RootsChat.Com

I have been searching for my Bradleys for over 10 years and with the help of DNA, I think I have found them in Draperstown. I would love help from anyone who may know more than me or anyone who connects to this line!

I have a DNA match with 154.4 cm (no more distant then 2C2R) and my Dad's cousin matches her at 202 cm (no further than 2C1R). Based on my Dad's paternal cousin, I know she's on my paternal grandfather's line. I have been able to eliminate his father's mother's family and also his paternal grandmother, leaving his paternal grandfather. His paternal grandfather was an orphan and he has always been a massive insurmountable brick wall for me. I think I am cracking it open though.

My g-grandfather's parents married in Glasgow in Dec 1894 and my g-grandfather was born a month later in Jan, 1895. My gg-grandmother died 6 weeks later (19 years old) and the father (27 years old in Dec 1894) disappeared shortly thereafter. On the marriage cert his parents were listed as John Bradley and Ann Tweedley. I have traced every Tweedley in Scotland and every one of them leads back to a Quigley in Ireland leading me to conclude that for whatever reason, Quigleys became Tweedleys in Scotland and my gg-grandfather's parents were actually John Bradley and Ann Quigley.

When I looked closely at my DNA match mentioned above, I found her g-grandfather was Lawrence Bradley and Ann Quigley (those names are very similar to ones I am looking for!) in Draperstown. I have found other matches coming from the same couple and one from a Bradley in Draperstown from before Lawrence Bradley was born leading me to believe that this is my line. If Lawrence Bradley and Ann Quigley are my ggg-grandparents, that would make my DNA match my 2C2R, which is the most distant she can be from me and she would be my Dad's cousin's 2C1R (which the DNA supports). I have traced all the children of Lawrence Bradley and Ann Quigley except for John, William and Mary - I can't find them. William was the correct age for my gg-grandfather and my g-grandfather's name was William John. John was born 3 years earlier than the marriage cert states for his age - which is still very plausibly him.

Does anyone have any ideas for me to prove if Lawrence Bradley and Ann Quigley are my John Bradley and Ann Quigley and which son is my gg-grandfather?

I would love for it to be easy!

I was at PRONI last summer and I asked why they don't have more records online (to make it easier). Scotland's People is amazing! I would love to have something like that for Ireland. The employee said they'd never fight for that because it would mean they'd have fewer jobs. I disagree because if records were easier to find, they'd have more people researching. Scotland's People in Glasgow was full to capacity when I was there, and there were only 5-6 people at PRONI when I visited. I would think frustrated researchers would mean fewer researchers. PRONI has so many records available - in person.

Sorry - that's my vent for the day.

I should add that I live in Canada, and that was the only time I've been at either record office (and probably my last )

Thank you! The John I mentioned at the top is the husband of Catherine. I don't have any information on him, other than his name on the birth registrations of the children. I would assume he was born between 1830 and 1850, and he was married (probably) to Catherine, who was born in 1848. I know he died before 1923 because that's when Charles married, and it's listed on his marriage registration.

I think Joseph may be another child of this couple. I found a potential 1901 census in Glasgow, listing:

Joseph Fee, aged 20, born Ireland, telephone labourer
Catherine Fee, aged 50, born Ireland (mother)
Catherine Fee, aged 17, born Ireland, machinist (sister)
Charles Fee, aged 15, born Ireland, box maker apprentice (brother)
Peter Fee, aged 18, born Ireland, telephone labourer (cousin)

The only thing holding me back is that my cousin knows that Charles went to Glasgow when he was 12, to work be a labourer digging roads (that's what my cousin has been told about her ancestor), and the Charles in this census, at 15, is a box maker (apprentice). When he married in 1923, he was a grocer. I don't know what a box maker is, but woodwork makes sense to me. Nobody in the above family was involved with road construction or groceries, unless maybe the telephone labourers were laying telephones along the roads???

I can't find any of these individuals in 1911, so I'm having trouble verifying them.

Thank you again! My cousin is very grateful!

I just found Catherine's death registration on Scotland's People. It says she was 79 when she died in 1932, which is pretty close to a date of birth in 1848 (dates aren't always exact), and the parents match the parents on the census.

Interesting! Thank you!

The Catherine in this census would have been 70 in 1918, which is before the documents were destroyed. It's definitely a copy, and not an original, because it says `Public Record Office of Ireland' at the top.

What I also find interesting is that the 1885 birth was extracted in 1925, and the 1914 WWI record is a copy from after 1914. The 1885 birth is for the same person who registered for WWI in 1914. Maybe that man was trying to get a war pension and needed to prove his birth, war record and the age of his parents??? All 3 documents are from approximately the same time period, and collecting documents at that time would not have been a typical action for most people, unless there was a reason.

My problem is that I have nothing concrete to confirm this census is actually the census of this man's mother. However, if he extracted it, or his mother did, then the names of the parents must be accurate. His mother was still alive in 1923 when he married, so was definitely alive when the census was copied for the family, and she would know her parents' names and where they lived.

Thank you for weighing in and for the information! I think I can trust this census is them.

What I definitely know, is that I wish I had an 1851 census for my ancestors!!!!