Twins in 1874

Eve222

Does anyone know if twins born in 1874 are recorded on a birth cert, not the other twin's name, but that they were a twin. I'm going to order copies of birth certs and wondering if I could order one or if I need to order both. Thanks.

L1011

I'm pretty certain multiple births have always had a single cert per child with no other recordings; at least all the ones I have are like that. Not sure of the oldest but its damn close to then anyway.

Eve222

Thank you MYBO. I wanted to know for sure they were twins. I'll order both records that will confirm it. I think one of them died at birth, and the mother died a couple of years later. I'm going to order some marriage certs and death certs as well, so I have a few to order. Thanks again.

Hermy

Both of my mothers parents are twins so in each case the entries were one after the other on the form with the time of birth written in to distinguish the older twin which I believe is usually the second twin out.

blue banana

Also, if you can locate a baptism record, it may indicate twins.

Eve222

That is interesting Hermy. Thank you.

Eve222

Thank you Blue. I am ordering copies of certs tomorrow.

Eve222

I forgot to say Blue that I talked to the priest where they were baptised, but there was a bit of a mix up with another similar name and a foot note about it. So I want to confirm they are twins.

pinkypinky

If you have a birth cert of a twin/triplet, etc (a historical one), then it should have a time of birth on it. This was to establish who was the eldest child for inheritance purposes.

ETA: which I see Hermy said above!

boomerang

Do you want me to look them up on IFHF for you? I have a month's subscription.

I have twins in my ancestry born 1860 and it does note on the church baptism record that one is a twin of the other.

Eve222

Thank you so much Boomerang, yes please. Their names are Bridget and Mary or Maria McCarthy, born in 1874 to Michael and Maria McCarthy nee Regan in Ardpatick Co Limerick. Michael is my great grandfather, he was a widower when he married my great grandmother in 1880. He was 35 then. It has only been a couple of weeks since I found out there was a first family, it solved a lot of bits of the puzzle for me. There was another daughter Margaret born a year later. Eve

Hermy

pinkypinky wrote: »

This was to establish who was the eldest child for inheritance purposes.

I didn't think of that.

Greenmachine

It may be worthwhile looking up the death register around that time as well as the baptism register. My late grandmother born in 1900, had a twin she only mentioned on her deathbed. My mom who has done lots of genealogy research on her found, that her the birth of her mothers twin was not registered, but there was a baptism record for the twin, as well as a death register. There were born within a few minutes of each other either side of midnight. My grandmother didn't know which day was her birth date as result.

Eve222

Greenmachine wrote: »

It may be worthwhile looking up the death register around that time as well as the baptism register. My late grandmother born in 1900, had a twin she only mentioned on her deathbed. My mom who has done lots of genealogy research on her found, that her the birth of her mothers twin was not registered, but there was a baptism record for the twin, as well as a death register. There were born within a few minutes of each other either side of midnight. My grandmother didn't know which day was her birth date as result.

Thank you, I'll do that. That is an interesting story about your grandmother.

I went to the graveyard in Ardpatrick today, I was hoping to find a headstone for the twins mother. I didn't think there was much chance I would, but I didn't expect that none of the older headstone could be read. The graveyard is very exposed to the weather. The graveyard is on top of a very steep hill. You cant drive up to it, so it is a very long walk and gets steeper on the way up. To add to that it got windier the higher up we went, my ears were ringing when we got to the graveyard. It was quite a walk! It is the only graveyard in Ardpatrick, and still in use. I must ask someone about how they get coffins up there today. It was donkey and cart in the past. I have to say the view is well worth the climb, you can see for miles around up there. I saw the top of a small heart shaped stone nearly buried in thick grass. I cleared away the grass and used some of it to rub the stone. I could only get a date from it, it was only from 1948 and already unreadable.

dido2

Not sure if you have these or not but they look like they are the birth reference nos for both Mary and Bridget, note both have the same Vol and Page no's

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FBMR-XP2

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FBMR-RPL

Hermy

Maybe this is the wrong Ardpatrick or you've seen it before but in case it helps here's a link to Historic Graves survey of Ardpatrick.

dido2

both baptisms are on roots ireland Bridget and Maria dob 22 march 1874

Eve222

Thank you dido, yes they look right. I'll let you know. Thanks again.

Eve222

dido2 wrote: »

both baptisms are on roots ireland Bridget and Maria dob 22 march 1874

Yes! That is the date I got from the priest. Thank you. May I ask if you wouldn't mind if you could look on roots ireland if its there for the death of their mother Maria? She had another child Margaret in 1875 and my great grandfather remarried in 1880. Her death would have been between 1875 and 1880. Thanks so much.

Eve222

That's brilliant Hermy! That is the right place. I have been searching for something like this for ages. I had a quick look through it, there is a lot of McCarthys there. I didn't see what I was looking for but I bookmarked it, I'll have another look. I really appreciate it.

dido2

Hi Eve

I found Margarets baptism in 1875 and it says her mother is Margaret Regan...
No record for a Mary/Maria/Margaret McCarthy

Eve222

dido2 wrote: »

Hi Eve

I found Margarets baptism in 1875 and it says her mother is Margaret Regan...
No record for a Mary/Maria/Margaret McCarthy

Hi dido,
That is a bit of a mystery then, the priest told me there was another daughter called Margaret. Also my aunt told me the other day that my grandfather had a half sister named Margaret. I'll try family search and get the page and volume number if it is there, and I send off for a copy of the cert. Thank you very much for your help.

dido2

I think that would be a wise decision because the witness is listed as Maria Regan for that baptism so it could be a case of getting the names mixed up too...

Eve222

Yes, Maria should have been the mother. I'll do that and I'll let you know how it turns out.

boomerang

Sorry OP, only thought to check up on this thread now! If there is anything I can look up for you on IFHF, just send a PM.

Eve222

Thanks Boomerang. I have sent off for certs, I should get them during the week. I'll let you know what I find.

AreWeAlone

Eve222 wrote: »

I went to the graveyard in Ardpatrick today. It's on top of a very steep hill... I must ask someone about how they get coffins up there today.

I know the place well, they use a converted hearse attached to a tractor.

Eve222

Hi AreWeAlone, I was wondering how a coffin could be taken up that hill. It would be torture trying to carry it up.

AreWeAlone

I'm not sure who told you about the horse and cart Eve222, to my knowledge it was basic manpower. I know they once carried up a 20-stone man on their shoulders :O

pedroeibar1

What nobody has yet mentioned is a comment on 'twins' - their pre-birth mortality rate was higher than the norm, pregnancies rarely ran to full term, the deliveries were more complicated and after their birth infant mortality was much higher.

Eve222

AreWeAlone wrote: »

I'm not sure who told you about the horse and cart Eve222, to my knowledge it was basic manpower. I know they once carried up a 20-stone man on their shoulders :O

I think it was just one of those tall stories about the cart. 20 stone!!! That was some climb.

Eve222

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

What nobody has yet mentioned is a comment on 'twins' - their pre-birth mortality rate was higher than the norm, pregnancies rarely ran to full term, the deliveries were more complicated and after their birth infant mortality was much higher.

It must have been a very worrying time for pregnant women then. One of these twins died at three months.