Posted on by Cathy

Week of discoveries….

Last week was a week of discoveries. Some really good ones.
Some cool rainy days gave me an excuse to head back to the family tree
where finally… after what seems like forever…..became aware of my GtGt Grandfather’s death registration. Seems he’d been dead a lot longer than we thought. A little mystery solved.

Earlier in the year (after much searching) I ‘found’ another sister of one of my maternal gt grandmothers…..one I had a feeling was there but couldn’t document.
(People born in Ireland before 1864 when civil registration of BDM began can…at times…be difficult to locate.)

I became interested in her when a name appeared as a witness on several marriage certificates, a shortened version of one that turned up on children from those marriages
She was referred to as Bella…..the children were all named Isabella.
Her surname was the same as the bride’s.
I knew she wasn’t the bride‘s mother (different given name). So was she an Aunt (the father’s sister) or another sister?

It was only after an Irish records site (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/) released more documents I made headway.
Then a further site I belong to connected her name to another which allowed me to find more records in a married name. Lots of little bits of information pointed the way, the witnesses at her wedding had the same names as my gt grandparents, the bride’s father had the same name and occupation, her children born were registered by the same person.
Each time I looked, the story unfolded so at the end of the week I knew she was who I thought she was. Big smiles all round 😊

Census records have oodles of information- some surprises too. Looking at one I see her name, her husband’s and children….then there’s another two whose surnames are the same as her maiden name. Under relationship to head of household I see…..brother in law and sister in law.

So that would make him Bella’s younger brother!
One I have no record of…..

Monday is when I sit and think and wonder.
today I’m wondering where this brother came from
why there was no mention of him previously
I certainly hope it doesn’t take me as long to discover his past as it did for his sister 😊
So how’s your week gone? Did you make any discoveries or have any surprises?


8 Replies to “Week of discoveries….”

  1. Wow, that sounds awesome

    I’ve had a week of discovery and surprises…well it started about a month ago, but then it came to the forefront and now it’s a case of will Fine Arts accept me into hopefully their Masters program next year. Initial appointment tomorrow! Fingers x-ed!!!

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  2. Oh my I love a family history break through, so satisfying. I was questioning my husband about his mothers family- he didn’t even know the given name of his maternal grandmother- so he emailed his sister and back came loads of information for the family tree. When the advise of where to begin is ask relatives it’s hard to think that you start with your sister in law- thank goodness I asked.

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  4. Finding that elusive information is so satisfying. I’m stuck on my late partner’s tree, to do with the Irish records, so I am very interested to read that more have been released … guess what I’ll be doing later this week!

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  5. What an exciting and satisfying result! My Irish ancestors left for Canada in the 1830s, and to date I’ve found no trace of them in Ireland, and the early records in Canada are sketchy. I checked the Irish Genealogy site, no sign of them I am afraid. If they left family behind, I don’t know who they would have been, and the surname is so common that it seems impossible a connection will be made, but I keep trying, lol.

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  6. How wonderful this discovery must be. I hope you find out more about the brother soon!
    I wish I knew a lot more about my great grandparents – although I know their names and where they came from – but to really hear more stories about them would be grand!

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  8. This is so much fun! I know exactly how you feel. Now that we’re stuck at home, I’ve done the genealogy of my husband’s and my families for the kids. I feel good that they’ll now have all this information in a book. I don’t think we would have done this work if it wasn’t for COVID. LOL

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