John A Merrin born about 1837

[Feliss]

I am in Australia and previously have only traced relatives back as far as the family member who arrived in Australia. This means I have no knowledge of how to go about searching for records in the UK or Ireland so I'd be very grateful for any help.

John A Merrin was born in or around 1837 in Waterford. He was Catholic and emigrated to NSW in 1856, I presume to make a better life for himself. The goldrush had started in NSW in 1851, resulting in an urgent need for more police officers and The Police Recruiting Act was passed in 1853 to allow police to be recruited from England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland. They were offered free passage in exchange for a minimum of 3 years service, with the first recruits arriving in 1855.

The recruits had to pay some kind of "deposit", I guess to guarantee that they would stay for the three years. John's deposit was paid by a Patrick Larkin(s) who may have been his maternal uncle.

I'd really like to know how to find John's birth certificate so I can find out more about his family.

Many thanks,

Felicity

[vasaborg]

Waterford Heritage Centre at Jenkins Lane , Waterford City would be able to find the birth certificate.

[shanew147]

John's birth was well before the start of civil records in 1864, so there will be no birth cert available, so you would need to check for church records to see if you can locate a possible baptism. To this this you need a more detailed location for your Merrin family - ideally the name of the townland, town or parish.

Not all parishes have records back to the 1830s, so knowing the location is quite important. ('Waterford' can refer to the city or the county)

see : Introduction to Irish Records
         My Ancestor came from Ireland - where do I start?

Do you have marriage and/or death certs for John ?
Australian version of these often give useful clues such as names of parents etc...


Shane

[shanew147]

There are a number of Merrin baptisms listed on the index of RootsIreland (pay-website), but no John listed around the correct date. 

If you have parents names from any certs it might be worth having a look to see if you can locate baptisms for any siblings of John, as that would at least give you a location for your Merrins



Shane

[trish1120]

Do you have his Australian Marriage and Death Cert?

NSW BMD Reg for Death 1912 has his Mother as Mary A
If you dont have the actual Cert I would get it if I was you, as it may contains extra info.

Trish

[shanew147]

Did your John die in Sydney ?

There's a possible death for him showing up on the NSW Index in 1912. Mother's given name is in the index but not father - not sure if that's normal or not...

  Registration Number : 8797/1912    
  Name : John Merrin    
  Father's Name :
  Mother's Name : Mary. A.
  District :    Sydney


Shane

[shanew147]

and a possible marriage in 1860 ?

  Registration Number : 1207/1860
  Groom : John Merrin
  Bride : Catherine Cavanagh
  District : Bathhurst



S.

[vasaborg]

I looked in "Extracts from the census of the City of Waterford 1821" by Edmund Walsh Kelly, published in the Irish Genealogist Vol. 4 no. 1 October 1968 and Vol. 4 no. 2 October 1969. I could not find a Merrin listed, but as the census is not complete , he still might have lived in the city in 1821.

[Feliss]

Wow - thanks so much everyone!

Yes, that's my John. I have his death certificate. His parents were Mary Ann Larkins and John Merrin, he married Catherine Kavanagh and died in 1912 in Sydney.

He may have had more siblings but the ones I have found are: Eliza (born 1841), Michael (born 1842) and Annie (born 1847). These three also came to Australia as teenagers so possibly John or the uncle sponsored them.

I don't know that I would be able to find out any more about where in Ireland he lived. His immigration record and death and marriage certificates simply say "Waterford".

Felicity