Emails from the great, great, great grandson of Richard & Christian Clucas.
10th June 2020 – today I received emails from Matt Laird, great, great, great grandson of Richard and Christian Clucas , mentioned in my first chronicle & pictured below outside Kionslieu Farmhouse.
Greetings from Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA! Richard and Christian Clucas were my great-great-great grandparents, and so I’ve been aware of Kionslieu for some time. But I want to thank you so much for taking the time to include all this new genealogical information on your blog! It’s wonderful that you’re doing this, and I hope that you’ll continue. I’ve just recently been in touch with some other Clucas relatives I’ve “met” via Ancestry DNA who live in Australia in New Zealand. And we have many relatives throughout Canada and the U.S.A. So you truly have a “world wide web” of folks who have an ancestral connection to your beautiful home.
My 8-year-old son and I are both avid Liverpool FC fans. Our dream (once such things are possible again) is to see a match at Anfield and then visit the IOM. Of course, we’ll plan to stay with you!
Until we meet, wishing you all the best,
Matt Laird
My reply sent by return…
Dear Matt
How lovely to hear from you! I am so pleased that you’re enjoying my blog, as mentioned this is something I have thought of doing for years and am loving doing it.
You’ve reminded me that I need to add more pages to the ‘Unfinished Memoirs’ by Terence Kermode, goodness I couldn’t believe it when Greg sent it through!
When it’s time for your trip over, just let me know, it will be fantastic to meet you and perhaps recreate some pictures! You’ll be pleased to hear that my husband Tony is also a Liverpool supporter!
Finally I am hoping that it is ok for me to add that you’ve been in touch in one of my blogs? Please don’t worry if you’d prefer I didn’t but if you’d like me to and have any photos you’d like me to share just send them through.
Sending very best wishes, Fiona
reply received by return…
Hi Fiona,
I’m so glad to hear back from you! Like us, I’m sure that Tony is also relieved that Liverpool will finally be able to clinch the Premier League title this month (fingers crossed)!
So, I am descended from Sage Clucas, one of Richard and Christian’s daughters. She married John Curphy (also from IOM), after which they moved to England, where my great-grandmother was born. But Sage’s younger sister, Martha Edith (Mattie) evidently was quite an independent and formidable woman. She also left the IOM for England, and established a prosperous shop in millinery Lancaster which operated for decades. She never married, but bought a house which she named “Mona Cottage” (she obviously missed Kionslieu). She was very well-traveled, and even went out to visit her relatives in British Columbia, Canada, where she met my teenage grandmother. She tried to convince her to come back to England to work in her shop. She declined, which was good as she met my grandfather soon after!
I wish that I had more photos to share, but here is one of Mattie Clucas in front of “Mona Cottage” in Lancaster (stern-looking woman second from right). Her niece (my great-grandmother Florence) and my great-grandfather are beside her. Funnily enough, the house is still there and I’ve been in touch with the current owners. It hasn’t changed much over the past 100 years.
I don’t know that any of this is of interest to anyone (!) but feel free to post whatever you’d like on your blog. And I’ve just sent the link to my recent Clucas family contacts Down Under, so they will likely be checking it out, as well. I think that you could probably book Kionslieu solidly with Clucas descendants alone!
My son and I just had a fun virtual tour of the IOM watching James May drive around the TT course on a Meccano motorcycle. What a beautiful place! It’s top on our list of destinations once this miserable virus is over and done with. We will definitely keep in touch!
All the best, and thank you again for preserving all this family history for us.
Matt
My reply, sent a little while later…
Dear Matt,
Thank you so much for the photo and all of the information.
I hope you approve of what I’ve done but do let me know if not as if not I can easily amend/delete & at the moment only you will see it!
If you’d like me to add your contact details so your relatives can be in touch just let me know.
With very best wishes,
Fiona
reply received by return…
Fiona,
That’s wonderful! Please feel free to post it just as it is. And you can include my e-mail address in case anyone would like to get in touch.
This has been fun! Although now I’m feeling even worse about being stuck at home. 😉
Matt
My reply sent by return…
Fabulous!
I’ll share your email address here: mrlaird@cox.net
This has indeed been good fun!
Looking forward to meeting you & your family.
With very best wishes
Fiona
Further email sent 11th June 2020
Dear Matt,
I’ve been wondering if we may be related as my great grandma was a Curphy. I now need to look further into my own family history!
I’ve had a quick look online and found this. I am just wondering if you have used this site for research My Heritage.com?
Looking forward to hearing back.
Best wishes
Fiona
Are you researching your family history?
the links below may help.