Margaret.J.Hussey & John Murphy.

Hi,

Thank you for your message.

Have you tried looking in Church records for information on Margaret and John?s parents? Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which you may find helpful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Castletowndelvin/Delvin parish follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&churchid=920&CityCounty=Westmeath&CityCounty=Westmeath&parish=Delvin

For Church of Ireland records check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.  The Anglican Record Project is has created an index to their records: http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/AngRecord/bunclodyunionindex.pdf

You could also try searching Family Search. This is a huge database of genealogical records that has been compiled by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. It includes birth and marriage records from the pre-1871 period (incomplete). Here is the link: www.familysearch.org

Unfortunately, no complete set of census records survive from before 1901. You can however search the 1901/1911 census records online to see if there were any family members still living in the area at the time. You can search these here:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

With regards to their emigration, more information was generally given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure so it may be an idea to look at passenger lists there. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

You may also find information at: The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

and

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

Some other websites which may be helpful to your research are:

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/westmeath/index.html

Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. 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.

Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

Kind regards,       

Genealogy Support