I am trying to find information / relatives of the following
Thomas Stephens b. Cavan approx 1785 md. Margaret Scott in 1803 (b 1783; d. Melbourne 1873). They had the following children
1. John d. Feb 1814;
2. Betsey;
3. Richard b. 1808 and;
4. Thomas Jnr b. Kildrumferton in 1814. The sponsors for his baptism were Frederick Stephens (brother of Thomas) and Robert Magovran. Frederick married Mary Magovran.
Thomas (b. 1785) was convicted of passing forged notes and was transported to Australia aboard the "Pilot" in 1815. Thomas applied to have his family relocated to NSW but the application was denied (he later remarried).
The 1821 Census of Duffcastle/Crosserlough showed Margaret and Richard and Thomas living in House 19 at Duffcastle/Crosserlough, six houses up from Frederick and Mary.
Thomas Jnr married Catherine Bell in Cavan in 1838. In 1840 Thomas & Catherine emigrated to Australia (assisted immigrant scheme) on the Andromache in 1840 and settled in North Melbourne and then Kalkallo (Victoria).
Margaret was assisted (presumably sponsored by Thomas Jnr) out to Australia c. 1843. Margaret never remarried and died age 90 in 1873.
I am seeking anyinformation regarding the parents / siblings of Thomas b. 1785 and their descendants and any information regarding the parentage of Margaret Scott. I have been unable to find any information to date
Wednesday 1st May 2013, 10:42AM
Message Board Replies
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Hi,
Thank you very much for your message.You have done a very good job of your family history to date!
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information on Thomas and Margaret?s parents for two reasons:
Firstly you do not have a specific parish of origin for them. This is a problem as most Catholic records are still held at a local level so in order to know where to look for records you need to know where the event took place.
Secondly, the reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist. Civil registration did not become mandatory until 1864 so prior to this there was no standard for record keeping.
For example, using the Irish Times website, you can see that Catholic records for Crosserlough did not begin until:
1843:
There are a couple of places online where you could try searching however please note that these websites do not have complete collections:
www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.
www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.
It may be an idea to contact Cavan Genealogy for assistance or advice, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: cavangenealogy@eircom.net
In the meantime some other websites that you may find helpful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/cavan/index.html
Cavan Library: http://www.cavanlibrary.ie/Default.aspx?StructureID_str=35
Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Thursday 6th Jun 2013, 10:47AM -
Looking for relatives of Charles Scott and Eliza Wilson. Their son, Francis, born February 20, 1865, Arvaugh, Co. Cavan is my great grandfather. Their family was very large. They immigrated to the U.S. in 1870 and settled in St. Louis, my home city.
Interested in finding any relatives who still reside in Co. Cavan or other Irish counties.
I can be reached at johnlrooney@aol.com.
Thank you,
John Rooney
John Rooney
Tuesday 24th Sep 2013, 05:26PM