Research leads
A scratchpad for future lookups, archive visits, follow-up questions, and possible source checks. Leads are saved in this browser on this computer.
Research workflow
Short Answer
This page is the active queue. Use it for leads that are not yet ready to become a sourced wiki conclusion: archive call numbers, record hints, family questions, browser-only searches, and on-site lookup tasks.
Best use
Save one concrete action per lead so the queue stays searchable and each item can be marked done cleanly.
Research stance
When a lead produces evidence, move the result to the relevant page and raw source note, then mark the lead complete here.
Fowke / Ormathwaite Leads
These are source-backed leads from British Library Mss Eur D546, the Fowke/Benn/Walsh/Maskelyne correspondence. They are not proved Foulkes ancestors; they are people to track while testing whether the Fowke surname and Benn-Walsh / Ormathwaite estate network connect to Jane Foulkes or the Ballyduhig tenancy.
1 June 2026 status: the estate/place connection is real, but no direct blood or father bridge has been proved. The named Boughrood Jane Fowke is currently adverse as a person-level match because the visible lane points to Robert Roberts of Carmarthen, and now has an 1831 Carmarthen linen-draper control matching the Roberts child-household trade trail. Keep the D546 papers, NLW Green/Boughrood papers, Irish Yeomanry lists, and original wills/settlements as separate proof targets. Current goal note: raw/evidence/d546-ormathwaite-boughrood-fowkes-goal-status-2026-06-01.md.
Online-index controls: saved Virtual Treasury and IrishDeedsIndex audits do not expose a Fowke/Foulke/Foulkes-to-McKenna/Kenna/Gna bridge. The visible hits are same-name controls, broad same-volume collocations, older Youghal/Wicklow/Clare/Cork/Tallow family controls, or false positives rather than relationship records naming Jane/Mary and Thomas McKenna. Treat these as completed remote-index controls; they do not close unread manuscripts, unindexed deed recitals, wills, settlements, or correspondence. Working notes: raw/evidence/virtualtreasury-local-collocation-audit-2026-06-01.md and raw/evidence/irishdeedsindex-local-bridge-audit-2026-06-01.md.
Kerry local-surname controls: saved IrishGenealogy and National Archives of Ireland records prove a real Kerry Fookes/Foukes/Fulkes/Folue/Foulue cluster, especially around Tralee with later Castleisland and Ballybunion controls. They do not name Jane/Mary as Thomas McKenna's wife, a Thomas Fowke/Foulkes father, D546, Boughrood, or Ormathwaite. Treat these as a local surname-control bucket, not as a solved origin. Status note: raw/evidence/kerry-fookes-foukes-folue-local-control-status-2026-06-01.md.
Older Brewood/Munster network: saved evidence now makes the south-Tipperary / Clonmel / Youghal Foulke-Fowke lane a plausible older-family network bridge to the Brewood/Gouston/Gunston Fowke world, not just a loose surname echo. The 1898 Notes and Queries Digby Foulke item, NLI GO MS 45 access route, Fisher will-note routes, and south-Tipperary controls still do not name Jane/Mary Foulkes McKenna or her father. Treat this as source-route context, not as parentage. Status note: raw/evidence/brewood-munster-fowke-foulkes-network-status-2026-06-01.md.
Request packet: a consolidated 1 June 2026 archive request queue now groups the Listowel/Feale yeomanry account books, the 1797 district-corps officer index, Fisher GO MS 143 / GO MS 144, and the GO MS 45 Brewood/Fowke certificate into one item-level ask and variant list. Use it for archive enquiries; it is a route map, not relationship proof. Request note: raw/evidence/archive-request-queue-nli-armagh-yeomanry-fisher-fowke-2026-06-01.md.
Green/Boughrood request target: NLW GB 0210 EIHAGREEN/1, VTLS 003844092, is the specific file to request for the Eileen and Harry Green research papers behind The Fowkes of Boughrood Castle. The catalogue layer says the file includes photographs, transcripts, original correspondence, documents dated 1831-1918, and mostly 1830s Fowke family letters. Coflein / RCAHMW separately identifies archive record 6069737 for the 1973 Green booklet. These are source-route records only: they make the next archive request concrete, but do not prove Jane/Mary Fowke/Foulkes McKenna.
Carmarthen register request target: the Robert Roberts / Jane Foulkes marriage at St Peter, Carmarthen, on 21 January 1826 now has a specific original-entry route. Findmypast covers Carmarthen, St Peter marriages and banns from 1672 to 1916; FamilySearch collection 1403176 is a Findmypast-sourced Carmarthenshire parish-register database/image route; and Carmarthenshire Archives is the local parish-register route. No original image has been viewed yet. Request witnesses, abode, status, banns/licence wording, signatures/marks, and any Fowke/Boughrood/D546 link before using the compiled Robert Roberts lane as primary parentage proof.
Settlement / omission test: the will-cut-out hypothesis now has three concrete source routes. Powys B/D/JPO/21/3 is an Eliza Fowke marriage-settlement route that recites entitlement under the wills of Francis Fowke senior and junior. TNA C 13/980/34, Bell v Walsh, is the 1832 Boughrood/Walsh Chancery bill-and-answer route. Herefordshire/TNA A95/ET/146 is a release-and-indemnity route under Francis Fowke will trusts involving Rev. D. Williams and Mary his wife. The catalogue layers do not name Jane/Mary McKenna, but they are the right record class for testing omission, prior provision, or exclusion.
| Lead | Short description | Titles / style | Military? | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Fowke (1716-1800) | East India Company servant at Madras, later free diamond merchant, then senior Company merchant; father of Francis and Margaret Fowke. | Mr Joseph Fowke; East India Company servant / senior merchant; diamond merchant. | No military rank found. | Check D546 parts with Joseph's family and Company correspondence for Foulkes/Foulke/Fooks variants or estate-placement clues. |
| Francis Fowke (1754-1820) | Joseph's son; Resident at Benares in 1775-1776, 1780-1781, and 1783-1786; later associated with Boughrood, Radnorshire. A secondary Boughrood account names an unidentified daughter Jane Fowke, but she is a negative person-level match for Jane Foulkes McKenna on present evidence. | Resident at Benares; Francis Fowke Esq. of Boughrood Castle; High Sheriff of Radnorshire lead; 1799 Wimbledon Volunteer Cavalry captain line. | Yes as a volunteer-cavalry control: Royal Collection RCIN 735077.b reads WIMBLEDON ... Capt Fra.s Fowke. This is not a regular-army rank and not a Jane/McKenna bridge. |
Prioritize original will/codicil, Green/Boughrood papers, and any association records only to test the wider Fowke network; do not merge Jane Fowke with Jane Foulkes without a primary Thomas McKenna bridge. |
| Margaret Fowke / Benn / Walsh (1758-1836) | Joseph's daughter; married John Benn in 1787; later Margaret Walsh after the Walsh inheritance/name adoption. | Miss Margaret Fowke; Mrs Margaret Benn; later Margaret Walsh / Lady Walsh. | No military connection found. | Track her as the key bridge between the Fowke family and Benn-Walsh / Ormathwaite estate records. |
| Elizabeth Fowke nee Walsh | Wife of Joseph Fowke; sister of John Walsh; mother of the Fowke children tied into the Benn-Walsh inheritance network. | Mrs Elizabeth Fowke. | No military connection found. | Use as the earlier Walsh-to-Fowke family connection; check D546/2 if working backward through the family network. |
| Edward Fowke | Likely Joseph's brother Edward Fowke, one of the East India Company Fowke siblings; the BL handlist names Edward but does not identify him fully. | Probably Mr Edward Fowke; East India Company servant / private-trade lead. | No military rank found. | Keep low-confidence until a D546 letter, family pedigree, or Company record identifies which Edward this is. |
Working notes: raw/bl-mss-eur-d546-handlist-crawl-2026-05-28.md, raw/bl-mss-eur-d546-foulkes-variant-search-2026-05-27.md, raw/fowke-foulkes-ormathwaite-connection-hypothesis-2026-05-27.md, raw/boughrood-jane-fowke-test-2026-05-28.md, raw/evidence/carmarthen-robert-roberts-jane-mary-roberts-conflict-2026-06-01.md, raw/evidence/carmarthen-robert-roberts-linen-draper-1831-control-2026-06-01.md, raw/evidence/carmarthen-st-peter-1826-marriage-original-register-access-route-2026-06-01.md, raw/evidence/d546-green-officer-list-route-recheck-2026-05-31.md, raw/evidence/nlw-eihagreen-file1-fowkes-boughrood-web-open-2026-05-31.md, raw/evidence/coflein-green-fowkes-boughrood-booklet-6069737.html, raw/evidence/francis-fowke-settlement-release-route-status-2026-06-01.md, and raw/evidence/royalcollection-rcin-735077b-wimbledon-captain-fowke-iiif-proof-2026-06-01.md. Do not confuse the Benares Resident Francis Fowke with the later Captain Francis Fowke, Royal Engineers (1823-1865).
Captain / Yeomanry Leads
These are the current source routes for testing whether Jane/Jennie/Joanna Foulkes McKenna's father was literally a captain in an Irish yeomanry or district corps. None has yet produced a father bridge.
- First priority: inspect or request the Listowel Yeomanry Corps account book, NLI
N.6491/ microfilmPOS 8125, 1794-1804; original reported with Commdt. Peter Young at Army Archives, Department of Defence, Dublin. - Second priority: inspect or request the full 1797 Dublin Castle district-corps alphabetical officer list. NLI now has direct request routes
J.355942.ARM/1787,LO 14596,LO 1586, andP 91; the backup route is the FamilySearch/Armagh microfilm of Yeomanry, 1797-1825, DGS7242463, Film1279329 Item 25. Focus first on Fowke/Foulke/Foulkes/Foulks/Ffoulkes and McKenna/Kenna variants. - Third priority: inspect Feale Cavalry account book, NLI
N.6205, P.6942, 1797-1804, then the Folger/Gale institutional route for the 1797 list, ESTCT184875/ GaleCB0126127116. - Access clue to verify: a 1 June web recheck sharpened the British Library service-list clue for the 1797 district-corps list under probable shelfmark
BS.45/147. A saved public-library page links to the old BL service-list PDF URL, but direct BL PDF download still returns HTTP 403 here and current BL catalogue searches did not expose the record. Verify the shelfmark with BL staff or an official BL catalogue result before using it as a formal citation. - Use carefully: the related 1798 Dublin Castle list of counties and yeomanry corps by precedence, ESTC
N33742/ GaleCB0126530225, appears to be a corps-landscape source rather than an officer-name source.
Working notes: raw/evidence/archive-request-queue-nli-armagh-yeomanry-fisher-fowke-2026-06-01.md, raw/evidence/nli-1797-district-corps-call-number-refresh-2026-06-01.md, raw/evidence/familysearch-armagh-yeomanry-1797-1825-access-route-2026-06-01.md, raw/evidence/listowel-feale-yeomanry-route-2026-05-31.md, raw/evidence/current-web-1797-district-corps-access-recheck-2026-06-01.md, and raw/evidence/current-web-mary-jane-father-recheck-2026-06-01.md.
Saved leads
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