It's them, it's actually them!

I've now proved conclusively that my maternal grandfather (Samuel Sharpe, son of William Sharpe and Catherine nee McKeowan) indeed had a second brother, about whom we had no knowledge -- until now.  (And now I also know that my great grandparents were in fact still alive in 1911.) 

I didn't have to wait a month for a birth certificate to arrive either.

It took me about an hour after finding the 1911 Census reference on Friday (interspersed with preparing for dinner guests later that day) to find the definitive proof that I needed to claim the family as mine.

Turns out that Ancestry.com has recently added the christening records of several Catholic parishes in Liverpool to the many other records that are available to be searched.

So off I went looking for Michael Sharp(e), born to parents William and Catherine in about 1894 in Liverpool.

Up pops a reference to a child named Michael Sharpe, born July 1894, baptised at St. Joseph's parish.  Father Gulielmi Sharpe; mother Catharinae McKeown.  (Catholic records were historically kept in Latin.)

Now here's where my Catholic upbringing and resultant familiarity with Latin paid off in spades.   I knew before I opened the image that I had a hit because I knew that Gulielmi is actually William; and obviously Catharinae is Catherine!  (Of course, the McKeown reference was a dead give-away!)

My heart was racing as I opened the actual image that proved the existence of yet another unknown branch of my tree.

And there, just to add that extra piece of credence to the story, was the notation that the child's godfather was Michael Murphy -- the man who six months later would marry Catherine's sister, Mary Ellen McKeowan. 

(Ancestry.com. Liverpool, Lancashire, England, Catholic Baptisms, 1802-1906 -- St. Joseph's Parish)

This discovery happened about three minutes before our dinner guests arrived.  I was still pumped when they came through the door.  Luckily, they are very familiar with my passion and were sensitive to my hootin' and hollerin' and carryin' on like a mad fool.  (Genealogists experience a tremendous 'high' when they make a find of this nature.)

So, now I'm busily trying to find out what happened to this mysterious new-found grand-uncle.

Unfortunately, the name Sharp(e) in Liverpool is like Smith in so many other places.  And I don't have to tell you how common the name Michael was/is with the Catholic community!

My work is cut out for me now!