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Messages - maisiemo

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1
Tyrone / Re: Thompson Keys, Clogher, Tyrone
« on: Thursday 21 July 16 01:12 BST (UK)  »
Thank you for all the helpful input.  I know I have been quiet but I am taking it all in.  I do have one situation I cannot move on from, somehow. 

The Marriage record of Thompson Keys and Martha Robinson, 1902, shows they have both stated that on the day of their marriage they were 22 years of age.  This would mean they were born approx. 1880.

The Census of Ireland, 1911, Form A, handwritten, completed by Thomson Keys, and showing his wife Martha, and children, William, Thompson and Mary (my great aunt), also shows that on census day in 1911, his own age was 50 and his wife Martha's was 36, meaning they were born in 1861 and 1875 respectively.

How can that be?  How can I go back to the previous generation when there is such a difference in two formal documents at this first generation?  He may have written the wrong ages on the census form for some reason, but can I continue without getting to the bottom of it?


2
Tyrone / Re: Thompson Keys, Clogher, Tyrone
« on: Sunday 17 July 16 02:59 BST (UK)  »
Yes I see your lists, hallmark.  Loads of information there.  I do appreciate your help.

I am sure there is no other Mary born on that day at Findermore!

Broadband playing up for the past 12 hrs or so - keeps throwing me off.

3
Tyrone / Re: Thompson Keys, Clogher, Tyrone
« on: Saturday 16 July 16 22:58 BST (UK)  »
I am very inexperienced compared to everyone helping me, so please forgive me if I make wrong assumptions.  To go back to where I started with Mary Keys, I knew her DOB, and Mary had named the first family house in England that she and George owned "Clogher" so I took a chance on that being her home district in Ireland and requested her birth certificate from the Civil Registration Service in Dublin. 

Mary's birth certificate shows her father as Thompson Keys, Findermore (carpenter) and her mother as Martha Jane Keys, formerly Keys.  Mary was born at Findermore on 22 Oct 1908.  Is this document absolute proof that these facts are correct?  This is really all I had to go on, and what I have used as the baseline of my research. 

Gaffy, I am intrigued by your possibility of another Thompson Keys and wife Mary Patterson.  I suppose what I am asking is does the birth certificate I hold mean that Mary Patterson could not have been my Mary Keys mother?

4
Tyrone / Re: Thompson Keys, Clogher, Tyrone
« on: Saturday 16 July 16 02:47 BST (UK)  »
Thank you for your help Sinann.  I appreciate it.  I will look at that tomorrow, or later today.  I am past my usefulness for tonight!!

Thank you also hallmark.  I didn't think of that.  I changed the spelling of Thompson but not of Keys.  Another job for tomorrow.

5
Tyrone / Re: Thompson Keys, Clogher, Tyrone
« on: Saturday 16 July 16 01:47 BST (UK)  »
Yes I saw Lena but I have no idea if she belongs to this family.  I did a search for children with surname Keys born between 1900-1920 (or thereabouts) and it found 12.  I have tried to trace some of them but even with an unusual surname, it is difficult to be sure where exactly they belong.

I really don't think they married in England.  When Mary came over in approx 1924 the story goes that she ran off and got on a boat etc so I don't think her parents were in England.

I have wondered if the mother, when the babies were registered, perhaps misunderstood and gave her married name (twice) so that both Marthas are the same person, the one who gave her name as Keys and the one who married Thompson in 1902.  Or she and Thompson could be cousins??  Or if the 1902 marriage is nothing to do with my family, perhaps they were not married.  Mary apparently was very secretive about her past.

I have tried to find Thompson's birth in the hope that it would clear up whether there is one Thompson of that age or maybe two.  Surely Thompson Keys must be an unusual name???

6
Tyrone / Thompson Keys, Clogher, Tyrone
« on: Saturday 16 July 16 00:15 BST (UK)  »
Searching Irish records is new to me and I cannot understand why I am finding it so difficult compared with England/Scotland.  I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Here is ALL of the information I have.

My great aunt is Mary Keys, born 22 October 1908, in Findermore, Clogher, Tyrone.  I have a copy of her birth certificate.

Her father is Thompson Keys, carpenter, dwelling place Findermore
Her mother is Martha Jane Keys, formerly Keys.

I looked for marriage for Thompson Keys - nothing for wife with maiden name Keys, but there is a record  - Thompson Keys married Martha Jane Robinson, 29 Jan 1902. 

There is a 1911 census record for
Thompson Keys, Head of family, age 50, birth 1861
Martha Keys, wife, age 36, birth 1875
William Keys, son, 6, 1905
Thompson Keys, son, 4, 1907
Mary Keys, daughter, 2, 1909 - Great Aunt Mary
Thomas, McGirr, boarder

The Aunt Mary story in the family is limited - she is reported to have left home aged 16 years, and taken a boat to England where she found work in the household of a wealthy family named Millington.   Her reason for leaving so young was that she had many siblings, but so far I have found only Mary and two brothers.

Mary Keys and George Woods (born 28 Sep 1910) were married in 1938 in Uppingham, Rutland and the rest of their lives were spent Rutland or Leicestershire.
They had one daughter born 1945, died 2014.
George died 10 Dec 1967, Mary died 7 Feb 1987.

I am very familiar with the George Woods side of the family but Mary Keys and her Irish origins are my ‘brick wall’. 

7
The Common Room / Re: What should I do?
« on: Tuesday 22 July 14 13:03 BST (UK)  »
Thank you all very much for your replies.  They have been very helpful.  The consensus seems to be that I should continue with both sides of the family which pleases me as I would not like the work I have done to go to waste.  Although my husband is from a large family with many large branches it seems that nobody has much interest in any family research - I always thought they were missing out on that as it can be so interesting.

Rather than deciding everything right now which is what I was trying to do, I should continue as before with more emphasis on my own family, and give the new FindMyPast a chance before discarding it for some other research tools.  I have purchased several software programs in my indecision on the recording side, but I will export the Gedcom file to them and see which suits me best, before I embark on any new 'tree'. 

So thank you once again for the advice.  I have no doubt I will be back with more questions at some stage.  I will need to get a move on though as I am 71yrs old already! ::)

Anne
(Maisie is my little cat)

8
The Common Room / What should I do?
« on: Sunday 20 July 14 20:15 BST (UK)  »
Some advice needed please.

I started my family tree just over two years ago.  For about a year I tried to do some every day and loved every minute of it.  I used mainly Find my Past for research, and Family Historian for recording everything.  I was happy with both of those.  I have a Mac computer and was using Family Historian in a Windows partition of the Mac.  I also have MacFamilyTree which I got with the Mac when new, but did not like it.  I have however kept upgrading it when prompted.

For the past year home circumstances meant that I was doing no family history at all although i did keep the Find my Past subscription up to date. 

I am now on my own and want to get back to my research, but I am not quite sure how to proceed.  Previously I was looking at both my own family history and my husbands.  I had them both in one tree.  Should I now leave his side dormant and carry on with my family?  Should I start again with only my family.  Secretly (shhhh)  I would be sorry to lose his family as there were a few interesting people in there, but I realise that it is probably not correct for me to keep them.

In a way it is a new start whatever I do. I have been so far from it all that I have forgotten a lot, plus now that I am back I discover that Find my Past is unrecognisable to me, and since my Mac operating system has been upgraded, Family Historian does not work so well in the Mac partition.  However MacFamilyTree is much better now than it used to be and I also have a copy of Family Tree Maker3 for Mac.

I know I can move the Gedcom file to other software.  I also know that this is an opportunity to get things better than before.  I was never sure what exactly to record as Source so printed a sheet for any census or BMD record that I found and confirmed.  I want to make the right decision but am not sure what that is.

So ......... do I?
1.  Split/separate the two families data?
2.  Leave one half of the tree dormant?
3.  New start with only my family?
4.  Move to a Mac program?
5.  Try to learn the new Find my Past?
6.  Move to something else for research and if so, what would you recommend?

I hope this makes some kind of sense.  I realise it is a bit messy but it is just how it is unfortunately.  I hope you good people can advise me. 


9
The Common Room / Re: Wiliam Black and his father Henry Black, Glasgow, Essex and Dorset
« on: Sunday 23 December 12 00:23 GMT (UK)  »
Yes, I have found that now  ;D

I have found the Scottish records much more difficult to find.  I had drawn so many blanks originally on finding William's first wife, then I attended a lecture at Register House in Edinburgh, the home of the Scottish files.  They gave us access to their Scotland's People computer system with an expert on hand to help us.  He found Mary for me, and her cause of death which confirmed that she died in childbirth.

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