Originally posted by Fern
View Post
There’s no record of a marriage between Andrew Campbell and Mary Ann Love in the stat records (which start on 1.4.1845) so as before, it looks as though the couple married before that. In which case you will need to rely on church records.
Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church. You’ll need to hope that Mary Ann wasn’t Church of Ireland as the records for Killaghtee (the parish that Ballyederlan is in) were all destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin. If it was a Presbyterian ceremony, then the 2 nearest churches appear to be Donegal 1st & Donegal 2nd. Donegal 1st has baptisms from 1824 onwards and marriages 1824 to 1843 and then April 1845 onwards. Donegal 2nd has no baptism records before 1865 and no marriage records earlier than April 1845. Both churches are about 15 miles from Ballyederlan which seems quite a trek but I don’t know of any closer.
So the only likely records to check appear to be the pre 1845 marriage records in Donegal 1st, plus their baptism records c 1849 for James (and for any siblings). Donegal 1st’s records are not on-line anywhere (so far as I am aware). However there is a copy in PRONI (the public record office) and I could look them up for you. I can also check with the Presbyterian Historical Society to find out whether there were any other Presbyterian churches closer to Ballyederlan at one time but which have since closed. If so, I’ll check those records, if they have survived. (There would be a small charge for searching the church records as I would need to go into Belfast to do it).
Regarding George being born in Northern Ireland, that could be completely correct. The family may have moved there. However information on death certificates often contains mistakes. It’s only as reliable as the informant’s knowledge which must obviously be 2nd hand. The family may have moved from Donegal to what is now Northern Ireland (it’s only been called that since 1922) but it’s also common for people to believe that Co Donegal, being in the province of Ulster, and in the north, is part of Northern Ireland. (It’s actually in the Republic of Ireland), and so it might be worth bearing that in mind. He may well have been born in the Ballyederlan area along with James but the informant on the death certificate may just have made a mistake in saying Northern Ireland as his place of birth.
Comment