John Stanley, born 1825, married Bridget Ormsby in 1865
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Irish Geography
Patrick’s birth certificate says that he was born in Cams. My birth certificate gives the name of the road and the house number. Why the difference? It is important to understand the concept of a townland. I am indebted to Roots Ireland for the following explanation: The townland is the smallest territorial division of civil…
Narrowing the search
Patrick Stanley was born on 2 March 1883, in the Townland of Cams, in the Parish of Fuerty. The concept of Townlands is explained in the post ‘Irish Geography’. There are 2082 Townlands in Roscommon. In 1881, the population was 132,000. This means that there is an average population of 66 per Townland. In rural…
On the right track – part 2
Patrick’s military record showed that he was born in Roscommon. Following the abortive search (see ‘Off in the wrong direction’) I made another request for a search to be made for Patrick’s birth certificate. The search criteria were: Patrick Stanley, son of John, born in Roscommon, date of birth 2nd March, year of birth 1882-1885.…
On the right track – at last
In February 2007, the National Archives (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ ) started putting soldiers’ records online. They started with surnames beginning with A and B. The process was complete by the end of 2008. Because I was searching for Patrick Stanley, I had to be patient. The wait was made worse by the knowledge that there might be…
Off in the Wrong Direction
According to Patrick’s marriage certificate he was born in 1884. Calculating back from his death certificate suggests 1883. Family folklore has a story that a birth certificate was obtained in order to prove his entitlement to a state pension. This proved that he was older than he thought. He was already past retirement age. Sadly,…
The search begins
Why did I start researching my family history? In common with many people, I knew very little about my origins. For three of my four grandparents, the trail was easy to follow. I found lots of ‘Ag Lab’ (Agricultural Labourer) references spread around Sussex and Kent. Piggybacking on the work of others (an important…