Thomas Bohenna

[calswimmer]

Thomas Bohenna resides with the Martin Trewhella family of St. Ives in 1841, when he is 20. By 1844 he has married Anna Nora sheedy of Ireland and is living in Australia. His parents are Isac Bohenna and Catherine Curnow. If I knew why he was residing with this family it might help shed light on the relationships between the Bohennas and the Thomas's. Ann thomas, (Ann Nicholas married to John Thomas, and now widowed is the mother of Martin's wife, Clarinda.
Looking for Bohenna connections here!
Thanks!

[Cornish Terrier]

Always the hard questions. ;D

Before going any further I will outline what little I know of the Bohenna (Behenna) connections that I have recorded.

Henry Quick (bp. St Ives 23rd June 1727 s/o ISAAC and Susanna of Towednack) married Elizabeth Ninnes at Towednack in 1753.

Amongst there 8 children were the following two daughters:-

Elizabeth bp. 11th May 1766 at Towednack
Jane bp. 25th April 1773 at Towednack

(Jane married Hannibal THOMAS at Zennor in 1796 but do not know if there is any connection to the family of Clarinda.)

Elizabeth, however, married someone named BEHENNA (Bohenna) and had a daughter named Mary who married one Samuel BROADRIBB.

Samuel and Mary BROADRIBB had a son named John Henry BROADRIBB who was born in Somerset in 1838 and was buried at Westminster Abbey, London, in 1905. (This latest is from Funk & Wagnells Encyclopaedia).

John Henry BROADRIBB was an Actor and became known as HENRY IRVING.

cannot find the name BROADRIBB in IGI (goto plan B)

Plan B fails - cannot find any of the relevant marriages in IGI.

Plan C - cannot find a baptism in the UK (IGI) for Thomas Bohenna whom was the man I was informed married Catherine CURNOW.

The only marriage I can find for an Isaac Bohenna is in 1752.

However, there was a family of a Thomas and Catherine Bohenna baptising children at Lelant and St Ives from 1798 to 1811.

It is this Catherine whom I have been informed was Catherine d/o Paul CURNOW and Sarah (nee NINNES) and who was baptised at St Ives 30th November 1772.

Catherine, according to my sources, was buried at Lelant 5th May 1841 but I currently know nothing further of Thomas Bohenna.

There are a number of entries for Isaac Bohenna in IGI with none immediately tying in to this current scenario.

My information was that Catherine CURNOW married Thomas Bohenna and there is the above stated family baptising children at Lelant and St Ives from 1798 until 1811.

From the online transcripts there are no further members of this family baptised at Lelant, although I have not been able to check non-comformist records as yet.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough information from St Ives after 1812 so am a little stuck there.

CHANGE OF TACK - could you please supply me with any details you know of Thomas Bohenna and his wife in Australia.
If they were in Victoria (particularly) or South Australia then I have indexes that should cover all the information we should need (indexes only, of course).
Should they have been in any of the other States then I will have to think about things - but reckon I should be able to find a contact to help us out.

My next question - can you give me further details of the parents of Clarinda Trewhella (nee Thomas).

I knew she was daughter of John and Ann Thomas and baptised at Ludgvan 15th April 1798.

This information gleaned and deduced from Census records and her death and burial details.

What I do not know is the date and place of marriage for John and Ann Thomas or details of other children.

Thomas and Nicholas being the 'easiest names' in Cornwall to track down.

If you can help out here I will try and pursue this further for you.

[calswimmer]

Thanks for tackling this! ;D
Ok: I will work on those questions you are asking--may not be able to answer all of them, but will see what I can do. I will also take a look at all the information you provided--thank you very much.
What I can say off the top of my head before I get into this is that Henry Irving (Broadribb, of course) was a good friend of the Thomas family, and since he had a Bohenna aunt, I am thinking that the Bohennas must be related somehow to the Thomas's.
I will peruse what you have written down. It looks like it may be very helpful.

[Cornish Terrier]

No problem Calswimmer - just keep feeding and I will do the best I can for you.

Just checked the Ludgvan Marriages from Phillimore & Taylor and would be guessing that the following is the John Thomas marriage to which you referred:-

1st December 1787
John THOMAS m. Anne NICHOLAS, lic.

Will await your further and then take another look at things for you.

Getting most interesting but just wish I could find some of the other Bohenna information.

[calswimmer]

Yes! That is the marriage of my Thomas ancestors.
Now for the short answer to one of your questons: I did find unconfirmed but likely helpful information about the family in Australia. Thomas B. and Nora were married 1844 in Geelong, Vctoria. They had lots of kids, some of whom died young. They were all born in either Corio or Geelong. I have never heard of either of these places. Daughter Catherine married Martin Salter. There were also John, Joshua, Catherine, Alfred, Wm., Thomas and John Thomas.
I have, however, whether correct or not, Catherine Curnow as the mother of Mary who marries Sam Broadribb. But you have Elizabeth Quick as Mary's mother, I think.
Will continue working.

[calswimmer]

One further detail:
Thomas Bohenna, husband of Catherine, was born 1769 in Kea and died 1839 in Lelant. I actually found his obit online.

[Cornish Terrier]

Things are moving.

So, according to IGI, Thomas BOHENNA was baptised at KEA 6th August 1769 as son of Isaac BEHENNA.

And the reason I may not be able to find a burial for him at Lelant is that the information I have seems to be mostly from Headstone Transcriptions.

It stands to reason that Thomas may have a son named ISAAC but we need to locate those details.

BEFORE proceeding - could you direct me to, or send me a copy of, the obit. of Thomas Bohenna of 1839 - please.

I will not update my database just yet as it will take some time and I still need to provide some more information.

NEVER HEARD OF CORIO or GEELONG

Geelong is probably about 30-40 miles West of Melbourne (in fact probably SSW) and is on the Coast.
Corio is now a suburb of Geelong and is situated on Corio Bay.
Corio Bay is, in simple terms, probable a smaller off-shoot of Port Phillip Bay.

Enough of Geography. ;D

Now that I know the Bohenna family were in Victoria I may have a chance to find out some more for you.

Not necessarily in any sort of order but here are my initial findings from the Victorian Pioneers Index:-

Martin SALTER (bn. Kilkenny) married Catherine BOHANNA 1867 Reg. 440

Catherine was born in Victoria but, without trying different variations of her surname, have not yet found when and where.

John s/o Thomas BOHANNA & Hanora (SHEEDY) bn. Corio 1847
John Thomas s/o Thomas BOHANNA & Hanora (SHEEDY) bn. Corio 1849
John Thomas s/o Thomas BOHANNA & Nora (SHEEDY) d. 1862 Geelong, age 15

Catherine d/o Thomas BOHANNAH & Hanora (SHEEDY) bn. Geelong 1846
Alfred s/o Thomas BOHANNAN & Norah (SHEEDY) d. Geelong 1861 Age 8
Alfred s/o Thomas BONHANA & Honora (SHEEDY) b. Geelong 1854
Joshua s/o Thomas BROHANNA & Hanora (SHEEDY) b. Geelong 1849

That is all I have for now from the Pioneers Index but will try and get further details from this and the later Federation, Edwardian and other Indexes in the next few days.

Hope to find some Death details with helpful data once I get into those other Indexes but afraid I have to leave you with this for now.

Must get to bed as I am due back at work again in little over 8 hours.

Keep the feedback coming and I will gather whatever info I can find. (BTW - if required I can supply the Reg. No.s for all above events so certificates can be ordered if you need them. )

Enjoy.

[calswimmer]

Thanks for all that great info. So I can now be certain that Thomas b. 1821 went to Australia.
I found what I copied from the obit for the older Thomas B. who d. 1839 but it is not very informative--"On Saturday last, aged 74 years, Mr. Thomas Bohenna, who, for many years,
resided at Lelant, and was respected by his neighbours for his kindness and
general urbanity of manners."
I'm trying to remember where I found it. It was some website that I have not been to lately I think that had newspaper bits from the past or maybe it was even on this West Penwith Site. I sent you by PM what I have on the Bohenna family so far. I think I will have to look into Hannibal Thomas because what I really want to find out is why Thomas Bohenna b. 1821 was staying with the Trewhellas and my ancestor Ann Thomas. My interest is to find the connection to the Thomas family if possible.

[Cornish Terrier]

Okay then - seems it might be a good idea if a try to track down some more of the Victorian BDM information anyway.

That may give us some further clues.

And at least I have that information at home and don't have to search for it.

I too, obviously, am interested in the Trewhella connection and also that of Clarinda Thomas..

BTW - were you aware that Matin Trewhella's mother was Margaret THOMAS

And were you also aware that several of the children of Martin and Clarinda Trewhella ended up in the US

There is a lot here to discuss I think.

[cornishmaid]

Hi there

The obit was found on the West Penwith Resources site .

Also, I don't know if this is of any help, but an Isaac Behenna married an Elizabeth Thomas on 3 October 1733 in Kenwyn, Cornwall.

Kea and Kenwyn are in close proximity to each other. Do you think this might be the connection? Haven't any more time tonight to investigate further, but will come back tomorrow and see "wos on".

[Cornish Terrier]

Possible m'lass - but, like you, it is time to retire and thing about this later.

Without looking at Maps, and relying on memory - Kenwyn is very close by Truro but I just cannot remember exactly where.

From memory Kenwyn is to the North of Truro and not far from St Agnes.

Kea, again from memory is a little to the South-East of Truro.

Once I find and check my maps I could explain exactly but, in the meantime, would appreciate some one else offering an opinion and correcting me.

[Cornish Terrier]

A little further progress here I am thinking.

Believe I have just found part of the family we are interested in:-

1851 Census - St Peter le Poor, London

68 Old Broad Street

Samuel BRODRIBB, head, mar, 49, clerk, Clutton Somerset
Mary do., wife, mar, 44, Lelant Cornwall
John H do., son, 13, Keinton Somerset
Joseph Acbil, visitor, unm, 38, commercial traveller, Gibratales (Gibralter???)

This information basically fits with what I already had regarding John Henry (Henry IRVING) BROADRIBB and his parents.

In 1861 Samuel BRODRIBB is still at the same place and listed as married. He is now aged 58 but his wife and son are not with him.

I believe the following is Samuel's wife

1861 Census - Clevedon, Somerset

John Victor, head, mar, 41, minister of the gospel, Newlyn, Penzance, Cornwall
Jane do., wife, mar, 46, minister's wife, Lelant, Cornwall
Sarah Jane do., daur, single, 11, scholar, Bristol, Gloucester
Charlotte Sophia do., daur, 9, scholar, Clevedon, Somerset
Mary Fussell Steele, governess, 25, governess, Tiverton, Devonshire
? Mary Thomas, visitor, single, 41, proprietor of house, Bristol, Gloucestershire
Mary BROADRIBB, sister-in-law, mar, 51, wife of land surveyor's clerk, Lelant, Cornwall

I am having some trouble finding this family in the 1841 Census but I at least now know that Samuel's wife Mary was born at Lelant.

And (from IGI) this means the following:-

Mary d/o Thomas & CATHERINE Bohenna bp. 31st January 1808 at Lelant

And that means that the information I received back in 1997 is incorrect and that, it would seem, Elizabeth QUICK has nothing to do with this scenario.

Although it is 'possible' that another member of the Bohenna family married Elizabeth QUICK.

It may simply be that my previous informant had not identified the parents of Mary correctly.

I still cannot find a marriage for any of these people which is of concern.

And I cannot, at the moment, find the Bohenna (Behenna) of Lelant in 1841.

Best I can do on this part of the problem for now so I will close this post and try something else.

[Cornish Terrier]

This problem is becoming more and more puzzling.

The only record I seem to be able to find for the Bohenna family in Victoria after 1888 is the following:-

Thomas BOHANA (both parents unknown) age 82 died at Geelong in 1899 Reg. No. 9610

Back to you and I will try to work on something else for a while.

[calswimmer]

Cornish Terrier: This is all great! Mind-boggling, but great. First of all, it is fantastically helpful to see where Mary Broadribb was in 1861, brecause I really need to identify the Victor family (they are apparently important to--i.e. referred to , have people named after them, etc.) the Bohennas, Broadribbs, Penberthys, and Thomas's), so that is a great lead.
Incidentally, I learned yesterday that Hannibal Thomas, whom you had mentioned earlier, married Jane Quick, sister of the Elizabeth you mentioned, and their daughter Catherine married a Nicholas T. Nicholls. Don't know if that will lead anywhere, but I will start checking out the census following the leads you provided.
Thank you too, Cornish maid. I will look into the marriage you mentioned.

[calswimmer]

A little about John Victor etc...
I found him in the census from 1841 to 1891. In 1841 he resided with the Isaac Penberthy family. Isaac was a mine agent and was married to Sarah Behenna in 1830 in Lelant. John Victor married Sarah's sister Jane. He remarried to Ketura and then Helene, as far as I can tell from the census listings. He was a minister and at one point was called "Undenominational," but I wonder if he may have been Wesleyan. Isaac Penberthy raised his wife's nephew, known later as the actor Henry Irving.
So far, so good...progress!