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A cautionary tale.....
When I started out doing my tree, properly, nearly five years ago I found my g-g grandmother fairly quickly through the census. She was born in Dundee 1864.
Having thought all this side were Scottish, was suprised to find she actually had an Irish surname, and indeed..there on the census both her parents were born in Ireland Circa 1835. They were not on the 1841 Census, but on all the Census 1851 on, so worked out pretty soon they'd fled the famine as teenagers. Luckily having settled in Scotland I had the added bonus of their parents names in ireland off their death and marriage certs, but only the vague 'Ireland' for their place of origin off the census.
I thought, like many, that was me stalled forever, and felt a bit sad by that.
Purely by luck, about six months later I stumbled across my g-g-g grandmother name on a list of those who went into the Dundee Poorhouse (indexed helpfully with both married and maiden, so knew straight off was her, only one on the entire list like that!). I requested a copy of the record, and could hardly sleep that night waiting for it, wondering if it would give any details on where in Ireland she was from. The site warned not to get hopes up as it was often given again as just Ireland..but couldn't help but hope all the same. I was absolutely overjoyed when it came through..and there as birth place 'County Leitrim' Ireland.
One step further, and once I'd calmed down suitably, I set about trying to find records of them in Leitrim. Having her parents names I contacted the Leitrim Genealogy Centre, and commisioned a search (pricey). Hit lucky again, her parents marriage was found and only just, it was on the first page of the earliest register for Cloone, Co.Leitrim the year they began 1823. A result and a half...though expensive.
A few months on another extremelly helpful researcher, who was transcribing their baptism register, gave me the couples baptisms. which gave the townland in Cloone they were from. One step on... Using the 1833 land Tithes, and Griffiths, I was then able to pinpoint the exact spot their home had stood....a year or so on from thinking I'd never get any further than Ireland!
Anyway........
This last week I've been filling gaps on the tree, and though I had all g-g-g grandmothers childrens birth in Dundee 1857-1872, for her sister I had only downloaded one out of her 2 children birth certs. One was born 1855 one 1857. For some reason I'd not dowloaded the 1855 one..maybe I'd run out of credits and being just a cousin to mine didn't think I could spend the pennies. I knew the year and place of birth from the census...that was enough.... surely...
Big mistake!
Dowloaded it and there on the Cert...all the time...if only I'd looked...mothers place of birth..'Cloone, Co.Leitrim, Ireland'....!!!
Dowloading that one cert could have saved me a years hard searching in archives far and wide (..not as much fun though I admit!)
At least it has proved the rest of the research right!!
Moral of story...Cousins are always well worth researching, Irish relatives can be found, don't let anyone tell you they can't, and never ever cut corners, and especially not on an 1855 Scottish Birth Certificate..coz they are bloomin' terrific! (why oh why did they stop doing them that detailed after just a year?!?!)
When I started out doing my tree, properly, nearly five years ago I found my g-g grandmother fairly quickly through the census. She was born in Dundee 1864.
Having thought all this side were Scottish, was suprised to find she actually had an Irish surname, and indeed..there on the census both her parents were born in Ireland Circa 1835. They were not on the 1841 Census, but on all the Census 1851 on, so worked out pretty soon they'd fled the famine as teenagers. Luckily having settled in Scotland I had the added bonus of their parents names in ireland off their death and marriage certs, but only the vague 'Ireland' for their place of origin off the census.
I thought, like many, that was me stalled forever, and felt a bit sad by that.
Purely by luck, about six months later I stumbled across my g-g-g grandmother name on a list of those who went into the Dundee Poorhouse (indexed helpfully with both married and maiden, so knew straight off was her, only one on the entire list like that!). I requested a copy of the record, and could hardly sleep that night waiting for it, wondering if it would give any details on where in Ireland she was from. The site warned not to get hopes up as it was often given again as just Ireland..but couldn't help but hope all the same. I was absolutely overjoyed when it came through..and there as birth place 'County Leitrim' Ireland.
One step further, and once I'd calmed down suitably, I set about trying to find records of them in Leitrim. Having her parents names I contacted the Leitrim Genealogy Centre, and commisioned a search (pricey). Hit lucky again, her parents marriage was found and only just, it was on the first page of the earliest register for Cloone, Co.Leitrim the year they began 1823. A result and a half...though expensive.
A few months on another extremelly helpful researcher, who was transcribing their baptism register, gave me the couples baptisms. which gave the townland in Cloone they were from. One step on... Using the 1833 land Tithes, and Griffiths, I was then able to pinpoint the exact spot their home had stood....a year or so on from thinking I'd never get any further than Ireland!
Anyway........
This last week I've been filling gaps on the tree, and though I had all g-g-g grandmothers childrens birth in Dundee 1857-1872, for her sister I had only downloaded one out of her 2 children birth certs. One was born 1855 one 1857. For some reason I'd not dowloaded the 1855 one..maybe I'd run out of credits and being just a cousin to mine didn't think I could spend the pennies. I knew the year and place of birth from the census...that was enough.... surely...
Big mistake!
Dowloaded it and there on the Cert...all the time...if only I'd looked...mothers place of birth..'Cloone, Co.Leitrim, Ireland'....!!!
Dowloading that one cert could have saved me a years hard searching in archives far and wide (..not as much fun though I admit!)
At least it has proved the rest of the research right!!
Moral of story...Cousins are always well worth researching, Irish relatives can be found, don't let anyone tell you they can't, and never ever cut corners, and especially not on an 1855 Scottish Birth Certificate..coz they are bloomin' terrific! (why oh why did they stop doing them that detailed after just a year?!?!)
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