Richard Bouchier

Hello Seaspray,

I didn’t find the baptism for Richard Bouchier, but did uncover the baptism transcription for his brother Patrick, son of James Bouchier and Margaret Neil. Patrick was baptized in the Bruff Catholic Parish on 20 May 1809. The Parish of Bruff in the baptism transcription is also referred to as, “Bruff, Grange, and Gilnagra.”

First names in the baptism record are in Latin. Patrick’s name is spelled “Patricium.” His father is “Jacobus,” and mother “Margarita.”

Patrick’s baptism transcription comes from the Find My Past (FMP) website. To access the transcription you may first have to register for a free account. The transcription can be found at the following link: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F4769475

Attached to the baptism transcription is a link that will take you to a copy of the original Bruff Catholic Parish baptism record for Patrick Bouchier. Go to the link at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634942#page/14/mode/1up

There are two facing pages to the Bruff baptism register. Patrick’s baptism is the 3rd entry down from the top of the right-hand register page. No godparents are recorded in the baptism record.

You can enlarge the page by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.

I did not find the baptisms for any more children of James Bouchier and Margaret Neil.

The Bruff baptisms as well as marriages go back to 1808. I didn’t uncover the marriage for James Bouchier and Margaret Neil. They may have been married prior to 1808.

To see the availability of the Bruff Catholic Parish registers, and to view a map of the Bruff Catholic Parish and surrounding Catholic parishes in County Limerick, go to the National Library of Ireland website link at: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0870

Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

Hi Dave,
Thankyou so much for your wonderful information. You were very fast.
Richard's mother must have remarried at some time as in Sydney 1855, she is listed as Margaret Duffy.
Haven't located her arrival in Australia yet or her remarriage in Ireland or Australia.
Her son, Richard and partner Ann Jamison were charged with stealing from Margaret at Kurrajong NSW. Richard and Ann married soon after.
I will post a request for Ann Jamison's details as she is from Athlone, Ireland and born about 1832.
I will try to obtain the copies of records you have mentioned for the Bouchier family.
Have a wonderful day,
Kind Regards,
Katja

Hello Katja,

Many thanks for writing. It is very much appreciated.

With some further research I found that James Bouchier and Margaret Neil, parents of Patrick Bouchier, are probably not the same parents of your Richard Bouchier.

The reason I came to this conclusion is that I found a convict record that states Richard was Protestant, while Patrick Bouchier and his parents were Roman Catholic.

Your Richard may have belonged to the Church of Ireland. But unfortunately the Church of Ireland parish registers for Bruff, Limerick are not available until 1850, long after Richard was born.

The name of the convict record I found for Richard comes from a collection at Ancestry.com called, “New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842.”

I’ve attached the record to this reply. It must be a copy of the original as it is typed. The entry for Richard is the second to the last indent in the record. This is where I learned that Richard was Protestant and not Roman Catholic, and that he was transported for sheep stealing. His occupation in Limerick was “Errand boy.”

This means that Duffy may be the maiden name of his mother, and may not be her remarried name, though of course there is always the possibility that it is her remarried name.

Concerning Ann Jamison of Athlone:

In the 19th century Athlone was located in two counties, Westmeath and Roscommon, divided by the River Shannon. Today Athlone is fully in County Westmeath. See the Wikipedia article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlone

I did not find a Catholic baptism record for an Ann Jamison in Athlone, Westmeath or Athlone, Roscommon. She and her family may have belonged to the Church of Ireland.

In Westmeath, there were two Church of Ireland parishes located within the Civil Parish of St. Mary’s Athlone. One is St. Mary’s Church of Ireland, with baptism records available from 1768 to 1999 and marriage records from 1767 to 2008. The other is the Willbrook Church of Ireland, but this church only has baptism records for the years 1756 to 1783, and marriages only for the year 1775.

In Athlone, Roscommon, the Church of Ireland parish is called St. Peter’s, with baptisms that are only available from 1873 and marriages from 1845. If Ann and her family belonged to the Church of Ireland, and if Ann was born in Athlone, Roscommon, there will not be a baptism record for her in the St. Peter’s Church of Ireland records.

The information about the Athlone Church of Ireland registers in Westmeath and Roscommon, comes from the Anglican.org link at: https://is.gd/6ZqCd5

In any event, you would really have to know the names of her parents to pin down any baptism record that may exist for her. In addition, Church of Ireland baptisms traditionally did not include the maiden name of the child’s mother, though I have seen Church of Ireland baptisms where the mother’s maiden name is recorded.

If the baptism record does not include the maiden name of the child’s mother, you would have to find the marriage record for the parents, as this normally would record the full name of the bride.

Do you know if Ann Jamison was Protestant or Catholic?

To read a description of Athlone from the 1837 edition of Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, go to the Library Ireland link at: https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/A/Athlone-Roscommon.php

Concerning birth records, there will not be birth records for Richard Bouchier or Ann Jamison, as the Irish government did not keep birth records until the year 1864. This means that birth records will not be available for Richard or Ann at irishgenealogy.ie. This is a free site which also includes Catholic and Church of Ireland baptisms, marriages, and burials for select areas of Ireland, but not for Westmeath or Roscommon.

For information about Irish civil registration birth, marriage, and death records at irishgenealogy.ie, go to:
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/civil-records/help/what-civil-records-…

For information about Church records at the irishgenealogy.ie website go to: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/church-records/about/what-church-recor…

I wish I had more encouraging news about Richard Bouchier and Ann Jamison. If you do find anything new about them it will likely come from NSW records, rather than records from Ireland.

With Kind Regards Katja,

Dave

Hi Dave,
Thankyou so much for your amazing research.
I have Richard's convict record. Trove has a Probate mention of his death 20 July 1874...no nsw bdm record on index for his death. Ann Jamison remarried in the Catholic Church Wellington NSW 1875 to Robert Moore but parents not listed on this record.
Ann is listed as married to Richard at Windsor NSW in 1855....again no bdm index record...information from their daughter Sarah's birth record.
Ann was 30 when Sarah was born and Richard was 47.
Also, Sarah's death record lists her father as August Bouchier...interesting that Sarah's son was given names Augustus Richard Gianelli.
This is all I know of Richard and Ann.
Unfortunately records often seem to be missing.
Richard worked as a shepherd on Stations at Molong and Goonoo (near Wellington NSW).
Richard and Ann had three daughters and I am hoping one of the other two daughter's records may have more information.
If I learn anything new, I will let you know.
Records appear over time as well.
Have a great day,
Kind Regards,
Katja

You're welcome Katja. I really would appreciate any new information you may uncover in your research.

Thank you for writing.

Dave