William (Dana) Gibson Circa 1898 Ireland - Died 1936 South Africa

The 1901 Irish census has about 20 William Gibsons all born around 1898. If it’s of any assistance, most lived in the counties of Ulster (the most northern province in Ireland). The majority were of various Protestant denominations eg Unitarian, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland & Methodist with just a couple of Catholics. Knowing your ancestor’s precise denomination might help a little.

The middle name Dana is a problem. There isn’t a single person in Ireland with it as a surname or a forename in the 1901 census. I suspect it may not appear on William’s birth certificate, and may just be an addition he acquired at some point in his life. 

Hello, have you considered the possibility that Wm. was not born in Ireland?  What does his marriage cert say?  His death cert indicates Ireland, but death certs are often unreliable; after all, Wm. did not provide the information.  On Wiki trees, someone wrote that Wm. always said he was from Scotland!

I hope this helps.

This maybe him, father has initials W D Gibson

William Gibson, "Scotland Church Records and Kirk Session Records, 1658-1919" • FamilySearch
a Sister
Christina Foster Thorn Gibson, "Scotland Church Records and Kirk Session Records, 1658-1919" • FamilySearch

Margot

Thanks to Elwyn, Patricia and Margot for your reponses, much appreciated!

Dana's marriage certificate states country of birth is "England"  It is true that he was not there when his death certificate was completed (he was allready dead) and his wife was in hospital in Pretoria at the same time.  I can then only assume that somebody at the hospital thought that his accent was Irish (instead it could have been Scottish) and noted it as such on the certificate.

What makes it even more difficult is the lack of accurate imigration records.  My other Grandfather, James Sales, came from Great Stukely, England.  He and his cousin was actually on their way to Australia but when the ship docked at Cape Town they were fed up with life on the ship and decided to get off and stay in South Africa.  Their ancestry was confirmed back to the early 1700's.

On Monday I received my mother's unabridged birth certificate after a wait of 8 months (....yes this is South Africa)  The certifcate only states that her father was William Dana Gibson and that he was 34 years old the day my mother was born (19/10/1931)  and that his country of birth was Ireland!  Thus, wedding certifcate (32yo on 29 Sept 1930) = England, mother's birth certificate (34yo on 19 Oct 1931) = Ireland, and Dana's death certificate (38yo on 3 Sept 1936) = Ireland.

I have given the above dates and ages to two actuaries and they both came up with "..the most probable date of birth of 13 October 1897, give or take a week before or after"

Any idea where can I search for Irish births on a specific date?

Johan, 

This website contains Irish births:

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

You can narrow the search to an individual year. In this case you will find 121 people named Gibson born that year. 3 named William Gibson. One born 18.1.1897 in Dublin, another 23.7.1897 Co Meath and the 3rd 26.10.1897 Co Donegal. That’s only 2 weeks away from the date you have suggested.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1897/02106/1802005.pdf

Father was Robert Gibson and mother Mary Tinny who married in 1883 in the Presbyterian church at  Ballylennon.

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

I think this is probably them in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Feddyglass/Carnshannagh/1196271/

And 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Donegal/Feddyglass/Woo…

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you so much for your contribution, much appreciated!

The William Gibson born in Co Donegal in October 1897 would have been the ideal candidate to focus further investigation on, however he passed away a couple of days before his first birthday on the 23rd October 1898.  It would appear that his parents then had a further son William John Gibson in 1899.

There is also the possibility that although he was born in Ireland, his parents moved to Scotland and he grew up in and around Edinburgh.

I will just have to keep on digging.....LOL!

Kind regards,

A feint memory of a relative whom remembered a barely legible note with something to the effect of "......William, the Belfast Boy - 29-01-1896)

This opened a whole new world of discovery for me which pointed back, correctly so, to the Gibson / Britton relationship in the early 1900' in Belfast.

William and his one sister was fostered to his Aunt (Sarah Britton) after his father's death.

Not sure how long William stayed with Sarah Britton and whether he was in WW1, but he boarded a ship in 1925/26 and came to South Africa.

His second name "Dana" was an assumed name when he landed in Cape Town and as time went by it found its way into his official documentation in South Africa.

Just a pity that we do not have the same access to South African sources pertaining to the Irish.