Alexander & Bridget( nee Devir) STRAIN disappear circa 1902-help needed, please

[anne_p]

It appears that Bridget was buried at St Peters RC Cemetery, Dalbeth.

I will look at this on Wednesday, although it's more than likely that she was buried in common ground.
No record of Alexander being buried here between 1911 and 1955

If she was buried in a grave, the lair owner's name will be on the record.

[Elwyn Soutter]

Nope, blessed if I can find them at Camden St in 1911....not using the SP site!!! How DID you find them, Elwyn???

The GROS reference is 1911 644/15 025/00 023. Alexander and Bridget are at the bottom of the page. Their children should be on the next page (which I have not looked at).

Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I can send you the first page.

[annmck]

Thanks, again to everyone for your responses.  As a consequence I’ve been VERY busy!

Elwyn: Your explanation of the employment situation in Donegal and its impetus for worker migration to Scotland was very helpful. A sizeable no. of Irish names appear in Lanarkshire records  , but I didn’t think to try that path. Without your (much appreciated) help I’d still be struggling to find Alexander & Bridget and their 3 surviving children, Mary*, Alexander and Bridget, in 1911.   

Happily, the census details made it much easier to find the birth and death records of their other son, James.  (*I’m now wondering if Mary may well be Bridget’s or Alex’s grandmother’s name, neither of which I’ve found mention of on their respective parent’s marriage records though James is recorded as the name of each of their maternal grandfathers).

Sadly, war records detail Alexander Strain’s death on 28th August 1915 at Gallipoli...“son of Alex. and Julia Brogan Strain, husband of the late Bridget Diver Strain”.
Daughter Bridget was 7, her brother Alexander, 9, and sister, Mary, 11, when he died.   I’m now looking forward to discovering who looked after them after their father’s death.

I came across a 1999 post on another site’s forum about a “Bridgett (sic) Strain, born 1908 in Donegal. Her father was Alexander Strain, and died in WW1...she went to Scotland.....”
This turned out to be a great lead.  Cross checking showed that this woman was young Bridget (actually born not in Donegal, but in Mathieson St, Glasgow at 6.30am (!) on the 18th March, 1908.) She did emigrate to the US, married Irishman Thomas Sheehan and had a large family in the Bronx.
Anne:  I found Bridget’s burial record at St Peter’s. She was buried in common ground, as you suspected.

Regarding John Devir...I found a reference to a John Devir’s 1889 appointment as a constable in the NSW Police Gazette. If police employment records for that period are extant I’ll be checking them’ He was a mystery man to his Australian descendants...

[Elwyn Soutter]

Sadly, war records detail Alexander Strain’s death on 28th August 1915 at Gallipoli...“son of Alex. and Julia Brogan Strain, husband of the late Bridget Diver Strain”.
Daughter Bridget was 7, her brother Alexander, 9, and sister, Mary, 11, when he died.   I’m now looking forward to discovering who looked after them after their father’s death.

Their father would have struggled to look after the children from the time of Bridget’s death in 1911 onwards, because he could not work and look after them simultaneously. And if he had joined up in 1914, then he wouldn’t have been around then either. Unless Alexander had other close family in Glasgow, I suspect they were packed off to one or other of the grandparents, soon after Bridget’s death, rather than after Alexander’s own death.

If you can find Bridget’s passenger records, when she emigrated to the US, you could look to see whether she gave an address in Ireland or Scotland. That might be a clue as to where she had been living. And the place she sailed from might help (though many of the ships from Glasgow called at Derry on the way to the US, so you can’t always draw any conclusions as it’s not always clear where a passenger joined).

[aghadowey]

Bridget Strain married 17 Feb.1931 in Manhattan, N.Y. to Thomas Sheehan.
http://www.italiangen.org/records-search/brides.php

1930 Census- Manhattan, N.Y.- Bridget Strain, servant, single, 20, born Ireland, to US 1928.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X4KP-JPS

2 Mar.1928 "Cameronia" arrived N.Y, from Londonderry, Northern Ireland: Bridget Strain, 19, born Glasgow Scotland, domestic, last residence Cresslough Co. Donegal, brother Mr Alex Strain Cresslough Co. Donegal, uncle Mr. James Strain 229 East 69th St. N.Y., 5' tall. fresh complexion. black hair, grey eyes.

[annmck]

Brilliant information, Aghadowey & Elwyn. That was quick!

Yes, apart from the paternal grandparents, extended family of both parents were in Creeslough and surrounding townlands.

I'm struck by the parallels between the 2 generations. Bridget O'Donnell Devir, having parted from  her child and native country to make a better life, dies at 27 following dreadful postnatal complications, with only 2 of her 6 children surviving infancy. Her husband vanishes within 4 years.

Her only daughter, Bridget Devir Strain, leaves her birthplace, and a dead daughter, for similar reasons, loses another infant, dies a similar death, and her husband is dead 4 years later.

I'm glad the youngest Bridget broke the pattern! She and my grandfather, her mother's only remaining sibling, both had very large families. Lovely to have a description of her. Her cousins (2 of them are still living!) were all, er, on the petite side, too.
But her grandmother Bridget, and quite a few of her descendants had/have red, red, red hair!

So much to be going on with, much more than expected. Thanks again 

Out at State Archives today, chasing details on John Devir/Diver's possible police career, and it seems he was appointed a constable, about 4 months after arriving in Australia, but was discharged (as opposed to dismissed) after 3 months. There was a good description of him. He then became a railway porter, country town then Sydney, and continued in that occupation until he disappeared from the records in about 1889. Legend has it he went to the goldfields, possibly Western Australia...
Cheers, Ann

[LiniageIrish33]

Hello
Alexander and Bridget Diver Strain are my great great grandparents.  Can we chat?

[annmck]

Oh my goodness!

Hello Liniagel!

We certainly can chat...if you make two more posts, eg, by replying to this thread twice more, you'll qualify to use the private reply system, if that's your preference, or we can continue this thread.

Sorry I was late to reply, but very pleased to hear from you 

[LiniageIrish33]

here i am!  Holly, cousin to Megan, and actually, you have had correspondence to my sister Leslie in the past.  I am going to post again for the free postablitiy!