Looking for great granny

Hi there,

Well you do have a task ahead of you, but we won't let that stop us. There are a number of avenues you could start looking for information.

Have you checked for family documents such as bibles, letters, tickets? Or have you checked for family folklore for information? Sometimes other family members, particularly the older generation can have information you may not be aware of, so it is worth asking around.

Have you checked the UK National Archives for information on the London connection? You can access it here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ This could be a good place to start looking as it is the place where you have most clues. You might find census records or occupation records perhaps.

Do you know much about their emigration? Dates, the reason why they left, etc? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (e.g. Liverpool), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.

How do you know about the 1841 as the approx. year of birth for Catherine?

Do you know what type of labourer John was?

You can check for information about the frequency of the name in the mid-19th century and any other variant spellings of the name here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/

You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38). Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS).

The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. the tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.

It might be worth your while to take a look at this website also. You might find some connection to the Maher clan here: http://www.irishgathering.ie/html/maher.htm

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Many thanks for the info. Unfortunately all the older members of the family are no longer with us. I have Catherine's (but spelled Katherine) death certificate which gives her age as 74, fitting with her being six weeks when she was brought to this country.

She gives her place of birth as Kingsland on one of the census, (which is an area of London but I see is also a place in Ireland) and Ireland on another. She and her husband have a lodger, Morice (Morris, Maurice?) Griffin on two of the census and he also gives his place of birth as Kingsland on one and Ireland on the other.

Although Catherine was married in a C of E church, I can find no baptism records for any of the children although they all seemed to stay in the same area.

So many questions and nobody to ask any more. Why do we leave it so late to get interested in our roots.

Once again, many thanks for your interest.

Regards Barbara

Hi Barbara,

It's never too late to start looking! This is just the beginning of a journey so don't lose heart just yet!

When carrying out your research, don't forget to check variant spellings of names and placenames. Another thing to remember is that ages on documents are not always very accurate. In fact they can out by as much as 5 or even 10 years sometimes.

You are right in thinkin that there is a KIngsland in Ireland. It is situated in Roscommon. You can post your message on the parish profile page here: http://www.irelandxo.com/group/boyle-roscommon

Church of Ireland parish registers for the period up to 1870 are public records. Registers are available for about one third of the parishes, however many were destroyed in the Public Records Office in Dublin in 1922. Most are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. A list of all surviving registers is available in the National Archives. http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.

Hopefully somone living in the local community will see your message and be able to help you further.

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Many thanks for the email and info Sinead.

I think the best thing for me to do is leave this for the autumn/winter and then do some more digging at this end. Hopefully I can then come back to this with more information to go on than I have now.

Best regards Barbara