Genealogy Chat

'Jane' left Ireland with her family in 1839. She always told her children she was born in Tuam, Ireland. I've found reference to her surname in Ballinasloe, which is near Tuam, but not THAT close. If this is the same family, why would someone say they were born in one place, but records show another?....I've not seen actual documents yet - have only seen LDS submittals and information from Rootsweb, etc.

Ballinasloe doesn't show up on a 1:1,000,000 map, while Tuam does - but I'd have said Athlone was nearer and would fulfil the same criteria as Tuam. Was it a matter of where she was brought up? My g-g-father's PoB on successive censuses oscillated between Ilford and Maidenhead - opposite sides of London. I concluded that the enumerator varied the wording of the question between ''where are you from?'' and ''where were you born?''. He was born in Barkingside (approx Ilford) but brought up in Cookham near Maidenhead. Christine

Hi Christine, thank you. We always heard she was born in Tuam. Someone submitted information to the LDS regarding her family, stating Jane and her family were from Ballinasloe (which would be brillant news for me, as that line is well documented). I just don't want to get excited, only to find that someone made a mistake. Others on the internet mention the Wakefields living in Ballinasloe, actually on the estate between Aughrim and Ballinasloe, but I don't know if she is connected to this 'family. (I've written to several people and have not heard back yet.) PS She would have been 15 when she left Ireland.

It has to be said that the submitted info on LDS is only as good as the research behind it - and you have no way of knowing how reliable that is. Even the church registers are vulnerable to mistranscription, but some of the submitted trees are cloud cuckoo land material - basic arithmetic tells you they're wildly out. In your case, I'd be inclined to make sure I have a note of the submitted tree info - just in case it's right - but I wouldn't rely on it. Christine

Hi Christine. I will try to get in touch with the person - as I don't think there are any of Jane's descendants alive (besides my immediate family). I'm wondering who may have submitted it. Hopefully, at least one person will write back regarding the Wakefields. Actually, I gave information to someone a few years ago regarding an English ancestor, stating it had not been proven yet, and that information is on the LDS site! So I have firsthand knowledge that you can't believe everything you read. :) Thank you for your thoughts, Christine. Very much appreciated.