Bradley Family

[ABradley]

I have been searching for some time to try and locate the home town/parish in Co.Derry of my g,g,grandfather Francis Bradley married to Ann O'Neill.
His son John,my g,grandfather was born in 1851 and emigrated to Coatbridge in Scotland where he became a miner.
Any info/suggestions greatly appreciated. I have tried all the various gen. sites.

[aghadowey]

Civil registration of births in Ireland began in 1864 so you will need to find church records (if they still exist). To do so you need to know their religion and where they lived.
If John Bradley died in Scotland his death certificate (or even a marriage certificate?) might have additional clues to where he was from in Co. Derry (Bradley is a very common surname there). See Scotland's People for the information which is on Scottish certificates and ordering them.

[maryderry]

found this marriage, you may already have this.

FRANCIS BRADLEY TO M.ANN ONEIL 28-1-1841. @DRAPERSTOWN R.C CHURCH, BALLINASCREEN, MAGHERAFELT,CO.DERRY.

                                          regards mary.

[ABradley]

Thank you Mary, thats sounds good. Where did you find this information?

[ABradley]

Hi,

In my attempts to find my Co.Derry ancestors I have obtained a Death Cert from GRONI for a Francis Bradley(g.g.grandfather??) who died 10th February 1867 at Fallagloon,Maghera,aged 55. These dates would fit the time frame and the death was reported by his son John Bradley(this was my g.grandfathers name). And I know his fathers name was Francis married to Ann/Nancy O'Neill.
What other information might be available on Francis to help identify him? Other family members,proper address etc.

Andrew

[aghadowey]

I've merged your new post with the existing thread on Bradley family.
The 'proper' address was Fallagloon which is the name of the townland where they lived (we only got road names in the country about 30/40 years ago). The name means (possibly) 'the hedge, or enclosure, of the step' and is in Maghera civil parish.

[california dreamin]

Hello ABradley
I may be able to help you - I am researching the Donnelly family who come from this area.  I have tried to keep an eye on certain names & places as I feel that as it was quite a small community there may have been marriages within these local families and some may tie in with others. It is always helpful to know if anybody else is researching this area.   As Aghadowey says "Bradley" is a common name. Without giving you false hope however, I have come across three Bradley families in the 1831 Census for Kirley that may be worth you persuing.  At least you may be able to eliminate them from your search?!
The Donnelly's came from a small townland called "Kirley" in the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains roughly halfway between Draperstown (Ballinascreen) and Maghera. Assuming RC - there are  two choices of churches they could have frequented: The RC Church in Draperstown (Ballinascreen) or St Patrick's in Glen (nr. Fallagaloon I think). Mine attended St Patrick's. It is quite an ancient and established RC church.
I have a copy of the 1831 Census for Kirley which names three Bradley families. As you may or may not know this Census only records place and number of males & females in a family. In 1831 it records:

Name of Owner/Occupier: Mary Bradley
No of families: 1
Males 4 ; Females 4

Name of Owner/Occupier: Thomas Bradley
No of families: 1
Males 1 ; Females 3

Name of Owner/Occupier: Hugh Bradley
No of families: 1
Males 4 ; Females 3

These families would have been tenant farmers for the Drapers Company. Have you checked Griffith Valuation yet? There do not appear to be any Bradley's left in Kirley in 1901 or 1911.

The other item that stood out in your message was that your relative went to Scotland and became a miner.  Mine also left but alot later approx. 1894 to Glasgow and worked as a Quarry Master.

Hope the info may help

[ABradley]

Hi,

Yes too many Bradleys

Thanks for that information.

Although I have no other names to follow up yet you never know when it might fall into place.

Andrew

[california dreamin]

Hi Andrew -

Yes as you say too many Bradley's!!

Just reading over your previous messages -and I hate to throw cold water over you Fallagloon death cert but -

I just had a quick look at the Griffiths Valuation for Fallagloon which is a decidedly larger townland than Kirley and I found the following Bradley's:
Dominick, Mary, Paul x3, James x3, Tho x2,Bernard x2, Sarah x2, Edward x2, Elizabeth, Alexander x4, Patrick x6 John x2, Francis x2.
(Just as a note: many of the Bradley's seemed to share a portion of land and work in a family "rundell")
Fallagloon is very near St Patrick RC Church in Glen.

I have also done a brief check to see about the other Francis' nearer Ballinascreen (Draperstown) and there are four on Griffiths.  2x Corick townland, 1x Patrick St. Cahore and 1x Moyard townland.

So I guess my question is - seeing as the marriage entry seems to co-roborate your family names, what indication do you have that the Death certificate of a Francis in Fallagloon is "your" Francis?  I would have thought that if Francis and M.Ann O'Neill married in Draperstown more than likely they were from a townland nearer that Church.  There must also be many Francis Bradley's who had a son called John. 
On face value I guess I am saying I would feel a bit skeptical about the Francis in Fallagloon being yours.

If you feel fairly confident about the Fallagloon Francis there may be a clue on Griffiths which may help you -
Often more than one person in a townland had the same name.  Surveyors distinguished between them in a variety of ways like "senior" and "junior" or they also used the custom of adding the father's forename after the name such as John Smith (Patrick) i.e. John son of Patrick Smith, or an occupation or physical observation (e.g. tall, short) To distinguish women with the same name their maiden name might be put in the brackets.
For the Fallagloon Francis' one has after his name in brackets (Corker) and one (Bee).  They were both tenants of the Earl of Stafford, Sir Rbt. Bateson & Lady Louisa Trench.  I have seen their name alot, so like the Drapers Company must have been fairly big land holders.
Does this help or add more confusion!

Hope it helps - I have been lost and dazed for awhile now.