Our Grandad Graydon by Phyllis Eiffe and Betty Pettigrew

I knew very little about my grandparents when I started tracing the family history. I only knew my Granny Graydon and very little else.

My granny, Mary Jane Doyle, married William Graydon on 31^st December 1905 in St. Laurence O’ Toole’s Church. I know that church very well. Her father was a sailor and his father a bootmaker. Both his parents came from England. Joseph, his father from Halifax Yorkshire and mother from Carnarvon Wales.

I don’t know when they came to Ireland but granddad was born in 1877 at Vancey buildings, Dublin, and lived at 21 Dorset Street when he married Jane Graydon.

The 1901 census shows him living at 14 Henrietta Street with his mother, father and sister Kate. That building is now a museum, which I have visited. The 1911 census shows him being married and living at Richmond Place with 2 children, Joseph and Mary Jane. His parents also lived with them.

My grandad was a silversmith and between 1911 and 1913 moved to Cork where my mother Teresa was born in 1913, the year of The Lockout, at Hibernian buildings, Cork. Her sister was also born there in 1915 and two brothers William in 1918 and Thomas in 1920.

The house my mother was born in is still there today. It was an artisan dwelling. I am told they were built for tradesmen. I have no idea when they came back to Dublin.

Confirmation and Communion medals made by our Grandfather. Family heirlooms.

Worksheet: Our Grandad Graydon

Where were the authors’ grandparents married?

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Where was the authors’ mother born?

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What job did William Graydon do?

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How many confirmation medals are in the picture?

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If Teresa was born in 1913 and her brother born in 1920, what age was she when her brother was born?

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How many years ago did the 1901 census happen?

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What year did The Lockout happen? Can you find another story in this book about The Lockout?

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