#14632, Brita GALLAGHER

Brita was raised by Caroline Watson of New York.  The names of Brita's parents are unknown; they died in Ireland as a result of the great Potato Famine which caused starvation on an appaling scale in the 1840s.  Brita, a seven-year-old orphan was put on one of the terrible 'coffin ships' bound for America.  The ships were overcrowded and insanitary but her strong constitution saw her through.  She was adopted by Caroline , herself of Irish ancestry, who saw to it that Brita received the best education possible.  When Brita turned seventeen, Caroline decided to cap it off with a Grand Tour of Europe, and this is how Miss Watson and her adopted daughter found themselves in a hotel in a small Swiss village and the objects of a polite and well-read Englishman's attention.

In addition to the 4 children shown below Brita and Edward had another 3 daughters: Mary Jane (1873-1951); Edith (Edie) (1875-1945) who married Geoffrey Ashmore and Eleanor (Nellie)(1878-1932) who married Paul Kirkby.  Edith and Geoffrey had a daughter Joyce and Nellie and Paul had children Pauline, Sylvia, Paul and Geoffrey