Hi Leanne. Thank you for responding. As descendants of this man John Bagnall Kelly, we feel that past errors and assumptions contributed to the idea that John Bagnall Kelly was the son of David and Bridget Kelly. In the same vein there is no evidence to suggest that John Bagnall Kelly was born in South Africa. We are reasoning as follows, with no evidence to be found. in support.
The tradition of naming offspring with the middle name of Bagnall started with the marriage of William Kelly to Elizabeth Bagnall. The eldest of their children was Robert Bagnall Kelly who was born in Ireland in about 1923 and moved to the Cape Colony in South Africa, settling in an area called Draaibosch near the town of Komgha. During the same period John Bagnall Kelly (who seldom used the name Bagnall) had settled in the same area. His birth date is assumed to be 1830 which slots into the birthdates of William Kelly and Elizabeth Bagnall's children. We can find no other reason to explain the two "brothers" meeting up on the eastern frontier of the colony. John Bagnall Kelly is my great grandfather. He named my grandfather Thomas Bagnall Kelly. After that, Thomas Bagnall Kelly named his entire offspring with the middle name of Bagnall. My father had the middle name and named my sister and I with the middle name Bagnall. Two other sons of John Bagnall Kelly, William Edward Kelly and Robert James Kelly followed the tradition by naming one or two of their offspring "Bagnall" named offspring in the same fashion, with the name Bagnall. I cannot find evidence of John Bagnall Kelly's birth and the first evidence I have is his marriage to Elizabeth Brown.
It would appear that the remaining groups of sons from William Kelly and Elizabeth Bagnall moved to Australia. One apparently also arrived in the Cape Colony but continued to Australia.
If you can, in any manner, assist by finding the birth of John Bagnall Kelly in Ireland we would be over the moon. It is possible that John assumed the name Bagnall once arriving in the Cape and working with his brother Robert Bagnall Kelly. John was a blacksmith...mentioned on his marriage certificate. Later and inn Keeper and later moved to Kimberley with many of his children. By the way a few of the boys who moved to Australia also used the middle name Bagnall when naming their children.
I found the following request on a website genealogy from an Australian decendant.
G'day Tony, my names Craig Kelly. I am researchingmy ancestry and have gotten as far back as William Kelly and Elizabeth Bagnell who are my great,great,great grandparents. I live at Corlette, NSW, Australia ironically right across the road from Bagnall's beach ! My great, great grandfather William Kelly emigrated toBrisbane Australia in 1856, aboard the ship 'persia'. He made his way to Nundle NSW in search of gold and ended up in the farming industry. I am interested in going back from his parents in Ireland. Apparently they came from Clonminch in county offally.He built a house of that name at piallamore near tamworth, NSW.Any info you may have would be gratefully received, cheers, Craig.
