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Hi, hope you are well. I am hoping for any information about an ancestor called Thomas Smith, a seaman, born around 1800. ( possibly married a Mary, but that info is only from an unconfirmed source ).

Definite is George Smith my 2x Great Grandfather. All his documents state born Ardglass 1828 to a father Thomas, a seaman. George went over to England and married an Eliza Kiernan( Ofally).

Thomas had another son in 1834 called John Smith, who married Eliza's sister Mary Kiernan, and emigrated to America. ( not officially linked with documentation ).

I appreciate the problems with lack of documentation for Ireland, just hoping that it may be something that someone has come across maybe doing their own searches.

Thank you for your time, Ian.

Wednesday 15th Oct 2014, 09:05AM

Message Board Replies

  • Dear iang

    Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

    I have forwarded your query to an Ulster volunteer, I hope she will be in touch shortly

    Best wishes
    Clare Doyle
    Genealogy Support

    Wednesday 22nd Oct 2014, 01:23PM

  • iang,

    Statutory registration of births didn?t start in Ireland till 1864 and marriages weren?t registered before 1845, so to find marriages and births prior to those dates you need to rely on church records. To do that you need to know what denomination the family were. Do you know that? It?s also fair to mention that not all church records from the late 1700s and early 1800s have survived. In the case of Ardglass, there are no Church of Ireland records prior to 1871 & RC only start in 1845.

    I looked in the 1901 census for Ardglass. There were only 2 people named Smith. Both were RC. One was a nurse, the other a farm servant.

    Unless someone else has the family in their tree, you may struggle to find records of this particular family.

     

    Elwyn

    Ahoghill Antrim

    Wednesday 22nd Oct 2014, 05:00PM

  • Yeah, been struggling for years, thought this might be the case though. Thanks very much for the reply Elwyn. Good luck with yours. Ian

    Friday 24th Oct 2014, 09:29PM

  • Thanks Clare

    Friday 24th Oct 2014, 09:32PM

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