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Walsh - James Henry and Mary - Belfast to NZ 1848

AntrimAntrim (Antrim)

Hi there, Looking for information on WALSH ancestors:

WALSH, James Henry b.1807 Ireland, d.1877 Auckland New Zealand. (My GGG Grandfather).

Attested for the 72nd Foot Regiment at Belfast, Antrim 20 Dec 1825 aged 17 and a half. His army records show he was born in the parish of Belfast in or near theTown of Belfast in the county of Antrim. He served 12 years at the Cape of Good Hope South Africa and discharged 1843 due to exhaustion and disability.

Married -WALSH, Mary 1844 in St Patricks Church Shankill. Priest was a Rev. Dorrian.

Two children: Matilda Walsh baptised 01 Sept 1846 at St Patricks Church. Priest was a Rev. Kelly. Sponsors were John McCaffry and Mary Ring. Matilda married a William Shea 1865 in NZ.

Maria Walsh baptised 17 June 1847 in St Patricks Church. Priest was a Rev. Maginn. Sponsers were Michael Duffy and Anne Allen.

James Henry travelled with wife and 3 children on Barque Ann from Belfast 07 January 1848 with a contingent of English Pensioners (all former Military men no longer in active service). Arrived in Auckland NZ 16May 1848. The bulk of the Irish Pensioners were from Northern Ireland.

I wish to find further information of their life in Ireland. If you can help I would be very appreciative.

Regards

Louise

IrelandXO member

4 replies

Dear Louise

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I have forwarded your query to a volunteer. I hope she will be in touch with you soon.

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

IrelandXO member

Louise,

Finding out more about James? early life will be tricky. There aren?t many records to turn to. The only RC church with baptism records for 1807 is St Pat?s. Have you searched to see if you can find him there? There was another RC church in Belfast at the time (St Mary?s) but it doesn?t have any records from that period.

St Mary?s was the first RC church in Belfast. It opened in 1784 at which time there were just 365 Catholics in Belfast. (The population of the whole town was about 13,000). People started moving into Belfast from rural areas in big numbers from the late 1700s onwards and consequently additional churches were required eg St Patrick?s c 1798. But what this tells you is that James?s parents must have been amongst the first catholic settlers in Belfast, and possibly they were born outside the town and moved in for employment.

James was evidently living in Belfast between 1844 and 1848. I searched the street directories for him. The only entry I found was in Henderson?s street directory for 1846/47 which listed a James Walsh in Cullingtree St, Belfast.  However without additional information, I can?t say whether that was your or some other James. (The street directories only list heads of household, so lodgers and people sharing houses would be overlooked. So just because it?s the only entry I could find doesn?t mean there were no others in the town).

 

Elwyn

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for your help. It gives me a couple of things to ponder. Im a little sad records are hard to find or that some information is minimal BUT I love the history and mystery so I will continue as family history is my passion. I really appreciate your time. Regards Louise.

IrelandXO member

Thanks Elwyn.

Louise

It would be no harm to keep an eye on the website of the Irish Genealogical Research Society. They have a FB page too and regularly give updates on new records available or new sources that could be tried to help in bridging the gap: http://www.irishancestors.ie/ ;

Best wishes

Clare

Genealogy Support

IrelandXO member

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