Genealogy Chat

Travelling from Canada to the UK and Ireland for a month. While there I would like to see if I can find some records The first is a marriage of my great-grandparents Late last year rootgatherer helpfully posted the following information for me on the "Find Ancestors" board. I am hoping someone can tell me where i can find the original documents.

Groom's Name: Edward John Bennett
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Anne Cleary
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 18 Sep 1859
Marriage Place: Ballysax, Kild, Ireland
Groom's Father's Name: James Bennett
Groom's Mother's Name:
Bride's Father's Name: John Cleary
Bride's Mother's Name:
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status: Single
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status: Single
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M70220-8
System Origin: Ireland-EASy
Source Film Number: 101409
Reference Number: 323

Also, on the Rootsireland web site I found the following entry:
Source: Civil Death
Surname: Bennett
First Name: Annie
Year: 1898
County: Co. Antrim

I know I can pay to see more details of this entry on the internet but I would like to do some research that gets me away from the computer.

Thanks.

Does the Rootsireland website give information as to where the original documents are kept?

Their web site says that they are a coordinating body for local genealogy centres - does anyone know where Antrim records are kept? Of course I can also just pay the 5 Euros to see whatever additional info is available online but what fun would that be when I can spend thousands to look in person.

Hi, the death registration from Co Antrim will be in the Northern Ireland indexes held at the General Register Office Northern Ireland ("GRONI"), in Belfast. Have a scroll down this page

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/information-and-services/leisure-home-and-community/history-heritage-and-museums/archive-for-family-and-local-history.htm

for descriptions of types of access to the records available to visitors to GRONI - I'd contact them before you go, to make the most of your time there.

The parish marriage entry will have been filmed by the Church of Latter Day Saints based in Utah. Irish Ancestors suggests that Ballysax in County Kildare had four Roman Catholic churches and four Church of Ireland churches, so it is not clear from the entry you posted which church records would have been filmed and indexed - you need to look in more detail on the Mormon library site.

familysearch.org has a catalog tab that allows a search by place name. Putting in Ballysax comes up with just two Catholic church records, both filmed in 1973 at the National Library of Ireland (in Dublin).

However, going to the search tab and searching by the batch number above (M70220-8), the records from that batch cover a much wider area and time period. The site allows you to narrow the search by "collection" and doing this narrows it only to "Ireland marriages, 1619 to 1898".

Going back to the catalog tab, searching instead by the film number given above (101409) takes you to "Marriage records 1845 to 1870" from the General Register Office. Their website is here:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm and gives details of address, contact details, opening times etc. The webpage suggests that since the marriage was in 1859 (i.e. before 1864), that it would have been a non-Catholic marriage.

Hope this helps

Thanks Ivy - yes it was a non-Catholic marriage. Other documents from the late 1800's all say C of E for religion. I believe he was a British soldier stationed in Dublin or a least the family resided in Dublin while he was off soldiering somewere.

On the FS site, I picked catalog, then the old version, to do a film search of 101409:

Title Marriage records, 1845-1870, with indexes to marriages, 1845-1921, in the General Registry Office of Ireland
Authors Ireland. General Register Office (Main Author)
Ireland. Custom House (Repository)
Ireland. General Register Office (Repository)
Notes Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes are available online, click here.
Microfilm of original records in Custom House, Dublin.

Clicking on the view film notes button gets:
Note Location Film
Marriages v. 8 1859 FHL BRITISH Film 101409



So both these entries are from the civil indices. Both Dublin/Roscommon and Belfast hold copies for NI (e.g., Antrim) for pre-partition events. Only Dublin/Roscommon holds Kildare records.

If I were you, I'ld get images of the GROI copy before I left. One can purchase certs (or cheaper still, the uncertified images of the rego) via:
http://www.groireland.ie/

They would say where the marr and death occurred - one could make a guess for the marr, but there's liable to be more than one C of I church in the rego district, and it would be nice to know for sure. (Great Ballysax is just outside Curragh Camp, 5km away from Ballysax.) Once I knew which church, I would check which archive held their old parish registers - this copy would be the one your ancestors actually signed. And also where your Annie died - you could guess which church likely looked after the burial service, and check their burial rego in the archive. You could also inquire before hand (from the town/county council) what cemeteries were in the area, and maybe contact them before hand to see if they've got her grave.

Following up on mgnv's advice, this document


http://www.irishgenealogy.ietrip/Tracing%20your%20ancestors%20LR.pdf


describes the various record repositories, especially in Dublin, and advises

".........The National Archives in Bishop Street is situated within a five minute walk of the ancient St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is the ideal starting point because of its Genealogy Service. This service is provided free of charge to personal callers."

and

".........The Representative Church Body Library (RCBL) is the principal repository of archives and manuscripts of the Church of Ireland (the Anglican Church). It holds the registers of over 600 parishes from counties now in the Republic of Ireland as well as microfilm copies of many others. Note, however, that it does not hold all surviving C. of I. registers"

As you say Fred,

(especially if this baptism is connected to your family:
Maria Bennett baptised on 29 January 1868
Parish/Church/Congregation - PORTOBELLO BARRACKS
Area - DUBLIN (COI) ),

it does look as if he was in the Army - married near Curragh Camp in 1859 and perhaps living in Portobello barracks in 1868?

Have you also considered visiting the Kew archives in London to look for details of his army records?

However, this page:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/britisharmysoldierupto1913.htm

recommends that you hold the following information before searching the Kew records:

the name of the person
the regiment, rank, and date of discharge

Maria's baptism shows Edward as a corporal, but does not indicate the regiment.

FMP shows 8 individuals named Edward Bennett in the Army List in 1861, of which only one is a corporal (in 85th Foot, Bucks volunteers), but Maria's father might have been promoted to corporal after 1861?

Out of town today - alas no green beer but perhaps a good omen of our upcoming travels it was damp and foggy.

I continue to be amazed at the resourcefulness and helpfulness of the people that reply to me on these boards. Thanks Ivy and Malcolm, I'm like a kid with training wheels on his bike compared you you.

Maria was an older sister to my grandfather and was listed in the 1771 census as being born in Dublin. An older brother Henry was listed in the same census as being born in Curragh.

My grandfather George (also a soldier), born after Henry and Maria, was married in 1898 and on his marriage certificate he lists his father as John Edward Bennett deceased and a Sergeant in the Army Service Corps.

My grandfather's army file lists his mother Annie as next of kin living at 13 Windsor Terrace Dublin and then a line has been drawn through this and there is a notation in red "deceased". It also lists Henry and Maria and a younger brother Charles Albert but I have been unable to find any other reference to Charles.

Hi Fred,

FMP has Army birth, marriage and death registrations. Henry, Maria and George each have two listings in GRO Regimental Birth Indices Supplement (1761 to 1924) - presumably for the birth and the baptism, but there is no listing in that "Supplement" for either Charles or Albert.

However, there are other Army listings of birth registrations on FMP. There are a couple of Charles Bennett birth registrations in GRO Regimental Birth Indices (1761 to 1924), in 1872, one for Dragoon Guards in Aldershot, and one (place not given) for ASC (presume Army Service Corps), which perhaps may be the younger brother?

I have been able to track the eldest - Henry - as far as the 1911 census. Maria disappears after the 1871 census although the army file for George under "next of kin" indicates she lived with her older brother.

My grandfather died in 1920 when my father was 2 years old so this is a search without any family oral history to use as reference points.

Many thanks for all the guidance.