When you try to decipher the will of John Gelling 1854 that Jean mentions, it may help to know a bit of history first.

There had been a John Gelling at Ballamillaghyn for generations. They always named their first son John and in at least one early generation had another John just to be sure. The JG who died 1854 was the 4th generation that we know of, and I suspect there are several more further back.

So lets turn the clock to, say, 1818. John & Elizabeth are 54 and 51, and their 10 children are all alive: John 31, Edward 28, Richard 26, William 23, Thomas 21, Elizabeth 19, Margaret 14, James 12, Robert 11 and Philip 8. The 31-yo John is married to Mary Ann Costain and after 3 girls who died, they had their John born that year. Grandson Edward is about 2 (perhaps son of Edward but not sure). All is well in Ballamillaghyn and they probably enjoyed a happy and noisy Christmas.

Then the children started to drop off. Richard 1819, William 1820, Thomas 1823, John 1825, Edward 1827, Robert 1828, James 1831 and Elizabeth (md Thomas Craine 1826, son Thomas born 1830) died 1832, and daughter in law Mary Ann (widow of John) 1832.

So in 1833 they are down to 2 children. John Sr has recently inherited Ballamillaghyn from his father, who died 1829. Daughter Margaret married John Faragher in 1824 and they have a growing family. Philip will marry in 3 years and start his family. Young grandson John Gelling is 15 and orphaned. Young grandson Thomas Craine is just 3 and will soon be orphaned as well.

Fast forward to 1854 and the year that old John died. The elderly couple have been living with the Faraghers at Rhenny in German. Grandson Edward is there too. Grandson John has married (to Margaret Jane Cottier 1841) and is farming at nearby Virginia Farm with a family that starts with (of course!) a 9 year old John.

However, the succession of Johns at Ballamillaghyn must have come to an end with the 1825 death of eldest son John, because youngest son Philip and family are there in 1841 and for at least 4 more decades.

So why did they leave orphan grandsons John Gelling and Thomas Craine (who is living with them in 1841 as a 10 yo) out of their will? That's a mystery. They contested it and lost. I imagine there was a major schism in that family from then on, if it wasn't already there.

Somebody could write a good book on this family. Wait till you try to decipher John's grandfather John Gelling's 1812 will, which spreads over 2 decades and must list at least 20 names of related people, without telling us who is who. That's another chapter.

Enjoy!