I have recently commenced a wider search of my Irish Great Grandfather, Robert Alexander Andrews. I have some information regarding him once he arrived in Melbourne, Australia on 1 February, 1875 on the Loch Maree, but I have not been able to locate anything pre-dating this. From the information he has given to the Navy when he volunteered on 01 November 1867, he was born in Bangor, Down, Ireland on 6 October, 1852. Any assistance appreciated!
Liz,
Statutory birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864 so you won’t find a birth certificate for Robert. You might find his baptism though but to do that we need to know his denomination.
Looking at the 1901 census of Co Down, there were 317 people named Andrews in the county at that time. The majority were Presbyterian (reflecting the fact that most of the population originated in Scotland) but other denominations are found too.
If Robert was Presbyterian, there are 6 Presbyterian churches in Bangor. 1st Bangor has baptisms from 1852, 2nd 1829, Ballygilbert 1841, Ballygrainey 1830, Conlig 1845 & Groomsport from 1841. There are copies of these records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast, but they are not all on-line so far as I am aware and you would probably need to get a researcher to go to PRONI to check them all for you.
Andrews is a pretty common surname in Co. Down and ideally you ought to try and find his parents names from a marriage or death certificate in order to be sure you have found the right man. His date of birth may not be 100% accurate. (People in Ireland in the 1800s didn’t celebrate birthdays and didn’t always know their date of birth and so sometimes just made a date up when officialdom asked for one). Also I notice he was just 15 when he joined the Navy. If the Navy had a minimum recruitment age people sometimes “adjusted” their age to satisfy that requirement.
Thanks Elwyn. The family identified as Presbyterian, but this may have been a loose connection. There is evidence of Robert's membership of Protestant groups (Orange and Masons) in Australia, which would suggest he didn't identify as Roman Catholic! In Australia he was described as a businessman, who operated a "Bedding Manufacturing" company. He was also an Alderman in Local Government and for a period was described as having been involved in the social scene of Sydney.
That fits with the general profile of most Andrews in Ireland, so I'd focus on Presbyterian records in Bangor. If you can get his parents names, it'd take a decent researcher about an hour or so to run through those records in PRONI to look for his baptism.
Apparently family legend says he was educated at Trinity - but family experience is that sometimes the truth was flexible! Is there a Presbyterian Church in/around Bangor named Trinity - which may have had a school? Yes, I will consider paying a researcher - despite the fact there is a huge part of me that would love to board a plane! Just love a good project to research....!
Liz,
You might be in luck. 2nd Bangor Presbyterian church is also called Trinity. (Their baptism records start in 1829. There’s a copy in PRONI under ref MIC1P/256). I don’t know whether there was a school attached but many churches did sponsor schools in various ways.
Probably also worth mentioning at this point that though most Irish censuses pre 1901 were destroyed some fragments have survived, and those include part of the 1861 census for Bangor parish. They are on Emerald Ancestor site (pay to view). You might want to look at those in case your ancestor is in there:
https://www.emeraldancestors.com/news/viewdetails.asp?ID=39
Or you can get a researcher to look the paper copy up in PRONI. (Ref LA20/3GA/1).
Thanks Elwyn. I think his mother's name was Jane Andrews (don't know maiden name yet), as she signed his permission for the Navy. Another common name!