October 19, 2004 Print this page

Searching into his Family’s Past
Has Made Joshua Buch an “Honorary Irishman”

When a visitor steps into La Salle Professor Josh Buch’s office, he always welcomes them in with an excited smile. “Come, sit, sit!” he invites. Dr. Buch manages to carry that same enthusiasm over into all of his work, whether professional or personal.

Although Dr. Buch is a finance professor, he also has an amazing passion for history and for knowing where he came from. He has managed to accomplish an almost impossible feat: tracing his Jewish heritage back 1,000 years, as well as arranging for a memorial stone in Wales for his wife’s Irish ancestor who died 145 years ago.

“I love history because the only thing we know for certain is the past,” says Buch.

He traced his roots back 200 years through two grandparents, but for a third, he was able to locate his roots back 1,000 years. (His eldest daughter used this genealogy as the basis for her novel, The Family Orchard, which became an international bestseller.)

After he had gathered his family tree, he was inspired to learn the genealogy of his wife Debbie Fay-Buch, who is Irish and Italian.

Buch began his research by vigorously interrogating all of her older relatives. His questioning triggered many memories that they had not been thought about in years.

“It was so gratifying to speak to these 90-year-old relatives, and see their smiling faces, and hear their amazing stories,” he said.

One piece of “evidence” Buch found came from Debbie’s oldest uncle: a handwritten letter from his great-great grandmother, named Alice McGinnis. She wrote about her life in the 1850s. This two-page note was an invaluable source, and was the foundation Buch used to gather the rest of his wife’s family tree. From this letter Buch learned that Alice married Manus Boyle, who became a victim of a famous shipwreck in 1859.

Boyle was born in Ireland in 1833, and immigrated to the United States in the early 1850s. He left his pregnant wife and one-year-old daughter to try to find gold in Melbourne Australia. He had a successful find. However, on the last night of his return voyage, October 26 1859, the ship that Boyle was on, The Royal Charter, was caught in a terrible storm and sank right off the coast on the village of Moelfre in Wales. Only 28 people survived, while 459 drowned, including Boyle.

Buch researched the Royal Charter wreck online, and found out it was a world-famous event at the time for many reasons. The Royal Charter guaranteed its passengers it would sail from Australia to Liverpool, England, in 59 days -- which was extremely fast for that time. Also, the storm was the worst hurricane that the British Isles had ever seen, thus causing the largest British marine loss in peacetime.

Furthermore, Charles Dickens proved to be a valuable source for Buch. Dickens was working as a newspaper correspondent, and went to Moelfre to cover the wreck. He wrote about this in a book, Uncommon Traveler. Buch read it, which helped him to get a greater understanding of the fateful event that day.

Many of the victims could not be identified, so they were placed in mass graves. The largest one is at The Royal Charter Church, which is probably the site where Manus Boyle was interned.

The whole experience became even more real for Buch when he, Debbie, and their daughter Peri, traveled to the scene of the wreck. They decided to arrange for a memorial tablet for Boyle, and contacted Reverend Dr. Graham Loveluck, of the Royal Charter Church, who was more than happy to help.

A large stone for Boyle was placed right outside the church so visitors and parishioners can see it as they enter. On it is inscribed: “Manus Maurice Boyle/ Never Recovered from the Royal Charter/ Placed by the Fay Family/ Hazelton, PA, USA 2004.” The stone is symbolic not only of Boyle’s death, but also those who died in the tragedy at sea 145 years ago. Everyone in the small village of Moelfre also gave Dr. Buch and his family a warm welcome, and had a special service for Boyle in the church. Loveluck even dedicated the stone to Manus Boyle.

Debbie’s family was so thrilled Dr. Buch’s findings that they gave him a pewter mug, with an inscription engraved on it: “To Josh Buch/ The Author of the Fay Family Book/ “An Honorary Irishman.”

“It made me feel fully accepted by my wife's family,” said Buch. “I did the research due to my own curiosity, and for my wife and daughter. I never expected anything out of it. Now I am an ‘honorary Irishman,’ which is a wonderful feeling.”