My 2x great grandfather was James Gunning and for a while now he has been my "genealogy brick wall".
I know for certain that he was born circa 1833 in Ireland (probably Sligo), his father was named William Gunning (on James' marriage certificate when he married Selina Thorp in 1858 in Marsden, Yorkshire, England) and emigrated to North America in the early to mid 1870's leaving his wife and 8 children behind. He had been so enamoured with the USA that in 1867 he named one of his sons Abraham Lincoln Gunning. My problem is that while I know about his life in Yorkshire between 1858 and (say) 1872 I know very little about his early life in Ireland or his later life in the USA or Canada. I am not certain about his religion but he was married in a C.O.E. church and James and William are usually protestant names. While in Yorkshire he worked as a labourer on the railways.
He certainly came to Yorkshire from County Sligo but I can't be 100% certain he was born there. His father William was possibly the William listed as a farmer at Carrowneden, Achonry, County Sligo in the Griffiths valuation in 1858, but the family were probably not at Carrowneden in 1826 (not listed in tithe records). William (senior) was possibly the William Gunning who's death was registered in 1872 at Boyle, Roscommon and his son William (junior) then inherited the family farm at Carrowneden. He was still there in the 1901 census and probably died there in 1930 (death registered at Tobercurry). Achonry parish is in Sligo but close to the border with Roscommon.
As for James' later life in the USA or Canada I have almost no information. I don't even know the precise year he emigrated but it was certainly between 1871 and 1881. Until recently I did think he might have been the James Gunning who married Bridget Reilly in Thorold, Welland, Ontario in 1874, was listed as a labourer in the 1881 Canadian Census at Thorold and died there in 1888 - he seemed to be the only James Gunning listed in the US or Canadian censuses that could fit with in terms of age, occupation, family circumstances and emigration to America in the early 1870's (Assuming that he wasn't beyond telling a few little white lies about his age and origins to cover up the fact that he was already married). His age listed on the census is ten years out but was closer on the marriage record and spot on when it got to the death certificate. Unfortunately the detailed marriage record for the Thorold James Gunning says his father was Patrick, whereas my James Gunning's father was William. So I think I am back to square one - unless his father's name on the record was a "porkie" too.
Is there anyone out there who knows anything about the Gunnings of Sligo that might help - especially of Carrowneden? Similarly does anyone have information about where our James Gunning might have ended up in the United States or Canada?
