The Earl of Pembroke, Richard “Strongbow” de Clare (also FitzGilbert) led the invasion of Ireland as part of the larger Norman Conquest. Three of Robert De Valle’s sons, Gilbert De Valle, Stephen De Valle, and Hay De Valle, crossed the Irish Sea with Baron Raymond “Le Gros” FitzGerald from Pembrokeshire, Wales, in advance of Strongbow’s army.
Less is known about Samuel’s daughter, Betty, than his wife. Since the entire family was involved in Crompton’s business of cotton spinning and manufacturing, the letter assumes that Samuel Sr. kept his daughter up to date on his business affairs.
Anne Loughlin’s letter to her sister Ellen is based on the premise that Ellen’s name was scratched from the registry and changed her mind at the last minute, withdrawing her name from the passage/ship’s registry
Penned by Kevin Lee and Tom Jenkins, this book celebrates long-buried stories about brave Irish families who left Ireland for Canadian shores, connecting generations across the Atlantic.
Very little is known about Crompton’s wife (there is even some argument about whether her maiden name was Pimlott or Pimbley). She was a spinstress, and the daughter of a West Indies trader, so she may have been middle class, and therefore, educated (could read and write).
This letter is based on a fictional letter from the Widow Wall to her son, Nicholas, detailing the background of the loss of the Wall family’s extensive properties from the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 to the Cromwellian Invasion in Ireland, from 1649–1653.