William Oakley

Born: c. 1800, Carney (?), Co. Tipperary, Ireland.
Died: 31 October 1896, Athlone, Ireland (buried Cornamagh cemetery).

Father:
Mother:

Married:  Ann Eades, b. 12 March 1802.

Children:

1or 2 daughters – died young or went to America.
Jonathan Verney, b. August 1828.

Married: Mary Cash

Children:

Margrot, b. 24 Nov 1840
Kevin, b. 31 August 1841
Robert, b. 14 January 1844
Sarah, b. 29 November 1846
William Clement, b. 30 November 1855

Career:

Schoolmaster at Fortal nr. Birr, then Athlone.

Other information:

Wife Ann died soon after birth of son Jonathan Verney, who was subsequently raised by Alexander, her younger brother (1804-1889) and his wife Jane Wallace (1820-1881), who had no children of their own. They taught him the carpentry trade. William remarried and so started the Athlone branch of the Oakley family. Unusually for an Oakley in Ireland, William was a Catholic.

The Wallace family owned the Birr Distillery, which was established 1805 (destroyed by fire in 1889).

There is a Michael Oakley with wife and seven children, mentioned on page 94 of “Irish Migrants in the Canadas” by Bruce S. Elliott (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1988). This must be close relative, although we do not know the exact connection.

Mrs. Maureen Walsh (nee Oakley) of Auburn Terrace, Athlone, formerly of Ballyclough, Athlone was the last Athlone Oakley known to the Birr branch, but there may be others.