Thoughts of a Joyce researcher

From Jerripedia
Jump to navigationJump to search




Thoughts of a Joyce researcher



Ernest Daniel Joyce (1885-1918) was one of two brothers killed in action in France in 1918 during the Great War. He had joined an Australian Howitzer Battery like this one two years earlier. These notes were sent to us by Mary Hall, a Joyce descendant in New Zealand, who has been trying to identify her great-grandfather's ancestry

James Parker Joyce

I have an elusive great grandfather, James Parker Joyce, who claimed to have spent much of his youth in Jersey, so naturally I am interested in any group connected to that name. His comment indicates a birth elsewhere. His father was 'from Southampton' but that word 'from' possibly means his previous location. He described his father as a writer.

Valentine Joyce

You have his birth in Jersey, but they have his death on the Isle of Man, plus family. I have found numerous references to him in my search through shipping notes, many on Discovery, the archives of the UK - sometimes he is Val, and at others he is Valerie.

Captain Daniel Joyce

Captain Daniel Joyce, born Jersey, was for many years here working in New Zealand waters. He owned several ships, and his land base was run by William Joyce, who appears to be in Jersey records too. Daniel Joyce died in Fiji.

Elizabeth Joyce

Elizabeth Joyce came to New Zealand, too, in 1861, aboard the Rhea Sylvia. She was, from your records, Elizabeth Le Brun, married to James Joyce, from Newcastle (from memory). She came here with a daughter, Amelia, in a party of the Lawrence family, Stephen Lawrence and his wife Harriet, also daughter to Elizabeth, and four children. Another nine babes were born here. They were from Jersey. (There was a second family on board, from Guernsey.) Stephen's daughter, Louisa's marriage report in New Zealand described her as the granddaughter of Captain James Joyce from Jersey.

James Joyce

I have been reading about a mariner, James Joyce, who was associated with the ship which 'discovered' the Auckland Islands south of New Zealand. He became Captain of that same ship in 1820. His very first ship was the London in 1793, and I have discovered that the captain of the London in 1774 was Francis Pirouet, from Jersey. This James Joyce wrote a book, but does that make him 'a writer'.

The coincidence count increases with every search I make. C Pirouet was captain of the Ulysses, built in Jersey 1845, on board which young James Joyce, son of James Joyce and Anne/Nancy Giot, from Jersey, was killed in 1845. Was young James Joyce, son of Captain James Joyce?

That led to the discovery that this young James Joyce was buried in Ichiboe. Where? This is a tiny island offshore Namibia where up to 400 ships could be anchored while thousands of workers dug up guano, which was as valuable as gold! Fascinating.

James and Isabella

You have a James Joyce and wife Isabella Watson in your records. They could be the James and Isabella Joyce also listed in Isle of Man records. I have not pursued that idea fully yet, but matching names keep jumping out at me.

I continue to find connections in ports all around the Coast of Britain. There is Captain Michael Joyce and his mariner father from Plymouth.

Not only In ports. Near ports. There is Mariner John Joyce from Beckington, near Bath, and James Joyce of Whitemill in Dorset.

I found a section in Jerripedia which was new to me - Ships Captains. There he was! Captain James Joyce.

  • Was he the one who married Elizabeth Le Brun? Or Anne Giot dit La Source?
  • Was he born in 1800, or was that when he was a captain?
  • Is he the one in my notes above?
  • Is that why the family came to New Zealand?
  • Newcastle is mentioned. Is that a birthplace or his last residence?
  • Is he also referred to as a soldier?

Response to Above

The Daniel Joyce you refer to is the youngest son of James Joyce and wife Isabella Watson who you also mention.

The William Joyce you mention as running Daniel Joyce's land base was actually a master mariner himself and was Daniel's eldest son, born in Nelson NZ around 1847-48. His mother was Eliza Tyler (They had another son, who was born in Wellington NZ, who was my great great grandfather John Alfred Joyce (1851-1935)). William's full name was William Henry Joyce (1847/48-1914) and he is the father of the two brothers you mention as being killed in action during WW1. They were Ernest Daniel Joyce (1885-1918) and Norman Roy Joyce (1895-1918). Their mother was Emma Eliza Fisher (1858-1903). Sadly another son William Henry Joyce (1881-1912) was killed in cricket ball accident just before that war. There were 6 sons and five daughters born in that family.

The Young James Joyce you mention was the grandson of James Joyce and Isabella Watson. The young James Joyce (1827-1845) was the son of James Joyce, born Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland, England 14 OCT 1800 - (eldest son of James and Isabella) and Anne La Source (1801-1827) who died after giving birth to him. James Joyce (1800- ) later married Elizabeth Le Brun (1809-). They had (among previous children) a daughter Emilie (Amelia) born 1839. Elizabeth Le Brun Joyce was the sister in-law of Daniel Joyce (1816-1884).

After the death of Daniel Joyce's mother, Isabella Watson in 1822, his father married Ann (Nancy) Giot on 8 January 1824.

I hope this clarifies some of the queries you have.

Retrieved from "https://theislandwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Thoughts_of_a_Joyce_researcher&oldid=231441"