Author: Jon Johnson
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Using the Madras Priests and Churches Database
A long time project on this site has been the Madras Priests and Churches Database. This is primarily extracted from the chapter Chaplains in the HEIC 1805 to 1835 in Rev Frank Penny’s The Church In Madras, published in 1904, plus additional information from other sources. The information is publicly available on the internet and…
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Adventures in Genealogical Data Science
Even since I started this website some 20+ years ago, I have in addition to putting up the family trees I have also provided databases of related information that I have found useful in my research and could be used by others, specifically the database of Churches and Priests extracted from Frank Perry’s book The…
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Descendants of Lawrence O’Hara (mortality)
In a previous post, I produced a set of maps showing the migration of the O’Haras over 200+ years, what was not clear in the disparity between the different lineages is the actual number of people. The table below shows the number of descendants for each generation and those reaching adulthood (in brackets) from Lawrence’s…
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On the Irish Origins of Lawrence O’Hara in Donegal
With family lore and a last name of O’Hara it was very doubtful that there were NOT Irish ancestors. What we didn’t have until about 2005, was any documentary evidence that this was the case. The letters written by Lawrence in 1821, from Limerick selling his commission and a letter from 1814, from W O’Hara…
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On the 80th anniversary of VJ Day
The O’Haras had lived in Burma from the 1850’s. Working in many occupations including doctors, in the police, in the administration of public works, forestry and in my grandfather’s case as a diver in the construction of the Rangoon Harbour. Around 100 were born there. It is estimated that in 1940 around 1 million Indians…
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Migration of Lawrence O’Hara’s Descendants 1800-2020 (Maps)
Lawrence O’Hara was born in Ireland in around 1770 and had four surviving children, John, Elizabeth, Amelia and George in India between 1808 and 1823. This video shows where their descendants migrated to and where they were born over the following 250 years using birth records. Commentary 1800-1840 The first children of Lawrence were born in 1808 (John), 1805 (Elizabeth), Amelia…
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Indian indentured labour & the Uganda Railway
One of the most curious questions that the Man-eaters of Tsavo raises is that apart from the lions, and Patterson himself, the majority of the participants involved were Indian indentured labour or as they are pejoratively referred to throughout the book as coolies. A related aspect is the appearance (although not explicitly stated) of a…
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Reflections on the popularity of the Man-eaters of Tsavo
Lt. Col. JH Patterson’s book has been in continuous print for nearly 120 years, in dozens of editions, and early editions continue to sell from £300-£2000. It has spawned novels, scientific investigations and several films and critiques. It’s subject matter is returned to regularly in news articles, magazines and is to this day a staple…
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Lawrence O’Hara (1770-1823)
Lawrence O’Hara is the starting point for the O’Haras of interest in India. We know a lot about his life in the British Army, one of his marriage(s) and children, but possibly the most challenging part of understanding him is the significant gaps in his life story. He is likely to be Irish, though it…