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Thanks again for that information, Dotty.  I'll be following it up shortly.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks very much for taking the time to get that information for me, Dotty.

I'll have to have a good look and see whether that fits with my family

Kindest regards

Tony

This is my first attempt at Irish research and I would appreciate any help.

Ellen McDONALD married William CAREY in Wigan in 1856 and the certificate shows her father as Archibald, a tin plate worker.

The 1871 census shows Ellen as having been born in Co Longford, Ireland about 1839.

I cannot find any trace of her or her father in the 1851 or 1841 censuses in Lancashire. There are a few Ellens of about the right age, but all lodgers and no trace of an Archibald who looks even remotely likely.  I can't find any likely death of an Archibald in England either.  It is possible that Ellen came to England after 1851 and that Archibald didn't ever come to England.

How likely is it that a young girl - she was 19 when she married and would have been about 13 in 1851 - would travel to England from Ireland without her parents?

Is there any way to trace such a thing?

I've checked the Longford resources thread at the head of this board, but I can't find anything there.

Any advice on how to proceed would be gratefully received

Thanks in advance

Tony

It would be very hard to prove.I am going to the Records Office on Tuesday I will look at the record and see what it says for you if you want.

That would be very kind of you, Dotty.    It's a bit of trip from NSW to Lancashire 

Thanks

Tony

I'm hoping someone may be able to suggest ways to break down this wall.

William CAREY and Ellen McDONALD married on 19th October 1856, in Wigan.  His father was shown as Patrick, deceased, a hand loom weaver and her father was Archibald, a tin plate worker.  William was also shown as a hand loom weaver.

I have traced the family on censuses from 1861 to 1881. William was born in 1833, Wigan and Ellen 1838, Co Longford, Ireland.

However, I have been unable to find any trace of either family prior to their marriage.

Ellen does not appear on the 1851 census in any recognisable form, which may be because she arrived from Ireland after 1851.   Also, there is no Archibald who looks at all likely.  Again, he may never have left Ireland in the first place.  Was it likely for a young girl to come to England from Ireland without her parents?  She would only have been 13 in 1851 and was 19 when she married.

William and Patrick should be there, somewhere, but I can't find them.  There is one Patrick Carey on the 1841 & 1851 censuses, but he doesn't have a child William and is also alive on the 1861 census, so that isn't him.

I have found two possible deaths for Patrick CAREY on FreeBMD 

As far as I can tell, the only William of that age, living with father Patrick, in Wigan is William LYNCH, a cotton weaver, with father Patrick, also a cotton weaver.  The family appears on both the 1841 and 1851 censuses and the name is clearly written as LYNCH in both cases.

Neither William nor Patrick LYNCH appear in the 1861 census and I can't find a death for either of them.  I've had a look at Wigan PR's, as well as I can from here, and can't find any reference to his birth or christening so I am left with a nagging suspicion that maybe, somehow, the LYNCH family changed their name to CAREY.   Is that at all likely?   Is there any way to trace such a thing?

Any suggestions or assistance will be gratefully received

Thanks in advance

Tony