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Hi,

My Great Grandfather is the above gentleman, George Atkinson,

and I have no idea of his ancestery could you please help?

I do have some information listed below:

- born Nov 12, 1825 in Donegal, Ireland - died Feb. 16, 1907 in Caledon twp. Ontario

- immigrated to Canada when he was 17 years old, maybe in 1841 or 1842 with his mother and at least 2 sisters. The mothers maiden name was Ann Maxwell  (1784-1866) and sisters Ann, (1821-1909)  Sarah, (1813-1866). All buried at Caledon, Ont..

George Atkinson married Jane Glassford in Caledon Ont. on Jan. 25, 1854. and had 10 chilren.Thomas Clive, William H., George Junior, Charles, George Max, John Alex, Sarah Jane, Elizabeth, John Samual, Frederick George, all born on his Caledon Ont. farm.

Any information would be greatly appreciated !

John Atkinson - grandson of Charles

John Alexander Atkinson

Thursday 6th Nov 2014, 01:42AM

Message Board Replies

  • Statutory registration of births didn?t start in Ireland till 1864. Prior to that you need to rely on church records. To do that you really need to have some idea of where in Co Donegal your ancestors came from, plus their exact denomination.

    Looking at the 1901 census for Donegal, there were 36 people named Atkinson. A mix of Presbyterians and Church of Ireland, across the county. Maxwell is more common with 140 in the county, again spread across it. They were mostly Church of Ireland, though a were few RC.

    Not all the church records from the 1820s survive. (Many church of Ireland records were lost in the 1922 fire in Dublin) but about 50% do still exist.  Some of the church records are on-line on sites like rootsireland, but a lot are not on-line. If you cannot narrow the search to a location, but do know the denomination, all I can suggest is you search through the surviving records to try and find the family. (There?s 52 parishes in Co Donegal, so that will take a little time). Copies of most of the surviving church records for Co. Donegal ? for nearly all denominations - are kept in PRONI, the public record office, in Belfast. A personal visit is required to access them though).

    Elwyn

    Ahoghill Antrim

    Thursday 6th Nov 2014, 09:56AM

  • Elwyn
    George Atkinson, was an Anglican when first in Ontario but changed to Presbyterian later.
    Thanks
    John Atkinson

    John Alexander Atkinson

    Sunday 16th Nov 2014, 08:51PM

  • John we may be related.  I have a Stewart Atkinson with a wife Letitia Maxwell. My gg grandparents.  The Atkinson line at times were in Donegal but mainly were in Lismoyle Londonderry.  I cannot find Stewart's birth but Letitia died in 1889 aged 89 giving her a birth year c. 1806.   I have a dna connection to a James Maxwell with a wife Margaret Ryan and he is born 1791 with a daughter Ann 1825-1904.  This Ann Maxwell went to Ottawa Quebec and married a John Drennan Stevenson in 1855.  Have you had your dna done?

    Your George could well be a cousin to my mob.

    I am Robyn Atkinson Debnam and I live in Australia.  If you are still around and would like to make contact I am at robyndeb27@telstra.com

    Kind regards

    Robyn Debnam

    Robyn

    Saturday 11th Jan 2020, 06:25AM

  • Robyn Atkinson Debnam,

    I just received your interesting message and will reply shortly.

    John Atkinson

    John Alexander Atkinson

    Sunday 12th Jan 2020, 08:37PM

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