Hi all, I have a Waltham private label dial here, and having Desmond's name on it I'm sending over to him.
Photo's speak for themselves, but the inscription is T. Lundy, San Francisco, Cal.
It came from a 15J Waltham in a Demi-Hunter case.

Can anyone add any info regarding the name on the dial for us please?

Best regards

John

Close up of the inscription.

Dial on it's way shortly Desmond, will drop you a note.

John

May as well post up the dial back too!
3x foot dial!

John

Hi John

It looks like it probably is Thomas Lundy, born about 1849 in Ireland, he is listed in the 1880 census for SF Ca. as a jeweler.

This is from the The jewelers' circular and horological review May 6, 1908

Yow Tom, that was Quick!
What a Star, Thank you!

Wonder how many of the Lundy clan emigrated to Canada from Ireland .............

Best regards

John

I found an article in the Oakland Tribune April 12, 1908 that states the following "Thomas Lundy, proprietor of the store, was prostrated for part of the day. Lundy has been in business in San Francisco since 1873. He was completely ruined at the time of the fire, but had managed to get ahead few thousand dollars. The robbery has ruined him again. He said today."

I assume the fire mentioned is the one after the great earth quake.

Apparently he had passed away by 1930, this is from the same newspaper Jan 6, 1930

Tom

Amazing Tom, just don't know how you dig up all this stuff.
Many thanks.

John

In response to John Woolsey - the largest proportion of the Lundy population in North America arrived from Ireland in two waves, the first to the southern states during the 18th century and the second to the eastern seaboard of the United States following the famine of 1840's. My father and his parents left Dublin in April 1912 and settled in Edmonton, Alberta. Three years later they moved to a 'stone farm' 30 miles south east of Edmonton. I am unable to confirm a familial connection to any Lundy living in North America. The only relatives of any name that I can identify reside in Eire, primarily in and around Dublin. Stone farm - Oxford Dictionary of the English Language - A farm of marginal agricultural value producing a fresh crop of stones every spring. A docile mare and stone boat were employed to take in the stone harvest...

There will almost certainly a familial connection somewhere, but Irish genealogy is notoriously difficult.
Can't remember if it was lack of records being kept originally, or their destruction.

I dipped my toes into those waters a while back trying to trace my paternal G.Grandmother's Irish background, and gave up.
Things may have changed a little with more records being put on-line, but without primary doccuments to confirm any data, I wouldn't rely upon any of it.

Some 'one name study' societies have gone as far as DNA databases for confirming family associations and origins, but not sure if you're that fussy about it.
You could try 'GOONS' (Guild of One Name Studies) and see what they've got recorded.

Anyway, the dial is well on its way, please let us know it got there safely.

John

I also tried to trace my wife's family, they came to NYC in the 1840's from Ireland, I have found a lot of information about them once they arrived here but nothing in Ireland that I could confirm was them so I gave up.

So nice of you to send the dial to Desmond, John!

Tom

Accounting for a great deal of the lack of genealogical records in Ireland was the antipathy between the native Irish supermajority and the governing British. Until well into the 20th century, comprehensive civil records were generally limited to matters of land ownership, taxation, and tithing to the Established (Protestant) Church. The native Irish (being overwhelmingly Catholic) were not only suppressed in the practice of their religion, but also precluded from meaningful participation in political and civil life.

Basic genealogical events (births/baptisms, marriages, deaths/burials) were closely associated with the religious domain, and thus recording these events was left to clergymen. Catholic clergy and structural organization were actively suppressed until the mid-19th century, so only a very few such basic records of the native Irish population were kept.

Finally, the Great Famine in the mid-1800s (1845-1852)resulted in Ireland losing about a million of its people to starvation and related disease, and another million were lost to emigration. Most of those who died were not recorded by name, and most of the emigrants were desperately poor and largely uneducated -- and bringing with them only the records of family and forebears that they carried in their memories.

Good Evening All - The absence of Irish vital record flows, for the most part, from the Irish Republican Army having burned vital records kept in the Customs House. This burning occurred in 1921, during Ireland's quest for independence and the Custom House was generally seen as emblematic of rule by White Hall.