1
Antrim / Re: Mary Nolan/Jack Nolan/Jane Jewell
« on: Monday 23 January 12 18:52 GMT (UK) »
I have been busily combing the sites you folks mentioned, as well as any others I could find to help me in my research. I stumbled across something and I wonder if it's even a legitimate clue.
When looking through a street directory for Belfast, I found one from 1877, the year Mary was supposed to have been born. There was a John Nolan, the only one I could find, living on Charles Street, occupation "nailer". I Google Earthed that address, and from what I could see it probably used to be row or tenement houses, in an industrial area. Later this same John Nolan, nailer, was living on Alexander Street and Stephen Street. All of these streets are in the Shankill area of Belfast.
IF this is my John Nolan, and I know it's a big if, the location might explain the anti-Catholic sentiment that I remember from that part of the family. Also, I have always thought the only reason a family would send just one child away would have had to do with poverty. That too could fit. It's all just a theory and perhaps never could be proven.
Speaking of, how unusual would it have been that only one child of 7 was sent away to North America? It all seems so strange to me.
I have been researching family members in the US for more than 20 years, and I have encountered all sorts of issues- wrong names on documents, missing documents, incomplete documents. Isn't it possible there just isn't a record for me to find? (Not that I'm going to stop looking.)
Anyway, thanks for the patience with all my questions.
When looking through a street directory for Belfast, I found one from 1877, the year Mary was supposed to have been born. There was a John Nolan, the only one I could find, living on Charles Street, occupation "nailer". I Google Earthed that address, and from what I could see it probably used to be row or tenement houses, in an industrial area. Later this same John Nolan, nailer, was living on Alexander Street and Stephen Street. All of these streets are in the Shankill area of Belfast.
IF this is my John Nolan, and I know it's a big if, the location might explain the anti-Catholic sentiment that I remember from that part of the family. Also, I have always thought the only reason a family would send just one child away would have had to do with poverty. That too could fit. It's all just a theory and perhaps never could be proven.
Speaking of, how unusual would it have been that only one child of 7 was sent away to North America? It all seems so strange to me.
I have been researching family members in the US for more than 20 years, and I have encountered all sorts of issues- wrong names on documents, missing documents, incomplete documents. Isn't it possible there just isn't a record for me to find? (Not that I'm going to stop looking.)
Anyway, thanks for the patience with all my questions.