PAYNE
Loftus/Ronan Family

Spouse: Hanora ???
Loftus/Ronan Family
Marr: 1800, Feakel, County Clare, Ireland

Children:
Hannah
Patrick
James
Daniel

Hannah PAYNE
Loftus/Ronan Family

Spouse: James LOFTUS
Loftus/Ronan Family
Marr: 1800, Feakel, County Clare, Ireland

Children:
Hannah (1848-1916)
Maria (1838-1928)

Hannah LOFTUS
Birth: 1848, Clare, Ireland
Death: 19 Oct 1916, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, age: 68
Occ: Wife & Professional

Per the 1881 British Census, she was listed as wife and professional. She was listed as 36 years of age, but on her death card it indicated that she died at age 68, so she must have been 33 years of age at the time of the 1881 British Census. The census lists her place of birth as Ireland. She lived at 7 Lower Byron St., Manchester, Lancashire, England.

On the 1891 Census they changed their name to FRAKELL, and lived at 315 S. Chapel, Salford, England, St. Phillips Parish.

The 1881 British Census (7 Lower Byron St., Manchester, Lancashire, England) lists the following children: Place of birth, Manchester, England.

James William (Will) Kelly, 9 years (1872)
Mary Ellen Kelly (Molly), 11 years (this makes her birth year 1870)
Hanna E. Kelly (Annie Elizabeth), age 6 years.
Jane Anne Kelly (Jenny), age 4 years
Mildred (Margaret, Maggie), age 3 years
Not christened Kelly (John). 1 day old.

The 1891 British Census (315 S. Chapel St., Manchester, England) lists the following children:

Mary (Mary Ellen, Molly)
Francis W. (James William Francis)
Annie (Hannah E., Annie Elizabeth)
Annie (Jane Ann or Jenny)
Marie
John
Maggie
Lilly

James A. Murphy - Son of Hannah's sister, Maria Loftus/Ronan, daughter Mary Ellen.

Now let me turn to the Ronan family. My maternal grandparents were Andrew and Maria Loftus Ronan. They were married in York, England, with her sister, Hannah, as a witness.

My grandmother lived until 1928, so I remember her well. She was a great reader, was well educated, and had a fine handwriting. From Aunt Ronan's papers I have cards written by Hannah to Maria. The penmanship is perfect and the language is good. The sisters were obviously were well educated.

I was therefore always puzzled by the fact that all had signed with an X on the wedding certificate, which I have. I once asked Uncle Jim Ronan what my ancestors had done in Ireland. He told me that his father had been a marble setter and that the Loftus sisters had been teachers. This did not make sense, until I found in reading Irish history that the English method of keeping the Irish peasants in virtual slavery was to forbid them an education. Hence, the hedgerow schools. For the same reason, the educated were forbidden to marry the uneducated. My grandfather Andrew was probably uneducated, and since they were married in England and did not want to let the cat out of the bag, they signed with and X.

There is an interesting paragraph on the Loftus ancestry in DeBreffeny's Irish History:

"The foundation -stone of Trinity College, the University of Dublin, established by Queen at the instance of the Primate, Henry Ussher, had been laid in 1593. The first Provost, Adam Loftus from Yorkshire, had come to Ireland as chaplain of the Viceroy and rose to be Archbishop of Armagh and of Dublin, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and Lord High Chancellor of Ireland as well. His excessive inquisitiveness was such that it was said his right arm had grown longer than his left from years of grasping and snatching. Loftus had twenty children and his descendants became pillars of the new Protestant aristocracy for three centuries, Knights, Earls and Marquesses, and the name is still found in Ireland today".

Some time in the early 1800's, James Loftus, one of the descendants of Adam Loftus from the twenty children, must have met cute little Hannah Payne, converted to Catholicism, and married her. Their daughters were Maria and Hannah. Another thing that ties in is that when our Loftus family migrated to England, they went to York in Yorkshire from where Adam Loftus had originally come.

When I visited England a few years back, I visited York and located the row house where they had lived. It is part of a college dorm now. I went to St Winifred's church, where my grandparents were married. I saw a priest who gave me the brush off and told me to call at the office the next morning. The next morning, the old housekeeper was very rude and would not let us in the door. My daughter Anne was so mad, she cried. It seems that even Irish Americans are not popular in England.

You may notice that the name Frakell is unusual. Let me explain. Hannah Loftus married Frank Kelly in Ireland. He was a magician and ventriloquist. In England he discovered that the English would not attend a theatre to see an Irish actor so he took the first part of his first name and the first part of his last name, and presto he was an Englishman named Francis Frakell. As we would say nowadays, they had to eat.

Francis and Hannah Frakell had 8 children, and after his death, she migrated to Canada with all of them except William, who migrated to Australia and settled on a farm. The Canadian climate did not agree with them, so all but one daughter, Marie, moved to Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, as time grew hard on the farm, William moved to the city. One of his daughters, Kitty, married Walter (Hec) Every, and they had ten (actually 11) children. When my daughter Pauline was in Australia, she got to know several of them.

Spouse: Joseph Francis aka Frederick KELLY (FRAKELL)
Birth: 1845, Ireland
Death: England

Per the 1881 British Census he was listed as head of household and professional singer. His age was listed as 36 and his birthplace was Ireland. He lived at 7 Lower Byron St. Manchester, Lancashire, England.

His Name is listed as Frederick KELLY. Per James William's birth certificate where the family is listed as KELLY, his father was a ventriloquist.

James William KELLY's birth certificate indicates that he was born in the sub district of Deansgate, County of Lancaster, Manchester England.

His Father was listed as FRANCIS KELLY and his mother was listed as Hannah KELLY formerly Loftus. His father's occupation was ventriloquist. They lived at 8 Gregson St., Manchester, England.

His death certificate lists his parents as Francis Frakell and Hannah Frakell, formerly Loftus (occupation of his father, newsagent). He lived 26 years in Victoria and was 33 years of age when he came to Australia. He died of heart failure and is buried at Fawkner Cemetery. He was in the Cold Stream Guard.

Maria LOFTUS - THIS IS HANNAH LOFTUS’S SISTER

Birth: 7 Jul 1838, Feakel, County Clare, Ireland
Death: 1928, Weverton, New York, age: 89

Now let me turn to the Ronan family. My maternal grandparents were Andrew and Maria Loftus Ronan. They were married in York, England, with her sister, Hannah, as a witness. My grandmother lived until 1928, so I remember her well. She was a great reader, was well educated, and had a fine handwriting. From Aunt Ronan's papers I have cards written by Hannah to Maria. The penmanship is perfect and the language is good. The sisters were obviously were well educated.

Family tree supplied by Elizabeth Dempsey, many thanks Elizabeth.
(Due to the amount of information supplied by Elizabeth, I had to edit the information and hopefully kept it Loftus relevant)