Munster Express Online

Dear Sir,

You recently ran a very interesting piece on the Pork and Bacon Industry from the 1800’s in the Waterford area. A friend sent a copy to me in Athlone. I am researching a particular family named Puzzau that had been involved as bacon curers and butchers in the Waterford area throughout the 19th century but their very interesting name is difficult to pin down.

I have exhausted research with Waterford Heritage Services but have been unable to get past a particular point in the family history. I’m trying to identify a family that had at least 3 sons; Peter born 1815, Michael born 1817 and an older un-named brother who would have been born about 1800/05. This latter son would have had a son also called Michael born 1822.

Presumably, due to severe conditions in the famine years, Michael Puzzaw, his wife Brigid White, his 3 daughters Catherine, Ann and Mary, and his nephew Michael all sailed to Bristol seeking work in the bacon industry around mid 1840s. He seems to have succeeded in getting work in the Spear Bros factory in Bristol, appearing in the English census of 1851 in St Stephen, Bristol. He does not appear in the 1861 census.

Because of this, and the fact that his daughter Mary married Thomas Costelloe in Waterford around 1865, I have presumed that they all returned to the Waterford area before 1861. During their stay in England they had 2 more children, Ellen and John born 1845 and 1853 respectively.

I have absolutely no idea where this family originated; there are no birth records for them in Waterford or South Kilkenny. While the name has a French / Spanish / Italian ring to it, I have been unable to find anyone with that surname in Europe, other than in the UK where there is a single individual. He is directly descended, as am I, but has no more info than I have. I would be very grateful for any assistance or advice from your readers.

Yours, etc

Clive Darling, 6 MillCross Road

Bealnamulla, Athlone, Co Roscommon

087 2572600