Saturday, June 11, 2016

Surname Saturday - Fant Family of Ireland - Military Barracks in the 1850s

McDermott, my Irish researcher and I are connecting  family units of  the Fant family forward and backward from about 1850, using existing records. He was puzzling over a James Fant in England with mother Catherine.

When I looked at that I found that Catherine Fant was the daughter of a John Fant from Mallow Cork and Ann McLoughland of Londonderry. Catherine somewhat mysteriously has two sons James and John living with her after he father dies in 1857.

He brother Thomas is married with children and her other siblings seem not to marry.

John Fant was a Color Sergeant ( whatever that was) in Parkhurst Barracks located in Isle of Wight. It apparently was a predominantly Irish Regiment as the Colonel Jeremiah Taylor and his son, John B. Taylor was an Ensign.

I suspect these  Army records will point to many if not all of my 4th cousin DNA matches who insist they are Welsh. Parkhurst Barracks has 65 pages..I am in.