Antrim Ancestors

Hi,

My name is Jeanette and I?m a volunteer for IrelandXO.

My understanding is that South Africa genealogical research cannot utilize census data for South Africa, as censuses are only collected for statistical data only and then destroyed. This puts South Africans at a disadvantage in research to say the least.

Key to researching in Ireland is gaining a good understanding of the records available and where to locate those records. The Irish Genealogy Toolkit http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html will assist you and has many helpful suggestions.

One thing to be aware of is the many variations for spelling of the names. http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor  has some free portions that will assist with identifying various spellings.

A quick look at the 1901 census http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Shankhill/Hazelfield_Street/948686  did reveal a Grace Barkley, her father William John born Crumlin, County Antrim and her mother Mary Ann born Belfast, County Antrim. It is unknown if this is your Grace Barkley, however there are not many listed.  This same William can be found in Lennon Wylies site under just his initials, W.J. on Hazelfield Street in 1901 http://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/hcomplete1901.htm on Jaffa Street in 1908, 1910 http://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/ijkcomplete1910.htm

LDS Family search using a loose DOB range 1874-1875 does show a Grace Barkley born to a William John and Mary Ann Frazer 30 Nov 1874, however there are also children by the last name of Barkley with no first name listed to a William Barkley and a Mary Dolen for 1874. You should be aware though not all births recorded in Ireland are in the LDS listings.https://familysearch.org/search/record/results#count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Agrace~%20%2Bsurname%3Abarkley~%20%2Bbirth_place%3Aireland~%20%2Bbirth_year%3A1874-1875~

Do you happen to know her middle name or first name if Grace is the middle?

Interestingly, census does not readily show Thomas McKay for 1901 or 1911 based on the data you have given. Would you have a general idea of DOB? Your grandfather, if he did not emigrate to South Africa as a small child, should show in the 1911 census. It is possible that he is listed under a middle name? Or perhaps by initials if they were still in Ireland.  Do you know immigration date? There is the possibility though that the last name is spelt as a variation on this census.

You mention Belfast Urban #3, where is this data from? An article at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~econnolly/oextracts/oeurbandistricts.html  might be useful for you. This article gives some street names which were in the Urban # 3 area.  

Have you searched for local histories in location of South Africa where they lived for possible clues? Even the smallest write-up in a local newspaper can provide some small relevant data that might help your search.  It will take a bit of detective work, but is not impossible to piece it all together using alternative works like directories, histories, etc?

Hope this all helps, Jeanette