Matilda Stevenson born about 1881 - is father James or Isaac

[Joan Benson]

Thank you so much for all of the very helpful responses.

I had another thought about the name of Matilda’s father, could she have been lying about it because she was a Protestant and was marrying a Catholic? I had this scenario in my own family and the couple left Ireland.

To summarise what I have so far is: At her marriage Matilda declared her father to be James Stevenson, a policeman. In a newspaper record of the wedding, Matilda’s father is names as Isaac Stevenson, deceased. At Matilda’s burial, her daughter declared Matilda’s father to be Robert Stevenson.

There is one further confusion, a Matilda Stevenson born in 1881 is the daughter of William Stevenson who was a policeman but the birth was in Kilkenny and looking at the family history, I think I can discount that possibility.

[PatLac]

Just to add a small detail... in Matilda's burial record her parents are listed as Robert and Sarah STEPHENSON, which could mean that her daughter Nellie had no idea who her biological grandparents were, or perhaps Matilda was indeed a Stephenson after all. On Nellie's birth record there is a 'her x mark' but in the census records she can read and write 

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1910/01560/1629980.pdf

IF there is a DNA link between her and Joseph Henderson Stevenson, perhaps he was her biological father before his marriage in 1884, or perhaps she is the illegitimate daughter of his brother James, who had two children with his wife Annie Dick, one in 1879 and the other in 1881, born in Churchminster and registered in Castlefin, Strabane. If she was illegitimate, her mother may have moved to Burt, if this information is correct.

Anyway, they were all farmers... Have you followed up the James Stevenson, policeman, mentioned in the newspaper?

[aghadowey]

In Ireland Stevenson. Stephenson, Stevens and Stephens can all be used for the same family. Until fairly recently spelling variations in names for both people and places were very common.