Bray Family

My ancestors

  1. Unravelling my family name: Woodlands - published 26 August 2021

Francis Woodlands, my father

James Woodlands, my grandfather

Cornelius Bray, my great-grandfather 

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Agnes Cahill - My Woodlands great-grandmother

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Since early in 2016, I've been looking at my paternal grandfather's family - researching, questioning and sharing with a few of "the cousins" along the way.  There've been a few surprises!  The biggest being that Cornelius Bray was my grandfather's biological father and James Woodland (Snr) was his step-father.  We knew my grandfather as James Oswald Woodlands but his birth name was Oswald Cahill. So it's probably time that I started to record some of what I've uncovered...  After all, there's a lot more to research - my grandfather's biological Bray family and his known (or social) Woodlands family! My grandfather's biological pedigree My grandfather's "social" pedigree Agnes Cahill is at the centre of the story.  Agnes's descendants are a small groups these days - one granddaughter, great-grandchild (including me) and great-great-grandchildren.  Maybe we'll find out how many as more join our Facebook group! Here...
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Unravelling my family name: Woodlands

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This post has been years in the making. It all began when cousin Gail kindly took an AncestryDNA test. The results revealed exactly what I’d hoped for—and so much more. To tell the full story, I need to go back to her maternal grandfather, James Woodland, and then further still, to his mother and her family. None of this history had been passed down—until now. I’m thrilled to have documented it so it can be shared and preserved for future generations. A surprising start to my family history journey When I began researching my family history in 2016, I never expected to uncover that "Woodlands" wasn’t actually my family name. I’d carried it for more than 60 years—long enough to find its place at the tail end of the alphabet a mild annoyance, and its length a bit of a mouthful alongside "Christine Margaret." Over the following five years, I slowly peeled back the layers of the past. While some questions still remain unanswered, one truth emerged: my grandfather wasn’t...
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Cornelius (Charles) Bray - The father of James Oswald (Jim) Woodlands (born 20 September 1891)

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In the last post, I covered my search for the birth details of James Oswald (Jim) Woodlands, my paternal grandfather. In brief, Jim was born, Oswald Cahill on 20 September 1891 at Dawson Street, Newcastle. His mother was Agnes Cahill but his birth registration didn't give any details of his father. Was I going to find Jim's biological father?   As I look at the photograph of Jim on the left, I see that strong resemblance with his son, my father - Frank! Back to my search, technology has completely revolutionised family history research! You can sit at home tapping away at your computer and you're presented with information that you'd have been hard pressed to find a few years ago. "Trove", the National Library of Australia's digital service, provides access to most Australian newspapers up to the mid 1950s.   So a search under "Agnes Cahill" and I have the answer! In a case reported on 7 November 1891, Charles Bray, a sto...
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