The Quinn's English Home before America -- Tuesday June 18, 2013

Today we are heading to St. Helen's, England.  I first located my Quinn ancestors in this town in 1877 after they left Ireland .  They married here in 1877 and had 4 children before emigrating to America.  I have church birth records and census records in this town so I'm pretty confident I will walk their tracks here too!

Park View Hotel & Guest House

We arrived about 2 pm and found the Park View Hotel and Guest House (nice name huh) pretty easily.  Upon going to the door, however, we realize they did not open until 5 pm (with lots of signs that basically say 'Don't even THINK about it!").  So we decide to use the GPS to find the addresses I have for my Quinn family in the late 1800's.  We drive near to the area--close by--and start walking.

We found the street.  The area--like St. Helen's--is working class and tired. Probably like what it must have been in the Quinn's time since they were immigrants.  There are no houses on Bold Street with their number on it, but these brick houses were not old enough to be there that long ago anyway. 



Running Horses Pub

Then we walked to the Town Centre to find a pub.  The Running Horses was a very modern bar/pub with lots of glass. Nice place.  And the prices were unbelievable cheap!  That gave us enough energy to walk around the Centre. 

Side Chapel

We found their church! Now named Holy Cross & St. Helen's .......Beautiful old building!  Having made the walk ourselves, we know they lived close enough to walk to their church from Bold Street.







Glassworks was a major employer in the 19th century in this area of England.  In some of the research I did on our Quinn family, his occupation is listed as "Glassworks Laborer".

I'm not sure why I found this area particularly depressing.  The area is very tired and somewhat run down.  Lots of row housing that looks like tenements.  Not really different then I expected, but not pretty non the less.