Sullivans from Ireland to Newbrunswick, Canada early 1800s possible names: Patrick and Mary Sullivan

Hi Kerri:

I have had a quick look at FindMyPast which is a subscription site for any Sullivans born in their New Brunswick Birth and Baptism Index which goes back to 1769 but there is no result for a James Sullivan.  You can search the indexes for free on this site without taking a subscription.  

FamilySearch has a number of links that might be helpful to look at.  Here is the page for what they have information for:  https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/New_Brunswick_Online_Genealogy_Records

I have done research on my PEI ancestors who also emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. in the late 1800s.  They went to Fall River, MA.  

There is a new resource out called Canadiana.  http://heritage.canadiana.ca/

They are a repository that has amalgamatted reference material with other libraries.  You may be able to find information there.  I did input New Brunswick Genealogy, and there were a number of results that came up.  It will be a lot of scrolling and clicking though.  

If you have not already done so, an Ancestor profile on our IrelandXO Chronicles database would be a good option as it will draw attention to others who may be researching the same families.  

You can create a profile at this link:  https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-database

Let me know if you need further assistance.  There may be others who can add to this post with further information about New Brunswick records too.

All the best,

Jane

Thank you Jane, I am sorry that I have just now noticed your reply here. Thank you very much for that and I will have a look at myheritagecanada. I just created a Sullivan ancestor profile as well and will continue to check in. 

The best to you as well,

Kerri

Hi Jane,

I hope that you are doing well.

Thank you very much for taking a look at my Sullivans. Here is my Sullivan update as of August 31, 2020:

After researching the censuses of New Brunswick Canada and the Baptisms and Marriages, I believe that it was my great grandfathers grandparents: James Sullivan and possibly Mary (Cain, best guess) Sullivan who emmigrated from Ireland and not his parents, James and Elilzabeth. It was hard to tell at first because some censuses list the whole family as being Irish even though I know that the children were born in Canada. LInked here is the 1861 census that I found for Patrick, Mary, and children Julia, Margaret, James, and Patrick that appears to match my Sullivan family and lists the parents Patrick and Mary as Irish born, but no county is listed.https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/results.aspx?k=cnsSurname%3a%22Sullivan%22+AND+cnsGivenName%3a%22Patrick%22+AND+cnsAge%3a%2255%22+AND+cnsProvinceCode%3a%22NB%22.

Here I will link the censuses for 1871 and 1881 that I believe are the same family of mine:https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/results.aspx?k=cnsSurname%3a%22Sullivan%22+AND+cnsGivenName%3a%22James%22+AND+cnsAge%3a%2232%22+AND+cnsProvinceCode%3a%22NB%22https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1881/Pages/results.aspx?k=cnsSurname%3a%22Sullivan%22+AND+cnsGivenName%3a%22Clifford%22+AND+cnsProvinceCode%3a%22NB%22.

Many of the Sullivan extended family lived in close proximity, some with the same given name, which I have found a bit tricky. I believe that Clifford B Sullivan (my great grandfather) even lived with an aunt and uncle in New Brunswick when he was 22, though I am not sure why. I will attach the file that I found below and note that on this 1891 census my Sullivan family is on page 70 of 85. Another thing that I noticed on the censuses for James and Elizabeth is that James isn't on them but Elizabeth Burke is listed as married and not widowed. I believe that James and Elizabeth were married in 1867 in Douglastown, though the record that I have does not have the parents names, only the witnesses.I don't know the occupations of Patrick or James Sullivan. My great grandfather Clifford was a railroad gaurd in the U.S.for a little while and later metropolitan police down in Boston.

My question now, is how do figure out what county Patrick and Mary Sullivan were from? I have seen some possible baptisms of each from about 1804 and they list both Wexford and Wicklow and Carlow in the transcriptions. I can't say for sure that those records are the same Patrick and Mary that I see on the censuses in Canada beginning in 1851. There is also that big gap that I have for them between 1800 and 1851.  I am working on connecting with researchers in New Brunswick as well so that I might find out more about the neighborhoods and what counties that other immigrants in the same neighborhood were from. So far I have seen one from the same town (Douglastown) who was from Wexford in approximately the same time period. And of course I have been combing through ship lists to no definite avail yet.

And of course, I would love to hear what you have to say about these censuses and if you think they match up as well. That is how I came to the conclusion of Patrick and Mary Sullivan being the great grandparents.

I hope that this all makes sense. Sometimes I get so excited that I go to fast and may not explain things very well.

Thanks so much and take care,

Kerri

Jane I'm so sorry. I meant to say Patrick and Mary Sullivan as who I think are my emmigrants of the Sullivans. Clifford Sullivans grandparents and not his parents in my first sentence of that post but could not figure out how to edit.

Kerri-

Hi Kerri:

I think that you are tackling the research side very well by looking at the Censuses and making comparisons.  Very often, the information can change from one census to another.  I find that the earlier census (when an emigrant has recently arrived) can be more accurate due to the fact that as time moves on, people's memories are not as clear as to dates of arrival, names, etc.  

I also think that looking at the neighbourhoods where your Sullivans emigrated to is very important.  Primarily this is due to the fact that the Sullivan surname is so common and it is so difficult to trace them.  (I have Sullivans in both my paternal and maternal lines!!).  I would encourage you to gather as much information as you can from the birth/marriage/death records that exist for this family.  It is often one record that will give you the information that you need.  Even though you don't have parents' names, the witnesses may well be relatives and their names should be noted.    I'm glad that you have created a profile as other readers will see it and you may find a new branch that you did not know about.  This is great for collaboration purposes. 

You mentioned that Clifford Sullivan was living with another Sullivan family at one stage.  It may have been a relative, and this should be looked at more closely.  If there are land records, they should also be researched as they can give information about family connections.  

Another tool for resaerch is probate.  If any of these ancestors left a will, see if you can obtain a copy.  You may find names listed that give you a connection (such as "my nephew,  my niece, my cousin").  

Let me know if you have any questions, and with the profile up, I'm hopeful that you will gain some new information.  

All the best,

Jane