John Shaw Bradbury, born 1843 in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, England.
Ellen Amelia Quick, born 1845 in Roby-by-Huyton, Lancashire, England.
They married in 1864 in West Derby, Lancashire and had three children: Charles, Ethel and Francis.
Michael's Lineage History
Bradbury lineage
| Paternal Great-Grandparents: John Shaw Bradbury, born 1843 in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, England. Ellen Amelia Quick, born 1845 in Roby-by-Huyton, Lancashire, England. They married in 1864 in West Derby, Lancashire and had three children: Charles, Ethel and Francis. |
A Cotton Broker, he was 'a man of substance'. Yorkshire was of course the home of the cotton industry. The Bradbury's were a major Saddleworth family.
| Paternal Grandparents: Charles Beckett Bradbury, born 26 October 1870 in Aughbon, Lancaster, England. Edith Maude Wigg, born 20 June 1882. They married in Buenos Aires, Argentina and had four sons: John (Jack), Ralph, Eric and Malcolm. |
Charles Bradbury emigrated to Argentina in 1890 at the age of 20. A civil engineer, he and his brother Francis and partner C. S. Clarke established Clarke, Bradbury & Company in 1909. A contracting business, its purpose was to engineer, build and manage rail projects for the Argentine Railway system.
His sister Ethel and brother Francis also emigrated to Argentina soon after, although exact dates are unknown.
| Parents: Eric Shawe Bradbury, born 8 October 1910 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Elsa (Bessie) Cavanagh, born 1 October 1911 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They married in 1932 in Buenos Aires and had four children: Ethel Maureen and Patricia (identical twins), Edith Sheila and Eric Michael. |
Eric Bradbury worked with his father for a few years on Argentine Railway projects. He joined his three brothers and Mac Mc Donald in business ventures in Cipoletti, Province of Rio Negro, next to the lush growing region in the High Valley of the Negro and Neuquen Rivers, where with his young bride they were blessed with the birth of twin daughters in 1934, Patricia and Ethel Maureen. In the late 1930s he moved to Buenos Aires and joined a company that specialized in engineering and building large water related projects, from drilling wells to large pumps and boilers for use in manufacturing and processing plants, which at the time were been built at a fast pace due to the Argentine Industrial Revolution of the 1940s. In the mid 1960s, frustrated with the labor strikes that became frequent during the post Perón era, he sold his business and purchased a ranch in Balcarce, recognized as one of three most fertile areas in the world. This area is located 300 miles (400 kilometers) south of Buenos Aires and 30 miles (40 kilometers inland from the Atlantic Ocean, and is famous for growing high grade wheat and potatoes. However, following the advice of the nearby United Nations sponsored Research Center, he planted high grade pastures in support of fattening cattle and sheep at a very high animal density per hectare (1 hectare = 2.71 acres), one that had not been realized before in Argentina. His son Michael worked with him at an early stage and was responsible for planting and harvesting wheat and potatoes on land that was rented. The Bradbury Twins and Shakespeare
The Bradbury “twins”, Maureen and Patricia, were born in 1934 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the eldest of four children. They went to quite a few schools in Buenos Aires. I think they were expelled from one of them. These schools were always English. Their final school was St. Hilda's, a school for girls only and boarders.
Teachers from England would come out to this "posting" and some of these teachers were dreadful! The Bradbury “twins” will never forget their English teacher! Her name was Mrs. Shaw.
Story goes that the Bradbury “twins”, age 12, new at the St. Hilda’s school, on their first day of class on April 23rd. Mrs. Shaw opens the English class with "Well girls, and whose birthday is it today?" Dead silence! Not a clue. Again the teacher asked more emphatically ... finally, two hands are raised slowly and with great trepidation.
"Disgraceful!" she shrieked, "You girls are savages, look at this! The new girls are the only ones who know the answer to my question!" Finally, she addressed Maureen and Patricia, "So girls, and whose birthday is it today?"
Shaking in their boots, they replied, "It's our birthday!" "Impossible!" she shrieked back, "It can't be! It's Shakespeare's!" "Who's he?", they wailed, bursting into tears amid shrieks of laughter from the class!
Well, the Bradbury “twins” made instant friends, heroes to the end! From then on the “twins” standing in English was doomed. Fortunately two brains are better than one and they were very good at improvising for each other during oral examinations.
Mrs. Shaw never forgave them and she never gave them a decent part in a school play. They were always banished to the back of Marco Polo's horse or rendered invisible somewhere on stage!
At the school graduation play, however, Mrs. Shaw decided these identical twins, dressed in their Elizabethan costumes, were probably crowd-pleasers after all. She made them announcers of the excerpts of the different Shakespeare plays being presented. Well, the Bradbury “twins” reasoned it was their last day of school anyway, so they just said whatever occurred to them on stage. If the parents were confused, Mrs. Shaw was apoplectic!
She never forgave them, and they never forgot her!
Wigg lineage
As noted on the family tree Edith Maude Wigg's lineage goes back to George IV, King of England.
Cavanagh lineage
| Maternal Great-Grandparents: Edward Cavanagh, born 24 August 1834 in Long Lynn, Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. Margaret Gaynor, born 18 February 1839 in Argentina. They married on 10 January 1858 in the "Iglesia (Church) de Nuestra Señora de la Merced", Buenos Aires, consecrated by Rev. John Cullen. They had 10 children: Juan José, Ana, Edward J., Mary A., Margarita, Elena, Santiago Pablo, Juana M., Thomas and José. |
As of 2001 the number of descendants from that union exceed 1300.
Edward Cavanagh emigrated to Argentina at the age of 17, arriving in the Port of Buenos Aires on the 9th. of February 1851. Edward's parents, John Cavanagh and Anne Byrne came from one of Ireland's oldest families, yet they encouraged their son to emigrate. Edward had completed the equivalent of elementary and middle school and had entertained some thoughts about entering law. Convinced however that there was a future for him in Argentina, he left with his parents blessing.
Emigration from County Westmeath
Emigration from County Westmeath, birth place of Edward Cavanagh, commenced on a large scale between 1845 and 1850. Prior to 1845 there was a population of 141,000. By 1851 the figure decreased by 21%, (partly accounted for by deaths through famine) and emigration. Westmeath emigrants settled in the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland and Wales.
The Irish had started arriving in Argentina during the 1820's and 1830's. Some of them had established themselves in business in the capital city of Buenos Aires, but the majority had gone inland to pursue farming interests. Initially the focus was sheep and cattle (crops, etc. came later, once a German's early theory that the lands were not suited for crops was disproved). The Irish were especially well received in Argentina, largely for their ethic of hard work and their determination to progress. The fact that they were Catholic lay also in their favor in this Catholic country. Their arrival was fortuitous for both this emerging republican nation and these early immigrants.
Upon arrival in Argentina in 1851 Edward Cavanagh meets up with fellow Irishman Edward Wallace, family friend and owner of estancia (ranch) "El Rincón", and who advises Cavanagh on rural tasks involving raising sheep and cattle. Wallace had emigrated to Argentina in the late 1830s. Wallace was very well established in sheep farming, was well connected and in a good financial position. Wallace was a bachelor and was instrumental in Cavanagh's success. He would become his great friend, mentor, and ultimately a family relation through Cavanagh's marriage in 1858 to Wallace's niece, Margaret Gaynor.
In the years that followed, with spirit and hard work, Edward Cavanagh would become phenomenally wealthy, the family patriarch, and the father of ten children. It was a dynasty of hardworking, talented, close-knit, religious and athletic individuals. His children would continue the legacy of the land, thriving with its success and increasing their land ownership. In the 1930's his grandchildren would also become well-known in horse polo, both as competitive international players (including the Olympics in Berlin, 1936) and polo horse breeders, which continues to this day.
| Maternal Grandparents: Thomas Cavanagh, born 28 Oct 1877 in Argentina. Elena Martha Gahan, born 2 Apr 1881 in Kenny, Province. of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They married on 14 Oct 1903 in Buenos Aires and had 11 children: Elaine (Nelita), Tom, Lia, Ethel, Elsa (Bessie), Mary (May), Patrick (Paddy), Owen, George, Donal and Dermot. |
At the age of 16 Thomas Cavanagh joins the family ranching business and a few years later manages all the family finances. In 1903 he marries Elena Martha Gahan, a woman of sweet character and quiet, who would tell her grand children stories of when she was a child growing up on her parents family ranch and fending off the attacks from the indigenous Indians.
Thomas Cavanagh, of all the siblings, was the most aggressive one when it came to purchasing land and stocking with animals, borrowing large sums of money from creditors in England. These acquisitions had started before WWI in 1914. As an example, he purchased cattle @ 300 pesos/head before 1914 and in 1916 had to sell @ 20 pesos/head. This dramatic price reduction, coupled with the drought of 1916 causing his animals to die of hunger, required that he sell his properties at a loss and default on his loan payments.
