Dean writes:

I met another relative, Davis Simpson, was has a fabulous tree, […] [who] sent me the following email….(I had also sent him a copy of a page I found in the Tithe Applotment Books that showed a JOSEPH DAVIS  and FOSSY BOLTON owned tracts of land in Garrynew, next to each other.  I suggested to him that SARAH BOTON (WIFE OF JOSEPH HENRY DAVIS)  may have been a daughter of Fossy Bolton…….

Dean also included the following note from Davis Simpson:

Good morning!

Fossy Bolton does catch the eye, doesn’t he? It appears as if he moved to the Isle of Man later on and appears on the census there; he was born about 1797 in Monmolin, Ireland, about 10km southwest of Garrynew. Those leaseholders at Garrynew who didn’t leave when our Joseph did apparently were evicted later, victims of the peculiar and tragic economics of the Potato Famine.

Online trees have Fossy as the son of Henry Bolton and Mary Tackaberry – I haven’t found sources, though. However, you do have many Tackaberry DNA matches who you share with other Davis cousins, including my Dad, Uncle, and his first cousin. The Tackaberry name is also in Leeds County, Ontario in 1851 and a William Bolton b. 1815 in Leeds County named his son Fossy so I have no doubt that Fossy Bolton b. 1797 had family in Leeds County.

It’s possible that Fossy was the father of our Sarah Bolton. Fossy went to the Isle of Man by 1851 and Sarah went to Canada but it’s possible that she and Joseph married before everyone departed. Your grandfather, George was born 9 Sep 1849, according to find a grave. I don’t suppose you can confirm that? He’s 3 on the 1851 census but that wasn’t a real census and I’m pretty sure that the data in this county was collected in 1852, which would fit him being born in 1849. If your grandfather was born in 1849, that would suggest that Joseph and Sarah married in 1848.

Meanwhile, Joseph Henry Davis disappeared off the County Wexford tax lists in Feb. 1847, which meant that the family was off the leasehold in Garrynew. I’m not sure how long afterward they immigrated but I bet it was pretty quick – they wouldn’t sell their lease without a plan.  However, even though there’s a gap between disappearing off the tax lists and the suggested marriage date, Sarah and Joseph could have married just before they left Ireland. However, Sarah would have only been 16 when they married and at this time, only 1.4% of women were under 17 when they married.

The 1851 and 1861 Canada census has Sarah as 21 and 30, placing her birth year consistently about 1831. Fossy on the 1851 British census has a daughter, Caroline, age 20, also placing her birth about 1831 as well. Caroline later married James Hackett and moved to Australia, naming her oldest son Fossey Bolton Hackett. There is a small conflict there as well. I’m not really confident that Fossy could be Sarah’s father.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Joseph had Dorothy Kate Boulton b. 1844 living with them in 1851. Dorthy had a brother, William, and a sister, Jane, living with Joseph’s mother, Catherine, on the 1851 census as well. I’ve tied all of these children to the family of William and Dorothy Bolton, b. 1815. Dorothy Bolton b.1815 was Joseph’s sister, she married William in 1840 back in Ireland. However, William had been married before to Deborah Redmond and they had a daughter named Sara in 1831, which matches our Sara nicely. While I can find William and Deborah’s other children in Canada, I can find no sign of a Sarah except our Sarah. Still, Dorothy Kate b. 1844 may have lived with Joseph and Sarah because she was Joseph’s niece, instead of Sarah’s half-sister.

But, when William Bolton died in 1881, your grandfather, George, was the informant on his death certificate. That would make more sense if George was his grandson rather than the nephew of his wife.

Looking at your DNA matches again, you have some matches, such as MichaelFord46, who you share with Josh Davis and Amanda Schick (descended from your great aunt Agnes) who are Redmonds. But there needs to be a lot more analysis there.

Long story short, my guess is that Fossy is a cousin of William Bolton and that William is the father of Sarah. This is pure speculation but I’m imagining that the Davis family all lived together when they first arrived in Canada. On the 1851 Census, Catherine Davis still lives with sons John, Henry, and Edward and daughter, Jane, along with Ann and William Boulton. If they married in 1848, Sarah would have been 17, so still quite young. However, their close proximity and desire to get away from the cramped living conditions might explain why Sarah married comparatively young.

[…]

All the best,

Davis