Controversy about Lynne pedigree, Kerry Evening Post, 1893
There is a controversy
about the pedigree of
Martha Lynne
(who married Blennerhassett)
in the letters page of the
Kerry Evening Post in Jan-Apr 1893.
The controversy is
between
genealogists
James Franklin Fuller (born 1835)
and
Mary Agnes Hickson (born 1825).
Essentially, Fuller and Foster and Green and Lynne are right.
Hickson and Black Jack are wrong.
However,
Fuller's initial statement of the descent is wrong.
And perhaps because of this, the debate is never resolved.
Lynne in Visitation of Northamptonshire (1682)
Extracts from
[Visitation of Northamptonshire, 1682].
(As printed in 1935.)
A much more detailed genealogy than Black Jack.
- The basic information is
from John Lynne in 1682.
-
Some dates and details have been added later by the 1935 publication.
But presumably not any fundamental new lines.
- For our purposes we want to know:
Is the basic link of the Southwick Hall family to Martha Lynne in the original?
Does John Lynne say Martha is his aunt?
- Yes he does.
Fuller (below) in 1893 consults the original, before it was published.
And
John Lynne of Southwick Hall indeed
says that Martha Lynne, who is his aunt, married John Blennerhassett.
He is hardly likely to get that wrong.
- Fuller (below) notes he would never say that
"if .. she was the daughter of someone else".
Lynne in "Black Jack's Book" (c.1737)
Lynne pedigree from
"Black Jack's Book" (c.1737).
Transcript from
pp.64-65 of
[Hickson, 1872].
- We can immediately see that the father of the Forrest daughters
is confused with their well-known brother
Sir Anthony Forrest.
- And then the father of Martha Lynne is confused with her
brother William Lynne
who came to Co.Kerry and would have been known to Black Jack's Co.Kerry sources.
Lynne pedigree by Green (1877)
Extract from
[Green, 1877], showing line from Lynne to Blennerhassett.
See full size
top and
bottom.
Debate in Kerry Evening Post, Jan-Apr 1893
Page 80 of the
"Nash Newspaper Cuttings Collection for Co.Kerry", vol.2.
Some of the letters are also in pp.102-104 of vol.4.
Fuller's initial statement of the descent is wrong.
Black Jack's version is also wrong.
Page 81.
Page 82.
Page 83.
Page 84.
Page 85.
Fuller is right. Hickson is wrong.
Essentially, Fuller and Foster and Green and Lynne are right. Hickson and Black Jack are wrong.
- John Lynne is to be trusted over Black Jack:
-
The first thing to note is that
John Lynne lives in England,
is writing about his aunt
and the English family,
and is writing in 1682.
-
Black Jack
lives in Ireland,
is writing about his grandmother
and a family far away in England,
and could be writing as late as 1737.
-
So John Lynne's testimony is obviously more trustworthy.
- Black Jack is nearly right:
-
In fact, Hickson fails to notice that
Black Jack's tree (which is only a rough sketch) actually fits quite cleanly into
John Lynne's (much more detailed) genealogy,
with only a couple of corrections to Christian names needed.
-
The exchange of letters is fascinating because
Hickson is clearly wrong,
but because Fuller makes a mess of his initial statement of the descent,
he is never able to convince her.
- Time wasted in the discussion:
- The boy who was age 13 in 5th James I was Martha Lynne's brother
George,
not her father, as is obvious when you work out the estimated dates and ages.
Much time is wasted on this "Martha as a daughter of Lynne and Kirkham" error.
- Martha's other brother
William, born 1597,
is not "invented", but even if he was
he couldn't be invented to serve as Martha's father!
More time is wasted on this.
- The name "Martha":
-
[Gun, 1924]
adds a further note.
"Martha" is an unusual name.
-
Clement Throckmorton
gave his children the unusual Biblical names of Job and Martha.
-
Martha Lynne's name
is very strong evidence that Martha Throckmorton
is her grandmother.
Sources yet to be consulted
- Earlier letters in this correspondence.
See at least 18 and 25 Jan 1893.
