Bridget from Cooper Hill

[Garethboxing]

Hi,
  Can anyone help me find a girl from Cooper Hill, Limerick, called Bridget?
   A relative of mine, Richard Knight Prichard, was in 1871 a 26-year-old tinplate manufacturer living at Margam, South Wales, with his 19-year-old wife, Bridget.
   Richard went on to become a JP, "living off his own means" in later censuses, while Bridget produced at least nine children before her death in Bridgend in 1903.
   I have found no marriage for Richard and wonder if it took place in Ireland? I would love to find more about Bridget (starting with her maiden name!) as most young Irish girls in Wales at the time would have been in service and she obviously did pretty well to snare such a wealthy young man.
    Here's hoping 

     Gareth

[Neptune]

Hi Gareth

If you apply for the birth certificate of any of the children you should learn Bridget's maiden name.
On 'Free BMD' the birth of Hopkin Llewellyn Prichard  is entered as being in Neath in the March quarter of 1872(I had a look at the 1891 census for the children).

Once you have both parents names you could apply again to Glamorgan to see if they were married there.

The marriage certificate will give the names of both fathers.

If  you have no luck there then you could apply to  the GRO in Ireland.

Civil registration began there in 1864(but Church of Ireland marriages go back to 1845). Before 1864 you have to rely on Church records.
You could contact the main office in Roscommon but I think it's usually quicker to apply to the local registrar who accept cash(10  euros for a certificate)
Maybe they were married in Limerick if that's where Bridget came from. You should have both names and a possible area(Cooper Hill)
Try to give as much information as possible e.g.-names/ages/religion and area.

Also once you know Bridget's maiden name it might be worth checking earlier census records in case she was already here with her family.

Here's the link for the General Registrar in Ireland

Click on 'Fees' then scroll down to find the addresses etc of the local registrars.

http://www.groireland.ie/


Hope this helps

Regards

Neptune

[aghadowey]

Civil registration began there in 1864(but Church of Ireland marriages go back to 1845). Before 1864 you have to rely on Church records.

Civil registration of Protesant marriages began 1845, Roman Catholic marriages in 1864.

[Garethboxing]

Thanks, both.
   I'll be on to Neath Register Office next week. As you say, that'll give me a start. (I'm just impatient and hate having to wait for certs to come through  )

    Gareth

[Vixen60]

Hi Gareth

In my husband's family, there is a Bridget Cooper who married a Richard Knight Pritchard.   The family were originally called Tuthill but Bridget's father James Cooper Tuthill changed his name to James Cooper Cooper in order to obtain an inheritance. 

You will find most of the baptisms in Kilkeedy church.

 If you think this is your family, and  want further information I have details of the Tuthills going back to Somerset in the 1600s.

They married into most of the wealthy families in the area.

Barbara

[Neptune]

Hi

Just found an entry for a marriage in 1870 for - Richard Knight 'Prichard' in  Limerick.

It's free to register and search but costs 5 euros to view each record.
The site suggests putting 40 euros on the account but you can put less.

Hope this helps

Good Luck

Neptune

http://limerick.brsgenealogy.com/search.php?filename=db_QUIS

[Garethboxing]

Thanks, Vixen and Neptune, for your help. I'd forgotten all about Bridget and was baffled for a while as to why I was getting replies about her (the original post was 18 months ago and I've been tied up with non-genealogical things for the last six months or so - and for the immediate future).


It's interesting to hear that she was originally a Tuthill (and the inheritance does tend to place her on the same social level as Prichard). Thanks for the offer re the Tuthill history, Vixen, but she's pretty peripheral to my direct line so I won't take you up on it. I was just intrigued as to whether this was a case of a servant girl marrying up.

  Thanks again,
    Gareth

[Vixen60]

Hi Gareth
I thought you might like to know that one of her many sisters was the grandmother of Caitlin MacNamara who married Dylan Thomas.  They were known as the beautiful Cooper girls even if they had to share their ball dresses.
Good luck
Barbara

[bfitz]

Hiya!
Cooperhill is a place right next to where i live...
It is in Ballymacashel Mungret Co.Limerick,It used to be an old estate where the Cooper family lived.There is a guy from here who knows all about the history and people called Dr. Mathew Potter,i'm sure he knows about who you are lookin for i'll ask my dad for his number if you still need to find info...
Here is cooperhill on google maps now in ruins.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.654719,-8.7149982&z=16&t=h&hl=enmy email is (*)

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