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Searching for Daniel Griffith (last location was in Derry)

Derry

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. I am located in Fredericton, the capital city of New Brunswick, Canada. I am seeking assistance in obtaining info on my 2nd great grandfather Daniel Griffith. He was born in 1817 +/- in Ireland (no proof yet). He married a Mary Catherine Murphy (no marriage date) who was also born in 1815 +/-. They and their 2 children sailed from Derry to Saint John, New Brunswick in 1853 on the JJ Cooke Ship Line vessel the Mary Jane. The transcribed/typed passenger ledger says Daniel Griffith (age 8 - had to be an error as he would have been 38), Mary (age 38), son Patrick (age 16) and daughter Mary Jane (age 10). It listed Derry for all of them as their home. Other passengers had different counties, so Derry was listed not as where they boarded, but must have been their home (at that time).

Griffith's were not known to be from the Derry area, but work or family or something must have brought them there in or around the early 1850s. So perhaps there is some census data for them. I am looking for anything (census or church info, baptism or birth or marriage records), that can lead me to Daniel or Mary's parents.

One other clue: On the 1861/1871/1891 Canadian census forms, he consistently listed his occupation as a soap/tallow/candle maker, and had his own shop. So perhaps he had such a store (or occupation) in Derry?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

michaelo'brien

3 replies

Hi, I believe Daniel below was a son of Mary and Daniel Sr. It is likely that Daniel Sr. emigrated first and the family followed. Griffith Mary 38 Derry Griffith Mary Jane 10 Derry Griffith Daniel 8 Derry Griffith Patrick 16 Derry
glanvil3@aol.com

Hi Patricia. Very interesting. I have never heard any family member ever mention or have knowledge of this, or that there may have been a Daniel Sr. And Jr. There were never 2 Daniel's in the Canadian census documents. 

michaelo'brien

Hi,
Usually a passenger manifest listed the husband, the wife, and then the children. If there was no husband on the journey, the woman was listed first, then her children. The order for your ancestors was:

Mary 38
Mary Jane 10
Daniel 8
Patrick 16

This led me to think that Daniel may have emigrated first and earned the money to pay for the passage for the rest of his family. You might look at passenger records for a few years leading up to 1853 to see if Daniel emigrated before the rest of the family.

I once found records for a friend showing that her Irish father came to the U.S. and went home again before the entire family emigrated together in the late 1920s. She was amazed, as she had no idea he had been here on his own. Your family came a lot earlier--1850s--and the story about what happened at that time may have been lost or may have changed over time.

glanvil3@aol.com

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