Hello,
I am trying to find information about the Smyth and Reynolds families. On 16/9/1876 Peter Smyth of Corballis married Anne Reynolds of Laytown at Stamullen. I think that Peter was born in 1850 and Anne in 1854. I would like to find any information about their families, the places they lived, and especially the names of parents or siblings. The marriage information comes from the parish records in the NLI in Dublin.
Thank you
Hello
Thanks for your message
If you were to obtain a copy of the civil record of Peter and Anne’s marriage it could furnish you with more details from which to work from, such as their father’s names and their places of residence at the time of the marriage. Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You could also search for church records concerning other family members. The link below will tell you what records are available for Stamullen.
I did find a record for a child of Peter and Anne on familysearch.org that places them in Stamullin/ Gormanstown at the time of the birth.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FGJR-K5S
There is a Peter Smyth recorded in that area on the 1901 census
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Meath/Stamullin/Gormanstown/1610286/
You could also try checking for Reynolds and Smyths in the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp ; or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64) http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation
The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. The tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.
Best regards Michael
Genealogy Support
Thank you Michael,
I will send off for a marriage certificate as you suggest. Even though the marriage was after 1864, I wasn't sure whether there would be a civil record, as it doesn't appear on familysearch.org.
As the parish records go back to 1830 I am hopeful of finding a birth record for Peter and/or Anne in the future.
I have not looked at theTithe Applotment records or Griffiths Valuation, so I will do that too.
Thank you again and best wishes.
Hi,
I applied for a marriage certificate as suggested, but the GRO could not find a record. I guess I will have to go back to the church records.