Elizabeth Blong was baptised 11 Feb 1829 (my father assigns the Elizabeth Blong born this date and in French Church records, as being this Elizabeth Blong. I feel that this may not necessarily be correct). Her death certificate implies a 1833 birth. She appears to have been the daughter of George & Mary Blong. The Blongs were descendents of the Huguenot refugees who had arrived in Portarlington in the late 1600s, and the peculiarity of the name means that it can be spelled a number of ways. She married William Watson of Harristown, Kildare On 18 September 1843 at Lea Parish Church (witnessed by William Bradley and George Watson) (Kildare Diocese Marriage Licence Bonds & Lee family bible). She appears to have only been 14 when she married. And in fact her death certificate implies a birth of 1833, with her husbands as 1830. The 1843 marriage must be wrong. A search of the government marriage records from 1848 to 1854 gives none. I would have expected the marriage to be 1849 or 1850
They had a number of daughters born in Harristown, Kildare, where they moved after their marriage, including their second daughter Marie Watson who married Thomas Grant and were my direct ancestors. Piecing together information about Elizabeth Blong, or indeed her branch of the Blong/Blanc tree is difficult. There does not appear to be any children born between their marriage on 18 Sept 1843 (assuming this date is correct, it comes from the a reading of the church records by the vicar at the time, and my well have been transcribed a number of times,. It should be checked) and the birth of their first daughter around 1850. There may well have been others that I have not picked up. I have put together notes on the Blongs/Blancs of Portarlington to cover some of the complexities. It should be bourne in mind that the famine overshadowed life here during the years 1846 to 1849.
Her two sisters and her brother moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1855 in the wake of the Famine. Samuel may have been another brother, but I cannot be certain
She died 5 Dec 1896 and is noted in Lee Family Bible. Edward Lee, her son-in-law reported the death.
Died in Portarlington in 1896, aged 63, a widow and a housekeeper
