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Speers Family

AntrimConnor (Antrim)

The family of Speers farmed near Connor in the 19C. Great Great Grandfather Richard handed farm to his son John who had several children including my Grandfather Johnston Speers who became a soldier in the Royal medical Corps and fought in the Boer war. He returned to Belfast in 1907 and dies in 1912. I aminterested in details of his brother John who went to Scotland after 1912 and brothers William who went to Canada and James who is believed to have joined American forces.

IrelandXO member

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Johnston in 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Down/Ormeau/Emerald_St…

I assume this is his brother John in 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Connor_/Maxwell_s_Walls/107364/

John married Agnes McCullough Fleck in 1900. The marriage is registered in Ballymena.

Scotlandspeople has a death certificate for Agnes registered in St Ninians, Stirlingshire in 1949. If you buy a copy of that, you will find out whether John was still alive at that time. Obviously you?ll also get Agnes address. The informant may be one of their children, so that may help too.

Their daughter Marjorie/Margery may have died in Stirling in 1980. She appears not to have married. Again you can buy that certificate on Scotlandspeople.

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

I have managed to get Agnes's death certificate when family members found a photo of her grave. Ib didn't have deatils of Margery's death though. Thank You. I came to belfast a few years ago and found a great deal of information about The family from the Connor church records. There is a discrency over Johnstons birth records from his baptism to the dates on his army and marriage certificate.

IrelandXO member

People often lied about their ages in order to get into the army. And having used a false age at the outset, they were then obliged to stick with that throughout their military career. Such age discrepancies were extremely common at that time. (Documentary evidence of age was rarely required).

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

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