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Hi all - I have a friend who I got to talking with about family history. I have some ancestors with his surname, I'll say it's Handley, and both families are of English origin, so I asked him if I could build out his tree and see if I could find a common ancestor. He agreed and I did that.

I didn't find common ancestors, so I set it aside and we sort of lost touch for about 2-3 years after that. We recently re-connected and I pulled up his tree again. This time I noticed that his grandmother, we'll call her Celia Bellows, was only 15 when she had his father (in 1931) and she was unmarried at the time. She married three yrs later. Her son has her husband's name, Handley.

I thought it was unlikely that she had an illegitimate child, then married the father three yrs later. I suspected that Mr Handley adopted her son, or else they just changed his name to Handley. I launched a search for Handley Jr's birth record, this is my friend's father, let's say his name is Jonah Handley. Nothing came up under that name in the city where he was born. However, I did find a child born 1931 named Jonah Bellows, and Bellows was the mother's maiden name. Unfortunately it was just a birth index record, so it didn't give month and day of birth or any parents' names. But, if Jonah Handley had been born that year as well, it would have been right there in that same birth index and it wasn't.

I picked the name Jonah because it is an unusual name, and the name of my friend's Dad is also fairly uncommon. On a whim, I wondered if she had named her son's first name after the bio Dad. I did a search for anyone named Jonah, age within 5 yrs of the Mom's birth year, who lived in that city in 1930. I found one Jonah Timms, born same year as the Mom and living only about a mile from her home location in the 1930 census. Could this be the bio Dad?

I have not said anything to my friend about this. I wasn't sure if he knew about his grandmother having his Dad out of wedlock at age 15 or not, so I didn't mention it. Just today we were talking and he said "well, you know, I'm half English on the Handley side". So, he believes he's a bio Handley, which he may be, if the man his grandmother Bellows married was the father of the child she had three yrs prior. I just find that unlikely. He may be a Timms!

My question is, am I right not to say anything to my friend about this? I know that if it were me, I'd want to be told, but that's me. Some people definitely would NOT want to be told. I thought about cajoling him into doing a dna test, because then the truth would come out without me having to say anything, but he probably wouldn't be interested in doing that.

I don't believe I'd be able to prove my theory without dna confirmation, because 1930's is too recent for me to be able to acquire a birth certificate or any adoption or name change court records without being a family member. He could probably get that info, but I can't. Since I don't know for sure, I think I should keep it to myself for now. But something niggles at me, because as I said, if it was me, I'd want to know that there was this question there.

What would you want if you were my friend? What would you do if you were me?

Kat

I know that Daniel McLaughlin is an incredibly common name, especially in this part of Northern Ireland! However, I'm trying to find more information on one Daniel McLaughlin from that part of Ireland. Others who have him on their trees have his birth date anywhere from 1835 to 1841, no exact location.

He married Elizabeth Cummins/Cummings, born about 1844, also Londonderry, but again, no specifics for sure. (she could be dau of Daniel Cumming and Agnes Connell b June 1844 Magilligan).

Their children, however, are well documented, so I'm hoping that a clue to Daniel can come from them. Birth and baptismal records I found on rootsireland are as follows:

Dominic b Nov 1866/ bapt Dec 1866 Ballycarton - Tamlaghtard/ sponsors: John O' Leree (?) and Eliza Cummings

Hannah b Jul 1868 Kilbarchan, Renfr. Scotland (not sure why she was born in Scotland, but pretty sure this is their child)

Jane b Dec 1870/ bapt Dec 1871 - Ballycarton, Magilligan - Tamlaghtard/ sponsors: John McLaughlin and James Mrs. McLaughlin (that's what it said)

Mary Anne b May 1872 Ballarena, Derry/ bapt May 1872 - Ballycarton, Tamlaghtard/ sponsors: Patrick McIvor & Mary Ann Gwin

Daniel b Jun 1874 Ballarena/ bapt Jun 1874 Tamlaghtard/ sponsors: John Coghlan & Elizabeth Cummings

Elizabeth b Aug 1876 Ballycarton, Aghanloo parish (father Daniel listed as "laborer")/ bapt Aug 1876 Tamlaghtard/ sponsors: Eliza Cummings & Patrick McIvor/ Roman Catholic/ parish = Magilligan

At least Dominic and Mary Anne emigrated to America as adults.


I would love to find out who Daniel's parents were and any siblings he may have had. So far, no luck! Daniel's death was 15 Aug 1877. His wife Elizabeth died also in 1877, so they left a family of young children.

Any ideas?

K

A challenge for anyone who loves to dig! (I have used rootsireland quite a bit in my search already, just to let you know)

I'm researching McLaughlins in Derry, trying to pinpoint the bio father for my gr-grandfather, who was born in a poorhouse in Scotland, father unnamed. I had my Dad's dna done, and the results indicate that the mystery man's surname is likely McLaughlin (or derivative thereof) and that he was likely Irish. Upon examining and analyzing the people who match my father's dna and who have trees posted, I have discovered a McLaughlin family that FOUR of his matches have on their trees. My problem is, I need to figure out which member of this McLaughlin family was the culprit!

All four of these dna matches to my Dad descend from children of Daniel McLaughlin (b abt 1835-1840 in Derry) and Elizabeth Cummins or Cummings (b 1844 Magilligan, Derry). The man I'm looking for would have had to have been an adult and in the area of Paisley/Glasgow Scotland in April of 1871, which was when my gr-grandfather was conceived. Meaning that Daniel, if he happened to be in Scotland, could have been him.

However, he could well have been a brother of Daniel or even a cousin. Problem is, I cannot identify Daniel's parents and do not know of any brothers. I did find a couple through rootsireland records named Patrick McLaughlin and Margaret MacHugh who had a son Daniel in Ballycarton, Magilligan in 1835 who could be his parents, but can't make the connection for certain. Daniel did die in 1877 in Ballycarton, Derry.

All of Daniel's children were born in either Ballycarton or Bellarena in Derry. However, there is one tantalizing tidbit. A Hannah McLaughlin was born in Kilbarchan, Renfr., Scotland in 1868 and her parents are Daniel McLaughlin and Elizabeth Cummins. The mother of my gr-grandfather lived in Renfrewshire at that time and through the birth of her child in 1872. The child Hannah would fit perfectly into the McLaughlin family, as they had their first child in 1866 and then children in 1870, 1872, 1874 and 1876... in other words every 2 years except for the "hole" where Hannah would fit.

Could Daniel and Elizabeth have had family in Scotland where they happened to be for whatever reason when their daughter Hannah was born?

There is one Daniel McLaughlin who I found who was a sailor on a ship that traveled between Ireland and the Scottish ports, but the record lists this Daniel as having been born in Antrim, so I don't think that would have been him. However, he was discharged, according to the record, in 1876, just a year prior to my Daniel's death, so..... ??

There are records of other Irish McLaughlin men who came to Scotland to work, either in the mills, the shipyards or as sugar laborers, who are of an age to have been the father too, but I cannot match any of these to the family of my Dad's dna matches, Daniel's family.

Any ideas on where I might go from here would be of help. I am bound and determined to find my gr-gr-grandfather McLaughlin! Luckily, there was a very good census in 1871 in the very month when he was conceived, but the McLaughlin man may not have been a resident and not counted at all. Interestingly, I cannot find the mother (Caroline Reid b. 1848) in that census at all, nor her one year old son whom she had at that time (elder brother to my gr-gr-grandfather).

Anyway, enough rambling and let me know if anyone thinks of any avenue of research I might take next!

Kat

Hello friends - My great-grandfather, John Reid, was born in Abbey poorhouse in Neilston, Renfrewshire in 1872. I'm embarking on a mission to find out who his father was! I'm going to use dna analysis and corresponding family trees to narrow the search down to the right time and place and age group, etc. I have some hope, because of the very good 1871 census that was done in Scotland, the year prior to John Reid's birth. My first problem is that I do not have a census report for John's mother, Caroline Reid, for 1871. I would like to have this to be sure that she was in the area where I think she was in the year prior to the birth of her son. I do have her in the 1861 census as boarding in Collier Street, Johnstone, Renfrewshire at age 13, presumably working in the mills. The next record I have for her is the birth of a first child, William, (at least I'm pretty sure it was her) in Neilston in 1870, then the birth of John in 1872 at the poorhouse. She died in 1881 at another boarding house in Neilston (which is about 3 miles down the road from her 1861 home in Johnstone). I'm wondering if perhaps she journeyed to visit her father during 1871, as he was dying at that time. If so, she may have been at Armadale, West Lothian at the time of the census. Unfortunately I don't know in which month her father passed away, only that it was 1871. Is there anyone out there who has the ability to search the 1871 census more in depth than I can on ancestry? Caroline Reid was born in 1848 in Dalmellington, Ayrshire. Her parents were John Reid and Caroline Matilda Fergusson. However, her mother died either at or shortly after Caroline's birth, and her father remarried to a woman named Hannah Geddes. They had several more children together. If anyone can find a census report or any other documentation of Caroline's whereabouts around 1871, you'll win the genealogist sleuth of the year award! Not to mention my eternal gratitude.  Thank-you in advance.

ladyk

I'm looking for confirmation of the parents of Sarah Ann Paine, born 1831 in Mayfield, Sussex. She married first John Medhurst in 1850, second Jacob Baker in 1863. She lived in Mayfield with Medhurst and in Saleshurst with Baker (they were married in Rotherfield). I have lots of census reports on Sarah as an adult, but no indication of who her parents were. Someone on Ancestry says her father was David Paine b 1795 in Sussex and her mother was Jane Reed b 9 Nov 1794 in Heathfield, Sussex. I have evidence of this couple, but no documentation that indicates that my Sarah Ann Paine was their daughter. Does anyone know where to look to confirm or disprove? Thanks in advance for any help.

Katharine