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JAMES GUNNING - A DALKEY MAN
IN HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL NAVY
Caroline McCall, MGSI
e-mail: caroline@irish-ancestries.com
This article was first printed in the Journal of the Genealogical Society of Ireland in 2004, Volume 5 No. 1.
Page 1 - Page 2
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James Gunning married his seventeen-year-old sweetheart, Ellen Redmond, in St. Michael's church, Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) in February 1865. He was thirty-one years of age. His marriage certificate gave his residence as HMS Nightingale, a 60-hp gunboat attached to HMS Ajax, the Coastguard Flagship at Kingstown Harbour. His Naval service record revealed that he had joined the Royal Navy in February 1854 at the age of 20. He was described as five foot seven inches in height with sallow skin, dark hair and blue eyes. His new bride Ellen was the daughter of a local shopkeeper, Thomas Redmond.
Since joining the Navy, James had travelled to all corners of the world, from the Baltic Sea to the Cape of Good Hope and from the Mediterranean to the West Indies and North America. He had fought in the Crimean War and had secured several promotions along the way. His first ship was HMS Saturn, which took him to the Royal Naval Training Barracks at Chatham, Kent which was named HMS Pembroke. From there he was posted onto the HMS Nile. The HMS Nile was quite an old ship at that time. Built about 1804, during the transition from wooden ships to Ironclads, she was a Trafalgar Class Battleship. The Nile was part of a combined British and French force under the command of Vice Admiral Sir Charles Napier, which was involved in the capture of Bomarsumd in the Crimean War. Captained by George Mundy, the Nile was also involved in actions against the Russians leading up to the Treaty of Paris in 1856. The ship played a part in the boarding and burning of some vessels in Hammeliski on the 18th of September 1855. Following the Crimean War, the Nile sailed to North America and the West Indies. As an able seaman 2nd class, James Gunning earned £18 5s per year.
In 1857 he was aboard the HMS Boscawen, the Flagship stationed at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. North America and the West Indies were his next destinations with HMS Aboukir where he was promoted to Coxswain of the Cutter. After this it was back to the Mediterranean and HMS Meanee. In 1863 he returned to Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) and the HMS Ajax, a Coastguard Service ship under the command of Captain Michael de Courcy.
The parish records of St. Michael's Church in Kingstown indicate that James Gunning was born in Dalkey on the 17th of June 1834, the third child of Daniel and Elizabeth Gunning. His parents had been married in the same church in February 1827. According to James’ marriage certificate, his father Daniel was a labourer, possibly in the local quarry or on one of the grand estates in the area. James had three sisters, Bridget (born December 1827), Mary (born November 1836) and Catherine (born March 1839). There had been another son, also called James, born in April 1830. Most likely he died at an early age. The 2nd Report of the Commissioners for Public Instruction in Ireland, published in 1835, indicates that attendance in the boy’s school had diminished due to an outbreak of whooping cough in the area. This may well have been the cause of death of the first infant James. The Report also gives an indication of the type of education in the area in the 1830s. Those families that could afford education paid 1d per week. The boys were taught reading, writing and arithmetic. The girl’s school had the same curriculum but in addition they learned needlework. While James could read and write, it is doubtful that he attended school past the age of ten. His application to join the Navy was supported by the fact that he had spent the previous ten years working on local fishing vessels.
The Gunning family lived in a small cottage at the end of Miskin Terrace, Dalkey. They sublet the adjacent cottage to the local schoolteacher. The ruins of the cottage still stand on what is now known as Grosvenor Terrace. Daniel Gunning was one of only two Gunning families listed in Griffith valuation for 1848 for the area. His name appears in the cancelled valuation books until the mid 1860's. According to Thom's directory, the only other bearer of the surname was the Widow Gunning, residing in the newly fashionable Carysfort Avenue in the adjacent parish of Monkstown from 1838 to until about 1859. The Griffith Valuation House Books indicate that she had a grander existence than that of Daniel. While the small cottage in Dalkey measured 14ft x 15ft and had a rateable valuation of 7 shillings, her substantial property had a valuation of £8 10s and 11d.
Only one Gunning family was listed in the Tithe Applotment books for the area. James Gunning in the town land of Bullock, Dalkey in the Parish of Monkstown rented 3 acres 1 rood and 23 perches from the Earl of Carysfort. As Daniel and Elizabeth Gunning had given this name to both of their sons, it seems probable that this James Gunning was related to the family. The deaths of Daniel Gunning and his wife Elizabeth were not registered. However, the naval service records of James Gunning indicate that had taken a leave of absence and returned to service in early February 1864. In addition, there is no record in the cancelled valuation books of anyone with that surname residing in the cottage after the mid 1860's.
The surname does not appear among the lists of fields and tenants of Thomas Reading's Survey of Dalkey in September 1765. This may suggest that they were one of the many families of labourers who moved into the area in the early 19th Century. In 1815 plans were made to provide a safe harbour in Kingstown, following a tragedy in which 309 lives were lost within sight of land. By 1830 it was clear that Kingstown was rapidly expanding and it was decided to construct Ireland's first railway line between Kingstown and the capital. Dalkey too had its own building boom in the 1840's with the Church of the Assumption, the Loreto Convent and St. Patrick's Church being built.