Searching for James Anderson b. 1852

Someone who was in the Church of Ireland would regard themselves as protestant. The Church of Ireland is Episcopalian. Looking at the 1901 census for Co Tyrone there were 607 people named Anderson. 250 were Church of Ireland and 232 Presbyterian, so roughly equal.

Birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864 so you won?t find a birth certificate for James Anderson. You might find his baptism but to do that you need to know his exact denomination as well as his parish or townland. Copies of most surviving church records are held in PRONI, Belfast. In general they are not on-line and a personal visit is required to go through them. It could be quite a lengthy search if you have no further information on where within Tyrone the family came from.

One approach may be to search for the births of Mary & James Anderson, to Bella. Given that she was travelling with 2 young children, she might have been James? sister-in-law, possibly a widow. Possibly she too came from Tyrone.

There are two or three births in both Omagh and in Cookstown for Mary b c 1867 and James b 1869/70. You might want to consider getting those certs to see if the mother was (Isa)bella Anderson. That should then give you a husband?s name as well an address which would narrow your search considerably. You can order photocopies from GRO Roscommon for 4 euros each. http://www.groireland.ie/

You can search for the births on familysearch:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

Thank you so much for this guidance!  (even though the prospects aren't too promising)  I hadn't thought of following the trail of Bella and her children.  How did you find out about the births of possible Marys and Jameses in Omagh and Cookstown?

I am visiting Wales in September and had thought I might cross over to Ireland and spend a few days doing in-person research, possibly visiting each of the towns where I'd found James Andersons in Griffiths, to look at records of baptisms.  I don't know how much I'd be able to accomplish in just a few days, though -- especially since I don't know his denomination.  Maybe I can narrow that down over the summer by contacting other distant family members in the Boston area.

Annie,

I don?t know for certain that Bella?s children were born in Tyrone but since the family come from there it seems a fair possibility. I simply searched the Irish civil birth indexes on Familysearch. Being local, I know which registration towns are in Co Tyrone. I saw the births I have mentioned and wondered if they might be your family. I?d be inclined to order them now up to see if Bella is the mother of any of them. If so, then the search becomes much easier, as and when you come to Ireland.

Regarding making a local search, the places you have listed are not towns. They are parishes and cover several hundred square miles.  I am not quite sure what you would hope to find by visiting them at this stage, if you have no firm clues as to where the family originates. You could look at gravestones at the churches but beyond that I am not sure what other local information you could obtain. Anderson is a very common surname in Ulster and it?d be a lot of graveyards. You?ve listed 15 parishes (each of which may have more than one Church of Ireland church.) If you add in the Presbyterian churches (which don?t use the parish system) you are probably talking about another 20 churches to visit.

If you want to look at church baptism records, you can approach each church but that would be a lot of work. Or you can look at the copies held in PRONI, Belfast which is easier, and also free. (The Church of Ireland charges ?12 an hour if you want to go through parish records at the church. Presbyterians don?t charge as a rule, though a donation is often welcome). If you do plan to contact a church you need to do so well in advance as many records are not always kept at the church any more and arrangements need to be made to make them available. (I think you?ll find searching the copies at PRONI easier, quicker and cheaper).

Elwyn

Oh, dear.  Forgive my ignorance: I didn't realize those parishes were so large.  I was picturing them as towns, each with only one or two protestant churches.  I'll work online with PRONI as you suggested and see what church baptism records I can find instead.

Since I last wrote, I met a woman at the library where I work, and in just moments of searching on her Ancestry.com account she found several documents relating to my great-grandfather and the mysterious Bella Anderson (married, apparently, to Charles, who was already living in Boston).  She suggested getting a copy of my great-grandfather's American death certificate, which may list the town of his birth. 

I've also been searching the web for a second cousin in Boston whom I've never met.  I remember my Dad telling me that this cousin had done some digging for information about our common great-grandfather. So, I hope, I'll be able to narrow the search a bit from this end before visiting Ireland or posting again on this message board.

Many, many thanks for your generous response, Elwyn!  I feel so encouraged about doing this sleuthing and am really looking forward to visiting the place where my Dad's family came from. Coincidentally -- today would have been Dad's 96th birthday.  It feels somehow appropriate to be corresponding about his family today! 

-- Annie

Annie,

Glad to have been of some help.

Yes the areas you are interested in are quite big. Mostly rural agricultural areas with small towns and villages here and there.

As far as PRONI is concerned, though they have an on-line catalogue which tells you what they hold, the vast majority of the actual records ? including church baptism & marriage records ? are not on-line. You can see what churches records they hold from the catlogue, but the records themselves are on microfilm or paper and require a visit in person to search them.

Let me know if you need nay other help.

Elwyn

Bless your heart -- PRONI was confusing me.  I'll do some more homework from this end and, I hope, have more to work with soon.

- Annie