Finding one man in Ireland

[iamray]

My wife's grandfather John Denny gave his age as 41 and his birthplace as Ireland on the 1901 UK census. He disappeared from his daughter's life shortly afterwards so we have absolutely no idea where in Ireland he originated. Does anyone have any bright ideas as to what part of Ireland we shoulld start our search.

Thanks
Ray Lewis
Western Australia

[Chris in 1066Land]

Hi there Ray

My wife's grandfather John Denny gave his age as 41 and his birthplace as Ireland on the 1901 UK census. He disappeared from his daughter's life shortly afterwards so we have absolutely no idea where in Ireland he originated. Does anyone have any bright ideas as to what part of Ireland we shoulld start our search.

On the 1891 census on line, there are 111 people named John Denney, of which 5 are shown as born in Ireland. (Aged 74, born Ireland; Aged 49, born Ireland; Aged 50, born Ireland; Aged 38, born Ireland and finally Aged 59, born Cork, Ireland.) – cagey lot these Irish about showing where they were born

None of them are aged 31, so not the correct John Denney – but it does give one direction of where possibly to look.

Try the same thing on the 1881 census on line through LDS website
www.familysearch.org

Chris in 1066Land

[iamray]

Yes, the Irish seemed to be a cagey lot regarding their identity. One clue that we have about John Denny is that the lady he married in Devon (my wife's grandmother) was the stepdaughter of a Royal Marine born in Ireland. The family all appear on the 1881 Census but as far as we can tell John Denny doesn't. I wondered if he might have been from the same part of Ireland as his wife's stepfather. What do others think?

Regards
Ray Lewis

[Christopher]

Hiya Ray,

My guess is that John probably came from the same part of Ireland as his wife's stepfather. Do you know that man's surname? John was born in 1860 when Griffiths Valuation of Ireland (1848-64) was still taking place. The Valuation is useful as it shows the distribution of surnames throughout Ireland. http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths.php

Best Wishes, Chris 

[Leofric]

Ray,

You didn't say whether you'd tracked down his marriage cert in Devon. This may state where he came from...

regards

[iamray]

Thanks everybody for your suggestions.  The story so far, a continuing work in progress.

I have John Denny's marriage certificate and that states that his father was James Denny, Customs House Officer. I haven't found him yet but indications are that he could have been at Liverpool. John's Royal Marine attestation gives his birthplace as Liverpool but the place for religion is not clear. John was married in the Parish Church in the parish of East Stonehouse so I have assumed he was Anglican (Church of Ireland) rather than Roman Catholic. The 1901 census gives his birthplace as Ireland.

John Denny's wife stepfather's name (sorry about all the possessives) was Sandys but I have not been able to track him down anywhere yet as I have been looking elsewhere in the family tree, (my line rather than my wife's).
There aren't too many Sandys in Griffiths Valuation so perhaps I should try a cross match of towns with Sandys and Denny (lots of these).

Once again Thanks for your help.

Ray Lewis
 

[Christopher]

Hiya Ray,

I crossed checked the names Sandys and Denny. The City of Dublin is the only place in Ireland where both names appear in the same Parish during the time that Griffiths Valuation took place. This cross reference only holds water provided John's wife used the surname of her stepfather. http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm

All the Best, Chris

[luimneach]

james denny,customs officer,aged 58,born ireland,at 31 greta st,toxteth,lancs in 1881 census.
george

[biddybarracks]

Could Sandys be another spelling/misspelling for Sandes? The Denney and Sandes families have deep roots in Kerry (Tralee and North Kerry). Just a suggestion.