I am trying to trace any information about my Great Grandfather John Byrne who died in an accident Otira, New Zealand in 1915. We don't have a lot of information about him as he died leaving a large family and I have come across many brick walls in trying to find him.
what I do know is that he married Sarah Taylor in Westland in 1891, lived in Stafford, New Zealand, working as a miner and was Irish. Some family records suggest that he was born about 1860-1865, but it could have been earlier.
I cannot find any immigration records of him arriving in New Zealand, so it's quite possible that he came via Australia or USA following the gold mines. One clue that I may have is that my Grandfather, the second youngest was named Bagnal Percy. I have not been able to find Bagnal as a first name anywhere and my father did mention a family story that Grandad was named after the area that his father came from. I'm wondering if he came from Bagenalstown.
I do have a couple of photos of him.
I know John Byrne is a common name and I may be looking for 'a needle in a haystack', but any leads that I can get would be appreciated.
MarieNZ
Monday 18th Oct 2021, 07:28PMMessage Board Replies
-
Marie:
Byrne was a very common surname in Dunleckny civil parish which includes Bagenalstown. The Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for the parish from the early 1850s has over 30 Byrne records https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/carlow/dunleckny.htm
The subscription site Roots Ireland shows John Byrne baptismal records in Bagenalstown RC church in 1857,1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866. One of them is likely your ancestor but which one? Do you know the names of any siblings? What was the given name of his oldest son?
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 18th Oct 2021, 08:06PM