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Anyone Related to Joseph Francis GRAHAM (1823-1874), Donegal Town, Co. Donegal>NZL

Donegal

I seek the origins and emigration information for my g-g-g-grandfather, Joseph Francis GRAHAM (1823-1874). He was born in Donegal Township in County Donegal, Ireland. [ERROR: We were recently told that his father was called Michael and his mother was called Mary].

Joseph died when the Flora McDonald sank during a SW gale on the Manukau bar in Auckland, New Zealand. His body was not recovered, so his death was not registered.

Joseph's granddaughter stated he was from Southern Ireland prior to when there was a Northern and Southern split in Ireland.

His granddaughter said he travelled to NZ with his brothers (one brother possibly named Thomas, anotherpossibly called Richard Robert Graham). His parents remained in Ireland and his sister, Agnes, went to live in the USA.

My cousin and I took Ancestry DNA tests and the evidence states that we both share DNA 5% Leinster and 1%Donegal in Ireland.

Family legend says that he was the captain of a whaling vessel based off Kawhia harbour. The only ship that they recalled was the “Oak” which we cannot find in NZ records. He was familiar with all the ports on the west coast of New Zealand. I have sought, but not found him on whaling vessels in New Zealand during the 1830s-1849 when he settled in Aotea,Waikato, NZ.

We are aware of the possibility that he may have many aliases or names that were used on documents in Ireland.

Any help as to his origins is much appreciated. Several generations of our family have searched for him over the last six decades but we have all been unsuccessful in finding where he is from.

Ataraiti

6 replies

Thank you for posting a link to the Waikato Times article.Papers Past also has a number of articles on the Flora McDonald which is brilliant.

I've also just found out that they had a Court of Inquiry into the deaths and perhaps might learn where the cutter was Registered. I can then check that country to see if the deaths were registered there!

UPDATE:

There was a Court of Inquiry on the 'Flora McDonald' which had its findings posted in a NZ newspaper.

The cutter was registered in NZ meaning that the Deaths would not have been registered anywhere else except NZ.

The criteria for registering Deaths in NZ in 1874 was that:

1) You needed to have a body.

(All of the passengers and crew were lost at sea.)

2) You needed a witness who was physically present at the time of death.

Ataraiti

Birth registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864. Prior to that we use church baptism records, where they exist. Not all records have survived and of the ones that have, not all are on-line.

You haven’t said what denomination Joseph Graham was. Do you know? Assuming he came from Co. Donegal, the 1901 census of the county contained about 450 people named Graham. The vast majority were Church of Ireland (ie Anglican/Episcopalian), some were Presbyterian and a handful were Catholic. 

If Joseph came from Donegal town, then its Church of Ireland records start in 1808, Presbyterian (Donegal 1st Presbyterian) start in 1824 and Donegal 2nd in 1865. There’s a copy of the above records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. Personal visit required to view them. Rootsireland (subscription) has some years of the Church of Ireland records on its site. The RC records for that parish don’t start till 1872. 

Being Protestant (whether Church of Ireland or Presbyterian) usually points to the families being incomers who probably arrived in Ireland in the 1600s.That is confirmed in MacLysaght’s “The Surnames of Ireland” which says the name is Scottish.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Kia Ora Elwyn

Joseph Graham was Roman Catholic so your information is really great about the record dates and access.

I posted online to various people who have suggested that we perform an online search of the various archives and registers while in New Zealand before travelling to Ireland - so my cousin can focus on a few things, rather than going through all the registers one by one. And perhaps contacting the parish priest where the register is and visiting.

Nga Mihi Mahana

Ataraiti Whyte

Ataraiti

Ataraiti Whyte,

If the family was RC, the good news is that most RC parish records are on-line on various sites eg the National Library (where they are free). https://registers.nli.ie/  Various subscription sites have them too, eg Ancestry, findmypast and Rootsireland. The bad news is that hardly any RC parishes in Co. Donegal have any records for the period you need. So you will almost certainly draw a blank if searching for baptism records in the 1820s. DNA testing might be the only way of progressing, in the hope you find a match with someone who knows more about the family’s origins.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Kia Ora Elwyn

Thank you so much. Unfortunately, I have triple checked the source of his parents names and the researcher nistook him for another man of the same name. So we are back to the beginning again.

Oh well, at least my cousin hasnt travelled all the way to Donegal in Ireland before I discovered this!

Nga Mihi Mahana

Ataraiti Whyte

Ataraiti

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