Show Posts
1
Down / Preparation for first visit to PRONI
« on: Friday 11 January 13 02:04 GMT (UK) »
Hello everyone,
I've posted some messages on the forum before, however have finally made travel arrangements to visit PRONI next month for the first time. I will have two days there, and am wondering what I can do to be as prepared as possible and maximise my limited time there.
I am researching a specific line of my family in Northern Ireland (have had much more success with my Scottish sides, I am based in Edinburgh). I have included all the information I have on the Northern Irish line below, and would be very grateful if anyone can point out what I should be doing with this information when I arrive. I have some experience of searching at NAS/Scotsland's People in Edinburgh, but not at PRONI.
I have the following information taken from the following sources:
- John and Annie's marriage certificate
- A Poor Law application made by Annie in Glasgow
- John's death certificate
- Annie's death certificate
John and Annie were born in or around Newry, Co. Down; married in Belfast; and then moved to Scotland shortly afterwards where they had children. A Poor Law application made by Annie in Glasgow later states that John deserted her and was suspected to have gone back to Belfast; however presumably some form of resolution was found as both died in the same street in Glasgow. The main first thing I want to find is the birth record for both John and Annie. I have the following information only to work from:
JOHN THOMSON
Birth: c.1837, "Camce, 2 miles from Newry, Co. Down" (no one seems to know where Camce is or was). I have his parents' names.
ANNIE TEMPLETON WALKER
Birth: 1844-1852 (based on differences given for her age across various documents), Newry, Co. Down. I have her parents' names.
Are computerised searches possible at PRONI, in the same way as the Scotland's People facility in Edinburgh? Or do I have to sit and go through the microfilm?
My worry is that if I have to go through microfilm, Annie's potential birth dates in particular span an 8 year period. I also don't know what parish or even townload John and Annie were born in. I saw very helpful maps of townlands in the Newry area on Ros Davies' Co. Down website, however this suggests I could end up having a huge number of microfilms to have to go through, and I'm not sure how much 2 days' worth of research at PRONI will unearth.
Sorry for the long message - if anyone can give any points on how best to organise my research at PRONI when there, or what I can do with the above information to prepare in advance, I'd be grateful.
Thanks.
I've posted some messages on the forum before, however have finally made travel arrangements to visit PRONI next month for the first time. I will have two days there, and am wondering what I can do to be as prepared as possible and maximise my limited time there.
I am researching a specific line of my family in Northern Ireland (have had much more success with my Scottish sides, I am based in Edinburgh). I have included all the information I have on the Northern Irish line below, and would be very grateful if anyone can point out what I should be doing with this information when I arrive. I have some experience of searching at NAS/Scotsland's People in Edinburgh, but not at PRONI.
I have the following information taken from the following sources:
- John and Annie's marriage certificate
- A Poor Law application made by Annie in Glasgow
- John's death certificate
- Annie's death certificate
John and Annie were born in or around Newry, Co. Down; married in Belfast; and then moved to Scotland shortly afterwards where they had children. A Poor Law application made by Annie in Glasgow later states that John deserted her and was suspected to have gone back to Belfast; however presumably some form of resolution was found as both died in the same street in Glasgow. The main first thing I want to find is the birth record for both John and Annie. I have the following information only to work from:
JOHN THOMSON
Birth: c.1837, "Camce, 2 miles from Newry, Co. Down" (no one seems to know where Camce is or was). I have his parents' names.
ANNIE TEMPLETON WALKER
Birth: 1844-1852 (based on differences given for her age across various documents), Newry, Co. Down. I have her parents' names.
Are computerised searches possible at PRONI, in the same way as the Scotland's People facility in Edinburgh? Or do I have to sit and go through the microfilm?
My worry is that if I have to go through microfilm, Annie's potential birth dates in particular span an 8 year period. I also don't know what parish or even townload John and Annie were born in. I saw very helpful maps of townlands in the Newry area on Ros Davies' Co. Down website, however this suggests I could end up having a huge number of microfilms to have to go through, and I'm not sure how much 2 days' worth of research at PRONI will unearth.
Sorry for the long message - if anyone can give any points on how best to organise my research at PRONI when there, or what I can do with the above information to prepare in advance, I'd be grateful.
Thanks.