This photo is believed to be John Menary

b. 1832-1840. John/Downey Branch

John Menary married Mary Kennedy, and later, Margaret Gray.  He lived at the Letmacollum farm in Lisnadill, County Armagh, outside of Markethill in Northern Ireland.  John and his descendants are known to have attended the Red Rock and Cladymore Presbyterian Churches in Co. Armagh.

Today most all of his and Mary [Kennedy] Menary descendants are in AUS and Tasmania. Many of  John's descendants with Margaret [Gray] Menary still live within miles of the original family farm but some have gone to British Columbia, Canada and California, United States. While most of the family has maintained the Menary spelling, some documents have used other various spellings. An interesting note: The California Menarys pronounce their name "MEN-AIR-EE" while their Irish cousins say "MON-RR-EE"

The DNA sample that represents this branch is from a male Menary/Gray descendant who still lives in the same area as his forefathers.

Mary Grace [Menary] Wann Millon

"William Manary, 22, Presbyterian, native of Market Hill Armagh, Farm laborer. Parent: John, an immigrant aboard same ship. Mother deceased.

Mary Grace Manary, 19, house servant, Presbyterian, native of Market Hill Armagh. Parent: John, an immigrant aboard same ship."

The four oldest children are enumerated and the rest would appear to have joined the others at a later date. John Menary is buried at the Symonds Street Cemetery, Auckland, New Zealand. While this family proved very prolific in the South Seas, the  only two male offspring were William and Benjamin. William would have only one child, and luckily, it was a son who produced male Menary descendants. Otherwise, we would have had no DNA samples from this Menary branch for this project.

John Mann

b. 1868 John is the son of Anne [Menary] Mann and Jacob Mann

There are two schools of thought on whether Anne Menary who married Jacob Mann was a daughter of John and Sarah Mary Martin or a daughter of John and Miss Downey, sister of John Menary (Kennedy, Gray).

For arguments sake, she is included with the John/Downey and the John/Martin branch.

 Andrew Minary

Andrew's father, Joseph Menary, was born in 1821 in Northern Ireland. He is thought to have immigrated to Canada about 1850. He is said to have been a salesman of some kind but rented farm land in the Mono Township of Ontario in 1852. It was here that he married Ellen Coleman in 1854, and they later purchased a different farm close by in 1858. Joseph and Ellen raised seven children in the Mono Township, with some staying in Ontario, mostly in the Shallow Lake area, and some migrating west to Manitoba.

While living on their second farm, a David Manarie and Jane [Lively] Manarie lived next door to them. This is a recent discovery. Also, Joseph had a sister, Mary [Manary] Allingham, who also lived close by. There is a fair amount of evidence these three were siblings. It is thought they are a separate, although related, group from other Menarys and Manarys living at Orangeville and in Lanark County Ontario at that same time.

In the early 1870s, Joseph and Ellen parted and their young family was taken in by relations and neighbors. Joseph disappeared about this time and very little was heard from him after that. Joseph's place of birth, the name of his parents, the date of his death and his burial place are still not positively identified at this time.

James Manary, 1793

David Manary  

Alexander Manary

Isabella Manary Small

William Henry Meneray

James/Verner MENARY Branch

These two branches (James/Verner and John/Kilpatrick) were recently merged together based on the findings of an obituary that links them together and outlines the connections. James Menary (b. about 1790) is believed to be from County Armagh. He married a Miss Verner of County Tyrone. The Verner Clan established the Blackwater bridge over the river of the same name. Blackwater River is the dividing line between Counties Armagh and Tyrone. According to Amy Menary, the John/Kilpatrick family immigrated to the US circa 1852 from County Armagh, and lived in St. Lawrence County, New York for about 10 years. Their sons, David, William and Robert, immigrated from New York State to Orangeville, Ontario, Canada circa 1863. One of their descendants is represented by the DNA sample.

William Wallace/McMillan MENERAY Branch

William Wallace Meneray was in the Battle of Waterloo, 1815 in Belgium, where Napoleon was finally defeated. He probably owed his life to the fact that he was a Mason and carried his certificate in the breast pocket of his uniform. In the centre of the parchment are two black marks, which, it has been ascertained, were caused by a bullet passing through the tin box and certificate. The box checked the speed of the missile so effectively that he was only slightly wounded.

William/Charters MINNERY Branch

The spelling of the names in this branch go back and forth from Minnery to Minery on the various certificates. Sometimes they also spelled their name Menery. It was changed to Minnery sometime before 1850 in England or Scotland. It has also been found as Minerie. For our records, all spellings in this example have been changed to Minnery to show the common link.

It was thought that William was from Northern Ireland, although both he and his offspring were found in England and Scotland. William's death certificate indicates he was a tailor. He was married and his children were born in Cumberland, England, although Ann and the children (other than son William) moved to Scotland. The younger William went to Liverpool, where he was a boot and shoe maker. Researchers have commented that the birth certificate of Thomas, born in 1846, did not show a father. This is possibly because William Menery died before his birth. Also, William is not on the 1841 census with Ann, and children William, Robert and Mary. These children were all born before the census, of course. Ann remarried and was living with William Lawford in the 1881 census in Durham, England.