Burial Records in Banbridge/County Down

[christiek]

Hello Everyone!

I'm currently over in Northern Ireland at the moment, visited Banbridge today and the genealogy expert at the tourist office was incredibly helpful.
I know several of my ancestors died in Banbridge and a lot of them married and baptised at Seapatrick Church so I'm presuming that they will have been buried in Banbridge. We visited the church but it was closed and we took a quick gander up to the cemetary at Newry St, but it was getting dark so we are returning tomorrow.
I was wondering if people could help me maximise my time tomorrow because really at the moment we are just wandering around (we've already found the locations of where they previously lived, that took up most of the day).

How do I find burial records to confirm where they were buried?
Is it reasonable to think they would have been buried in the cemetary in Newry st or is there an older cemetary that we should be looking for?

We've got one death record for a Margery Poots, who died in 1906 and in the church box it has the code BBRXDA. Does anyone know what this means?

[aghadowey]

Banbridge Council website has information-
http://www.banbridge.com/template1.asp?pid=410&parent=404&area=1

What denomination is "Seapatrick Church"? you would need to check with the church to see if they do have any burial records (Church of Ireland usually do have a burial register and other churches may have only a map of plots or no records at all).

[taughey]

I have in my family tree a Mary Poots from Banbridge married to Andrew Crookshanks c 1870"s This Mary died on the 4th March 1927 and was buried in the First Dromore Presbyterian Churchyard. Her address then was Mossvale Dromore. As far as I know she was originally from Ballyvicknakelly Dromore. I don"t know if there is a connection here but thought I would pass this on, just in case there could be more Poots burials in the churchyard
Good Luck,
Taughey

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   I have no information on burials but there is a marriage of Andrew Crookshank to Mary Poots in St. Marys Church of Ireland, Shankill, Belfast in Feb 1871.

Regards

[christiek]

Hi Everyone,

I went to Seapatrick (Holy Trinity) church today, the parish secretary was initially a little reluctant to help but did give me the history behind the Holy Trinity Church and the original Seapatrick church. The people at Proni had already told me that the burial records were kept at the church, when I asked her she was insistent that they were now in the safe keeping of the council offices.

I made an appointment at the council offices with the registrar and she was as helpful as she could be, but she told me that Seapatrick parish burial records were definately with the parish and that they didn't store ANY parish records, only records for the public cemetary on Newry street. I was lucky enough that I found my great great grandmothers grave and great aunts grave, both unmarked so I wouldn't have found them without help. I think my dad was a little sad to find that his great grandmothers grave had never had a proper headstone put up.

They also found two other family Poots graves - a William John Poots who I do not think is the great-grandfather I'm researching because he's buried with a James Poots (died 1924) and a Matilda Poots (died 1964) who are definately not of my immediate family line but could have been a half brothers issue further on up the family tree.

I was disappointed because I was trying to find our William John Poots, who died in 1908 and his daughter Margery Poots who died aged 6 in 1906.

They did find a further Poots burial plot in the town cemetary in burial plot F55, but the registrar couldn't find the row F book, she said she didn't think it was there. The guy who tends the graveyard brought out his original index from the time and in that plot there were 3 adults by the name of Poots in that grave, plus 1 baby. But because once again, there is no headstone, without the registrars book I don't know who is in that grave.

I don't know how to proceed, anyone have any ideas?

[Elwyn Soutter]

Looking at the PRONI catalogue, they hold Seapatrick burial records for the years 1810-79 and 1963-2000. So there’s a gap between 1880 and 1962 which covers the year(s) you are interested in. It’s an odd gap. You would have expected them to be copied if someone was copying the rest and the missing years were available. From experience, that sort of gap can mean those records are lost. You could try speaking to the Rector/Vicar to see if he/she knows anything about them, but somehow I suspect you may not be able to locate these records.

I can’t suggest any alternatives for the council graveyard. If the relevant “F” row book is missing, and they don’t have a duplicate, I am not sure what you can do.

[akanex2]

St Patrick's Church of Ireland, Seapatrick was opened as a Chapel of Ease in 1880 on the site of the original parish church (abandoned when Holy Trinity opened in 1835).  I therefore suspect the records up to 1879 are Holy Trinity/ Parish records and St Patricks maintained their own separate records from 1880, which would partly explain the gap.  Whether they still exist would best be answered by either the current Rector, Archdeacon Roderick West, or the parish office.