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Good morning from New Zealand. Sorry long post but need help 

county Antrim

I have Mary Mckeown abt 1899/1900 (if we go by her age on wedding cert) father unknown living in the 1911 census (aged 12)with Randell Quinn(b 1854), Mary nee McAllister(b 1867), Lizzie Quinn aged 19 and Annie aged 6 stated as nephew (should be niece) 

Annie Quinn (should be Rodgers) parents Thomas Rodgers and Margaret nee Hill. 

Annie had a sister called Harriet Rogers (born 2 years after her in 1906 in Belfast). In the 1911 census the girls are split up - Annie (6) is living in Glynn, Larne with Mary McKeown and the Quinn family and Harriet (4) is living with her grandparents John Hill and Mary Hill

I can find no death certs for Annie’s and Harriet’s parents

I have no birth cert for Mary Mckeown in 1900

I know Mary was raised by John And Mary Ann Mckeown. The only birth cert I found matching was in 1895. I found no deaths for John and Mary Ann Mckeown 

Any help would be great. Thank you

SharonD

Thursday 3rd Nov 2022, 09:11PM

Message Board Replies

  • SharonD,

    You mention that Annie Quinn’s name in the 1911 census should have been Rogers.  Perhaps. There was no formal adoption law in those days (only introduced in NI c1928) and if the Quinn family had agreed to look after her, that would have been a private arrnagement with no legal agreements. So – I can’t speak for what they actually felt – they may have felt that if she was to be a permanent member of their family, it would be more inclusive to use their surname.  UK law then (and now) allows the use of any name you like provided it is not for any fraudulent purpose. Even today no paperwork is mandatory for name changes. 

    Annie’s likely birth certificate for 27.4.1904:

    https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1904/01808/1708568.pdf

    Sibling Herbert born 1903 in Donaghadee, Co Down:

    https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1903/01862/1725778.pdf

    Thomas & Margaret’s marriage in 1902 at St Anne’s Belfast:

    https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1902/10287/5744524.pdf

    Can’t help with Thomas and Margaret’s deaths. That their children were farmed out in 1911 could suggest that they were either both dead, separated or had left Ireland. Difficult to research further without some clues. Common surnames make the task more challenging.

    You say that Mary McKeown “was raised by John and Mary Ann McKeown.”  How does that fit with Mary living with the Quinn family in the 1911 census? Have you found the parents in the 1901 census? What was Mary Ann’s maiden surname?

    Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Thursday 3rd Nov 2022, 10:32PM

  • Thank you for your reply…..

    mary Anne McKeown nee McCollum. I found birth cert for her and John, and marriage cert, other children etc

    mary McKeown was my great grandmother. I have spoken to her daughter (who’s 85yrs old) and according to her, John and Maryanne couldnt  have children. (Could be a story) 
    mary does remember, and talked being lifted up to say goodbye to her mother (before dying) 

    apparently Mary was ‘adopted’ by John and Maryanne 

    the birth cert I found for Mary with John and Maryanne was 1895 with Maryanne registering her.

    I went down the Quinn’ line as Elizabeth Quinn was on Mary marriage cert as a witness

    SharonD

    Friday 4th Nov 2022, 05:07AM

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