Person in this family
Catherine Lavelle
This entry is about Catherine Lavelle (Dates not recorded). For other family members with the same first and family name, see Catherine Lavelle (Born about May 1894; death not recorded).
Dates not recorded
Catherine Lavelle was the wife of Thomas Brennan of Bayonne and the mother of Barbara Brennan, which makes her Andrew Leahey's 2x-great-grandmother. Two baptisms at St. Mary Star of the Sea name her outright: Barbara in June 1886 and Catherine in October 1888, both entered as the child of Thomas / Cath. Lavelle. At the second, the sponsor was Peter Lavelle — a man of her own family standing over her daughter.
Proved by a record
Catherine Lavelle was the wife of Thomas Brennan of Bayonne and the mother of Barbara Brennan, which makes her Andrew Leahey's 2x-great-grandmother. Two baptisms at St. Mary Star of the Sea name her outright: Barbara in June 1886 and Catherine in October 1888, both entered as the child of Thomas / Cath. Lavelle. At the second, the sponsor was Peter Lavelle — a man of her own family standing over her daughter.
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s great-great-grandparent
Gina D. Cacace’s spouse's great-great-grandparent (by marriage)
Abigail Ann Leahey’s great-great-great-grandparent
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s spouse's great-grandparent (by marriage)
Kevin Leahey’s great-grandparent
Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.
How this person is related to Andrew:
Catherine Lavelle is your 2× great-grandparent.
Life
A written life story has not been added for this person yet.
References for this account: [1]
Family
Spouse
Children
See this family in the family treeWhere they lived
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
- St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
The map could not load. The complete place list is above it.
The pins show approximate places. The line only joins them in time order; it does not prove the route travelled. Cemetery and burial places have red pins.
Timeline
Named as Barbara's mother at her baptism
No further detail recorded. [2]
The record itself
Tap to open a larger copySt. Mary Star of the Sea baptism register, Barbara Brennan, 1886
Proved by a record
Named as Catherine's mother at her baptism
The child was born on the 6th and baptised on the 7th — the next day, which in this register usually means a baby not expected to live. The sponsor Peter Lavelle is the only trace of Catherine's own family anywhere in this archive. [1]
The record itself
Tap to open a larger copySt. Mary Star of the Sea baptism register, Catherine Brennan, 1888
Proved by a record
Original records
2 further records are shown in the timeline, beside the event each one documents.
What the records say
1 record transcribed.
Record exhibit
St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bayonne — baptism of Catherine Brennan, 7 October 1888
This is an entry in a church book, often naming a child, parents, and godparents.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
209 | Catherine Brennan | Oct 6 - 1888 | Oct 7 - 1888 | Thomas / Cath. Lavelle | Peter Lavelle, Anna McCabe
Historical context
These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.
Bayonne and the Industrial Waterfront, 1870–1920
The Bayonne in these family records was a new city built around water, rails and heavy industry. Bayonne Township was formed only in 1861, uniting older settlements on Bergen Neck; it became a city in 1869. The…
What Sponsors and Witnesses Can Tell Us
Catholic registers often preserve the people standing just outside a family photograph. A baptism normally names the child, parents, date and sponsors or godparents; a marriage normally names the couple and wit…
What we still don't know
- [WHY THIS PAGE EXISTS SEPARATELY FROM THE OTHER CATHERINE LAVELLE] This archive already holds a Catherine Lavelle born about May 1894, from the family tree, married to Thomas Brennan. That date makes her impossible as the mother of a child born in 1886, and the archive rightly detached the maternal links rather than believe it. But the baptisms plainly name a Cath. Lavelle as the mother, so the evidence had a name and nowhere to put it. This page is where the baptismal mother goes. The two may be one woman with a wrong year on her, or a first and a second wife. Neither page has been merged into the other or overwritten, and both say so.
- [PETER LAVELLE, AND THE ONLY THREAD BACK] He stood sponsor to her daughter in October 1888 and is otherwise unknown. No person has been created for him. A brother is the obvious guess and a guess is all it is. Finding the Brennan–Lavelle marriage would name her father; it is before 1901, so the state index cannot reach it, and the parish marriage register is not published.