The Quilietti Family

The story of a Scots Italian family

BRADY connections

MARGARET BRADY and ANGUS MORRISON

THE ORIGINS OF THE BRADY SURNAME

The surname derives from the Irish Mac Bradaigh, coming, possibly, from bradach, meaning “thieving” or “dishonest”. The name is among the sixty most frequently found in Ireland, and remains very numerous in Co. Cavan, their original homeland, with large numbers also to be found in the adjoining county of Monaghan. Their power was centred on an area a few miles east of Cavan town, from where they held jurisdiction over a large territory within the old Gaelic kingdom of Breifne. .

A separate family, the O Gradaigh, of east Clare have also anglicised their name as Brady.

In 1890 there were 261 births recording the surname Brady, of which the vast majority were in Cavan and the adjoining counties of Longford and Meath, ranking the surname as the 54th most common in Ireland. In 1996 it was ranked 51st.

Both sides of the Brady family are related through Helen’s [author] Maternal side. The first line is through Margaret Brady and Angus Morrison. Her family came from Ireland to Edinburgh through Newcastle. They settled in the Cowgate and worked in the Rag Trade there where they barely made a living.


JAMES BRADY 1830-?NANCY or ANNIE MURRAY 1839-1891

Been searching aimlessly for this branch of the IRISH Family for many years. So many documents with inaccurate information certainly has not helped. James Brady has been given a few occupations, Railway Labourer and Merchant Seaman being one. Which might contribute to his absence in death records in Scotland. His wife Nancy or Ann Brady has also been a fair problem. Described as Brady maiden surname, Murray maiden surname and also Meechan thrown in just for fun. What is for sure is that they moved from Ireland through Newcastle where they had two daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Their other children were born in Edinburgh but their births have evaded myself up to now with information to hand. The family embraced the rag trade which was situated in the Cowgate in Edinburgh and the Grassmarket, which recycled old clothes.

This 1881 Scottish census shows Ann Brady with her family May, Elizabeth, John, Matilda and Margaret. Margaret age 4 already working as a Brewery Cellerman!!
So Margaret Brady’s parents here James Brady, Railway Labourer, and Ann Brady, ms Murray, which puts a whole new prospective into this search. I have tried to find the birth of Margaret Brady who was supposedly born in Edinburgh but to date to no avail.
This is Helen Denholm Crawford [Morrison] taken c 1915. She Married Alexander Morrison. It was Alex’s mum who was Margaret Brady
Alex Morrison as a young man in the Army. His mother was Margaret Brady and his dad Angus Morrison. His dad Angus had three spells in the Army, the Gordon Highlanders was first, then as a Private in the Labour Corps Territorial Army Royal Scots during WW1. He was discharged in 1919 due to his defective eyesight and was nearly blind in one eye
This is the death of my great grandmother Margaret Morrison in 1927. Clearly here we see her father as John Brady, Seaman in the Merchant Service, deceased and Annie Brady, ms Brady. This document was completed by her husband Angus Morrison and see how it differs from their marriage in 1893

MATILDA BRADY – my great aunt

Now the year 1888 we find Matilda Brady, sister of our Margaret.
Parents James Brady, Mason’s labourer and Nancy Brady ms Murray.
In Edinburgh in 1888 she married William Clark who was described as a light porter whose family also lived in the Cowgate. Still to research if they had any children

This will certainly put us on the right track. Having searched unsuccessfully in Scotland for the marriage of James Brady and Nancy Murray and realising that the family moved up to Scotland through Newcastle where daughters Elizabeth and May were born, that it might have been an Irish or English wedding.

MAY or MARY BRADY 1864-1918

This is Mary Brady, sister of our Margaret Brady, photograph taken in Edinburgh at the time of her marriage to John Smith. They married in 1890 at the Church of the SACRED Heart in Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, just up off the West Port. John’s family were from Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Mary and John had a large family and they lived in the West of Edinburgh in the Gorgie area. John was a blacksmith by trade.

One of their Daughters, Mary Elizabeth Smith. married James Vincent Halton and they made their lives in Niagara in Ontario in Canada
[Helen has a DNA hit with one of her descendants]
  • Mary Elizabeth Smith 1899-1998 was the daughter of MARY BRADY and JOHN SMITH .
    She was my first cousin x twice removed. She married James Vincent Halton whose family were from Cavan in Ireland. They raised a family of 4 in Canada, one who died in infancy. Mary died age 99
Now this is a snapshot of Dawn Connelly’s tree who also has DNA Connections with Helen Author. We have the same James Brady, Ann or Nancy Murray and heading down her line. Also Connelly connections top row.
The above connected line is through the Hugh Murphy and Annie McGee line. Their grandson Daniel married Elizabeth Brady [Fielding] Her mother Sarah had Elizabeth before she married Elizabeth. But there is a DNA hit with Helen 4th cousin to a descendant of this line.

So we have then to ascertain if John Brady who married Elizabeth Nixon is related to our James Brady who married Nancy or Ann Murray. [above.]. They may be brothers

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