Tracing ancestors to England, America and beyond

Coolnabacky1873 · 28-01-2012 2:48pm #1

Just wondering if many people have been able to work out if ancestors in their trees have emigrated? Most people must have at least one given the millions that left in the 19th and 20th centuries.

If so, is it something you followed up on and were able to find out to which country they went?

LordSutch · 28-01-2012 3:43pm

Well I can't help you specifically, but if my family are anything to go by you may be very surprised how the ancestors move around from country to country over the centuries. My Dad's sister married a man from Scotland who's family had hailed from Wales, the married couple settled in Dublin & had four children, one of those stayed in Ireland & settled, one married an American lady & promptly moved to the States, another sibling settled in the South of England, and the fourth one married a Welsh lady & has setled in Wales!!! thus completing the full circle.

The second generation of the American branch are of course very proud of their "Irish Ancestry" but it just shows you, there may be a lot more to the ancestors than first meets the eye. Finally, we recently discovered my own Dad's family history which goes back to Wexford, and possibly France or England before that?

(My brother did all the work tracing my Dad's line. National archives (Pearse St)? Libraries, Birth certs, Head stones, Church records & the like).

shanew · 28-01-2012 3:44pm

I have a couple of direct ancestors going the other way - i.e. from England and Scotland to Ireland. My problem ancestor is a gtgt-grandfather, who abandoned his wife and family in Leeds the early 1890s. The Salvation Army apparently tried to trace him for the family and reported that he had traveled to Sydney Australia .. never been able to prove this though.

Most of relations that traveled to the US and Canada did so 1950s and 60s, but we did locate a branch (descendants of my gtgt-grandmother's younger brother) that originates in Dublin and ended up in Louisiana and later Tennessee in the early 1900s, via Cavan and Lancashire..

Shane

Waitsian · 28-01-2012 3:47pm

I have traced ancestors on both sides to England, Wales, Scotland and other parts of Ireland (Clare, Derry & Kerry on my Dad's side; Cavan on my mum's) as well as Germany and France. Some from the Kerry clan left in the 1840s and 1850s to both Australia and Canada. Others left Derry for the USA before heading to Canada as Empire loyalists.

psycho-hope · 09-02-2012 3:57am

ive found a few distant relations who headed to the states, purely by chance i have to admitt, my g.g.g grandfather on my grandmothers side was born in glasgow to a father from donegal and a mother from derry and then ended up somehow in co.offaly

Catsmeow · 10-02-2012 11:46pm

One of my gr.grandfathers went to Manchester to work but returned to Ireland by 1880 or so (luckily enough or I wouldn't be here:D). His brother went to Kent, got married & stayed there, I've traced them to WW1. I've also got rellies who went to the US and Canada in the 1950s. I have an address where my father's cousin lived in New York in 1956 but haven't been able to get any further (yet). Catsmeow

patsman07 · 16-02-2012 11:32pm

My G-Grandfather's brother emigrated to America. Found him on the (brilliant) Ellis island website. He travelled on the Carpathia and was processed through Ellis Island on August 5th 1904. The big problem I have is tracking him down after that, he said he was going to a brother William, who as far as I can tell didn't exist.
This week ancestry.com have free access to the 1930 US census. Search of his name, even narrowed down with a year of birth gives hundreds of results, none of which I can verify as definately him.

Coolnabacky1873 · 17-02-2012 12:46pm

Fold3.com ($) has NYC directories up to about 1922 and the 1905 NY State census is on familysearch.org (has Manhattan but not every NY county). Familysearch also has many of the US Federal Censuses. Some are just indexes, others have images.

If the passenger list has an address then use stevemorse.org to convert to relevant Assembly District/Electoral District for whichever census you want so you can find address as opposed to using a name search.

Coolnabacky1873 · 17-02-2012 12:49pm

patsman07 wrote: »

he said he was going to a brother William, who as far as I can tell didn't exist.

Sorry, I presumed NYC was his final destination but most of the info is relevant.

What was his final destination on the passenger list?

patsman07 · 19-02-2012 9:16pm

His onward destination is just New York. Thanks for that info, i'll have to have a look. Was it common to lie about having relatives in the US? Maybe to ensure admission into the country or something?

Coolnabacky1873 · 19-02-2012 11:28pm

I have only see it a small number of times where I have not been able to find the person that the passenger gave on the ship manifest. In most cases the person did exist.

One of the reasons it can be hard to find the named person on the passenger list in NYC is that the poorer Irish often lived in a building behind the tenement.

If they turn up in city directories you'll see the address as "r145 8th Av", for example, with r = rear. However, the census takers did miss these people from time to time.

genealogist · 24-02-2012 4:12pm

If any of your ancestors went abroad and they married post 1907, you have more than a good chance of finding where they married by looking in the baptismal registers where the details were recorded.

The reason for this was when a "letter of freedom to marry" was sought.

thadiisgirl · 24-02-2012 4:43pm

I mentioned this site on another thread and thought I'd post a link here as it contains a wealth of free, transcribed info like census records for the town and could be invaluable for those trying to trace Irish immigration into NW England.

St Helens proved a popular spot for Irish arriving in Lancashire in the 19th C, mainly due its success at the start of the Industrial Revolution and also its proximity to Liverpool. Lots of back-breaking and dangerous work for the immigrant willing to work hard for not very much and die young - noxious chemicals, mining, glass etc etc.

http://www.sthelens-connect.net/zconnect/index.php

Coolnabacky1873 · 24-02-2012 4:56pm

genealogist wrote: »

If any of your ancestors went abroad and they married post 1907, you have more than a good chance of finding where they married by looking in the baptismal registers where the details were recorded.

The reason for this was when a "letter of freedom to marry" was sought.

Hi genealogist,

Welcome to the forum. I have an interest in the NYC Irish mostly and was just wondering if you know was this a common practice?

genealogist · 24-02-2012 5:54pm

Coolnabacky1873 wrote: »

Hi genealogist,

Welcome to the forum. I have an interest in the NYC Irish mostly and was just wondering if you know was this a common practice?

Indeed, if they married post 1907 and married in another parish (home or abroad) they would of needed that letter.

I have many examples of Co Louth people marrying in the U.S. and this appears in the baptismal registers back in their home parish.

shanew · 24-02-2012 6:29pm

I've seen that same marriage notes on baptisms with a couple of North Co. Dublin parishes... none that I remember for US

Shane

genealogist · 24-02-2012 6:41pm

Here's an example from Co Louth, the same can be found relating to Oz, Canada, England etc.

Baptism 11-6-1881 Charles Tarsney, "Wyanstown" parents James Tarsney & Cath. O'Connor.Sponsors Owen Kelly & Jane Byrne. 26-6-1910 Church of St Antony of Padua, Brooklyn NY.

Missent · 05-03-2012 9:35pm

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of using researchers in India? Am looking to get photographs of two internal church memorials in India relating to a local "gentry" family but cannot find anyone on the internet who provides such a service.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Coolnabacky1873 · 05-03-2012 9:51pm

I am a member of a professional genealogy representative body association. This is the directory and in the 'International' drop down menu click Asia and some of those members might be able to help you.

Missent · 06-03-2012 8:39pm

Thanks, Coolnabacky

I'll have a look at the list of researchers which you have provided a link for.

patsman07 · 08-03-2012 11:57pm

Does anyone know where is the best place to look for naturalisation papers in the US and can they be obtained freely?

Also is there an Ellis island type website which records the names of immigrants after the closure of Ellis island? (1930s)

Coolnabacky1873 · 09-03-2012 1:46am

The petition for naturalizations can be in a number of places but its going to be hard to get them for free.

If the application was made after 26 Sept 1906 then you can apply on uscis.gov in their genealogy section.costs can be up to $60 and take months.

Before that date they can be at the court of application or the regional National Archives and Records Administration offices.

Ancestry have random ones scanned too.

Do you know what state the application was made in?

Coolnabacky1873 · 09-03-2012 1:55am

Ellis Island was open until 1954 so you'll get all the 1930s ship manifests on Ancestry and indexes on Familysearch or the Ellis island site

patsman07 · 09-03-2012 1:41pm

New York more than likely. I'll have a look at that ucis website. Thanks.
About time I forked out for ancestry I think!

Coolnabacky1873 · 09-03-2012 4:41pm

Ancestry and Familysearch are good for New York City naturalization indexes and scans.

Also check out the databases on italiangen.org and theggg.org.

eqwjewoiujqorj · 09-03-2012 8:18pm

Fold3 is the best for naturalization records.

http://www.fold3.com/

Free 7 day trial!

Tracing ancestors to England, America and beyond

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