I have a scrap of paper indicating that John Fulton was born in the parish of Hillsborough near the town of Hillsborough when he enlisted in the 11th regiment of foot on 4 Aug 1812. I am guessing he was born in the 1790s.
From the death certificate of his daughter Elizabeth in Scotland her parents are listed as John Fulton and Elizabeth Guthrie.
Searches of the muster rolls of the 11th regiment of foot place John in the regiment from 1812 to 1817 when he was discharged without a pension at Chatham, Kent, England.
I would like to try and find when and where John was born if it was indeed Hillsborough, and if possible his marriage to Elizabeth Guthrie. Their daughter Elizabeth was born in Ireland some time between 1817 and 1822 based on Scottish census returns, but she does not appear with her parents or siblings. I would like to find her baptism and any siblings too.
Any help would be much appreciated.
jot99NZ
Monday 19th Aug 2013, 08:46AMMessage Board Replies
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To find John?s baptism, you need to know his denomination. Do you know that? Looking at the 1901 census for Co Down there are over 200 Fultons and they are a mix of Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and RC. So hard to say.
For the marriage, tradition was to marry in the bride?s church. So do you have any idea of her denomination, or where she came from? Again looking at the 1901 census for Co Down the majority of Guthries are Presbyterian but there are a few Church of Ireland too.
If you have no idea about the denominations, then I would start by searching the various church records for Hillsborough for John?s birth. Though some Co Down baptism records are on-line, not all are, and you will probably have to go to PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast to check every denomination for Hillsborough.
The problem you are going to encounter is that if the marriage or any of the 3 baptisms was Presbyterian, the relevant records may no longer exist. Hillsborough Presbyterian church has no baptisms earlier than 1833, and no marriages before 1845. Nearby at Annahilt Presbyterian church they do have baptisms from 1780 but marriages only from 1838. Hillsborough Church of Ireland does have baptism and marriage records for the years you want, so you might be ok if either was of that denomination. If either was RC then there don?t appear to be any records for the years in question.
If you don?t know where daughter Elizabeth was born, then all you can really do is hope it was Hillsborough and search for her baptism, starting with the assumption she is likely to be the same denomination as her father. (It?s worth checking all the Scottish censuses to see if her place of birth is ever given in more detail than just ?Ireland.? Sometimes you get a townland or parish.)
You can see what church records exists for Hillsborough on the PRONI website:
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/research_and_records_held/catalogues_guid…
There's a Margaret Fulton of Hillsborough mentioned on this useful Co Down website:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/
Ahoghill Antrim
Monday 19th Aug 2013, 09:30AM