Galbraith

Jennrick,

If Susannah was born in 1862, then that’s before the start of statutory birth registration in Ireland (1864) so you won’t get a birth certificate for her. Prior to 1864 you need to search for baptism details. To do that you need to know her denomination. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church which, in this case, was Newtownards Church of Ireland. Unfortunately that church’s baptism records prior to 1884 were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin. So there’s probably no baptism record to find.

I see Robert Galbraith in Griffiths Valuation for Mill St, Newtownards in 1864. He had plot 71 which was a house. This might be his death in 1893, aged 63, in Newtownards workhouse. His wife had predeceased him so you could search through Newtownards deaths for his wife:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1893/05997/4706292.pdf

You would need to check the workhouse admission records in PRONI to see what address he had prior to admission, and if any next of kin were named.

Thanks so much Elwyn! I had hit a brick wall and couldn’t find anything on the Galbraiths. The death record was interesting. I had read about workhouses in Ireland and wondered if my family had ever been in one. It was sad to see that he had been. Thanks! 

Jennrick,

In the 1890s there was no free National Health Service such as Northern Ireland has today. So, in general, if you needed medical treatment, you had to pay for it. An exception was the workhouse. Almost every workhouse had a hospital attached, and if you received treatment there, it was free. So some people checked into the workhouse to get medical treatment.

If you look at the workhouse admission records (which, if they survive, are in PRONI in Belfast) you can see the circumstances in which someone was admitted.  If they were destitute and were being admitted for that reason, it will normally say admitted to workhouse on X date. But if they were in primarily for medical treatment, the admission record usually says “to the infirmary” on the day they arrived, which tells you that was why they were there. You were supposed to be destitute to be eligible for workhouse support and any related medical treatment, but I have seen numerous cases where people were poor but not totally destitute, and some level of discretion seems to have operated where they clearly needed medical attention. So it’s possible that Robert was admitted to the workhouse for health reasons, as much as anything.

Robert Galbraith was a widower and possibly lived alone. His death certificate indicates he suffered from paralysis. Nowadays Social Services would have stepped in to look after him but they didn’t exist in the 1890s. The workhouse was the fallback. Grim perhaps, but better than dying alone in your home unable to move.

Newtownards Workhouse later became Newtownards hospital and it’s still there today, albeit with some changes. See:

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Newtownards/

Thanks again Elwyn. Would family not step up to help their family members rather than them ending up in a Workhouse? 

I suppose the first question is were there any in the area? Do you know? The second might be just what they could do. If someone was paralysed perhaps medical treatment was the only answer.

A couple other questions family had:  Robert Galbraith in Griffiths Valuation for Mill St, Newtownards had neighbours the Keenans. That was the last names of the witnesses on Susannah Galbraith and Joshua Moore’s church marriage certificate. Would it be correct to assume that this would confirm the location of her home on Mill Street? 

If Joshua had been in South Africa and India for years prior, how would he have met Susannah? The military record says he wasn’t back until a date after the wedding. 

Regarding your question about whether the Keenans being next door in Griffiths proves we have the right street, I suppose you could say it offers corroborative evidence. The marriage certificate shows the family were in Mill St and Griffiths has Robert with a house there, so it fits nicely.

I looked to see if George & Lizzie Keenan were both still in Mill St in 1901. They are not but this family is there instead. I don’t know if there’s any connection. Hugh Keenan married Maggie Lowery. His father was a John Keenan, so no immediate link, just the same street.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Down/Newtownards_Urban/Mill_Street_Part_of_/1260440/

How did Joshua and Susannah meet? I can’t really say. I assume from what you say he was in the army. Perhaps he was from Newtownards originally and came home on leave and they were acquainted that way. Or if he is not from the area, he may have been posted near Newtownards at some point. If you have a look at the regimental diaries you can usually see where they were stationed. Not all the soldiers in any regiment were all overseas together. There was nearly always a unit in Britain or Ireland at the regimental home base for recruitment and training purposes.

I had a look at marriages in the Newtownards area between 1845 and 1864. There was only 1 Robert Galbraith marriage in the Ards area. He married Mary McClelland on 3.11.1857. You might want to have a look at that to see if it’s your family. You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

Joshua Moore’s military records and paybook say he was part of the Royal North Down Rifles and then joined the Scottish brigade in 1878 in Newtownards. After that he was gone to South Africa and India. He receive a medal in South Africa which I have seen. 

His sister Sarah lived in a place called Crumlin, Antrim and sister Annie lived in Belfast. In 1978, his parents were shown as Nil, so they must have passed. 

Five years ago I got the marriage record for Robert Galbraith and Mary McClelland. I didn’t know if it was him or not though. It looked like the same Robert married a Martha Scott in 1873 and that Robert had a will probated in 1892. So the death doesn’t  match to the Workhouse death. 

I am not much good at this. I sure appreciate your help. I did email Proni about the Workhouse record. Sounds like they are quite busy there. 

I had a look at the 1892 probate file and it’s a different Robert Galbraith from the one who died in the workhouse. The 1892 one was a farmer who was living in retirement in Court St. Just a common name for the area. No obvious connection between them.

A dealer or hawker (ie your ancestor) isn’t very likely to have left a will, or at least not one that would require probate, so it’s not surprising there isn’t one for him.

I widened the search for your Robert’s marriage. Only other one I could see was on 3.1.1856 in North Down (Bangor) to Ellen Barr. You might want to look at that to see if it fits. However I also looked for an Ellen Galbraith death 1864 – 1893 in Newtownards. The only one I found was on 26.12.1885 aged 77. She seems far too old. I doubt that’s her. Perhaps his wife died around 1863, ie before the start of death registration.

Robert Galbraith and Ellen Barr had a son Thomas in 1866 and a daughter Isabella Livinia in 1871. So she would have had to live past 1863.

The baptismal record for those children wouldn’t show the occupation of Robert. 

Where would I want to look next? 

Isabella’s birth certificate gives her father’s occupation as servant, and the family address as Sydenham Lock, Co. Down. So that’s in the ship building part of Belfast, in the docks.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1871/03300/2209574.pdf

I can’t see Thomas’s birth on the irishgenealogy site (which is free) though it is on the GRONI site. So that’s £2.50 to view it there. Looks to me as though Ellen Barr porbably died in Belfast registration area.

Would the family location on Isabella’s 1871 birth registration mean that this is not the same person? The 1864 Griffiths said Mill Street and Susannah’s marriage  said Mill Street in 1884. 

Marriage seems like a scandal. Ellen Barr’s dad was a lawyer and Robert a servant. I don’t get any answers from the marriage record though. 

Your Galbraith family appear to have lived in Mill St from at least 1864 until Susannah’s marriage in 1884 and probably till Robert’s death. (To have died in Newtownards workhouse he would have been a resident of the area. If he had been living in Belfast, he would have gone to Belfast workhouse). So I think that Isabella born in Belfast in 1871 is a different family.

Good day Elwyn.

I heard back from Proni. They do not have Workhouse records for Newtownards prior to 1900. Would they exist somewhere else or is this another brick wall? 

Years ago when my parents visited Ireland, the person at Newtownards church told them that Susannah and Joshua were not parishioners when they were married there. 

You have helped me get a little closer with the death certificate but am once again stuck. 

What would you suggest now? 

Thanks!

Jennrick,

Regarding the workhouse records, PRONI should have all the records for every workhouse in what is now Northern Ireland. So if they don’t have them, then they have almost certainly been destroyed.

Regarding Joshua and Susannah not being parishioners when they married in 1884, I am not sure what inference you draw from that.  The bride traditionally married in her church. Perhaps Susannah didn’t normally attend church? And Joshua may not have lived in the area very long so may not have had a local church. They had the option of a Registry Office marriage if they didn’t want a church wedding at all. If you did attend church, why not marry in your own church? I can’t think of a compelling explanation. Perhaps Susannah was Presbyterian and her Minister had refused to marry her? But I can’t think why he might do that. It doesn’t strike me as a likely explanation. It’s a mystery to me.

You ask what further enquiries could be made. Frankly, I am struggling to think of any.  There is the mystery of Robert Galbraith’s marriage and his wife’s death, which was evidently pre 1893.  There has recently been a further release of free death records, so you can now view deaths in NI from 1878 to 1921 on the irishgenealogy site free. I searched 1878 – 1893 in the Newtownards area but did not find one that might be his wife. That leaves 1864 to 1877 which are still pay to view, but looking at those records on the GRONI site, I don’t see any in Newtownards sub registration area at all. Perhaps she died in 1862/63 after Susannah’s birth? In which case there will be no death certificate.

Susannah Galbraith and Joshua Moore’s three children were baptized Church of England when they were born in Liverpool. The oldest of the three was baptized, in infancy, Roman Catholic with the person attending being Frances Devereaux. The next child, my great grandmother, was baptized Roman Catholic when her mother, Susannah, and siblings all died.

Joshua stated on his Army papers that he was Episcopalian. 

Maybe this has something to do with the church registry issue. 

My great grandmother told a story about being on a boat from seeing her relatives and losing her bonnet. She said her step mother was so upset that she made her go to church without a bonnet. I don’t know what relatives would live a boat’s distance away. 

Possibly the Galbraith family were RC? If so that could account for not finding Robert’s marriage as RC marriages are only included in the statutory records from 1864 onwards.  And the Church of Ireland is open to all denominations, so they would marry a mixed denomination couple. So that might be a clue as to why they went there. If Susannah was RC and Joshua wasn’t settled in the area, it would explain why they were not perceived as local parishioners.

Newtownards RC parish only has baptisms and marriages from 1864 onwards. So we are not going to be able to test that theory very easily. I looked in the 1901 census of Co. Down. There were 186 people named Galbraith. Only 2 of those were RC, so statistically it’s not very likely your family were RC, but who knows?

You ask where a bonnet would be blown off in a boat if you lived in Newtownards. The answer is probably Strangford Lough. Newtownards is at the top end of Strangford Lough.  There is a ferry across the lough (between Portaferry and Strangford village); there are islands in the lough with farms and houses, so getting to them involves a boat trip, and the lough itself has always been used for sailing, fishing and pleasure trips. So that’s likely where she lost her bonnet.

I found a marriage record for a Robert Galbraith and Margaret Rooney for 1853 in Belfast. I can't seem to view it as it only has the file #. Any ideas what site I could access it?
Must be new records being added as we didn't see this one before.

The pre 1864 marriages have been available on-line but were pay to view until last year. They can now be viewed free. Here’s a link to the Galbraith marriage in 1853. That Robert was a shoemaker, and resident in Belfast.  There’s a bit of a difference between shoemaker and hawker, and I doubt it’s the same family. It was a Church of Ireland ceremony (ie Anglican).

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1853/09444/5421578.pdf

I also looked at the 1857 marriage. That Robert was was a farmer so again I don’t think it’s your family.

What was a confectioner? Robert's father was said to be a confectioner.
My uncle has a lot of Rooney DNA matches.
I wonder when Margaret Rooney died.

What was a confectioner? Robert's father was said to be a confectioner.
My uncle has a lot of Rooney DNA matches.
I wonder when Margaret Rooney died.

A confectioner is someone who makes and sells sweets. I am not sure where you live but if it’s North America you would probably call them candies. Here they are sweets.

I looked for a death for Margaret Galbraith (nee Rooney). It’s quite a common name but I couldn’t see one that fits. Likewise I couldn’t see her in the 1901 census. The couple may have left Ireland of course, as so many did then.