.

Family tradition speaks of Robert and Catherine having a family and that they (or at least some of them) emigrated to Australia. No evidence to this effect has been found but a partial copy of a christening certificate of a Samuel Winter, son of Robert and Catherine, dated 1853 has been found. The death of a 40 year old Samuel Winter, in a Waterford hospital but with a Tramore address, in 1898 initially posed a problem. The possibilities were that he was a son of the first marriage with his mother dying in childbirth or alternatively he was the firstborn (prematurely) of the second family. The balance of probability is that the age at death is incorrect and the two Samuels are the same. It has proved so far impossible to locate the death record of Catherine White Winter.

The Protestant graveyard at Waterford contains the grave of a David Winter so far unidentified.

A matter for conjecture is, since any children of Robert and Catherine would have been under 10 years old at the time of Robert's remarriage, who reared them? We also have the tradition that they went to Australia, suggesting that there was more than one child and raising the question as to why no member of Robert's second family accompanied them.

The Passage East Catholic Church records record the baptism in 1846 of Anastasia Winter and in 1849 of a Samuel Winter, issue of John Winter and Helen Sullivan. A further child, Janissa (sic) was christened in 1851.

In 1849 we find a Samuel Winter, mariner and widower with an address of Dunmore East marrying Margaret Whitty, daughter of Laurence Whitty farmer, in Dunmore Parish Church. Samuel's father is listed as Abraham, a labourer. One of the witnesses is John Winter. While the evidence is circumstantial it would strongly suggest that this Samuel is father to Robert. The position of John is not defined so that he could be brother or son to Samuel. Again, however, the balance of probability comes down on his being the husband of Helen Sullivan and a brother to Robert. There is no further reference to either John, Helen or any of their children in the Passage East records nor have any civil death or marriage records concerning them been located so that there is a possibility that this is the brother reputed to have gone to America.

In 1853 a son, Henry, was born to the marriage followed in 1859 by twins, Laurence and Margaret. It is interesting to note that these children were all christened Catholics suggesting that Margaret Whitty was also a Catholic. There is also a possibility that Margaret's mother had the same name or that this was the name of Samuel's mother. There is no further reference to the family of Samuel or to Margaret in the Passage East records or civil records. Since Samuel was a widower when he died in 1868 it is probable that Margaret died prior to 1864, probably in 1859 after the birth of the twins, though the lack of a church death entry is puzzling.

An event in 1852 at first caused considerable confusion. A Samuel Winter fisherman, married Jemima Harper, a dressmaker and daughter of James Harper coastguard. Both recorded addresses of Dunmore East and the marriage took place at Killea Parish Church. Both participants were minors. The groom's father was listed as Samuel Winter, fisherman. While no direct evidence existed to support the contention that Samuel the mariner and Samuel the fisherman are the same person it is nonetheless highly probable that they are and that Robert and Samuel (the groom) are brothers.

The records for Ballybricken, Waterford list the baptism in 1875 of Samuel and John Winter, sons of Samuel and Jemima Winter, Johanna Widger and Michael Murphy being sponsors. There is no other record so far of John.

The 1911 census records that Samuel and Jemima had three children of which two were living at that date. This gave rise to the theory that John was the missing son but the subsequent discovery of the marriage record of James Winter, clearly identifying him as a son of Samuel and Jemima caused this theory to be discarded.

Samuel, James and a further son, Charles Thomas, are discussed below under the heading "Waterford Branch".

In 1866 Rebecca Winter, daughter of Samuel Winter, mariner and with an address of Dunmore East was married to William Memory, mariner in Killea Parish Church, Dunmore East. They are subsequently found living at Thorncastle St., Dublin, where William is described as a fisherman. Rebecca would appear to be a sister of Robert as family tradition mentions a relationship to the "Memorys of Ringsend who were in the fish business."

A wedding between James Memory and Mary Winter in 1869, both with addresses given simply as Ringsend, is of particular interest when it is noticed that Mary's father is also Samuel Winter of Dunmore and in addition that the informant of the death of Samuel Winter of Dunmore in 1868 is a Mary Winter. This would seem to indicate clearly that she is Samuel's daughter. Since Margaret Winter nee Whitty was dead by 1868 this would suggest that Mary had moved to Dublin to her sister after the death of her father. The wedding took place at Donnybrook Parish Church and one of the witnesses is recorded as William Memory.

Unfortunately it is not possible to solve the puzzle as to the exact relationship between her and Robert i.e. whether a sister or a half-sister. On her wedding certificate (dated 30 October 1869) she is described as a minor so her age can vary from 16 to 20 giving a birth date of late 1848 to 1853. Since Samuel married Margaret Whitty on 13 January 1869 Mary can only be a full sister of Robert if she is born late in 1848. If this is correct her mother would have been Catherine White and she would most likely have died in childbirth. A Mary Memory is listed as dying aged 53 in 1904. This appears to be the same Mary but if her age is correct (not necessarily a correct assumption) then she was born about 1851 so making her the firstborn of Samuel and Margaret. Against this theory is the fact that Margaret's other children are Catholics and there is no baptismal record for Mary. The Killea parish records are believed to be available from 1816 but if the tradition that Samuel was a Baptist is true the lack of a baptismal record in Killea will prove nothing. However, on balance, it is probable that Mary is a full sister of Robert and this is being accepted until evidence to the contrary is found.

In 1858 Robert Winter, a widower with an address of "Waterford" married Ellen Walsh, daughter of Edmund Walsh a cooper of Tramore, by license in Drumcannon Parish Church, Tramore. Robert's father is Samuel and both are described as master-mariners. These facts appears to indicate that this Robert is the widower of Catherine White. The witnesses to the marriage are William Walsh, possibly a brother of Ellen's and Robert Gilroy.

Since civil registration of births, marriages and deaths had not yet commenced, there is a gap between the marriage of Robert and Ellen in 1858 and the record of the birth of William. It is believed that Jane, at least, was born during that period and it is probable that Edmund was born pre-1864 as no civil registration has been found for his birth. It is possible that baptismal records exist in St. John's parish, Waterford but records for the period 1858-1864 do not exist in the National Library microfilms.

William was born in 1864 at Manor St., Waterford and his father is described as being resident in Cardiff! On the birth of John at Talbot St., Tramore in 1866, Robert's address is given as Henry St., Waterford. This appears to be circumstantial evidence that the family was living at Tramore while Robert was at sea. It is also of interest that the informant of the birth is Catherine Walsh of Talbot St., Tramore suggesting either Ellen's mother or sister. By the birth of the next child, a stillborn girl, in 1868 the family were living in Cross Market St. They subsequently lived at 21 Queen St.

Further known children were Joseph in 1870 and Francis in 1872.

Up to 1872 Robert was described as a master mariner but by 1872 he was a coal-merchant. His children's marriage certificates and his own death certificate all describe him as a master mariner!

Of the surviving children Jane and Francis never married and continued to live at the family home.

William married Ellen O'Callaghan, bringing his bride to live in the parental home where he managed the family business which at this time was a carriers. Issue of the marriage was four sons and four daughters. The eldest child, Robert, was born out of wedlock and barely survived the marriage of his parents a few days later. The second son, John, never married and died in London. The name Robert was revived for the next son but he too died in infancy. The youngest son, William Stanislaus, moved to Enniscorthy where he married and had two sons and a daughter. Both sons married and had further sons.

Of the daughters, Ellen, married Edward Brazil and continued to live in Tramore, first at Talbot St. and from the early 1930s at St.Leger Place. Alice married Thomas Doyle of Cork, moved there and had a son and daughter. Jane Mary (Jenny) went to America where she married Michael Prendergast (also from Waterford) and had two daughters and a son. Margaret Mary (Rita) married Patrick Cahill and went to live in London. They had no children.

Reverting to the family of Robert, the second son John Joseph married Mary Hayden, daughter of Martin Hayden a shopkeeper of Tramore and lived in Waterford where John worked as a Post Officer official. He was accidentally drowned in the St.John's Pill in Waterford in 1922 and was survived by a daughter (Maureen Eileen) who never married.

The next son, Joseph married Mary Margaret Lynch, daughter of Philip Lynch of Moyglass, Fethard, Co. Tipperary and lived at Patrick St. Tramore. This marriage produced two daughters (Eleanor and Nora) who remained unmarried and a son, Patrick, who married and had two daughters.

Edmund John married Ellen Egan and lived in Queen St. close to the parental home. He had three daughters and four sons. This family was unfortunate in the sons. The first two (Robert and Gerard Robert) both died in infancy while the third (Michael Noel) died at 19. The surviving son, Edmond Joseph, was killed in an explosion unmarried. Edmund died in 1915.

One daughter Ellen (Nellie) married William Stuart a pig-buyer from Waterford who at a later date ran a grocery in Tramore. They had no family and continued to live at the parental home. Kathleen (Kitty) married James Keoghan and had a daughter and son. She also lived in Queen St. almost opposite the parental home.

The other daughter, May, married Thomas P.P.Fitzgerald and had six daughters and three sons. One son Martin died in infancy. The other two survived to marry. They initially lived in Doneraile Place, Tramore but after the death of William Winter in 1945 and the removal of his widow to Cork, they moved to that house. They subsequently moved to Edmund's old house.

An interesting point is that Edmund Winter while alive is described as a car-man but at the marriages of his daughters he is successively promoted to Merchant Service, Sea Captain and Master Mariner!

Robert Winter died in 1910.

The Winter name is now extinct in Tramore.

This is the branch of the family founded by Samuel and Jemima Harper Winter but it is in effect two sub-branches, the Newports Lane Winters and the Poleberry Winters.

The registration of the birth of Catherine to James Winter and Catherine Ryan in 1885 posed a problem as neither a birth or marriage certification could be located, however, since his occupation is shown as sailor it is possible that he was married abroad. It was at first thought that James was a son of Robert. This was suggested by the fact that his residence was Manor St. Further issue of this marriage are twins, Charles and James, who died at birth in 1889 and Johanna, born in 1890.

Catherine married John Joseph McCarthy in 1919. Johanna had a son, George, in 1923 but the father is simply described a labourer. The child died in 1926. Johanna married Patrick Dunne in 1924.

Catherine died in 1891 James and in 1895 James married Johanna Fitzgerald, daughter of John and Ellen nee Power. On the marriage certificate James is clearly identified as being the son of Samuel and Jemima. Children of this marriage were Margaret (1896) and twins, Bridget and Ellen (1898). James died in 1898 and Johanna Winter was remarried in 1905 to James Flynn.

Of the surviving children of James and Johanna, Margaret married Daniel Lucas, a soldier, in 1917 and Bridget married Edward Henneberry in 1933.

The Newport Lane branch of the family dates from 1885 with the marriage of Samuel Winter, a car-man of Henry St., Waterford aged 27 and Alice Dyer, daughter of John Dyer of Kazier St., Waterford in St. John's Church, Waterford. His father is given as Samuel Winter with an occupation of sailor and an address of Henry St. This is the Samuel whose baptism is recorded in 1875.

An interesting point arises in connection with this marriage. The mother of Alice is Maria Hogan. One of the sponsors at the baptism of Samuel Winter was also a Maria Hogan. It is possible that they are the same.

Samuel and Alice Dyer moved to different addresses in Waterford. Six children were born to the marriage. By the birth of her first child in 1886 Alice's name was transliterated to Dwyer. John James was born at Parliament St., Mary Joseph (sic) at Tanyard Arch, Margaret (who died at age three) at Michael St., twins, Patrick Joseph and Robert Joseph, at Harrington's Lane and William born at Michael St.!

John Joseph (known as Jack) married Mary Ann English and had two daughters, Elizabeth who married William Norris, Alice who died at two months, and a son, John.

Patrick Joseph married Annie Kelly and had two sons and six daughters, Alice and Mary Josephine.

The other twin, Robert Joseph, did not marry.

Mary Joseph had a tragic life. In 1908 she married Nicholas McGuire, a sailor of Lower Yellow Rd., Waterford, in Ballybricken Church and a son Nicholas was born the same year. No death record has been found for Nicholas but it is known that he was drowned. In 1914 his widow married John Fitzgerald a labourer of Newports Lane in Ballybricken Church. Again a son was born. John was killed during the war, obviously having become a soldier and Mary Joseph was again a widow. In 1918 she married a soldier called Frederick Bird only to die a month later of pneumonia as did her brother James on the same day.

The Poleberry branch originate in 1885 with the marriage of Charles Thomas Winter, a tailor of Henry St., Waterford, aged 24, married Margaret Nicholson, daughter of John Nicholson of Ballytruckle, Waterford in St. John's Church, Waterford. His father is listed as Samuel Winter with an occupation of captain.

There were eight children of this marriage, five sons and three daughters. In 1896, the eldest son was John of whom a romantic story is told. His childhood sweetheart was Margaret Kielty, daughter of Andrew Kielty. However, they drifted apart and he married Christina Shaw and had a son and daughter. In the meantime Margaret Kielty had herself married a man called Walsh by whom she had a son Patrick. Sometime later, after both their spouses had died John and Margaret were reunited and in 1936 married.

The second son William married Anna Nolan and had four daughters and six sons.

No marriage record has been discovered for the next son, Samuel, or the youngest son, George. Robert, however, married Margaret Mary Cleary.

Alice, was the only daughter whose marriage record was found. She married Malcolm Ritchie, a ship's engineer and son of a ships captain, in Ballinakill Parish Church.

It must be mentioned that all the other members of this family married in Catholic churches.

Samuel Winter, a widower and described as a master-mariner, died aged 78 at Newport Lane, Waterford in 1916. Since the informant of the death was his son Charles, this must be the husband of Alice Dwyer. A death registration by Samuel Winter, widower, of Alice Winter in 1904 has been found listing the deceased as being aged 28. This is a puzzle as this is too old to be that of a daughter and far too young to be a correct age for Alice Dwyer Winter. The logical explanation is that it is an incorrect age for Alice Dwyer Winter.

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