My goodness, thank you all so much. I wasn't expecting to get a reply so soon, especially so many and so detailed. And the fact that you were able to cut through the, frankly "treacley" Irish records, is a feat of near genius. For those that aren't aware, civil registrations weren't introduced there until 1864 and they weren't compulsory, so only about an estimated 60% of births were formally registered, so baptismal records were generally more extant. However these should be approached with caution due to the human factor.
The name for Francis's wife was gleaned from the Register of Soldier's Effects, but no other information was available to us, other than the mention of him being from Longford in the Irish Memorial Register. Although we knew he was obviously in Lanark in 1914 to enlist, without knowing when he moved to Scotland, it was impossible to know if he was included on any of the Irish censuses or which Scottish censuses. I did have a quick look at the 1911 Scottish census, but not exhaustively.
Sanci, perhaps the Sligo and Longford Francises are the same? He may have been born there, but raised here and considered himself a Longford-man? Certainly it wouldn't be the first time I've come across a Longford person having a different place of birth and vice versa. I'll be meeting the other members of the committee on Friday, but will chat to the main researcher tomorrow and see if it triggers a memory and will ask another member to check the parish register.
Again, thank you all so very much, and will get back to you if we hear any more.
Kindest regards
Mairead
PS Sue - I'm very sorry, but I appear to be unable to send messages at the moment. I'm guessing it's something to do with my low number of posts. But the very best of luck with your research!
