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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Offaly (Kings) => Topic started by: Eamann on Saturday 16 January 10 13:26 GMT (UK)
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Hello / Dia daoibh!
This is my first post on this forum. I'm from Belfast but I live in Belgium.
I would be very grateful if someone would kindly consult a Tullamore street or commercial directory from the mid-1800's, if such exists.
A great-grandfather called George MAGEE married a girl called Teresa WHYTE in the first quarter of 1888 (according to FamilySearch). I only found the date very recently.
According to my grandmother, Teresa came from Tullamore and basing myself on the 1911 census, she was born in approx. 1863.
According to my granny, her father "was in the leather business".
If anyone has access to a street or commercial directory of Tullamore for that period, I would be very grateful if they would kindly check to see whether they can find any trace of this family.
I've ordered the LDS microfilm of the Tullamore RC parish records in the hope of finding Teresa's baptism in 1863, but it may take up to six months before it arrives...
As regards the marriage certificate, I'm in two minds. A friend told me that it takes months to get copies from the GRO in Roscommon and since I plan to go to Ireland sometime in the coming year it might be quicker and cheaper to wait. Has any one on this forum any recent experience of ordering certificates?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice!
Beir bua is beannacht,
Éamann
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It might be a bit too early but ,Slater's directory of 1846 is available online and shows some leather trades in Tullamore - but no Whyte that I see.
Tullamore - page 1 (http://www.failteromhat.com/slater/0396.pdf)
page 2 (http://www.failteromhat.com/slater/0396.pdf)
Cert from the GRO seem to taking anywhere between 10 days to six weeks, depending on how busy they are... not sure what the backlog is at the moment If you visit the research room in Dublin you can order and collect up to 5 certs a day, any excess are posted out later.
Shane
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Thank you very much for your quick and useful reply! I had tried earlier to consult Slater's from the RootsChat Offaly "Resources and Links" page but it did not work.
Hopefully someone else will have access to a later edition. Thirty or forty years makes a big difference.
Thanks too for the information about the GRO delivery times. If it is no worse than six weeks I'll order a photocopy of the entry.
Beannachtai,
Eamann
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There was a post earlier today on another board about a cert arriving in a week... so looks like there's no backlog at the moment. Just make sure to include the GRO index references on your order -e.g. name, record type (e.g. marriage), registration district, year/quarter, volume & page
p.s. the next editions of Slater's were published in 1856, 1870 and 1881..
Shane
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Thank you very much for your quick and useful reply! I had tried earlier to consult Slater's from the RootsChat Offaly "Resources and Links" page but it did not work.
The directories link in Co. Offaly resources has been fixed and if you click on link for 1846 Slater's directory, then link for Leinster you'll see the pages for Tullamore.
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"The directories link in Co. Offaly resources has been fixed and if you click on link for 1846 Slater's directory, then link for Leinster you'll see the pages for Tullamore."
Thanks!
Eamann
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There was a post earlier today on another board about a cert arriving in a week... so looks like there's no backlog at the moment.
Shane
Thanks for that information - I'll send in my request this weekend!
Eamann
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Slater's Directory of Tullamore 1894 only gives;
Commerical;
White Wm. boot ma. Charlville parade.
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Slater's Directory of Tullamore 1894 only gives;
Commerical;
White Wm. boot ma. Charlville parade.
the same listing appears in the 'Boot and Shoe makers' section of the 1881 edition
Shane
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Slater's Directory of Tullamore 1894 only gives;
Commerical;
White Wm. boot ma. Charlville parade.
Thank you very much! It is at last something concrete to work on!
Eamann
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the same listing appears in the 'Boot and Shoe makers' section of the 1881 edition
Shane
Thank you too! I'm sending off a request for Teresa Whyte's marriage certificate and that should give me her father's name. We will then see if it is William or not. I'll let you know.
Eamann
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Thanks again, in particular to Seanmac and Shanew, for looking up the Tullamore street directories. The shoemaker William Whyte advertised in them is indeed my newly-discovered g-g-grandfather!
I received today the marriage certificate of George Magee and Teresa Whyte and William the shoemaker is her father. The marriage took place on 8 January 1888 and Teresa was aged 25, so presumably she was born in 1862 or 1863.
Could you please confirm that the advertisement spelt the name "White" and not "Whyte"?
I note too that the advertisements gave his address as Charleville Parade whereas the marriage certificate gives the address of Teresa as Charleville Road. Perhaps he lived in one place and had his workshop around the corner? Or do you have another explanation?
Could you also give me the address of the Catholic church in which they were married? Am I right in thinking that that church was knocked down and replaced by a newer church some years after the marriage?
In the LDS database the only William Whyte from Tullamore is given as dying in the first quarter of 1900 aged 68. That could well be Teresa's father.
Have you any suggestions to make about how I could take my research further, in particular to find out the identity of Teresa's mother?
My grandmother believed that Teresa was an only child. In any case there are no other Tullamore-born Whyte's in Tullamore in the 1911 census.
I have ordered the LDS microfilm of the Tullamore Catholic records, but that may take several months to arrive, in the hope of finding William's marriage and Teresa's birth.
Once again, thank you very much for your help and for any more information or advice you can give me.
Beannachtai,
Eamann
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I can confirm that the directories using the spelling given above - i.e. White
It looks like that road out of Tullamore to the south-west is named after Charleville estate.. on modern maps it's marked Charleville Rd, and there' no sign that I can see of parade.
You can see the road and estate on the OSI maps - see Charleville St., Tullamore (http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicviewer/main.aspx#V1,633589,724668,8) (select the Historic, or Historic B&W option)
It looks like the northern end of the road has house and possibly shops... maybe a section of houses was called Charleville parade...if you google 'charleville parade, tullamore', one of the results leads to : http://www.tullamorelife.net/history.html which states that the continuation of Charleville road street now marked Cormac St, was previously known as Charleville parade. Location on modern google map Charleville Rd / Cormac St (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Tullamore,+Co.+Offaly,+Ireland&sll=53.273908,-7.494548&sspn=0.041471,0.145912&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Tullamore,+County+Offaly,+Ireland&ll=53.271322,-7.499371&spn=0.010368,0.036478&z=15)
what's the name of the church (should be on the marriage cert) ?
unfortunately is looks like Teresa was born just before civil records started.. so parish records are the next line of enquiry..
Shane
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Thank you Shane for all that additional information.
I am pleased to discover the OSI website. I had never thought of trying them, relying on Google Maps instead. I will have to explore its potential, in particular the historic maps.
I searched Google Maps for Charleville Parade but did not think of doing a Google search. Following your example, I have just done so and it seems that the name Charleville Parade was in use up until quite recently. I also found a link to an old photo of the street http://www.myhometown.ie/Galway/Offaly/Tullamore/Street_view_of_Charleville_Parade/2030.html
As regards the church, the marriage certificate just says "RC chapel of Tullamore" and on the Offaly Historical Society site I have just read that the old town church in Chapel Street was replaced by the present Assumption of our Blessed Lady church. Presumably then Teresa and George married in Chapel Street.
Once again, thank you for help!
Best wishes,
Eamann
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In 1881 there's a few RC churches listed in the Tullamore section but I think the only one actually in the town is :
Roman Catholic Church, Harbour Street
Very Rev. Matthew McElroy, D.D. P.P.
Shane
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just looked at google maps... Harbour st and Chapel st join.. so the church could be on the jct of the two..
see google map : Chapel St, Harbour St to Cormac St (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=harbour+st,+tullamore&daddr=chapel+st,+tullamore+to:cormac+st,,+tullamore&geocode=FSDtLAMdEriN_ykPQYunhaVdSDGFzH7_3o_Wlg%3B%3B&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=53.27403,-7.493055&sspn=0.010496,0.03871&ie=UTF8&z=15)
edit : found the RC church on the historic maps, and it's off Chapel street, and Charles street... which based on the location is an old name for Harbour st. (I believe the OSI historic maps are 1st edition, so from around 1850s.) That seems to fit with location of the present church and the location mentioned in the 1880s directory
Shane
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In 'Tullamore Roots 1901;, these are addresses given
Charleville Demesne
Charleville Square
Charleville Street
While in 1911
Chareville Demesne is the only one mentioned.
Tullamore Electors list 1936/37
Clonagh West;
White Kate, William.
Davitt Street;
Magee Margaret, Patrick.
Kilbride Street;
White Kate, Michael.
Killeigh;
White Richard.
Puttaghuan;
Mc Gee John, Kate.
White James, William.
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Thank you both for your further input.
George Magee and his bride Teresa Whyte were married on 8 Jan. 1888. I don't know where they settled down after their marriage. Perhaps Tullamore. Perhaps Dublin, where his family originated.
He was already an "army pensioner". My grandmother thought that he had been in India and had been injured there, perhaps even losing an arm. The British National Archives is going to put on-line in the course of this year their army pension records and I hope to find out more then.
In any case they end up in Belfast in 1895 with him working as the Superintendant of the St. Vincent de Paul Home for boys, a post he held until 1910. Some time later - perhaps when the Troubles broke out in Belfast - they emigrated first to friends or relatives in Liverpool and then later still to Detroit, where two of their children had gone to live. George had problems drawing his pension in the USA and came back to Liverpool where he died in 1935, after collapsing on the Pier from a heart attack.
Fascinating and moving stories...
Thank you once more for taking time to help me fill in the details!
Eamann
PS: In case you ever need to look up street directories for Belfast or other Ulster towns, and in case you do not know already these on-line databases, here are three excellent resources:
http://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/belfast.htm
http://streetdirectories.proni.gov.uk/
http://www.libraryireland.com/UlsterDirectory1910/Contents.php