Alleyne.ca

Mahon and Greaves Families of Barbados

A record of two Barbadian families — their lives, their resting places, and the photographs that survive them.

This website is a work in progress, and will expand as we get more information on the two families. If you have information on any family and are willing to share, please let us know — we would be happy to include it on the site.

The Families

History

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The Mahons

The earliest Mahon found to date is Teague Mahon (?–1704). Teague was born in Ireland and emigrated to Barbados before 1683. He married Anne Stickly on 15 November of that year at St. Michael, Barbados.

It appears from the records that the couple settled in St. James, and the family remained there until the 1770s, when John Mahon (b. 1769) moved to St. Peter and then St. Lucy. The family remained in St. Lucy for many generations. It is believed the Mahons were planters, but over the generations they branched out into many other fields of endeavour.

There are twelve generations shown on the Mahon tree who lived in Barbados.

The Greaves’

The first known Greaves in Barbados was the Rev. Samuel Greaves. He was born in Shropshire, England, the son of Tobias Greaves. He emigrated to Barbados, where he married Mary Bray in 1645, and served as Rector at St. Lucy from 1643 to 1656. The Greaves family settled in St. Lucy for many generations. Samuel was followed by twelve or more generations of Greaves’ in Barbados, the USA, Canada and England.

Perhaps the best known of the family were Sir William Herbert Greaves, Kt., who served as Chief Justice of Barbados; his daughter Muriel (Greaves) Hanschell, the first female Member of Parliament in Barbados, awarded the M.B.E. for her service to the country; and William Michael Herbert Greaves, Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1938 to 1955.

Where the two families meet

Of interest: seven generations down from Teague Mahon and Samuel Greaves, in the generation of Alexander Augustus Mahon (1847–1905) and Helena Jane Greaves (1854–1944), three Mahon siblings married three Greaves siblings — making their offspring double first cousins. A photograph of them appears on the Family Photos page.

In the generation following, two Mahon siblings married two Alleyne siblings, again making their children double first cousins.

Outlined in green, the three Mahon–Greaves marriages: Alexander A. Mahon and Helena J. Greaves; Henry C. Greaves and Charlotte L. Mahon; William H. Greaves and Millicent J. Mahon.
Outlined in blue, in the following generation, the two Mahon–Alleyne marriages: Henry S. J. G. Mahon and Laura E. Alleyne; Francis M. O. Alleyne and Mabel L. G. Mahon.
Click the image to view it full size.

The family tree

The Greaves and Mahon families are represented on a larger Alleyne family tree that resides at Ancestry.ca. Ancestry is a subscription website that requires a membership in order to view trees that reside there. If you have such a membership, the family tree "Alleyne2022" — which includes the Greaves and Mahon families — can be viewed there.

The Alleyne connection

The Greaves, Mahon and Alleyne families in Barbados are closely connected.

Visit the Alleyne website alleynebarbados.org →
The Archive

Three parts of the record

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Contact

Get in touch

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Whether you're tracing a branch of the Mahon or Greaves family, or have a photograph, record or grave to contribute to the archive, we'd like to hear from you.

Contributions of any kind are welcome — a name, a date, a photograph, or a correction to something already here.

Email us

Dale@alleyne.ca

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