Annie Ellen Hutchinson - birth details required

Hello Jewels,

Attached is the birth record for your Annie Ellen Hutchinson, who was born in Mill Lane, Larne, Antrim, on 13 February 1890. Her father is Francis Hutchinson of Mill Lane. His occupation is “Labourer.” Annie’s mother is Maggie Jane Hutchinson, formerly Baxter. Maggie reported the birth to the local registrar who recorded the birth in the Larne Registration District on 14 March 1890. Annie’s birth is at Number 16 in the attached birth register.

Annie’s parents, Francis Hutchinson and Margaret Jane Baxter were married in the Ballynure Presbyterian Church on December 2, 1880. At the time of marriage Francis was 20 years old, while Margaret was of “full age,” meaning she was 21 years old or older. Francis is shown to be a bachelor at the time of marriage and Margaret a spinster. These terms mean they had not previously been married.

Francis’s occupation was farmer. At the time of the marriage he was living in “Ballyalbana,” the correct spelling of which I believe is Ballyabanagh. His father was William Hutchinson, a farmer.

At the time of Marriage Margaret was living in the townland of Ballyboley. No occupation is recorded for her. Her father is Robert Baxter, a farmer. The marriage record shows the couple were married by license by the Rev. William Kerr. The witnesses to the marriage were Robert Hutchinson and Mary Jane Hutchinson, who may have been the brother and sister of the groom.

The marriage record is at Number 53 in the attached register.

A little over 20 years later the Hutchinson family is recorded in the 1901 census. Their residence is the Circular Road, Larne. The heading of the census for the family notes, “Residents of a house 24 in Circular Road (Larne, Antrim).

By this time 40 year old Francis and 42 year old Margaret Jane have 5 children, including 11 year old Annie Ellen. The census shows that the religious denomination of all the residents of the household was Methodist. Everyone in the household was born in County Antrim. Francis’s occupation is, “General Labourer.” He could read and write. The oldest child in the household is Robert Samuel, whose occupation was “Cabinet maker. He is followed by 18 year old William J., who was a “Stone Cutter.” After William is 15 year of Francis, who is a “Telegraph Boy.” Next is 13 year old Jane Elizabeth, a scholar, followed by Annie Ellen.

The 1901 census transcription was found at the National Archives of Ireland website. For some reason the transcriber did not list family members in the traditional order of husband, wife, and children. See the transcription at: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Larne/Circular_…

Once you access the 1901 census transcription make sure to click on “Shall all information.”

You can also access a copy of the original 1901 census, which does place the family in the traditional census order of husband, wife, and children. The copy of the original census can be found at: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000366585/

If you go to the bottom right of the census form, you’ll see the signature of Francis Hutchinson.

Unfortunately I could not identify the Hutchinson family in the 1911 census anywhere in County Antrim. It is possible I missed locating them. Do you know if Annie Ellen and all her family left England for Australia in 1911?

Indication are however, that Francis Hutchinson’s wife Margaret had died before 1911, as I found the marriage record of a Frank Hutchinson and Jane Magill at the irishgenealogy.ie website, showing they were married in the Magheramorne Presbyterian Church, on August 7, 1905. At the time of marriage William is shown to have been a “Widower,” employed as a labourer living in the Circular Road, Larne, which is the same road the family had lived in according to the 1901 census. The marriage record further shows that Frank’s father was William Hutchinson, a farmer. Both Frank and Jane were of “full age” when they married. Jane was a spinster at the time of marriage also living in the Circular Road, Larne. Her father is recorded as John McGill, whose occupation was, “Gopher.”

To see what kind of work a Gopher/Gopher did, go to the Wikipedia article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gofer

Frank and Jane were married by a clergyman whose name appears to be John Lyle Donaghy. The witnesses to the marriage were John Smythe and Sarah Eliza Smythe. The marriage is Number 35 in the attached register.

Earlier, you saw the Hutchinson family in the 1901 census under the heading of “house 24 Circular Road, (Larne Antrim).” I went back to the 1901 census and found that 40 year old Jane Magill, who was not married, was at house 25 Circular Road, (Larne Antrim). See the transcription at the following link:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Larne/Circular_…

The head of the Magill household in the 1901 census is 80 year old widow, Alice Magill, who would be Jane’s mother. While the Hutchinsons were shown to have belonged to the Methodist Church in the 1901 census, the Magill family were Presbyterian, according to the 1901 census. Irish weddings traditionally took place in the bride’s parish, and so it makes sense that Frank and Jane were married in the Presbyterian Church.

Knowing that Frank Hutchinson married Jane Magill in 1905, I knew that his wife Margaret would have died between the enumeration of the 1901 census and the marriage of Frank in 1905, and so I looked for her death record at the irishgenealogy.ie website.

I found the death record for Margaret Jane Hutchinson, who died while living in the Circular Road on 20 February 1903. At the time of death she was married. Her age at death was 44. The cause of death was, “Pernicious Anaemia 12 months. Cardiac failure. Certified.” The person who was present at the death and who reported the death to the local registrar was, “Francis his x mark Hutchinson, widower of deceased. Present at death. Circular Road.”

Margaret’s death is Number 268 in the attached death register.

Please don’t hesitate to write if you have any questions.

Best Wishes,

Dave Boylan

Thank you so much for all that valuable information. I have just spent the last couple of hours filing all the information and the records in the relevant files and programme.  It is so good to be able to put that information into an almost empty file.

I need to ask you for clarification on the division of residence names etc.  For example, in Australia, it is usually:  Town, State, Country. =  Caboolture 4510, Queensland, Australia.  How do you set up the residences in your country.  e.g. is Larne the Parish or Village/Town, Antrim seems to be the County, and Northern Ireland is the "State", and United Kingdom is the Country?????  Many thanks if you could clarify this for me.  We might have Parishes over here but we don't use them, as we also live in Shires - which seem to change from time to time.

My next foray into the Irish areas will be for my 2nd great-grandmother, by the name of Margaret Carnehan (and a number of different spellings) from Cornehaugh, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Once again, profuse thanks.

Hello Jewels,

Many thanks for your reply. It is very much appreciated.

For a very good explanation of land divisions in Ireland, go to the following Irish Genealogy Toolkit link at: https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-land-divisions.html

Also Jewels, I’m not from Ireland at all, but from the U.S. My ancestors came from Cavan, Kerry, Limerick, and Roscommon.

By the way there was no country of Northern Ireland before 1921. Northern Ireland was established on 3 May 1921 as a result of the Government of Ireland Act of 1920. For more information see the Wikipedia article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Northern_Ireland

I could not find any information about a Margaret Carnehan. I believe a more common spelling of this surname would be Kernaghan. In addition I didn’t find a place called Cornehaugh in County Down, although there is a townland in the Newry County Down Civil Parish with the similar spelling of Carneyhaugh.

Do you know the names of Margaret’s parents? Her mother’s maiden name would be very helpful, as would Margaret’s date of birth or approximate date of birth. Were the family Roman Catholic?

If Margaret had been born before 1864 there will not be a civil registration birth record for her. Before 1864 you have to reply on baptism records for the religious denomination the ancestor and their family belonged to.

Once again, thank you for writing Jewels.

Best Wishes,

Dave

Hullo again Dave, 

Many thanks for your information. I have been working on it and downloading the pertinent areas into my Ancestors' Files.  I have taken note of the date, 1921, re Northern Ireland, and will correct my data accordingly. 

Unfortunately, I know nothing about Margaret Kernaghan's parents - so that is another brick wall to crash, and as she was born in c.1848, and have no idea of her religion, it will probably be a long search.  However, in the meantime, I will soldier on. 

And good on you for being on the other end of this correspondence to help out people like myself - and you don't even live on the Emerald Isle (as we were told its nickname to be).

Once again,

Many thanks

Julie

Hello Julie,

Thank you once again for your prompt reply. I’m surprised these days when I receive a reply at all, as over half the people I’ve responded to with information about their ancestors, do not even acknowledge they have received the information I uncovered by a return post. It could be a sign of the times and that’s why I’m very appreciative when someone like yourself has the kindness to write back.

In your latest reply you noted that Margaret Kernaghan was born circa 1848. That bit of information opened up the very common genealogy brick wall concerning at least, her adult life. At least, I believe the following pertains to the Margaret Kernaghan you are looking for:

Knowing that Margaret was born around 1848, I figured that if she did not leave Ireland for England, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), she may have married when she was between the ages of 18 and 30. I know from previous research that the government in Ireland began Civil Registration in the year 1845, when civil marriages, as well as Protestant marriages were recorded. Catholic marriages were not recorded at this time. Births, marriages, and deaths for all religious denominations were not recorded by the Irish government until 1864.

I had a suspicion that Margaret Kernaghan belonged to a Protestant denomination, either Church of Ireland or perhaps Presbyterian. I looked for her marriage record at the free irishgenealogy.ie website for the years 1866 and 1878, and found it.

Margaret “Kernahan” married John Meharig in the Newry, County Down Parish Church of the United Church of England and Ireland, on 21 August 1870. The Church of the United Church of England and Ireland is the Anglican Church of Ireland. At the time of marriage Margaret was 22 years old, while John Meharig was 29. Margaret’s “Condition” (marital status) was listed as “Spinster,” while John was a “bachr”. (Bachelor). Spinster and bachelor just mean that neither had been previously married. At the time she married Margaret’s residence was none other than “Cornehough,” which is very close to the spelling that you have for this town. The little information you have about her is very accurate. No occupation is recorded for Margaret. John’s occupation was “Labourer.” Margaret’s father is William Kernaghan, whose occupation was “Labourer.”

John Meharig’s residence at the time of marriage was Rathfriland. His father was Joseph Meharig, who was “Dead,” but whose occupation had been Labourer.

John and Margaret were married By License by a clergyman named Daniel Bagot. He was the Dean and Vicar of Newry.

The witnesses to the marriage were W.G. Kennedy and Eliza Kennedy. Eliza signed the marriage register with, “ her X mark,” which signifies she could not read or write. John Meharig and Margaret Kernaghan also signed the register, but Margaret signed with “her X mark.”

The marriage for John Meharig and Margaret Kernaghan is attached to this reply. It is the second marriage recorded in the register.

Catholic Church as well as Church of Ireland marriages traditionally took place in the bride’s parish church, which means the church where John and Margaret married was the church that Margaret and her family had attended. The question I had now was, which church in Newry in 1870 was the Church of Ireland parish church where the Rev. Daniel Bagot was the Dean and Vicar?

I think I found the answer at the Ros Davies website link, which shows that at one time St. Patrick’s in Newry was the Church of Ireland parish church, but was replaced as the parish church by St. Mary’s in 1810. For more information and photos of both St. Patrick’s and St. Mary’s in Newry, go to:
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/PHOTOSwords/NewryAll.htm#cipat

You’ll see in the description of St. Mary’s that Daniel Bagot had been the Vicar at St. Mary’s. The information at the Ros Davies site also shows that the St. Mary’s baptisms are available from 1804-1814; 1817; 1819 & 1822-1894; marriages from 1784- 1963; and burials from 1824- 1876.

This means in addition to the civil registration marriage that is attached to this reply, there should also be a church marriage record at St. Mary’s for John Meharig and Margaret Kernaghan. There may also be baptism records for John and Margaret, and possible marriage records for their parents if their families had belonged to the St. Mary’s Church of Ireland when they married.

Julie, the parish registers for St. Mary’s may be in local custody. You can send an email to angican.org to see how you may be able to order the church marriage record for John Meharig and Margaret Kernaghan, as well as see if there is baptism record for Margaret in the St. Mary’s baptism registers. Send your email to: secretary@down.anglican.org

If you do not hear back from the Anglican.org secretary, please let me know and I’ll try and find another avenue you can explore to see if the marriage of John and Margaret is in the St. Mary’s registers, and to also see if Margaret’s baptism and the marriage of her parents were recorded in the St. Mary’s parish registers. You may need to eventually locate the marriage for Margaret’s parents, as Church of Ireland baptism records do not traditionally provide the maiden name of the child’s mother, though I have seen some Church of Ireland baptisms where the maiden name of the child’s mother is recorded. The marriage record of Margaret’s parents should give the full name of Margaret’s mother.

For a Google Map showing the locations of St. Mary’s and St. Patrick’s Churches of Ireland in Newry, go to: https://is.gd/5KcYBV

For a Google Street View of St. Mary’s Church of Ireland in Newry, see: https://is.gd/Glx544

For a Google Street View of St. Patrick’s Church and graveyard in Newry, go to: https://is.gd/0bY5QG

You can also view the location of St. Mary’s Church of Ireland on an Ordnance Survey Map of Newry from the 1837 to 1842 time period from the GeoHive website link at: https://bit.ly/2YhRTEI

For an Ordnance Survey Map of the location of St. Patrick’s Church and burial ground in Newry from the same time period, see: https://bit.ly/2yV2b2S

To see the location of Carneyhough on an ordnance Survey Map of Newry from the 1837 to 1842 time period, go to the GeoHive link at: https://bit.ly/2YfHM3i

On the map you’ll see a portion of Newry in the lower left corner. Carneyhough is located just under the block letters N and E in the upper centre of the map.

Going back to Google Maps I found a location called Carneyhough Court in East Newry. This is the general area I believe that Margaret Kernaghan came from, which appears to have been absorbed by the expansion of Newry City over the years: https://is.gd/9oZMPY

Another Google Map shows that John Meharig’s residence of Rathfriland (also spelled Rathfryland in some records) is 12.6 miles northeast of St. Mary’s Church of Ireland in Newry: https://is.gd/PPxUzt

I found that Rathfriland was located in two different civil parishes, consisting of the Parish of Drumballyroney and the parish of Drumgath. According to the, sites.rootsweb.com/ website, the Drumballyroney Church of Ireland parish register baptisms are extent from 1831 to 1871. Marriages are available from 1783-1801 and 1838-46; while burials are available from 1839-73. The church is called St. John’s and is actually located in the townland of Aughnavallog which is two miles north east of Rathfriland. The Ros Davies website link however notes the church is closed. I’m not sure if this is due to the pandemic or because of lack of attendance. To see if you can find out more about obtaining a baptism record for John Meharig and a marriage record for his parents, contact general enquiries for the parish at: suffragan1@gmail.com

For more information and a photo of St. John’s Church of Ireland in Aughnavallog, go to the Ros Davies link: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/PHOTOSwords/DrumballyroneyAll.htm

To view the townland of Aughnavallog on an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1837 to 1842 time period go to: https://bit.ly/35gXCMt

The Church of Ireland church is located in the upper right corner just under the icon of a little house.

The Drumgath Church of Ireland parish registers for the most part were destroyed in a fire at the Four Courts Building in Dublin, Ireland during the Irish Civil War in 1922. Some marriage registers are available. I found one source that notes marriages are available from 1783 to 1801, and another source which gives the information that marriages are available from the year 1846, which would have been after John Meharig was born and after his parents had married. John’s marriage record shows he was 29 years old in 1870, which places his year of birth circa 1841.

The Drumgath Church has been located in Rathfriland since 1818, and is also called St. John’s. For information and a photo, go to the Ros Davies link at: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/PHOTOSwords/DrumgathAll.htm

After locating the marriage record for John Meharig and Margaret Kernahan I wanted to see if they had any children. I looked for the civil registration birth records for their children at irishgenealogy.ie, and found two birth records.

The first birth record is for Samuel “Meharg,” who was born in “Derrabeg,” (Derrybeg) Newry, on 9 January 1871. His father is John Meharg, a labourer residing in Derrabeg. Samuel’s mother is Margaret Meharg, formerly Kernaghan. Samuel’s father John reported the birth to the local registrar, Andrew McBride, who recorded the birth in the Newry Registration District on 24 January 1871. The birth record is attached to this email and is Number 439 in the birth register.

Next, Joseph “Meherg” was born in Craigmore, Newry on 16 October 1872. His father is John Meherg, a labourer residing in Craigmore. Joseph’s mother is Margaret Meherg, formerly “Cerneghan,” Joseph’s father John was present at the birth and reported the birth to the local registrar, Andrew McBride, who recorded the birth in the Newry Registration District on 5 November 1872. Joseph’s birth record is at Number 443 in the attached birth register.

A Google Map shows that Derrybeg, where Samuel was born, is a part of Newry today, and is 1.4 miles from the center of Newry: https://is.gd/TXsDhH

Just north of Derrybeg is the Craigmore Viaduct, I believe this is the area of Newry where Joseph Meherg was born in 1872. A google Map shows the aqueduct is 3.7 miles from the center of Newry: https://is.gd/E5pNYF

For a Google Street View of the Craigmore Viaduct, go to: https://is.gd/pJMcJ7

For more information about the Craigmore Viaduct, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigmore_Viaduct

For a Google Street View of Derrybeg, go to: https://is.gd/8RQ5zv

I didn’t find the birth records for any more children of John Meharig and Margaret Kernaghan in County Down or anywhere else in Ireland. I next went to the National Archives of Ireland link (http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/) to search the 1901 and 1911 census to see if John, Margaret, or any of their children were enumerated in those enumerations in Ireland, but did not find them. I didn’t think that everyone in the family had died between the birth of Joseph in 1872 and the 1901 census. The only thing that seemed to make sense was that the family had left Ireland

I have subscription to Ancestry.com and looked for the family there and found they did leave Ireland for Australia. I found the immigration/ships’ passenger list indexes for each member of the family at Ancestry’s collection, “Queensland, Australia, Immigration Indexes, 1848-1972.” The family includes 30 year old John Meharg, 25 year old Margaret Meharg, 3 year old Samuel Maharg, and infant James Maharg. The family arrived in Queensland, Australia, as assisted immigrants, on board the ship Great Britain on 1 January 1874. I can only imagine the long and arduous journey this must have been from Ireland with young children along.

The indexes for each family member are below:

Queensland, Australia, Immigration Indexes, 1848-1972

Name: John Meharg
Age: 30
Birth Year: abt 1844
Arrival Date: 1 Jan 1874
Arrival Place: Queensland, Australia
Ship: Great Britain
Title: Assisted Immigration 1848 to 1912
Page Number: 547
QSA Item: 18476
Microfilm: Z1958
Microfilm 2: M1697,,,,

Name: Margaret Meharg
Age: 25
Birth Year: abt 1849
Arrival Date: 1 Jan 1874
Arrival Place: Queensland, Australia
Ship: Great Britain
Title: Assisted Immigration 1848 to 1912
Page Number: 547
QSA Item: 18476
Microfilm: Z1958
Microfilm 2: M1697,,,,

Name: Samuel Meharg
Age: 3
Birth Year: abt 1871
Arrival Date: 1 Jan 1874
Arrival Place: Queensland, Australia
Ship: Great Britain
Title: Assisted Immigration 1848 to 1912
Page Number: 547
QSA Item: 18476
Microfilm: Z1958
Microfilm 2: M1697,,,,

Name: James Meharg
Age: Inf
Birth Year: abt 1874
Arrival Date: 1 Jan 1874
Arrival Place: Queensland, Australia
Ship: Great Britain
Title: Assisted Immigration 1848 to 1912
Page Number: 547
QSA Item: 18476
Microfilm: Z1958
Microfilm 2: M1697,,,,

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Web: Queensland, Australia, Immigration Indexes, 1848-1972 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
____

I didn’t find a birth record for James at the irishgenealogy.ie website. You’ll also see in the indexes above that John and Margaret’s son Joseph, who was born in 1872, is not recorded as a passenger on the ship Great Britain. I looked for, but didn’t find a death record for Joseph in Ireland either. But as you’ll see later, Joseph did make it to Queensland.

Julie, contact the Queensland State Archives to see if you are interested in obtaining a copy of the original ship’s passenger list for the Meharg family on the ship Great Britain. The archives homepage can be found at: https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/arts/heritage/archives

You can read a description about sailing to Australia at the museumsvictoria.com.au website link at:
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/resources/journeys-to-…

I next uncovered the following 4 Australia birth indexes at Ancestry.com for children of John Maharg and Margaret “Carnehan:”

Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922

Name: Eliza Maharg
Birth Date: 15 Nov 1878
Birth Place: Queensland
Registration Year: 1879
Registration Place: Queensland, Australia
Father: John Maharg
Mother: Margaret Carnehan
Page Number: 10086
Registration Number: 005367

Name: William Maharg
Birth Date: 15 Nov 1880
Birth Place: Queensland
Registration Year: 1880
Registration Place: Queensland, Australia
Father: John Maharg
Mother: Margaret Carnehan
Page Number: 9080
Registration Number: 005729

Name: John Maharg
Birth Date: 9 Dec 1882
Birth Place: Queensland
Registration Year: 1883
Registration Place: Queensland, Australia
Father: John Maharg
Mother: Margaret Carnehan
Page Number: 9080
Registration Number: 007193

Name: Thomas Maharg
Birth Date: 26 Oct 1886
Birth Place: Queensland
Registration Year: 1886
Registration Place: Queensland, Australia
Father: John Maharg
Mother: Margaret Carnehan
Page Number: 9080
Registration Number: 009112

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
____

John and Margaret may have had a child or two between the time they arrived in Queensland in 1874 and the birth of Eliza in 1878, but I didn’t uncover Queensland birth indexes or birth records for Maharg (and variant spellings of the Maharg/Carnehan surnames) before the birth of Eliza in 1878.

Below is the Australia death index for John “Moharg,” who died in Queensland on 22 June 1905. The index was discovered at Ancestry.com:

Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985

Name: John Moharg
Death Date: 22 Jun 1905
Death Place: Queensland
Registration Year: 1905
Registration Place: Queensland
Registration Number: 003605
Page Number: 18104

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
____

Next is the 22 September 1923 death index for John’s wife Margaret Meharg. This index also comes from Ancestry.com:

Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985

Name: Margaret Meharg
Death Date: 22 Sep 1923
Death Place: Queensland
Father's name: John Meharg
Mother's name: Margaret Carnhan
Registration Year: 1923
Registration Place: Queensland
Registration Number: 004610
Page Number: 1108

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
____

At the Find A Grave website I found information about the deaths of John and Margaret Meharg and 8 of their children. Seven of the Meharg family members are buried in the Stanthorpe Cemetery, Stanthorpe, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia.

The graves for John and Margaret are not marked, but the graves of their 7 children in the Stanthorpe cemetery are. These children are:

Samuel Meharg, 1871–1950
Joseph Meharg, 1872–1925
Margaret Hawke, 1877–1940
Elizabeth Eliza Meharg Thompson, 1878–1960
William Meharg, 1880–1943
John Meharg, 1882–1957
James Meharg, 1884–1947
____

See: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190092830/john-meharg

The Find A Grave website also shows that John and Margaret’s son Thomas Meharg is buried in St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church Cemetery, Prospect, Blacktown City, New South Wales, Australia. He was born in 1886 and died in 1948: Thomas Meharg, 1886–1948

The following accompanies the Find A Grave entry for Thomas Meharg:

“Thomas Meharg was born on 26 Oct 1886 in Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia as the ninth child of John Meharg and Margaret Kernagharn. He had eight siblings, namely: Samuel, Joseph, Agnes, Margaret, Elizabeth "Eliza", William, John, and James. He died on 02 Nov 1948 in Granville, New South Wales, Australia. When he was 23, he married Rebecca Jane Colley,daughter of Joseph Edward Colley and Rebecca Thompson, on 22 Jun 1910 in Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia.”
____

The above description notes that Thomas had a sister named Agnes. I did not find a birth or death record for her. It’s possible I may have missed finding her birth and death indexes. See Thomas’s entry at Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198305638/thomas-meharg

While I didn’t find a birth index for Agnes Meharg, I did uncover a marriage index for an Agnes Meharg showing that she married Patrick Thomas Caton in Queensland on 18 February 1907. The marriage index comes from Ancestry.com’s, Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950:

Name: Agnes Meharg
Spouse Name: Patrick Thomas Caton
Marriage Date: 18 Feb 1907
Marriage Place: Queensland
Registration Place: Queensland
Registration Year: 1907
Registration Number: 002716
Page Number: 17658

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
____

A link from the marriage index at Ancestry.com shows that Agnes Caton died in Queensland on 18 September 1948. Her parents are recorded as John Meharg and Margaret “Kahern,” which of course would be Kernaghan:

Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985

Name: Agnes Caton
Death Date: 18 Sep 1948
Death Place: Queensland
Father's name: John Meharg
Mother's name: Margaret Kahern
Registration Year: 1948
Registration Place: Queensland
Registration Number: 003761
Page Number: 353

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
____

The Find A Grave Memorial shows that Agnes is buried in the Stanthorpe Cemetery, Stanthorpe, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. See: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184790895

There are three attachments with this reply. They are:

Meharig and Kernahan 1870 marriage
Samuel Maharg 1871 birth
Joseph Meherg 1872 birth
____

Julie, this has been a very interesting journey from County Down to Queensland, Australia, and I hope this information about Margaret Kernaghan/Carnehan is the information you’ve been looking for. If I don’t have the correct Margaret, that’s alright too. This research was a great way to keep busy during all this downtime because of the Cornavirus, while it also gave me a chance to explore, after several years, Australia genealogy data collections at Ancestry.com.

Please don’t hesitate to write with any questions. Thank you again for responding.

With Very Best Wishes,

Dave

WOW!!

Thank you once again Dave.  And I believe it is only good manners to respond.  I, too, have found that in a number of cases of Genealogy Site postings for information and DNA matches.

I have posted this information into my Legacy Family Tree File for Margaret & John.

Due to the fact that I am laid up with an injury to my ankle, that worsens if I walk on it - so have to keep it elevated, I am only using my laptop, whereas I usually have a second monitor on which to put various documents at once, so I will have an extra good look at all this when I can do that again.

I notice how Margaret's surname is spelt quite differently on different documents, due to the fact that she was obviously illiterate as her marriage certificate shows with her Mark = X.  I would be thinking it could also come from whoever does the registering of documents by how they think something is spelt.

I also note that John's name had been spelt "Meharig" whereas all spelling here in Australia in our family line has been spelt "Meharg"  I also know that that those other spellings happen also - i.e. Meherg, Maharg etc.  There were a few stories about John Meharg, and why he might also have different spellings, but of course, once again it comes down to accents, literacy etc.

In perusing the information, I am so grateful for this trouble you have gone to to find all this out.  There is so much for me to follow up (whilst attempting to get other projects finished - typical of myself - always into a number of projects at once), but will look forward to that chapter when I finish the story on Annie Ellen Hutchinson (husband's grandmother).

Once again, many, many thanks.

Kindest regards,

Julie

Julie,

The idea of a single or correct spelling for a surname or a place name in Ireland is very much a recent phenomenon designed to meet the needs of modern officialdom. Before that there was no consistency. Names were spelled phonetically and each variation was down to the whim of the particular person recording the information. You will often see the spelling change as the records go back. This rarely indicates a deliberate decision to alter the name, nor even a mistake. Not everyone was literate, but even when they were, exact and consistent spelling simply wasn’t something they bothered about. In addition to varying the actual spelling, O’ or Mac prefixes were optional and were often omitted.

Here are 2 examples of spelling varying within the same family in the same census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Sharvogues/Drumsough/920148/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Upper_Glenarm/Carncastle/Four_Score_Acre/5/

Expect the spelling to vary. It was the norm.

The Meharg surname is interesting. The academics regard it as Scottish, and a modernized version of MacElhargy or MacIlhagga. Some Mehargs however believe they are descended from Border Reivers – a troublesome lot who inhabited the Scottish borders where they were famous for robbing travellers, stealing cattle and fighting with each other. Many of them were moved to Ireland in the early 1600s as part of the Kings strategy to deal with the Reivers and to get new settlers into Ireland. So he was able to kill two birds with one stone by shifting tens of thousands of them across to Ireland. That’s undisputed history. Some Mehargs believe they are descended from Grahams (thousands of whom were sent to Ireland from the Scottish Borders) and who, in protest, reversed the spelling of their surname. So Graham became Meharg.  You’ll need to make your own mind up about it, though one way or the other it’s likely that the Mehargs did originate in Scotland.

https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=meharg

You’re welcome Julie, and many thanks again for your quick reply.

I hope you ankle is on the mend enough for you to get around once this dreaded virus has subsided. I think people around the world are starting to get cabin fever from having to curtail their visits to town and seeing relatives, and just generally going off and enjoying themselves. It’s good that you have found projects to keep busy with.

Last week when I was researching the Meharg clan I came across much the same information that Elwyn did, namely that these were border ruffians, thieves, and horse stealers, and that once they were sent to Ireland from Scotland, they reversed the spelling of their name from Graham to Maharig/Maharg/Meherg, etc. I didn’t know how true this story was. I was glad to read the information that Elwyn kindly provided. He is a very knowledgeable Irish genealogist and I enjoy reading his many replies a great deal. He is prolific with helping people with their Irish family history, and I think Ireland XO is very lucky to have him on board.

I wish you much success with your research Julie and with your ankle. Hopefully you’ll have full use of the ankle soon.

Please don’t hesitate to write with any questions you may have with your further research.

With Very Best Wishes,

Dave

Thank you Elwyn & Dave,

So the family stories could be absolutely true.  Many thanks.  After I finish my project on Annie Ellen Hutchinson, I will definitely be putting that information into the Meharg/Kernaghan file.

With much appreciation,

Julie

PS  Forgot to add that I did have some of the other information about the family in Australia, but confirming it with other verifications never goes astray.  Some of us in the Thompson family (my maiden name) are really fascinated with the Meharg family, so all is much appreciated.  Julie

You're welcome Julie.

Dave

I have been watching this research with great interest.  Not because it is a family I am connected to but I have a great grandmother born in Antrim who went to Australia and married a Hutchinson. Any help I could get with my brick wall would be most appreciated.

I am trying to trace my great grandmother Rebecca Elizabeth White Brownlow who was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  I have a birth record of 23 August 1872 Belfast No. 6 Ant Ireland.  Father Joseph Brownlaw and mother Rebecca White. Film 255856.  She came to Australia aged 15/16 around 1888 and married an Englishman John Thomas Hutchinson in Brisbane on 7 Aug 1889.  The marriage records her as Rebecca White Brownlow. They had 3 children Ponsonby, Frances May and John Thomas.  Rebecca lived in Brisbane for 12 years.  Her husband died 5 May 1898 in Brisbane.

She worked as a maid on ships to support her family.  I do not know where her children were at that time.  

She met her 2nd husband, Thomas George Ginger on the ship, he was the butcher.  They married in 1902 in Victoria most likely  Melbourne.  Thomas known as George was a widower and had 2 sons of his own.

Rebecca died on 11 March, 1960 in the Harcourt Private Hospital, Hawthorn, aged 86.

In the record of her daughter's birth she is Rebecca Elizabeth White Hutchinson.  Other records have her father as George Brownlow.  I believe that George Brownlow and Joseph Brownlaw are the same.  Any help I may be able to get with developing this information further would be most appreciated.

There is a birth for Rebecca Elizabeth Brownlaw on 23.8.1872 at 12 Walnut Place, Belfast. Parents Joseph Brownlaw (sailor) and Rebecca White. See:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1872/03239/2186904.pdf

I searched for possible siblings but did not find any in Ireland. Nor did I find the parents marriage In Ireland, Scotland or England. No sign of them in the 1901 Irish census either.

The family were gone from Walnut Place by the 1877 street directory:

https://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/wyzcomplete1877.htm

The father’s occupation of sailor raises the possibility that he might not be a native of Ireland.  Hopefully Dave will be more successful in tracing the family for you? (He likes a challenge).

Rebecca was only 16 when she emigrated. Perhaps the whole family went to Australia?

Thanks Elwyn for the very quick reply.  

It is great to have a location for the family and an occupation for her father.

I found a record that I have not been able to find again of a George Brownlow who was a sailor, so it all ties in at this stage, even that Rebecca went to sea to earn a living after the death of her husband.

I had the same lack of success on the marriage of her parents and the census.  The census was worth a try but unlikely.

I guess it is possible that her parents were not married and that Joseph/George was only temporarily in Belfast.  My great grandmother would have been horrified if that was the case, she was very prime and proper.

I like your idea that her father may not have been Irish, especially if his had the name George as well as Joseph.

So far, I have not found any other family members in Australia but that could change.

thanks once again, Jan

Many thanks for your assistance.  I will keep my fingers crossed that Dave may be able to work his magic.

Jan,

Rebecca’s birth certificate indicates her parents were  married, or at least her mother (the informant) said they were married. If they were not married the word “formerly” would be deleted and there would be no father’s name unless he was present and confirmed paternity. So either they were married or Rebecca (the mother) lied about it.

Thanks for that Elwyn,  So I will assume unless it turns out otherwise that they were married.  It is not of great consequence from a genealogical point of view it is still an inherited blood line.

Hello Jan and Elwyn,

I found a civil registration birth index for Rebecca Elizabeth “Brownlaw,” at the free FamilySearch website. The index ostensibly is based on the original birth record which Elwyn so kindly provided through the irishgenealogy.ie website. But, the birth index from FamilySearch has the additional information that the “Event Place” was not only Belfast, but also the Transvaal, South Africa. Nowhere in Rebecca’s original birth record is Transvaal, South Africa recorded, as you know.

See the index below:

Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913
Name: Rebecca Elizabeth Brownlaw
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 23 Aug 1872
Event Place: Belfast, Belfast, Transvaal, South Africa
Event Place (Original): Belfast, Belfast
Gender: Female
Father's Name: Joseph Brownlaw
Mother's Name: Rebecca White Brownlaw

Document Information:
District Belfast
GS Film Number 000255856
Digital Folder Number 007720159
Image Number 00254

Citing this Collection
"Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913." Database with images. FamilySearch. https://FamilySearch.org : 28 April 2020. General Register Office, Southern Ireland.
____

Jan, in your message to Ireland Reaching Out you had mentioned Film Number 255856. This is actually the same GS film number in the above index, though the index number is prefaced by triple 000. The initials “GS” before the film number stand for Genealogical Society (of Utah). The headquarters for the Family History Library are situated in Salt Lake City, USA.

This film is available at Family History Centers, or at larger affiliate public libraries. When this plaque subsides, see if your local library can order films from the Family History Centre, to see if the information on the film mentions the Transvaal in South Africa.

For the locations of Family History Center and FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries in Australia go to the following link: https://www.familysearch.org/help/fhcenters/locations/centerlocator?c=1…

There is a charge to order microfilms from the Family History Centers or affiliate libraries, but I don’t believe the charge is too dear. I haven’t ordered films from the Family History Centre in years since a great deal of Irish genealogical information is online.

Rebecca’s birth record notes that her father was a “Sailor,” but does not elaborate if her father was in the Royal Navy, or a merchant seaman.

The subscription Find My Past (FMP) website has a collection called, “Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1835-1857.”

Indexes at the site are free to search, but to obtain additional information you would have to purchase one of the subscription packages.

I did find two indexes that for Joseph Brownlow at the FMP collection. See these indexes below:

Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1835-1857

First name(s) Last name Birth year Birth county/country Series

Joseph Brownlow — — BT114
Joseph Brownlow 1832 — BT116
____

The second index above shows that Joseph Brownlow was born in 1832. If he is Rebecca’s father, he would have been 40 years old when she was born at 1872.

I don’t know if this Joseph Brownlow was Rebecca’s father, and Rebecca White’s husband. The full record from the Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1835-1857 collection may give you more information about him.

For FMP subscription information go to: https://www.findmypast.com/subscribe

FMP also has British naval records. I searched the indexes for Joseph Brownlow in the navy records, but did not find one.

I also went to the National Archives for Great Britain, located at Kew, Richmond, Surrey (near London) and searched indexes for Joseph Brownlow in the collection called, “Royal Navy ratings’ service records 1853-1928,” but did not find an entry for Joseph Brownlow. See the National Archive link at: https://is.gd/9MxqhU

Jan, have you ever found any information in your inherited Brownlow blood line that Joseph or a member of his family had ever lived in, or traveled to South Africa?

Kind regards,

Hi Dave and Elwyn,

How exciting.  I do not have any information on Joseph/George Brownlaw/Brownlow apart from what is on the marriage and death certificates of his daughter, so no mention of South Africa.

I am confused by the entry of Belfast and Transvaal South Africa.  Does this mean that the record is in Belfast and is the place of origin while the birth took place in South Africa?

However, this might explain why he cannot be found in the UK, the same with the marriage.

I have a subscription to Find My Past so will go looking there for any record of him under the various names.

It makes me think that maybe she might have sailed to Australia in 1888 working on the ship, and that he may have been a sailor on aboard as well.  She was 16 when she arrived so possible if there were occupations for women on board at the time.  All very remote but sometimes those extreme ideas can give me a clue.

Many thanks 

Keep safe and well,

Jan

I wanted to commend you Dave for all your hard work. It is inspiring. I may go back and tackle my brick walls again. So often we are at a loss not knowing where to look let alone what to be looking for. We go in circles until we are so wound up we can't find any paths. When we come across people like you and Elwyn it is truly a blessing but when I do can't be found by those with more experience than us it can be disheartening and slow us down. I hope that I am always gracious as I try to share what little I know. This site has so many amazing volunteers. 

Hello Jan,

I too am confused by the reference to the Transvaal location in Rebecca’s birth certificate. That’s why when your local Family History Center or affiliate library opens, you may want to consider ordering film number 255856 from which that index was transcribed. But, there is no guarantee that the birth record on the film will note the Transvaal, South Africa location.

The country of Northern Ireland did not exist until 1922. Birth, marriage, and death records had been kept in Dublin, but according to information from the irish-genealogy-toolkit.com website, and I quote:

“Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, a new General Register Office was set up in Belfast to administer a Northern Ireland civil registration system covering just the six counties. It's official name is the General Register Office of Northern Ireland, and it is widely referred to as "GRONI". While the General Register Office (GRO) in Dublin retained the historical civil registration records for the six counties, a complete set of copies was sent to Belfast.”
____

I went to the GRONI website and ordered Rebecca’s 1872 birth record, and found there is no difference in the birth information itself. The only difference is the birth record is in a different handwriting, as it would have been copied by a GRO representative from the original and then sent to GRONI officials in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Unfortunately, GRONI does not allow their records to be copied, or copied as a screen shot, downloaded or printed. The following is the prompt you get from GRONI if you try to copy or download the image:

“geni.nidirect.gov.uk says
GRONI prohibits the customer from printing images, downloading images, taking screen shots of images.”
____

That’s unfortunate as I had wanted to send the GRONI copy of Rebecca’s birth to you as an attachment. The closest I can come is to show you the GRONI transcription details of the birth I received prior to ordering a copy of Rebecca’s birth record. See the transcription below:

Registration details

Registration number: U/1872/52/1007/14/488
Registration district: Belfast(pre-1973 Q4)
Registration sub-district: Belfast Urban 6

Child details
Surname of child: Brownlaw
Forename(s) of child: Rebecca Elizabeth
Date of birth: 23rd August 1872
Sex of child: Female
District of birth: Belfast(pre-1973 Q4)

Mother details
Forename and surname of mother: Rebecca Brownlaw
Mother's maiden surname: White

Father/2nd female parent details
Forename and surname of father/2nd female parent: Joseph Brownlaw

Source Information GRONI. https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk/
____

If the notation for Transvaal, South Africa is not part of Rebecca’s birth record on microfilm number 255856, then I don’t know how that South Africa notation became part of the birth index from the FamilySearch website.

Also Jan, if you find any additional information about Joseph Brownlow/Brownlaw on the Find My Past website, please let me know.

All the Best,

Dave

Hello Kimberly,

Many thanks for the very kind words. They are very much appreciated. Your comments are especially valued when so many people looking for information about their ancestors, do not bother to reply at all.

Again, thank you Kimberly.

Dave

Thanks Dave,  I seems to get more questions that answers with Nan Ginger as I knew her.  I had planned a trip to the Family Search Centre but now it is on hold. Maybe next year!!  Our State and local libraries are on line at present so this may give me a  clue.  I will be back to you either way on any findings.

Thank you Jane,

Dave

Jan R,

Regarding the place of birth being both Belfast & Transvaal, I suspect the Transvaal is simply a mistake.  I have seen some odd bits of information on LDS records before, possibly due to the person compiling it making a mistake. I think the birth was in Belfast as the certificate on irishgenealogy indicates. It records the place of birth as “12 Walnut Place. Belfast.”  There is a separate set of records for overseas births of UK citizens but this is very much a birth in the UK.

I’d be inclined to think Joseph was in the merchant navy rather than the Royal Navy. Where the person was serving in the RN it usually says that on birth, marriage and death certificates, often giving the person's rank eg “Leading Seaman RN” or something like that.

Thanks Elwyn,  Local knowledge is gold. I have been searching shipping records for Joseph, his daughter Rebecca and her 2nd husband Thomas George Ginger with not results.  Most frustrating.  Most of my knowledge has been gleaned from my father many years ago.  I have proved most of it but of course he never knew Joseph.  I think I need to hone my reserach skills. It is mother's day here in Australia today but of course we are still in lockdown so very quiet.  A good time to reserach. So I will record Joseph as most likely being in the merchant navy.