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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Antrim => Topic started by: realestatenovelist on Wednesday 09 February 11 05:14 GMT (UK)
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Looking for information on my great great grandmother Mary Kathleen Nolan. She was born August 14 either 1875 or 1877 in Belfast. Her parents were Jack Nolan and Jane Jewell. She was eleven when she sailed to Canada on an unknown ship with an uncle, leaving behind her parents and six siblings (unknown names). She was a member of the Church of England (at least that's what her obituary said- she would listen to radio broadcasts of the Church of England).
I've done all the searching I can do and I've never been able to find this family. I do know there were three Mary Catherines born around this time, but they were in County Carlow. What I can see of these documents doesn't list the parents so I am unable to rule them in or out, and it's pretty expensive to order documents if I'm unsure they are the correct ones.
I was beginning to wonder if she was born in another county, but every document I have lists Belfast as her birth place. It is on her marriage and death certificates. On two separate census records she lists "Northern Ireland" as her place of birth.
I have been told before that I am out of luck with the limited information I have but I am having a hard time just giving up.
Thanks.
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Hi,
The IGI gives the birth as 14 Aug 1877 in Belfast and her death as 1943. This is a submitted record so it will have to be verified.
Regards
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Dear Realestatenovelist,
You can search the LDS FamilySearch site for free, both for the <1877> birth of Mary (Kathleen/Catherine? you wrote both names) Nolan and the marriage of her parents Jack (whose name was probably JOHN) and Jane Jewell. Keep in mind that Jane's full name might have been Mary Jane or Eliza Jane or a name like that, and she could be indexed as Mary/Eliza/etc.
Check also the IFHF databases, which aren't expensive if you find a birth or marriage of interest and want to order it. You can search for John and Jane's marriage (before 1877) and any Nolan births in Co. Antrim to a father named Jack/John Nolan and a mother named Jane. Or search for Mary's circa 1877 birth in all Ireland, and her siblings' births within about 10 years of that date. In fact, 3 "hits" come up when you run a search for Noland children's births between 1870-1880 to parents named John & Jane in "all counties". The indexes are FREE and you only pay to view a full record if you want all the details.
Emerald Ancestors is another site with both civil registrations and church records, though not as many as IFHF. I don't see a birth for Mary Nolan or marriage for Jane Jewell on any of the EA lists (or variant spellings) but there are various "John Nolan" men (Noland/Nolen/etc.).
Also search the 1901 census for Nolans and Jewells, to see which were in Belfast and in that area in general.
Search death records of John/Jack and Jane Nolan(d) in the Belfast area after 1877.
Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958
John Nolan
birth: 1844
death: Apr-Jun 1906 Belfast
Coordinating this with the 1901 census, there's a John Nolan living in Belfast. He's age 60, widowed, with several adult children. All are Roman Catholic. This is probably the man who died in 1906.
Although your gr-gr-grandmother was said to be Church of England, I wouldn't discount other religions back home in Ireland. A bride or groom sometimes changed their religious denomination when marrying.
I hope this helps,
Annie
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Realestatenovelist hasn't been online since starting this thread. I.G.I. = International Gnealogical Index which is part of LDS site www.familysearch.org.
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Thanks for the replies. I will try what was suggested. To be honest it didn't occur to me that they could be Catholic- there was quite an anti-Catholic sentiment in that branch of my family, not sure why.
The information from the LDS site, I believe would have been provided by one of my family members or who has the same information I do. I have a ton of information and can track nearly every move of Mary Nolan from when she was married in Vermont at 18- but not a trace of her living in Canada from age 11, or immigration, or her life in Ireland.
Thanks again, I will keep at it. :)
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Paula,
Looking at your ancestors' information posted in other messages, I see that we both have Armstrongs from Ireland. Your Armstrongs who emigrated from Ireland to Vermont are included in "The Berkshire, Vermont, Chaffees, and Their Descendants, 1801-1911" by Almer Judson Elliot (Richford, Vermont: Gilpin printing company, 1911) -- viewable on Google Books.
I'll reply to one of your other messages on an appropriate topic board for that.
Regards,
Annie
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Can't see any mention of the family being Catholic meantioned here. 'Other religions' (besides Church of Ireland) could also include denominations such as Presbyterian, Methodist, etc.
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Another research thread -- if Mary Kathleen Nolan's mother "Jane Jewell" was from ENGLAND, as available records indicate, then Jack (John) Nolan may have married his wife there. Many Irish went to work in England and Scotland either seasonally or for several years at a time to make extra money.
I'd suggest checking English marriage registrations c. 1855-1875 for Jane Jewell and Jack/John Nolan, and also looking for Jane in English censuses before 1875. She would have been born no earlier than about 1830 to be having a daughter in 1875-1877, and could have been born up to about 1855 -- since ypu don't know if Mary Kathleen was a younger child or older child among siblings. Jane Jewell Nolan could have been in her teens or 20s when she had Mary Kathleen, or in her late 40s and M.K. was a "last" child.
Just more threads to follow! Hope this helps.
Annie
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FreeBMD website has very good coverage for ENglish and Welsh marriages and also worth checking LDS site www.familysearch.org.
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I have been busily combing the sites you folks mentioned, as well as any others I could find to help me in my research. I stumbled across something and I wonder if it's even a legitimate clue.
When looking through a street directory for Belfast, I found one from 1877, the year Mary was supposed to have been born. There was a John Nolan, the only one I could find, living on Charles Street, occupation "nailer". I Google Earthed that address, and from what I could see it probably used to be row or tenement houses, in an industrial area. Later this same John Nolan, nailer, was living on Alexander Street and Stephen Street. All of these streets are in the Shankill area of Belfast.
IF this is my John Nolan, and I know it's a big if, the location might explain the anti-Catholic sentiment that I remember from that part of the family. Also, I have always thought the only reason a family would send just one child away would have had to do with poverty. That too could fit. It's all just a theory and perhaps never could be proven.
Speaking of, how unusual would it have been that only one child of 7 was sent away to North America? It all seems so strange to me.
I have been researching family members in the US for more than 20 years, and I have encountered all sorts of issues- wrong names on documents, missing documents, incomplete documents. Isn't it possible there just isn't a record for me to find? (Not that I'm going to stop looking.)
Anyway, thanks for the patience with all my questions.
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If you follow up a bit more on John Nolan, the nailer who was in Belfast city directories in the 1870s, you should be able to identify his wife and learn if he's the right man (of whatever religious persuasion). He was a widower by 1901, living on Alexander Street, see the census extract below.
1901 census of Ireland - Residents of a house 14 in Alexander Street (St. Anne's Ward, Antrim):
John Nolan - 60 - Head of Family - R Catholic - born Co Down- Retired Nail Maker - Cannot read - Widower
John Nolan - 40 - Son - R Catholic - born Belfast - Nail Maker - Cannot read - Married
Cathrine Nolan - 30 - Daughter in Law - R Catholic - Belfast - Charwoman - Read only - Married
Hannah Nolan - 21- Daughter - R Catholic - Belfast - Spinner in Linen Mill - Read only - Not Married
In 1911, I see the son John and his wife Catherine at another address in Belfast. He's still a nailer, as his father was. And, as I said in a previous message, I think the John Nolan who died in 1906 was the head of family of the 1901 census, a retired nailer.
A search for John Sr.'s daughter Hannah (age 21 in 1901, born Belfast, so born about 1880) in civil birth registrations might confirm or refute that this family was John Nolan and Jane Jewell. She might have been Hannah Jane or another name combination (like everyone else you're searching for), and remember that Ann & Anna & Annie are used for Hannah. "Jane Jewell" might have been a "Hannah Jane" or similar name.
Other Belfast records that you can search are city-generated, such as the burial records.
www.belfastcity.gov.uk/burialrecords includes:
Belfast City Cemetery - records from 1869
Roselawn Cemetery - records from 1954
Dundonald Cemetery - records from 1905
However, church cemeteries aren't included in this city burials database, nor is Shankill Graveyard -- one of the oldest cemeteries in Belfast.
History from Headstones has inscriptions from at least one Shankill parish graveyard that includes a NOLAN (via the "Free Search"): www.historyfromheadstones.com
On the Co. Antrim site of IFHF, there's ONE match for a NOLAN child born to parents John & Jane Nolan in Co. Antrim. I'd certainly order that record, if I was you, to see who it was and if it's the right family. An instantly downloadable transcript is only a few euros, well worth the research effort.
If you do find that this IFHF birth record has the right parents, write me a personal message and I'll see if I can help you further. Also there's a marriage of Hannah Nolan, daughter of John Nolan, between 1901 & 1909... perhaps the daughter of John the nailer of the 1901 census and 1870s city directories? Order the record and see! Also there are 11 marriages of all Nolans with father named John in Belfast between 1885 and 1905. Some might be your Mary Kathleen's siblings.
Annie