Seeking Thomas Thompson

[paja]

I'm hoping to find more information about Thomas Thompson's ancestors.  What I believe to date is:
* in the 1911 England census he is living in Wallsend, Northumberland, age 40, birth Derry Faugh, Ireland
* in the 1901 England census he is also living in Wallsend, age 28, birth Ireland
In both cases he is married to Margaret, whose ages are given as 38 and 27 in the respective censuses, where her birthplaces are identical to Thomas's.
It is possible that she is Margaret McAlinden (actually born May 1873 in Aghagallon, Antrim), who married a Thomas Thompson on 18 Apr 1895 in Lurgan.
Can anyone with better access to, and understanding of, Irish records help me take Thomas (and possibly Margaret) further back?
Thanks in advance, Peter

[athacliath62]

The birth place of Thomas, Margaret and the two elder children (John 14 & James 13) looks like Derry Taugh to me, next child born Scotland and younger children in Wallsend

I'd start the search with the children's births on IrishGenealogy

[Kiltaglassan]

Agree with athacliath62.

in the 1911 England census he is living in Wallsend, Northumberland, age 40, birth Derry Faugh, Ireland

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWMX-DV3?lang=en (Derry Taugh Ireland)

Marriage 18 April 1895 at St Patrick's RC Church, Derrymacash.
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/marriage_returns/marriages_1895/10525/5833539.pdf
Both groom and bride living in Derrytagh.

Derrytagh (North) townland
https://www.townlands.ie/armagh/oneilland-east/montiaghs/montiaghs/derrytagh-north/
https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/5200589#map=13/54.48700/-6.43696

Son John Thompson born 1896 at Derrytagh N.
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1896/02176/1824155.pdf
Son James Thompson born 1897.
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1897/02110/1803204.pdf

[gc1]

removed sorry

[Elwyn Soutter]

Thomas Thompson’s birth in 1871. Mothers maiden name was Farrell:

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1871/03278/2201268.pdf

Death here for John Thompson of Derrytagh (Thomas’s father) in 1901:

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1901/05740/4620697.pdf

Wife Sarah’s death in 1890:

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1890/06120/4747441.pdf

This looks to be a sibling to Thomas:

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/marriage_returns/marriages_1891/10657/5883181.pdf

Family in the 1901 census:

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Armagh/Montiaghs/Derrytagh_North/1027336/

No sign of them in the 1911 Irish census. Did they move to England too?

John Thompson junior was born 1.2.1867
Sarah Thompson born 9.10.1865.

John Thompson married Sarah Farrell on 29.11.1850 in Seagoe RC. They probably had quite a few children between 1850 and 1864 when civil birth registration began. You would need to check Seagoe baptism records for those years (On Ancestry and other sites).

[paja]

Thanks to all for these very helpful links, and for helping me negotiate Irish geography!

Can I just check one detail in Elwyn's data - John Thompson's death record has him dying at 65, in 1901 (therefore born c1836).  Marrying in 1850 would make him 14/15 years old.  Is this credible, or do we assume that the age at death was a guess (similar to the England 1841 census ages!), and that he was probably nearer 70......?

Peter

[Elwyn Soutter]

In general, people in Ireland in the 1800s didn’t celebrate birthdays, didn’t have birth certificates or passports (though they might sometimes have had a baptismal cert) and often had little accurate idea of their ages. Most ages on official documents were just a guess.

Alexander Irvine was born in 1863 in Antrim town and became a Minister living in the US. This extract from his book “The Chimney Corner revisited” perhaps explains why people often had to guess their ages:

“My mother kept a mental record of the twelve births. None of us ever knew, or cared to know, when we were born. When I heard of anybody in the more fortunate class celebrating a birthday I considered it a foolish imitation of the Queen’s birthday, which rankled in our little minds with 25th December or 12th July. In manhood there were times when I had to prove I was born somewhere, somewhen, and then it was that I discovered that I also had a birthday. The clerk of the parish informed me.”

I have a letter which I found in parish records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast from someone in Pettigoe, Co. Donegal in 1908 writing to his Minister, asking for proof of age (ie a baptismal certificate). All he knew was that he was between “70 and 78 years of age.” He clearly had only the vaguest idea and couldn’t narrow it down to within 9 years. (The likely reason for the letter was that the old age pension was being introduced in 1909 for people aged 70 and over. Documentary proof of age was required. Thus, probably for the first time in his life, establishing his age accurately became relevant to him).

[paja]

Many thanks, Elwyn.  Understood.

Any suggestions where I might find Margaret McAlinden's mother, as well?

[Elwyn Soutter]

The 1895 marriage cert tells you that Margaret McAlindon lived in Derrytagh, and that her father was John (still alive) was a fisherman. I suspect this is that family in 1901:

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Armagh/Montiaghs/Derrytagh_North/1027349/