I do not know what area of Ireland they are from.
They were married in Ireland and emigrated to Canada (Elizabethtown Twp, Leeds County, Canada West) prior to 1850.
In Canadian census records, Edward is listed as belonging to the English Church (Anglican) and Margaret to the Presbyterian Church.
They had nine children in Canada between 1849 and d1864.
Can anyone narrow down their area of origin based on their surnames?
Thanks,
Nora
Given the denominations you are likely looking at Ulster as a whole. Russell is pretty common and found everywhere but McMurdy less so. I looked at all the McMurdy protestant marriages in Ireland 1845 – 1850. There were only 4. 2 in Belfast and 2 in Armagh. I’d say that’s possibly your target area.
Now if your couple were a mix of Church of Ireland & Presbyterian and married after 1st April 1845, their marriage should be in the statutory marriage records. However I don’t see it. Could they have married pre April 1845?
Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church so that would suggest a Presbyterian ceremony. Prior to 1845 you need to search church records. (Many are not on-line). The most complete collection of Presbyterian records for that part of Ireland is in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast but without having a clearer idea of where they married, that’s an awful lot of records to search. (Probably 50 Presbyterian churches in Belfast and 20 or 30 in Armagh).
The 4 marriages between 1845 and 1850 were Church of Ireland (3) and Register Office (1), so no clues there.
Do you have any of the couples parents names and occupations from their death certificates?
Thank you Elwyn.
I forgot to enter that they were married in 1837 (per the 1861 Cdn census). Robert is listed as a labourer. Names of parents of either unknown.
I have a vague memory of my grandfather saying his family was from Armagh.
Thanks,
Nora
Nora,
It’s possibly worth checking the rootsireland site to see if there's any sign of the family, (ie marriage 1837 and children born 1837 to 1848). It’s a subscription site. They have some protestant records. Failing that you could hire a researcher to focus on Armagh records in PRONI. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net
There’s a set of records called the tithe applotment records. They list people with land. So mostly farmers. Here are all the McMurdy entries for Co Armagh. It’s not a census, so labourers, servants, lodgers and anyone without land isn’t listed but it’s a pointer as to where the names could be found in the county in the mid 1830s. And if your family were farmers in Armagh, then probably Margaret’s father is one of these men:
McMurdy, Thomas-- Townland: Greenan Year: 1832-Grange-Armagh
McMurdie, Dr. - Townland : Markethill Year: 1834 --Mullaghbrack-Armagh
McMurdie, Dr. - Townland: Cordrummond Year: 1834--Kilclooney-Armagh
McMurdie, Dr. - Townland: Markethill Year: 1834--Kilclooney-Armagh
McMurdie, Robert-County: Down Townland: Ballykeel Year: 1834-Magheralin-Armagh
McMurdie, Robert-County: Down Townland: Drumnaferry Year: 1834-Magheralin-Armagh
So that tells you to start by looking at particular 4 parishes, Grange, Mullaghbrack, Kilclooney & Magheralin. The family from Greenan were Church of Ireland. I know that because they were amongst the marriages I spotted in the statutory records period 1845 – 1850. I would ask your researcher to check both Presbyterian and Church of Ireland records. Not every church has records pre 1845, but many do, so you’ll just have to hope your family attended one whose records survived. Grange Church of Ireland has records from 1780.
Many, many thanks Elwyn. I appreciate all of your efforts.
Nora