McDonald, Alexander

There's an Alexander whose birth appears on RootsIreland. But his mother is Mary Hagerty, not McDonnell.  Could "McDonnell" have stood for "McDonald," the married name?

Civil Birth Record

Name: Alexander Mcdonald

Date of Birth:  04-Oct-1871

Address:          Derryarkin Faughanvale        

Parish/District:           EGLINTON

 Co. Derry

Father:            Alexander Mcdonald

Mother:          Mary Hegarty

Occupation:    Labourer                    

Informant 1:   Mary Hegarty

Alexander junior’s Scottish marriage certificate should tell you whether his parents were still alive when he married. It will say “dcd” after their name if dead. If it doesn’t say dcd, you can assume the parent was still alive. Scottish certificates were pretty accurate in recording that. Might help you if looking for death certificates for them.

Big estates in Ireland usually employed Gardeners, and it was quite common for them to be brought over from Scotland. Not sure quite why, but it was a noted practice. By way of example, if you search the 1901 Irish census with place of birth as “Scotland” and occupation “Gardener” you will find 225.  So it might be worth considering the possibility that Alexander senior was Scottish. Searching the Scottish marriage records 1855 - 1875, I found 3 Alexander McDonalds marrying Mary McDonalds (in Kincardine 1863; Calton, Glasgow 1866 & Kilmuir Inverness 1867).

Thanks Patricia and Elwyn for the replies. The Marriage Certificate does say Alexander Sr. is deceased and clearly states that Alexander junior's Mother's M.S. is McDonnell. What service has the Irish census please? All the best...Chris

Chris,

Sadly, apart from some fragments, all the pre 1901 Irish censuses have been destroyed. The 1901 & 1911 Irish censuses can be found on this site. There was no 1921 census in Ireland:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

If you want to search for Alexander senior’s death 1870 - to the date of his son’s marriage, and for his mother’s death after the marriage, then use this site:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp

It only has records for Northern Ireland up to 1921. After that you need to use the GRONI site which is pay to view.

I searched for an Alexander McDonald = Mary McD marriage  in Ireland 1845 - 1875 but without success. The records contain the non RC marriages from 1845 onwards but only RC from 1864. So knowing the family denomination could be important.

Have you found Alexander junior in any Scottish censuses? If so, does it say that he was born in Ireland?

Good day Elwyn, thank you so much for your work on this. Yes, the 1901 Glasgow census states that Alexander McDonald is a Bath Enameller born in Ireland. I have attached his Marriage entry and the 1901 Census entry. to this email. I will check the sites that you have sent...again thank you for your time...cheers Chris 

I had a look through the Alexander McDonald deaths in Ireland 1869 - 1895. There were about 80. Couldn’t see any where the occupation was Gardener.

It is possible that Alexander senior died in Scotland. And indeed may have originated there.