Looking for the Irish birthplace of James Dunbar, born about 1836. He had a brother John. They both emigrated to Brisbane Australia in the 1860s. Parents believed to be Francis and Johannah. Francis almost certainly served in the British military in Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)and retired to Jersey in the Channel Islands. James married Mary Jane Blee of St Helier.
Does this family ring bells for anyone? Cheers, Ric
Dear Ric
Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find information without a more specific place of origin. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.
Do you have any documentation pertaining to James and the family that mentions any place names at all? This can include wills, marriage/death records, census records, letters, diary entries etc. Have you tried searching Ancestry.com for any mention of your ancestor?s name in member family trees or messages? In your case the National Archives in Kew, London may be of assistance in relation to military records:
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
There are some places where you can search online, however these websites do not have complete collections and many do not cover the period after 1900:
www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.
www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.
http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ have begun a project to upload Irish church records to their site free of charge. However, so far only Counties Dublin, Kerry, Carlow and parts of Cork have been covered.
Other important sources include the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith?s Valuation. Even though these sources only record the head of the household, the information is very important and can be valuable:
Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837): http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp
Griffith?s Valuation (1847-1864): http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
The National Archives of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/ you can search the 1901/1911 Census on the National Archives page too, for instances of the family name at that time. I had a look at the 1901 Census to see where the Dunbar name was most common. As you can see from the link below, in 1901 the surname was found in Armagh, Antrim, Down, Dublin, Mayo, Fermanagh, Sligo, Limerick, Wexford and Meath to name a few!
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=19…
Remember to post any new information that you find here. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Best of luck with your search
Clare Doyle
Genealogy Support
Dear Clare,
I have been able to find some new information that would suggest that my James Dunbar was born 27 March 1836 at Killinon or Killinan, Tipperary. This is probably near Thurles but the spelling that I have from old military records says Killinon, Tipperary. His parents were possibly Andrew or Francis Dunbar, born in Jersey, and Hannah or Johannah born Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). The alternate names come from conflicting sources and I can't decide which is more reliable.
His father appears to have served in the English military forces and to have moved around a fair bit if other possible siblings birth places are any guide. I know he had a brother John who also came out to Queensland.
Hopefully this new information may strike a chord with someone from the Tipperary diospora.
Thanks,
Ric
Dear Ric
I have passed your query to our volunteer in Thurles. I hope she will be in touch soon.
Best wishes
Clare
Genealogy Support
James Dunbar was born in 1837 in Ireland. His father is James Dunbar b. 7 September 1797 Jersey, Channel Islands. His mother Johannah Wilson was born Abt. 1801 Cape of good hope. His parents married 18 October 1823 Renfrewshire, Scotland. James Dunbar served in the 25th Foot Regiment and was placed on a war pension, he passed away in 1852 St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. James Jnr. Married Mary Jane Blee. There is a lot of information on the family and you are probably already aware of by now.
Dear Brenda, Thank you for your information. My response is very belated but I seem to have completely missed your response. I will follow up on it. At this stage I am still not aware of 'a lot of information' being available about this Dunbar family but that is apparently my failing. You have not indicated whether your sources are from Irish records or from other jurisdictions. For example, I know James wed Mary Jane Blee from Australian death records but have never been able to find a record of where and when that marriage occurred.
Many thanks. You have strengthened my knowledge jigsaw.
Ric
Hi Ric,
I have found James Dunbar's military service records, which have the date of his marriage to Johannah Wilson also known as Hanny. There is also information about where and when he was posted. I have also found the census records for the family. James Dunbar Jnr was living with Mary Jane Blee before they married. His other siblings also living with other people after the death of their father. Emma was living with her mother after James passed away from Diarrhoea.
I'm related through his daughter Margaret. Margaret was born in Scotland in 1829. Margaret married Robert Telfer in 1849 in Northamptonshire. Margaret went to Bengal either with her husband or other reasons, which I'm still looking into. While she was in Bengal, she married George Moore in Meerut only 9 months after marrying Robert. I cannot find a death for Robert Telfer at all, which is so frustrating. Margaret and George had 2 children while George was posted in India. George was posted in the same Regiment as Robert Telfer.
George and Margaret moved to Australia from India, arriving in Melbourne in 1853. They had a couple of children and then George took up a position as a Police Constable in Tasmania in 1858. While in Tasmania, sadly they had 2 children, both passing away aged only a few months. George and Margaret moved back to Prahran in 1861 and they had a few more children.
I have more information about Margaret's siblings but I'm not sitting at my computer right now.
I'm still researching also
Brenda, Thanks for your info. As you said, once I looked harder and in more recent times, a lot more info on the Dunbars and Blees has come to my knowledge.
It is interesting to note how people moved around in those colonial days. My James jnr and wife Mary Jane came out to Brisbane and ended their days there along with several members of their immediate family on both sides. My connection is via Mary Jane's sister Louise Susan Blee who had many children in Brisbane. James and Mary Jane had no children, James dying in 1920 and Mary Jane in 1927. There is a misleading name of Andrew for James' father in the death record online. I don't know why that is because his wife was most probably the source of the registration .. but these errors do creep in.
Many thanks. I can only wish that some of our other dead-ends from the past will reveal the details we seek eventually. Irish stuff is particularly challenging, I find.
Cheers, Ric