I am after information about my great grandfather John Phair born in 1841 in Enniskillen. He emigrated to Australia and married Jessie Martha Whalan. He died in 1911.
I don't have any information about him other than the above and he was a horse trainer.
Any information would be appreciated
Hi,
Thank you for your message.
Have you tried looking in Church records for information? If you can find John?s baptismal certificate in Enniskillen it will list his parents? names. Most Catholic records are held locally. One website which you may find useful is the Irish Times website where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Enniskillen parish follow this link:
For Church of Ireland records check http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. The Anglican Record Project is has created an index to their records: http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/AngRecord/bunclodyunionindex.pdf
Another good website for baptismal/marriage records is Family Search. This is a huge database of genealogical records compiled by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Here is the website:
Have you looked into his emigration? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than that of departure so this may be a place to find more information. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867 for New South Wales. These are useful for finding out an exact place of origin as well as parents' names. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.
There is also Griffith?s Valuation. This is a property valuation survey that was carried out in Ireland between 1848 and 1864. I did a search of the surname Phair in Enniskillen and two results came back- both James Phair dated 1862- could this be John?s father? Here is a link to the results:
Some other websites that you may find useful in your search are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/fermanagh/index.html
Alternatively, you could contact the World Heritage Centre for assistance-a fee may apply. Here are their contact details:
Irish World Heritage Centre,
51 Dungannon Road,
Coalisland,
Co. Tyrone,
B71 4HP.
Phone: +44 28 8774 6065 Email: info@irish-world.com
I hope that this is helpful. Remember to post any new information you find. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support