Quick Navigation
Robbie Williams’ Farrell Family (Maternal Line)
Robbie Williams’ maternal family, the Farrells, trace their roots from County Kilkenny in Ireland to the industrial districts of North Staffordshire, where successive generations worked in ironworks and coal mining.
Their story reflects a wider pattern of Irish migration to England in the 19th century, shaped by economic change, industrial demand and the search for stable employment.
Michael Farrell (born 1785)
Robbie Williams’ great-great-great-great-grandfather
Michael Farrell was born around 1785 in County Kilkenny, Ireland. He married Mary Bergin in about 1808.
The couple lived in the St John’s Green area of Kilkenny and raised four children. The family were Catholic and most likely relied on agricultural labour for their livelihood. At the time, Kilkenny was a regional centre with a mixed Catholic and Protestant population. Although civic power for Catholics had been restricted in earlier decades, the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw gradual improvement in representation and opportunity.
Michael Farrell represents the earliest identifiable generation in Robbie Williams’ maternal bloodline.
Patrick Farrell (born 1816)
Robbie Williams’ great-great-great-grandfather
Michael Farrell’s son Patrick Farrell was born in 1816 in Kilkenny. In 1842, he married Anne Butler at St John’s Church, Kilkenny.
Patrick and Anne lived locally and had six children between 1843 and 1861, all born in the same parish area.
Their family life coincided with the Great Famine of the eighteen forties. Although Kilkenny was less severely affected than some regions, economic hardship and long term stagnation followed, particularly for working families.
John Farrell (born 1845)
Robbie Williams’ great-great-grandfather
PJohn Farrell, born in 1845, was the son of Patrick Farrell and Anne Butler. He married Sarah Phelan, originally from Queen’s County, in Kilkenny during the early eighteen sixties.
The couple had three children before leaving Ireland.
By the late eighteen sixties, John Farrell became part of a generation of Irish migrants who left in search of better economic prospects. Improved rail and steamship connections made migration to England quicker and more affordable.
The family settled in Goldenhill, near Tunstall, close to the expanding industrial centre of Stoke-on-Trent.
In Staffordshire, John Farrell worked as a labourer in an iron forge. The family lived in densely populated housing typical of industrial communities, often alongside other Irish-born families.
In 1872, aged just 27, John Farrell died during a smallpox outbreak. His widow Sarah Farrell was left to raise five children.
Sarah remained in Goldenhill and supported her family through laundry work, parish assistance and later the wages earned by her children once they entered employment.
Martin Farrell (born 1875)
Robbie Williams’ great-grandfather
Martin Farrell, born in 1875, was the youngest son of John Farrell and Sarah Phelan.
He grew up in Goldenhill and worked initially in the Potteries before moving into coal mining at Whitfield Colliery, a major local employer.
Martin served with the North Staffordshire Regiment during the Second Boer War, and later reenlisted during the First World War, eventually transferring to the Army Veterinary Corps. After the war, he returned to mining.
His working life spanned periods of economic depression and later recovery, particularly during the late nineteen thirties when coal production increased.
Martin Farrell died in 1942 following heart failure after illness.
John “Jack” Farrell (born 1906)
Robbie Williams’ grandfather
Martin’s son John “Jack” Farrell grew up in a mining community during the inter war years and followed his father into the coal industry.
Jack Farrell later became Robbie Williams’ maternal grandfather. He remained closely connected to family life and the local community in North Staffordshire, and died in 1979.
He later became a significant influence in Robbie Williams’ early life and died in 1979.
Read the full history of the Williams family →
This account is based on documentary records and historical research, and presents the Farrell family history as it can be established from available evidence.