[Ancestor] Wakefield

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Husband [Ancestor] Wakefield

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Wife

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Children

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1 M David Wakefield ^{1 2 3 4}

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           Born:  - County Galway, Ireland
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           Died:  - West Wheatfield Twp, Indiana Co, PA
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         Spouse: Mary Wade (      -      ) 1
           Marr: Ireland

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General Notes: Husband - [Ancestor] Wakefield

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The Wakefields trace their ancestry back to Ireland, where John Wakefield was one of sixteen hundred and forty-nine officers of Cromwell's army, who were given grants of land. These grants were called "the '49 Lots," and were also known as "Venture Land." The first record of a Wakefield in Ireland is found in "Remembrances of the Exchequer," Dublin, where John Wakefield is mentioned under date of 1637. It is likely that he was one of the Protestant colonists who fled from the persecutions which drove the Puritans to seek asylum in foreign lands, several colonies of that character being established in Ireland about 1625, many of these non-conformists seeing in Ireland an opening for colonists, apparently equal to that of America. Such were easily induced to join the English army for Ireland's conquest. Dr. Albert Wakefield, the son of John Wakefield, above mentioned, was a surgeon on the staff of William of Orange, and at the battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690, dressed the wound of William with such skill, and so won the King's confidence and good will, that at the completion of the conquest, at the battle of Aughram, July 12, 1691, by William's request, an estate, comprising the site of the battle ground, was granted to the doctor, and into the twentieth century continued to be the property of the male line of his descendants. Referring to history, we find the following:
"Some of the English dragoons approached the river and were fired upon by the Irish. They returned the fire and while the attention of both sides was engaged by the skirmish, a party of Irish cavalry moved slowly down towards the river and halted behind a low hedge, and then, wheeling about, retired. The movements of the King and the group of officers accompanying him, had been observed in the Irish army, and two field pieces were sent down concealed in the center of the cavalry. The guns had been placed behind the hedge when the horsemen withdrew, and when William arose from the ground and mounted his horse, fire was opened. The first cannon shot killed two horses and a man by his side. The next grazed the King's right shoulder, tearing away his coat and inflicting a slight flesh wound. Had the aim been slightly more accurate, or had the gunners used grape instead of round shot, it is probably the whole course of history would have been changed. The rumor spread through both armies that the King was killed, but the wound having been hastily bound up, the King rode quietly through the camps in order to show his men that the wound was not serious. (Battle of Boyne. Henty's Orange and Green: A Tale of Boyne and Limerick, page 148). A perusal of Froude's history, 'The English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century,' will disclose how the lands were granted to Cromwell's soldiers, how these lands were surrendered during the Irish rebellion, the native race driving out the English settlers, and how these lands were later re-granted to the English upon the final subjugation of the island by William of Orange."
Dr. Albert Wakefield had one son, Robert Wakefield, who had three sons, viz: Robert, Matthew and Andrew. These children were born on the family estate near Aughram. This second Robert Wakefield lived and died on the family estate, on the road between Aughram and Ballinasloe, Galway County, Province of Connaught, Ireland. He had four sons, as follows: David, the progenitor of the American branch of the family; Robert, who was beheaded for complicity in a plot against Catholic rule in Ireland; Gilbert, arrested with his brother, Robert, and imprisoned for life; and Samuel, who escaped to Scotland, being in the same plot. David was implicated in the same plot, and when detected, was hidden by his wife in a hogshead of clothes, with which she embarked on an American-bound vessel. He was three days out at sea before the captain of the ship knew he was on board. By this means he escaped to America sometime between 1768 and 1773.

The founder of the Pennsylvania branch of the Wakefield family in the United States was David Wakefield, born on the family estate on the road between Aughrim and Ballinasloe, Galway county, Ireland. He was the son of Robert Wakefield, of the same estate, the son of Robert Wakefield (who died in England in the prime of his life from wounds received in battle), the son of Doctor Albert Wakefield, who was the son of John Wakefield, the emigrant from England to Ireland. ^{4 5}

1 —, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Uniontown, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1900), Pg 1159.

2 —, History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Newark, OH: J. A. Caldwell, 1880), Pg 422.

3 J. T. Stewart, Indiana County, Pennsylvania - Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1913), Pg 700, 950.

4 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. III (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 209.

5 —, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Uniontown, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1900), Pg 1158.