Robert Adair and Jane Allen were my second great grandparents. I believe they were from Co. Armagh, at lease that's what my grandmother used to say. Robert Adair was born 1796 in Ireland and died 8 January 1879 in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Jane Allen was born in 1797 and died in 1877. Their son Robert was born 21 September 1831 in Clarke Township, Durham County, Ontario and died 8 January 1918 in Bowmanville, Ontario. He was the third of their six children and the first one born in Canada, as far as I know. I would be very grateful for any references to the Adairs or the Allens. I am hoping that they left family members in Ireland and that I will be able to locate distant family members one day. Any tips or leads will be gratefully received.
Thank you, Jane Adair Hamilton
Tuesday 7th May 2013, 08:06PM
Message Board Replies
-
Hi Jane,
Thank you very much for your message.
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.
There are a couple of places where you can search online, however it may be difficult to discern whether the results are relevant to your family or not without more information:
www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.
www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.
Have you tried looking into the family?s emigration? Sometimes more infomation can be found at the port of arrival rather than that of departure. You may be lucky and find a place name here. For information on Canadian immigration records check http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html
Using Griffith?s Valuation, you can see which parishes had Adairs living in them between 1848-1864, this may give you some starting points for your search:
You could also check the 1901/1911 census records to see if there were any Adairs in the area at the turn of the century:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Irish Genealogy Toolkit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html
Genealogy Links :http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/armagh/index.html
Ireland Gen Projects: http://www.igp-web.com/armagh/index.htm
Alternatively, you could try contacting Armagh Ancestry for assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email:researcher@armagh.gov.uk
Hopefully you will be able to find some clues as to Robert and Jane?s parish of origin. Once you have this more avenues of research will open up to you. Remember to post anything new that you find. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Tuesday 11th Jun 2013, 02:31PM