Seeking help in locating a "clergyman" from late 1700's, early 1800's.

Tegan4618

For 17 years I have been trying to tear down a brick wall in my search for my family, with no luck at all. My gg grandfather, William Costley immigrated to Canada approx. 1837. It is well known within the family that William changed his name from Costello to Costley upon arriving in Canada, for what reason is not known.
From many sources I have come to the conclusion William was born 1821, somewhere in Ireland. His parents were William Costello and Sarah Unknown, and it is this couple I am looking for. Other then their names, the only other information I have about them is the following, found in William Costley's obituary.
"For several years after his arrival in this country, he resided at Cobourg and made himself quite useful as a local preacher in that locality. His father was an English Church clergyman. The deceased was well versed in the Bible having been able to quote from memory whole chapters as rapidly as he could utter the words, and without a single error."
A few years past a researcher told me that I most likely am looking for a clergyman in the Church of Ireland (?) not an English Church clergyman.
Any suggestions on where to look, or even begin this search, would be greatly appreciated. I am at a total loss. If I only knew where in Ireland I should be searching I might hold out hope of finding my family.
Thank you all in advance for any direction you can give me.

pedroeibar1

Research before the Famine generally is difficult and in some areas impossible due to the non-survival or nonexistence of records.

Name change - Costello/Costley - He probably changed his name because it was more profitable for him to do so. Were he uneducated it could have been a clerk unfamiliar with the name and an incorrect transcription. Your man was educated so I’d guess he wished to distance himself from the Irish and any association with the Papish religion. (Lot’s of people did it, it often was necessary for survival and/or social progression – Elizabeth Bronte’s family name really was the Irish surname Prunty. )

Church of Ireland – Church of England. Putting it simply, after the Reformation the official religion of Ireland and England was the Protestant faith (Anglican). The Church of England was the ‘Established Church’ and its Irish ‘wing’ was the “Church of Ireland”. Your Mr. Costley was a Protestant.

Son of a clergyman – Were the father an Irish clergyman he most likely would have attended Dublin University (Trinity College Dublin) and he thus would appear in their records – access to the book ‘Alumni Dubliniensis’ is available online. Costello is not that frequent so a trawl through university records in Ireland and the UK would be a good place to start - they give students name, address, father’s name & occupation, background education and, if he had a brother a student, that name also is mentioned.

Costelloe is a Hiberno-Norman surname found mainly in the West of Ireland, County Mayo. That however does not mean he came from there, but it would be a location to look at should you find an appropriate Costello in the university records. Best of luck with the search.

Tegan4618

Thank you so much for all the information. I have so much to learn about Ireland, especially its religious history and now more then ever in the time period I'm searching. I will certainly be spending some time looking through the university records. Maybe the beginning of my wall coming down, I can only hope. Again, thank you!

Earnest

Your best source for Church of Ireland clergymen is Leslie's lists. They are cumulated in the RCB Library in Dublin but you might have to visit personally. Leslie's lists are published as Clergy of … [name of diocese], compiled by J. B. Leslie. There must be some library in Canada that has a set. Leslie includes their TCD details, which usually give name of father and county of birth. There's an alphabetical index of surnames in each.

Tegan4618

I have never heard of Leslie's List. I will be putting out a search here in Canada to see if a copy is held by any of our institutes. Thank you for this information!

Speedsie

Tegan4618 wrote: »

I have never heard of Leslie's List. I will be putting out a search here in Canada to see if a copy is held by any of our institutes. Thank you for this information!

You could make contact with the RCB library online and ask if they'd search the Leslie list. On this site you can ask them to search registers, but I'm sure they'd look up that list as well.

https://store.ireland.anglican.org/genealogy

pedroeibar1

TCD Alumni online - Costello is pages 180 and 181 thumbnails.

Tegan4618

Thank you! Well, with this info I better become an Alumni so I can access. My fingers and toes are crossed I find my ggg grandfather.