I have been piecing together the ancestry of my immigrant (to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) g-g-grandfather Hugh Knox. His records in the US show only his mother as Anna Falls. They do not list a father.
Through my research (and with help from volunteers here at Ireland Reaching Out) I have come to believe his parents were Adam Knox of Killyvalley and Anne Gilmore of Mayoghill and that he was baptised at the First Garvaugh Presbyterian church in 1848. Adam Knox and Anne Gilmore were married there on 13 April 1846.
This morning I'm reviewing some old research from when I was less certain that Anna Falls was originally the wife of a Gilmore and I found the attached record which I had saved as a "maybe" in my Shoebox on Ancestry. This record seems to tie it all together but I'm honestly not clear on what kind of record it is or how to best view the original. Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks! Marnie Knox Anderson
marnieka
Monday 1st Jul 2019, 02:10PMMessage Board Replies
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Marnie,
That mystery document is the details of a birth certificate for a female child born 23.8.1918 at Crevolea near Aghadowey. You can view the actual certificate on-line free on this site:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp
Looking at the certificate, the correct spelling of the surname is McFaul rather than McFall, as on the record you have found. The child was illegitimate, the mother was Lizzie McFaul, domestic servant. The child’s birth was registered by the grandmother A. M Gilmour, which is presumably where her middle name comes from. A father’s name only appears on an illegitimate child’s birth certificate if he was present at the registration and confirmed paternity. Evidently in this case that didn’t happen.
I think this is probably A.M. Gilmour in the 1911 census:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Londonderry/Aghadowney/Crevolea/651872/
There was a McFaul family living nearby:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Londonderry/Aghadowney/Crevolea/651865/
I am not sure if there is a connection between Lizzie and this family, but it wouldn’t be surprising.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
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Thank you, as always, Elwyn, for your quick and thorough response. This is quite a puzzle. I'll keep chipping away at it!
marnieka