Brothers Joe and Thomas Pearson

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately it may be difficult to find out more information about your roots without a more specific place of origin for Joe and Thomas. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

Do you know anything else about their emigration? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure, so this may be a place to find more information-and perhaps even an exact place of origin. You may want to check the UK National Archives to see what records they have available. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

You could also check the ShipsList website as they may have some information about passanger lists to South Africa. Here is the link:

http://www.theshipslist.com/index.html

You could also use the surname search engine on the irishtimes website to see how many households were recorded with a specific surname during the mid 19th century in Ireland. To see the results for the surname Pearson follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?Surname=pearson&fuseaction=Go.

Do you have any other information on the family that you could share? What were Joe and Thomas's parents names? Did they have any siblings that remained in Ireland? What was their occupation? What was their religious denomination?  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