RootsChat.Com
Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Cavan => Topic started by: Mark Smith Australia on Sunday 18 July 21 13:41 BST (UK)
-
My very mysterious great-great-grandfather was John Mitchell born about 1844 in Northern Ireland, according to the family stories. He most likely arrived in Victoria, Australia about 1860 but so far I have been unable to determine just John Mitchell he is. His marriage and the births of his 10 -12 children were never officially registered, but baptism records were found for 9 of the children. And, of course, the registration of his death has not been found. However he is annotated as deceased on his wife’s death certificate and on a few of his children’s marriage certificates.
Recently I have found three DNA matches each with a Mitchell marriage dating back to the 1850s – 80s in Bailieboro Cavan. All have a John Mitchell as the father, but the forename of these three Mitchells is the same as three of my John Mitchell’s children born in Victoria. From the Irish Genealogy site, civil records, they are:
Rebecca Mitchell married John McKelvey 3 Mar 1854, Bailieboro;
William Mitchell married Ann Fox, 7 Aug 1862, Bailieboro; and
Francis Mitchell married Isabella McCleery, 7 Dec 1881, Bailieboro.
There are a few more Bailieboro marriages with a father listed as John Mitchell but I am yet to find a DNA match to them and the forenames don’t match any of the remaining children born in Victoria.
I recently took a subscription to RootsIreland in the hope that the available church records for Bailieboro Cavan may unearth some more details but I couldn’t find any baptism entries in Bailiboro, or in Cavan or the surrounding counties that match. Are there any other records that might point me in the right direction? Maybe someone reading this has a connection to the Mitchells!
Mark Smith
Canberra, Australia
-
church records
http://www.irishgenealogy.ie
a John Mitchell married at Mary Graham in 1862 in Cavan
-
Rebecca Mitchell married John McKelvey 3 Mar 1854, Bailieboro [Bailieborough Church of Ireland]
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1854/09462/5428450.pdf
Bride Rebecca Mitchel age 19 (born c1835), residence Lisgar, father John Mitchel labourer.
William Mitchell married Ann Fox, 7 Aug 1862, Bailieboro [1st Bailieborough Presbyterian Church]
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1862/09622/5489342.pdf
Groom William Mitchell age 23 (born 1838), residence Gleslie, father John Mitchell labourer. Bride Anne Fox. Witness- John Mitchell.
Francis Mitchell married Isabella McCleery, 7 Dec 1881, Bailieboro 1st Bailieboro Presbyterian Church
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1881/11018/8028766.pdf
Groom Francis Mitchell of full age (21 years or older), widower, residence Bailieboro, father John Mitchell labourer.
-
church records
http://www.irishgenealogy.ie
a John Mitchell married at Mary Graham in 1862 in Cavan
Here’s the specific link to the marriage in 1862-
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1862/09626/5491078.pdf
The civil parish was Tomregan near Ballyconnell a long way from Bailieborough.
https://www.townlands.ie/cavan/tomregan/
-
There are
over 130 townlands that make up Bailieborough Registration District so it covers quite a large area.
Correction- about 245 townlands in Bailieboroygh R.D.
Rebecca Mitchell married John McKelvey 3 Mar 1854, Bailieboro
John McKelvey died 1897 age 65 (born c1832), informant was widow Rebecca McKelvey
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1897/05874/4665636.pdf
William Mitchell married Ann Fox, 7 Aug 1862, Bailieboro
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Cavan/Skeagh/Beglieve/1054242/
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1903/05671/4597421.pdf
-
Could he have been a convict?
-
Here's a list of Co. Cavan baptism records from Rootsireland-
https://rootsireland.ie/cavan/online-sources.php
You'd need to know the family's religion and location to see what records might be there.
-
Thanks very much for all the replies and help. I don’t think that John Mitchell was a convict –transportation to Victoria ceased about 1850. According to his wife’s death certificate they married in Hawthorn Victoria about 1862 (although no actual record of the marriage has been found) so it is probably unlikely that the marriage of John Mitchell to Mary Graham in 1862 in Tomregan, Cavan is relevant to my family line.
I did take a subscription to RootsIreland but didn’t find any related baptisms in Cavan. How accurate is the RootsIreland index of church records? From “The List of Church of Ireland Parish Records” I note that the actual church records for Bailieborough are held in the RCB Library, Dublin, with a comment “Some coverage at RootsIreland.ie.” Would it be worthwhile hiring someone to search these records?