I am looking for advice on where to go next with my Bradley family research.
John William Bradley was born around 1839 in Londonderry. By 1861, he was living as a lodger in Aston, Birmingham, working as a railway coach body maker. He married local girl Amelia Hunt in 1868 at St Thomas Aston and they had 3 boys (John William, Edgar James, and Frederick Michael). The family moved to New Swindon where John also worked as a railway coach builder, then to Stoke on Trent at which time he was a foreman.
I don't know whether John came over to England as a child or whether he was an experienced coach builder who came over alone as a young man. I know that his father was James Bradley, a general dealer, as listed on his marriage certificate, also that he was Catholic.
In the family there are stories of bringing cattle over from Northern Ireland to the North West of England, and also of a family member who was swept overboard from a ferry on such a trip.
I have no experience of Northern Ireland records, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Susan
