Anne Elizabeth Cummins
Anne was the daughter of James Cummins and his wife Mary, whose family name prior to marriage is unknown. Although the location of her birth is unknown, it is thought Anne Elizabeth Cummins was from London where her father worked for the East India Company. The age at death as shown on her death record suggests she was born in approximately 1819. However a letter written by her just prior to her death suggests she was born in approximately 1813. Her own account is preferred as more likely to be accurate. The location of her birth is unknown.
A book in possession of the family of her youngest son, John Bergin, in Ireland included the entry :
Miss Cummins
Given to her by
her sincere friend
the Author
J. H. Keane
London 1836
This book was The Ladye Alice with Metrical Legends Chronicles Translations & miscellaneous poems by John Henry Keane, published by William Pickering, London in 1836.
Anne Cummins
photograph provided by Brian Mullaney
of Co. Kildare, Ireland, Anne's great great grandson
Another book, also in the possession of the family includes the entry :
Miss A. E. Cummins
June 1841
E. I. House
Leadenhall St
London
And then underneath is written:
Miss Anne Elizabeth Cummins
Cadamstown
Thus it appears she resided in London at least until 1841. "E. I. House" almost certainly refers to "East India House" a major landmark in this trading district of Victorian London. Anne's father was employed by the East India Company, in a senior position. There were some residential apartments in the building at this time, but it is not known if the Cummins family resided there. The East India Company, although once the largest company in the world, had ceased to trade since 1834 and continued to administer the government of India as a managing agency for the British Government until 1854. (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/LONeast.htm & http://www.victorianlondon.org/entertainment/eastindiahouse.htm).
Cadamstown is a village in County Offaly (formerly Kings County) in Ireland, at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. It is thought she may have had relatives in this area. It had been thought she was visiting relatives in the Cadamstown area but the book entry suggests she may have been residing there.
The Life of an Offaly Landowner in 1868 : Maxwell Fox of Annaghmore records Captain Maxwell Fox as having "visited Cummins" among other things on Saturday 19 September 1868. Then on Monday 21 September 1868 it records "Old Cummins died at 3 in the morning". For Wednesday 23rd the diary records "Waller went to Cummins to attend funeral on horseback and returned before it started." Elsewhere the diary refers to a "Joe Cummins". Annaghmore was a small estate in Co. Offaly not far from border with Co. Laois; in modern times, it is off the R421 about 7 km before its junction with the R422. The diary may well refer to the family of Anne Cummins and it is hoped to pursue this possible link.
However she came to be in this part of Ireland, it is known that Anne Cummins met Denis Bergin, whom she married in the Parish of Birr on 21 April 1844. The Roman Catholic church record spells the groom's name as "Bergan" and the witnesses were "John Bergan" and "Catherine Bergan". Dennis Bergin's police service record shows the date of his marriage as February 1844 but the official church record is preferred. The record shows that both parties were Roman Catholic although there is reference at the time of her children's baptisms, that Anne was Protestant.
It is interesting that, even in the early twenty first century there are a number of people named Bergin living in the Slieve Bloom mountains area of counties Offaly and Laois. Interestingly, many of them were and are still members of the constabulary.
Denis and Anne were the parents of Michael Bergin and John Bergin. Although it is reported that Anne was a Protestant, both children were baptised in the Catholic Church in the parish of Clonaslee, in Queens County (now known as County Laois).
Anne probably stayed living in the area for the remainder of her life, although they moved within the area. They were living in the Ballykenneen townland at the time of the baptisms of both sons but was living in Ballynahimmy townland at the time of her husband's death. These townlands are very close together and, while located in County Laois, are very close to the border with County Offaly and the village of Cadamstown.
Anne Elizabeth Bergin (nee Cummins) wrote one of her last letters, dated 15 January 1882, from Clonaslee, County Laois, to her son John who was a police constable stationed about 180 miles away in Belmullet, Co. Mayo. She thanked John for his letter and mentioned her 68 years age . She mentioned her other son Michael Bergin (also a policeman) and James Bergin (thought to be her son or stepson). Her husband Denis had died six and a half years earlier; she was apparently living alone and mentioned being very lonesome. She says "I never see any paper but I hear James is a Land Leaguer. I did not hear from Mick since. They don't seem to be giving him promotion. Have you (John Bergin) any chance?" A note in John's writing said she died a week later.
The following newspaper article appeared in The King's County Chronicle,
Thursday February 2 1882, page 3.
BAD OCCURRENCE AT CLONASLEEOn Wednesday last Mrs Fawcett, of Clonaslee, observed that a house opposite hers, occupied by a widow, a Mrs Bergan (sic), was on fire. Mrs Fawcett gave the alarm, but it was found that the front and rere (sic) doors were fastened on the inside. They were immediately broken in, but the persons who thought to enter had to retire from the dense smoke. A second attempt was more successful, and after the application of some buckets of water a sad sight was revealed, the corpse of Mrs Bergan, fearfully burned, lying on the floor a short distance from the fireplace. Mr Wm Clarke held an inquest, but no one could through (sic) any light on how the affair originated. It is the general belief that the poor woman took weak, or perhaps dropped dead near the fire and that some of her clothing caught the flames. No person lived with her, and it is thought the fire was going on for a couple of hours before noticed. |
According to the official death record, Anne Bergin, age 62, "widow of policeman" died in Clonaslee on 24th January 1882 having been accidentally burned, and William Clarke, the Coroner for Queen's County, held an inquest two days later.
