John Alexander Stewart dob 14 AUG 1874 Antrim, Ireland (possibly Balleymoney)

[kalviewdrive]

I'm not sure where Charles would be, but in those days, families didn't move much across Canada as they do now, and there were more people living in rural areas than now. I have also tried everything that I can think of to find a Charles Stewart, with no luck, but then I was thinking of his being the younger brother, based on the passenger list from the "Polynesian". If he were born in 1869, as per the information that you found, he would probably have passed on in the 1950s or earlier.  So I will look into this later today. It's after 3 a.m. here, and I need my beauty sleep. Thank you for your help.

[J.J.]

There is now a birth showing for a John Sept 7 1867 DERVOCK, ANTRIM ( Charles Stewart / Jane Shirlow)
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F512-XXQ

[aghadowey]

There is now a birth showing for a John Sept 7 1867 DERVOCK, ANTRIM ( Charles Stewart / Jane Shirlow)
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F512-XXQ

That fits with the other births I posted a while back here- Dervock is the registration sub-district (district is Ballymoney) but the birth certificate will list a more exact place of birth.

Note: searching the new GRONI online database for a child Stewart (variants) & mother Shirl (begins with) only brings up 2 entries 1864-1873 (Margaret 1865, James 1872).

[scotmum]

Note: searching the new GRONI online database for a child Stewart (variants) & mother Shirl (begins with) only brings up 2 entries 1864-1873 (Margaret 1865, James 1872).

That's because, yet again, in restricting the ways in which you can search for a name on the new GRONI database (eg, no wildcard option), it can mean you miss what you need.

John's birth is there, on 7th September 1867, but his mum is transcribed as Sherlow.

It would be good if GRONI listened to feedback and improved this aspect of their search facility.

[kalviewdrive]

Thank you to all for the information. I have found on GRONI the births for 4 children of  Charles Stewart (1840-1881) and Jane Shirlow(Shirley) (1837-1875): Margaret 13APR1865 Ballymoney, John Alexander 07SEPT1867 Ballymoney, Charles 22DEC1869, Armagh, and James 05APR1872. I have John Alexander's marriage and death information, as well. For the other three siblings I have been unable to find anymore vital stats, other than the christening of Margaret and James.
In hope of finding descendants of  James and Charles, I have had my nephews Y-DNA analyzed, and we have been informed  that we are descended from the First High Steward of Scotland - our problem is trying to find the links from the 18th C and back to the 12th C. I have been able to trace Jane Shirlaw's parents and 2 brothers to Scotland, and will continue to look for more information on all.
Thank you all for the assistance. It is greatly appreciated.

[J.J.]

Hello aghadowey!

YES! GRRR...Many new databases do that now as well...although some do allow a wildcard at the end of the keyword...although you may not get the same results every time...Sometimes, as in the case of genealogy searches where transcription or misspells are rampid it would have been better to leave the databses "unfixed" ( If it ain't broken, don't fix it...or in this case...don't break it)
kalviewdrive have you found Charles and the other 2 siblings? If so let us know, if not it is a good time to ask as there may be more info available....J.J.

[kalviewdrive]

Hello JJ I have found on GRONI the births for 4 children of  Charles Stewart (1840-1881) and Jane Shirlow(Shirley) (1837-1875): Margaret 13APR1865 Ballymoney, John Alexander 07SEPT1867 Ballymoney, Charles 22DEC1869, Armagh, and James 05APR1872. I have John Alexander's marriage and death information, as well. For the other three siblings I have been unable to find anymore vital stats, other than the christening of Margaret and James. I hope to find out about their deaths, as well as if/when the two who didn't come to Canada married and had children.
In hope of finding descendants of  James and Charles, I have had my nephew's Y-DNA analyzed, and we have been informed  that we are descended from the First High Steward of Scotland - our problem is trying to find the links from the 18th C and back to the 12th C. I have been able to trace Jane Shirlaw's parents and 2 brothers to Scotland, and will continue to look for more information on all individuals.
Thank you all for the assistance. It is greatly appreciated.
And I do agree with you about GRONI - not the most user-friendly site.

[J.J.]

He stated date of birth as Aug 14 1874 on his CEF signups...??  How did you know you were following the correct family into Ireland?
 I went in there to read his digitized files but none came up...Had you not sent for the full military file?  There may be more info regarding Charles in there, especially an actual address where they could reach him.

[kalviewdrive]

Hello JJ,
I knew we were following the correct path of research into Ireland, as one of the helpers on RootsChat (aghadowey who specializes in Shirley families in the area of Dervock)) found the father Charles Stewart and the mother Jane Shirley ( and two siblings), which whose names were  information on my grandfather's death certificate in Vancouver, BC given by my aunt. Additionally, once I had their names, I was able to find their marriage information, which then gave me their fathers' names, and from there I used info to get more info on GRONI, Ancestry.uk and Scotland's People to find more information from the Census and marriage, death and birth information.
As to my grandfather's enlistment papers: we have the full copy, where the only address for Charles Stewart was given as c/o Brampton Post Office, Ontario, Canada.  At that time, the area was mainly agricultural country, and most people would go into the post office to get their mail when they went into town once a week, or once a month..