John Charles *1878 – 1934) was the youngest son of Matthew Weldon and Catherine Quinn. Both were Irish immigrants who had arrived separately, and married in Port Elizabeth, Their other children, three of whom died in childhood, were
- Margaret (b. 1861, died the same year)
- Catherine (1862 – 1956)
- Richard Stanhope (1864 – 1919)
- Margaret (1866 – 1937)
- Patrick Matthew (1868 – 1900). Patrick died at Spioenkop, fighting for the British in the Anglo-Boer War.
- Mary (1869 – 73, the second of their children to die very young)
- Henry Francis (1871 – 1918)
- Elizabeth (1874 – 1937)
- John Flood (1876 – 1877, the third child to die very young – within his first year).
- Mary / Marianne / Marion (1880 – 1934) Variously known by three variations on “Mary”, she was married three times, and later moved to England, where she was a “musical comedy actress”.
Note the three repeated names. This was a common practice where a child had died – their first name was often repeated for a later child of the same sex, but with a different middle name. So, John Flood was repeated as John Charles.. Also note that Flood, used here as a middle name, was originally the name of Matthew’s mother, Margaret Flood. There were also other (male) descendants who adopted it as a middle name.
This family photograph, which must be from the early 1880’s, shows the full Weldon/Quinn family, including supposed spouses of the eldest children. John Charles will be one of the little children at the back. The man reclining at front right is Patrick Matthew, who died at Spioenkop.
