David Kerr and Margaret Hyndman are my ggg grandparents and have left a rich and amazing Canadian heritage. They travelled by famine ship arriving in January of 1849, we think in Quebec, and don't know which Port or ship they may have sailed from. David, in a newspaper interview, said they came from Donegal and I'm interested in tracing their Irish history. A George Hyndman settled near them in Ontario and then in Neepawa, Manitoba and this may have been her father. David's brother, Andrew, also stayed with them during their initial Ontario settlement and then on to Manitoba, David and Andrew marrying sisters Margaret and Martha, respectively, from the Hyndman family. We believe they were married before leaving for Canada and so would likely have lived near each other. I would love to know which Parish they've come from to delve deeper into the mystery of their past. They were Weslayan Methodists per the 1851 Canada Census, and they were all very young when they began their lives together. Could someone please help?
Kerr-Hyndman History
Sunday 13th Sep 2015, 04:43PMMessage Board Replies
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Statutory registration of marriages started in Ireland in April 1845. I have searched from that date to 1852 looking for the two Kerr-Hyndman marriages but cannot find them. That would suggest either they married before April 1845 or married outside Ireland.
I note that the family were Methodists in Canada in the 1851 census. Methodism took a long time to get established in Ireland (broadly because there wasn’t the same support for establishing it as a separate denomination, as was the case in England and elsewhere). Consequently most Methodists continued to use the Church of Ireland for baptisms and marriages for many years. It was the 1880s before most married in their own churches. So, if these 2 couples married in Ireland in the 1840s, it was probably a Church of Ireland ceremony.
Possibly just a coincidence but I did note Hugh Kerr married Agnes Hyndman on 1.9.1849 in Antrim town. You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:
You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2 (sterling) to a view a certificate.
There aren't many Hyndman households in Donegal in Grffiths Valuation (mid 1850s). There are about 10 and they are all in Raphoe parish. Possibly therefore the area to concentrate on.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Sunday 13th Sep 2015, 05:16PM