French family research

[Elwyn Soutter]

For births, deaths & marriages 1750 - 1850 you have a choice. Protestant marriages 1845 -1850 will have been recorded with the GRO but otherwise no statutory records will exist for any other event. So you'll have to rely on church records.

From this chain it appears that the French families in Randalstown were a mix of Presbyterian and Roman Catholic.

Catholic records are available on microfilm in the National Library in Kildare St, in Dublin (website : http://www.nli.ie/). Presbyterian records will be with PRONI and probably also with the church (note that there are 3 Presbyterian congregations in Randalstown - OC, 1st & 2nd). And you might also get extracted records on Familysearch.


Elwyn


 

[jwaugh]

Roman Catholic records for Drummaul parish are available at PRONI.

Ref no MIC1D/70-71
Baptisms, 1825-81; marriages, 1825-84; deaths, 1837-48.

[syzygial]

Hello, I am just after finding this thread after searching for a Thomas French of Randalstown who was my great-great grandfather. His eldest daughter was Mary Elizabeth French who became Ridgway and lived from c1860-1929. I am Charlie Ridgway - the third generation in direct succession to hold the name. The two Charlie Ridgways before me held the middle name of French from that line. My eldest brother has the middle name French, but it seems the tradition of keeping it as middle name for males in our ramily will die out as his only son does not have it in his name.