George & Dorothy Pike - Cootehill Cavan

Therese:

I searched on the subscription site Roots Ireland and the free site www.irishgenealogy.ie ( Dublin city records) and was not able to locate a George Pike baptismal record in the 1830s with a father named George Pike. In fact there were only two George Pike baptismal records in the 1830s and both were Roman Catholic.

Although Roots Ireland and www.genealogy.ie have some Church of Ireland records, other records are held locally or held at the Representative Church Body library in Dublin. At this time, there is no searchable central data base other than those records housed on Roots Ireland. In addition there were a good number of Church of Ireland records lost in the 1922 Public Records Office fire in Dublin.

I'm sorry I can't provide more positive information. Have you considered a DNA test?

Let me know what questions you have.

Roger McDonnell

Hi Roger,

Thanks so much for your reply, and for looking for me.  Just a few questions if you don't mind, you might be able to let me know if the below are possible.

I have done a Ancestry DNA test & of course have matches.  Short of emailing each & every one (which I may well have to start doing), it is a big job.  My brother has also done a Big Y test with FamilytreeDNA. There is a "Pike Project Surname" site which is trying to gather together all the Pikes, where they came from and where they have gone.  Through that I have found that our Paternal Pike line comes from Nottinghamshire in England.  The next step is of course trying to work out the connection.  Which is getting a bit hard as I can't get past George Joseph Pike. (The amazing part is that I also have Pike's of my Mother's side.  They come from Berkshire, England.

I know that when he travelled to Australia in mid 1863, his shipping info said his parents were George & Dorothy living in Cootehill, Cavan.  As I mentioned above I have found a couple of Death transcripts which could be them?  Is there anyway I can determine if they were the only George & Dorothy Pike in Cootehill at that time?  I have tried emailing the Cootehill Library, but have not had a reply so far. Also I was wondering if the local church in Cootehill at that time might have some records.  Not sure what churchs are there.  Even the cemetries - they would have to buried in a Cootehill cemetery one would think? Can I email the local cemetries and enquire?, is that something they would look into?

Unfortunately I do not know Dorothy's maiden name.  But was wondering if a marriage certificate would be possible for them?

Also if all of the above fails, wondering if somehow I could work my way back from the Pikes in Nottinghamshire, some of them must have immigrated to Ireland at some stage.  Not sure if there are records as such of English people coming over to Ireland?  Totally unorthorox method of family research I know, but desperate measures might be called for (haha).  In all this I am hoping that I get a little bit of the Irish luck on my journey (and a lot of help from upstairs).

If you can help me with any of the above, that would be absolutely amazing.  Also if I try and get the Death Certificates of the George & Dorothy that I have found, what is the best site to go to in order to purchase these certificates, and would they have any more info than is already on the transcipts that I have found on the free Irish Geneology website. Eg Dorothy's maiden name, childrens names?

Thanks so much for your time, it is truly appreciated.

Regards,  Therese

Therese:

Let me start at the end of your questions. The death info you located on www.irishgenealogy.ie for George and Dorothy is the only info available. 

You can contact the Anglican church in Drumgoon (which was their church) to see if they have any info on burials.  http://www.dkea.ie/parishes/kilmore/#drumgoon

There are no records of people traveling from England to Ireland. It was considered all one country at the time and therefore internal travel.

There were no Pikes listed in Co. Cavan on the 1855 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing so I'm very sure you have the correct George and Dorothy. Was puzzles me is if you had aged parents in 1863 would you emigrate to Australia?

Your Ancestry test may be helpful. You can contact your top matches but don't be disappointed if you don't get responses on all your messages. Also, some of the people may match you on a different line.

Roger

Hi Roger,

Thanks so much for all that info. I was sort of thinking that the Death certificate info would have all been on the transcripts.  At least that saves me purchasing a death certificate.

I will contact the Anglican church to see if they have any records. It is a matter of thinking outside the box isn't it.  Yes I have wondered about the move by George Joseph Pike. But apparently there is a story that he was being sent over to Australia by some English Minister to check on the state of the colony, as the information that was coming back was dubious. I have not fully chased up this avenue yet, but maybe I could find something in the English papers to confirm this.

I really appreciate all the work you amazing volunteers are doing for us people who live outside Ireland. It would be a wonderfully rewarding thing to do, especially when you can actually connect people back to family.

Thanks so much for all your time.  If I find any results I will let you know.

Regards

Therese

Extra information provided by Therese

Hi all,

More info on George Joseph Pike. George said he was 28 on the Hotspur, where he was the Schoolmaster on board the ship.

He was Church of England. He arrived in Sydney on 5/12/1863.  On 24/12/1863 he was getting married to a Sarah Louisa Hillock, whose parents also came from the Cavan & Amagh region.

On his marriage certificate it said he was 26 yrs old. He died on 12/11/1877 from a sulky accident aged 42.  Which means he was born around that 1834/1835 time.  Said his place of birth was Dublin. (Father & mother unknown on his certificate).

Hope the extra info will help. 

Kind regards to everyone

Therese (nee Pike)

Therese