MARIA BRADY

[Kathy Thompson]

I am wondering if anyone can help me find anything about Maria Brady.  1837 - 1918.  Death certificate (in New Zealand) says born in County Meath Ireland and by 1859 she and her husband were in Otago New Zealand. 
Because the story at the New Zealand is particularly interesting, it would be great to find out a bit more if its possible. 
Like -  did she come to Australia with parents or siblings?  Record of birth?  parents names?  Might be a big ask.  But if you don't ask you don't receive! 
Have exhausted ancestry.com possibilities. 

[meath999]

An 1837 birth would have been well before Civil Registration, which started about 1864 in Ireland, therefore the only possible record  will be for a Church Baptism if such took place. Do you have any indication as to what religion Maria Brady was brought up in ? Records for Catholic parishes and Church of Ireland parishes will be in very different databases and have had very differing storage  policies and locations . Also do you have Full Names for her children if any as that might give clues to her parents first names ( if they possibly were called after them) ?

[Kathy Thompson]

Hi there, there is no reason for me to think that Maria would be a Catholic - she is not for instance buried in a catholic section of the cemetery here in NZ.  Her second marriage in nz (which didn't last long) was at a Presbyterian Manse. 
Her mother was Jane Brady nee Morrison
Her father  was Benjamin Brady. 
She could also be called Anna Maria - as she was sometimes after her first husband's death.
On her will it ends with "She was born in the Country of Meath in Ireland and was a British subject by birth and remained so throughout her life" (don't know if this is relevant)
Children's names:  Ann Jane, Eva,  Harriet Brownell, Nathaniel George Benjamin (Harriet, Brownell, Nathaniel  and George are from the  husband's side).
Thank you.

[meath999]

Hi Kathy, the presumption that Anna Maria Brady was not a Catholic makes the possibility of tracing her , while still fairly remote, at least it shortens the odds a bit. The reason I say this is that when one searches for people with the "Brady" surname in Meath in the 1901 Census one finds 602 persons, but 587 of them are Catholic, and only 15 are presumably Protestant of some denomination. and in the adjoining county Cavan, where her parents could possibly have also come from, the numbers are even more striking. There were 3,420 "Bradys" in Cavan but  of those only 51 were Protestant. The "Morrison" surname of her mother is much less frequent, in the 1901 Census there were only 8 Morrisons in Meath, and 16 in Cavan.

THe reason I am mentioning these numbers is because the only way I can think of detecting Maria Brady is to look at the small number of locations that Brady or Morrison families were living in 1901 ( as listed in the 1901 Census) ,  ie only those . that gave their religion as Church of Ireland or Methodist or Presbyterian, identify what Church of Ireland Parish that they were in, then see if any of those Old Parish Registers survived the Destruction of the Public Records office during the War of Independence in 1922-23  Then look for Maria's Baptism Entry in and around  1837.

I live quite close to the Church Library where the surviving records are stored and if I get some free time over the next few weeks I could see what they have that fits the criteria I listed above.

However I think the odds are very slim,

Regards
Kevin (meath999) 

[Kathy Thompson]

Well Kevin, all I can say is I would appreciate very much if you have the time to search the local records.  You obviously know lots more than me about this slot of time in this corner of the world.  Thankyou.
Kathy Thompson

[meath999]

Hi Kathy,
Sorry for delay in reply, but I only got an opportunity to look in the Representative Church Body Library in the last few days, and have no good news on Maria Brady or her father Benjamin. The effort in looking them up was not great as unfortunately the number of possible  places to look was quite small.

Their website is http://ireland.anglican.org/about/92#archives, and you can read for your self about their holdings. Basically I looked in the Registers of Oldcastle, Trim and Drumconrath Parishes  for any sign of a Benjamin Brady fathering a Child called Maria about 1837. , as these were the Parishes who had either any Brady or Morrison surnames in the 1901 Census, of a Protestant Denomination.  There were none.

However I have one suggestion for you. I have found a Benjamin G. Brady, with a number of Land holdings on the Cavan/Meath border about 1855. The Parish they would have been part of straddles both Meath and Cavan and his daughter might well have referred to herself as having been born in Meath. The Records are called Griffiths Valuation and you can access them online for free on the following official Irish website http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Lastly you can search the 1901, and 1911 Census of Ireland also for Free on the following site http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

As a person born and bred in Meath, I thought I might have been of some help however the scarce amount of records before 1860s defeats us once again.

But keep digging, you may hit lucky
Regards
Kevin (meath999)     

[Kathy Thompson]

Gosh, I have just read this conversation again - and realised I didn't say THANKS for trying.  Hope you see it.

[meath999]

No worries. Just sorry your query petered out.
regards
Kevin (meath999)