COLE Name Study

COLE (Irish Palatine) Name Study 

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WHO?  This is the home page of an unofficial one-name study of the family name COLE. This name study is particularly focused on the anglicization of the German form of the name borne by members of the Irish Palatine ethnic group whose ancestors emigrated from the Palatinate region of Germany in 1709. 

WHERE?  The members of the ethnic group bearing the COLE name came from the Lower Palatinate region of Germany. After the diaspora (they sailed down the Rhine River to Rotterdam, Netherlands where they embarked on several ships to make the crossing to London, England), about 3,000 of this group travelled north by wagon to Chester, where they crossed to Dublin, Ireland. Many families then made their way to a Palatine parent colony located at the Southwell estate in Co. Limerick, Ireland and settled there by about 1720. A subset of families from this Co. Limerick colony -- including my COLE ancestors -- later formed a child colony at the Barker estate in Co. Tipperary, Ireland about 1770.

WHY?  This study is a natural extension of work currently underway by me on a genealogical record (i.e., a family history or pedigree) of the descendants of Irish-Palatine Ontario pioneer Henry COLE and his English-Irish spouse Elizabeth CHURCHILL. They immigrated to Upper Canada with Henry's brother Peter COLE and Peter's spouse Margaret STEEP(E) about 1825.

Flag Bearing the Irish Harp

WHEN?  The starting reference point is the lifetime of Henry COLE (my 4th great-grandfather). He was born about 1790 in Bawnlea Townland, Kilcooly parish, Tipperary, Ireland. His first mention in Upper Canada (Ontario) that I have found to date is a 7 Dec 1825 Land Petition for 200 acres in what is now within the municipality of Mississauga, Peel County, Ontario, Canada. 

Although Henry's brother Peter COLE also petitioned for land at the same time in the same region, Peter and his family put down roots west of this area, in Goderich Township, Huron County, Ontario, Canada.

WHAT?  I will list here links to sources, and references to information that I have collected or prepared on the Irish Palatine COLE family. The goal is, through collaboration, to pool ideas and information to attempt to compensate for a scarcity of available records due to the early time period (e.g., before regular civil censuses) and "black swan" events such as conflict (e.g., the destruction in 1922 of the records office during the Irish civil war). 

It is my hope that visitors to this page will leave comments about their own findings or potential sources.

COLE Name Variants: Kohl, Kolb, Koll, Kölle

The name COLE in the Irish Palatine context is an anglicization of the German name Kohl, Kolb, Koll, or Kölle. There may be other variants, but those currently listed are ones that I have encountered in my research so far.

Frequency of the COLE surname in Europe among diaspora individuals during migration (Emigration/Arrival Lists) (See Note 1)

Total occurrences of the COLE surname and variants in the initial Palatine migration from Germany to England and other destinations, ca. 1709: 14, consisting of 8 KOLB, 5 KOLL, 1 KÖLLE.

  • 0 x COLE.

  • 5 x KOLB - in the 6 May 1709 list of arrivals in London, England consisting of: 
    • KOLB, Arnold.
    • KOLB, Henry (widowed) travelling with 3 daughters.

  • 5 x KOLL - on the 5 Jun to 10 Jun 1709 Rotterdam, Netherlands embarkation (i.e., departure) list consisting of:
    • KOLL, Frans travelling with his spouse and 3 children.

  • 4 x KOLB / KÖLLE - on the 27 Jul 1709 (sailed 28 Jul 1709) Rotterdam, Netherlands embarkation list consisting of:
    • 3 x KOLB, Jacob travelling with 2 children.
    • 1 x KÖLLE, Hans Jacob. (See Note 2)
Note 1: Emigration/arrival list information is from Knittle, Walter Allen (1937). Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration. Appendices: Pages 234-303. The main migration occurred during multiple sailings in the summer of 1709. I reviewed all of the lists in his Appendices for all sailings to all destinations and the only occurrence of COLE or its variants are listed above. The link to a free online copy of the book is located below under the heading Related Books, Journals, Articles.

Note 2: For unknown reasons, this individual was favoured in inherited family research as the progenitor of my Irish Palatine Cole family. The name Cole survived and two male family members bearing the Cole name eventually immigrated to Canada about 1825. However, the assumption about Hans Jacob Kölle is still to be verified.

Frequency of the COLE surname in Ireland (1766 Religious Census)

Records from the other parishes within Limerick either did not survive, or do not contain the surname COLE.
  • 0 in Tipperary: The census return index for Tipperary (location of an Irish Palatine child colony) does not contain the COLE surname, nor any other Irish Palatine surnames.
It appears that the Irish Palatines in general and COLEs in particular had not yet arrived in Tipperary in 1766.

Frequency of the COLE surname in Ireland (1847-64 Griffith's Valuation)

According to John Grenham's website Irish Ancestors, citing data from Griffith's Valuation census substitute, search results for COLE show that the name occurs in 180 distinct households throughout Ireland. However, not all of these incidences would be the Irish Palatine variant of the name. 

If we focus only on the counties where the Palatine ethnic group were known to have either settled or passed through on their way to a settlement, the incidence of the name COLE is reduced to a subset of 28 households - roughly 15% of the original count. (See Note 1) 

If we then cross-reference the associated name of CHURCHILL (the family name of Elizabeth CHURCHILL, spouse of Irish Palatine immigrant to Canada, Henry COLE), the name COLE is reduced to a subset of 5 households:
  • 2 in Dublin (Monkstown civil parish); and 
  • 3 in Dublin City (St Peter civil parish).
If we cross-reference the associated name of STEEP (the Irish Palatine family name of Margaret STEEP, spouse of Henry COLE's sibling Peter COLE), the name COLE is reduced to a subset of  4 households:
  • 3 in Limerick (Kilfinnane civil parish); and
  • 1 in Tipperary (Kilcooly civil parish).
If we select just the 3 COLE households located in County Limerick, we find all of them reside in the following civil parish:
  • 3 in Kilfinnane.
If we select just the 8 COLE households located in County Tipperary, we find they reside in the following civil parishes:
  • 2 in Bourney;
  • 1 in Clonpet;
  • 1 in Corbally;
  • 1 in Kilcooly;
  • 1 in Rathnaveoge;
  • 1 in Roscrea; and
  • 1 in Whitechurch.
While not a perfect analogy since Griffith's Valuation occurred over 100 years after the first arrival of the Palatines in Ireland, the data does suggest Irish counties and civil parishes in which to begin, focus or renew research efforts.

Note 1: After a brief stay in Dublin after crossing from Chester, England, according to the Irish Palatine Association's history page Palatines settled in "parent" colonies in County Limerick, then later moved to "child" colonies within Limerick and to other counties such as Kerry, Tipperary, and Wexford.

COLE Research Links and Lists

Timelines

Cemeteries

Children of Henry COLE and Elizabeth CHURCHILL

Maps

Related Books, Journals, Articles

Related Websites


Page last updated on 16 November 2024.



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