Henry Lyons
Circumstancial Evidence that leads us to believe that Dick's gggrandfather, William Lyons of Newbliss 1810, was a brother of Henry Lyons of Sligo, the founder of Henry Lyons & Co. Ltd store that was opened in 1837 in Sligo, and still exists today
Written by Annie
The Newbliss Lyons family had strong connections to County Sligo. We've just added another one with the indisputable proof that Fi's ancestor Richard Lyons, the draper of Sligo, WAS a son of William Lyons the merchant of Newbliss.
I just "felt" that Richard fit into that Newbliss family -- he was the right age, in the right place, at the right time -- and had put him there as a son .... and there he is = a proven son, due to the fact that his sister, Maggie Lyons/Teele, had a son William E Teeele, whose wife, Bella, was a known great aunt of Dick's .
Okay, Wm.'s son Richard Lyons (born about 1844 in Co. Monaghan, and probably in Newbliss since that's where his parents lived for most of their lives) goes to Sligo to work by the time of the 1872 municipal elections. He lives on High Street. Already living and doing business on High Street were the merchants Henry and John Lyons, of an age to be Wm. Lyons' brothers.
Henry and John Lyons were well-established in business in Sligo from the 1830s-on, and all evidence indicates that they themselves were brothers. We haven't found proof yet, but we've been working on it. It's reasonable to calculate that these older men took a nephew into their business, and gave him a career as a draper. And, in promoting his career in the city, they would have encouraged him to run for Town Councillor (a position he was elected to in 1872). Henry Lyons was already a wealthy J.P., and he and his brother John were among the "landed gentry" of their day.
John Lyons then goes into business with James Teele (it was James Teele in later decades, although it might have been another older Teele relative in the earliest years; I'm working on it). So we have Henry Lyons with one business (Henry Lyons & Co., Ltd.), and his brother John Lyons with another business (Lyons & Teele) in Sligo.
James Teele, partner with John Lyons in Sligo, marries William Lyons' daughter Margaret/Maggie of County Monaghan. They live in Sligo where James continues his career as a draper. How did James Teele, born in Co. Fermanagh and working in Sligo, meet a girl from Newbliss???
James' brother William Teele (a J.P. and draper in Co. Fermanagh, but BORN in County Sligo) marries another of William Lyons' daughters, Mary Jane Lyons. Again, how on earth would a man in Co. Fermanagh, born in Sligo, meet a girl living in Newbliss??? William Teele married Mary Jane Lyons in 1863, and James Teele married Margaret/Maggie Lyons in 1876, so we'd assume the second marriage came about from proximity
These Teele and Lyons men work and live and go back and forth between Co. Monaghan and Co. Sligo (and Co. Fermanagh, in William Teele's case).
When John Lyons dies, aged 50, in 1866 in Sligo, James Lyons ( MAYBE ?? a brother of Wm. Lyons merchant of Newbliss) is named as one of his estate executors. Now why on earth would a "James Lyons," born in Newbliss and living in Co. Cavan??, be appointed a Sligo business man's estate executor, unless they were related?
It's a combination of cause-and-effect, proximity, and all these intermarriages and interlocking business relationships.
As I think I wrote in an earlier email, I've been urging Richard Lyons (owner of the Sligo company today) to take a DNA test.
Are there any Lyons male cousins in Fi's family today, who might take a Y-DNA test? That traces direct paternal Lyons ancestry back for many generations.
Or, a man or woman can take the autosomal test with Ancestry.com, and we'd see if there are any matching DNA strands with other male and female Lyons descendants. The autosomal test is a melting pot of all the ancestors and surnames in your tree, and not specific to one ancestor surname, but it's still very helpful. I'm in contact with several descendants of James Lyons of Brookfield, Co. Cavan, who have taken DNA tests, so we already have people to compare the new DNA to.
Documents supporting the above theories
John Lyons was 50 when he died in 1866 - death on ie records, but have to send away for it
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