RootsChat.Com
Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Offaly (Kings) => Topic started by: MikeD1967 on Sunday 19 July 15 20:24 BST (UK)
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Hello,
I'm trying to find out about my great grandfather, John Dolan about whom I know very little. As is no doubt the case with many people the death of both my parents within a year of each other has spurred me to seek out information that I fear may now be lost for good.
From the 1911 English census I know he was born in Kings County in around 1868. The 1901 census only lists Ireland as his birthplace. I live in hope that the 1921 census when we get to see it will show Irish towns and villages as well as counties. John married Ellen Reddington (or Redington) in around 1897. My granddad (another John) was their first child, born in Salford in 1898. Ellen was from Wexford but whether she and John met elsewhere in Ireland and married before they came to England, or else met and married here I've no idea.
These are the only concrete facts I have about my g grandparents. Ancestry lists a single John Dolan born in Kings (Shinrone) in 1868 and given that we share a birthday and that his parents were John and Margaret as were mine I'd love to be able to claim him as mine but I realise that coincidence doesn't really carry much weight especially with a name as common as Dolan.
I don't have any expectation that anyone will be able to identify my g grandparents for me but if anyone could point me in the right direction as to how I might be able to find anything out I'd be more than grateful.
Thanks.
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John married Ellen Reddington (or Redington) in around 1897.
Does the marriage certificate list the name and occupation of John's father? (this will help confirm or rule out any possible birth records)
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OP doesn't appear to have the marriage cert ???
Tara
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No I don't have the marriage certificate. I only know that Ellen's maiden name was Reddington as I can remember my dad telling me once, and the 1911 census asked how long a couple had been married.
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Start with looking for the marriage in England using FreeBMD. If you don't find it listed then check Irish civil registration index.
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
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Hi There
Going on a once told surname is not a good idea.
I suggest you get your Grandad's birth cert first to confirm his mother's maiden name.
Tara
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Doing a search from 1894 to 1898 shows no marriage for John Dolan to an Ellen Eddington in Ireland or England that I can see.
Tara
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Is the surname not (supposed to be) Reddington or Redington?
Best to start with birth certificate as Tara suggested.
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I've done a quick search on those sites and I can't find a marriage record either. It's definitely Reddington or Redington though, I can remember the conversation clearly and my Dad being unsure which way it was spelt though believing it was the former.
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It seems I'm going to have to order a copy of my granddad's birth certificate. Will this definitely give me his mum's maiden name?
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Sure Will ;D
Tara
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Thanks, I've just ordered a copy.
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Let us know when you get it and we'll see can we take your research further !
Tara
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Will do, thanks Tara.
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have you had a look on the census you might recognise something
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie
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can your name be spelt Doolan only Doolan living at Shinrone Kings County on census in 1901
on census Redington from Mayo
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He was definitely in England by 1898 as that's where and when my granddad was born. The Shinrone link is only down to the fact that the only record I could find on Ancestry of a John Dolan born in Kings County a year either side of the year I think my g granddad was born is of one born in Shinrone. It may of course be the case that there are other Kings County births listed but with only the town named rather than the county and I'm afraid my knowledge of Irish geography is pretty poor.
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If you are going by the civil registration index- the 'place' listed is the registration district which may cover a considerable area/large number of townlands.
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I've just clicked on both the 'Ireland - Select Births and Batisms' list on Ancestry which lists 99 John Dolans born in Ireland from 1868-1870 of which only one was born in Kings (in 1869) and on the 'Ireland Civil Registrations Births' list which lists the registration district and lists 53 John Dolans. Of those born in 1869 none of the districts listed are in Kings.
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The problem with such a search is that you are starting with an estimated year of birth that could easily be incorrect by a few years. He could have been born before the start of civil registration (1864) or, as can be the case before 1870, his birth might not have been registered.
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Absolutely. I'm fully aware that I may never be able to find out any more than I know already.
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Well here's me thinking my Dad was hardly ever wrong about anything, it turns out he was wrong about his grandma's maiden name, wasn't even close in fact, she was Ellen Jackman, not Ellen Reddington so goodness knows where Reddington came from.
I've checked the BMD records on the link someone put up when I first posted and there's a marriage in Salford in 1897 between John Dolan and Ellen Jackman which I think I can safely assume is my g grandparents.
I've just ordered a copy of the marriage certificate.
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I've got the marriage certificate which gives John Dolan as the father of the groom.
This adds weight to my supposition that his father was the John Dolan (and his Mother Margaret Carroll) in Shinrone but I still don't know how to prove it.
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No I don't have the marriage certificate. I only know that Ellen's maiden name was Reddington as I can remember my dad telling me once, and the 1911 census asked how long a couple had been married.
Family lore is notoriously unreliable. One of my aunts thought her grandmother (died 1895) was named Dixon but it turned out she was Ferns.