Bernard Sutter is given as the father on the marriage registration of my 3X great grandfather James Sutter (and on the marriage registrations of his siblings). However I have been unable to find a birth, marriage or death for Bernard. The marriages took place in 1st Presbyterian Church Ballymena where my mother's family has always belonged. Incidentally I have found no other Bernards in the last 3 or 4 generations.
freddam,
I assume this is the James you refer to (you haven’t give any dates):
If so, James was born c 1831 and lived in Ballylesson at the time of his marriage.
Possible sibling: John Sutter in Ballee, parish of Connor:
And Robert Sutter:
And Rose Sutter in 1851:
Weavers and labourers moved about a lot and can be difficult to trace. I can't find a death for Bernard Sutter 1864 onwards (which is when death registration began) so suspect he died before that. Unless he was Church of Ireland, there are unlikely to be any burial records. Nor can I see gravestone but that wouldn’t be unusual for a weaver as most could not afford one.
Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church. Rose married in Ballymena 1st Presbyterian so that suggests it was the family church (as you have already said). Their records start in 1812. There’s a copy in PRONI in Belfast. You might find some of the family recorded there.
From his marriage certificate, we know James was born around 1831. That suggests his father Bernard was born around 1811 or earlier. Sadly few churches in the Ballymena area have any records for that period. (The Church of Ireland has records from 1789 but there are a number of significant gaps). So probably there’s no record of his baptism. His marriage would likely have been in his wife’s church. Do you have any idea where that might have been?
Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.
The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price. http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).
Thank you so much Elwyn. I ignored Bernard for years thinking it was the wrong family as my mother's family seem to follow the naming pattern and as I said I haven't found any other Bernard or derivatives. The family now spells the name as Suitters and I have several cousins in the Ballymena area. I will look at the Ulster DNA project and upload my Ancestry DNA results to other sites and keep my fingers crossed
Fredda
Variations in the spelling of surnames in Ireland (and Scotland) is very common. Sutter/Suitters are both quite common around Ballymena.. Evidently a variation of Souter/Souttar etc, which is a common Scottish surname. Originally a trade name like Wright or Mason, a souter was a shoemaker.
I’d expect your family to be Presbyterian but you never quite know.