George Church family from Derry

Hi Jon,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately it may be difficult to find more information about George and family without a more specific location in Derry. 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.

Also, in addition to this, 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. As the Church of Ireland was the official church of the country most records that do survive from the period are from these registers. For information on Church of Ireland registers check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. 

You could also try searching for their marriage record at https://familysearch.org/ . This is a huge database of genealogical records that have been collected by the Church of the Latter Day Saints and it includes marriage registers in Ireland in the pre-1871 period. If you can find their marriage record it will give you a parish name.

You could also check the Tithe Applotment Books for some record of them. This are land records compiled between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. You can search these here:

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

Have you tired looking into their immigration records for more information (and possibly even an exact place of origin)? For information on immigration records in Canada check the National Library and Archives at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html

Have you checked the 1901/1911 census records in Ireland for any family that may still have been in the area at the time? You can search these here:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Some other websites which 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

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Genealogy Link: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/derry/index.html

Alternatively, you could contact Derry Genealogy Centre for assistance-a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:

Derry Genealogy Centre,

Harbour Museum,

Harbour Square,

Derry,

BT48 6AF.

Phone: +44 28 71377331    Email: genealogy@derrycity.gov.uk

I hope that this is helps. Best of luck with your research.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support