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February 2026: Early family history updated
Robert O'Neal
Robert O'Neal
The only formal reference to Robert is as the Father of James William O'Neal, on James and Anne White's wedding record. Otherwise I can find nothing that relates to him.
James William O’Neal
As with his father, the formal information about James is extremely sketchy. I had originally believed that James William O’Neal was born in England in 1825. However, I have now found a letter from my Grandfather Lionel O'Neal to his cousin's wife (Clifford Gordon O'Neal and his wife Violette).
In this letter (which is dated September 18th 1934) my Grandfather Lionel relates a family story, thus:
"...I remember a story my Father1 told me when I was a small boy about his father2 (ie James) returning home from school crying because a bigger boy had hurt him. His father3 (ie Robert) took a strap and told young James to come and point out the boy who had hurt him. When James found him, his father said 'now you go and thrash that boy, and if you don't I'll whip you with this strap! This occurred in Ireland so my Father used to say. At any rate it fully accords with the Irish temperament!..."
Also in this letter my Grandfather states that:
"...I feel quite sure our family originally hailed from Ireland, and the O’Neills, O’Neils, O’Neals (all one family) belong to County Tyrone..."
The relationships related here are a little confusing, so hopefully this clarifies:
1 - James Robert
2 - James William
3 - Robert
With this is a photograph of Lionel and Clifford's respective parents - James Robert (left) and John William O'Neal (right), - teenage brothers in this picture with their father James William. This picture was taken just a year before James William's death. It highlights to me how young the brothers were when they were orphaned.
In 1846, James William O’Neal, a resident of Bombay, marries Anne White.
James William’s profession is listed as an “Assistant Apothecary” on both his registration of marriage (below) and James Robert’s birth certificate.
James and Anne had six sons, two of whom died in infancy. Although their eldest son, John William went on to have a family (see family tree), it is their second son who moved to England, and whose family continued in England and also some of whom emigrated to the USA.
Therefore, our story starts properly with the second son of James and Anne O’Neal
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