William Moore of Drogheda and West Indies

[MarieC]

My 4xggrandfather.  Known to us on the island of St Eustatius in the West Indies in the late 18th century.  Said to be from Drogheda and of good family. 

I would imagine, then, that he may have been of the family of the Earls of Drogheda and may have been born around the middle of the eighteenth century.  Known children were Ann Patricia, b. about 1783  and Peter, b. about 1792. 

I've Googled and searched but failed to come up with any leads.  Can any kind person help, please?   

MarieC

[KDQ]

Hello MarieC

Do you know his wifes name? 

[MarieC]

Hello KDQ,

His wife's name was Adriana Heyliger - she was Dutch, and he married her on St Eustatius. 

Since posting this, I've discovered something on Rootsweb which suggests that he may have been born on St Eustatius.  So that it may be his father who went there from Ireland, maybe in the first half of the 18th century.  The family appear to have owned a sugar plantation there.  I know nothing about his father, except that I think that he was also William Moore!

I have something from a family member which suggests that these Moores may have been a related branch of the family who were Earls of Drogheda - not in a direct line of descent, but cousins.  I can't confirm this. 

It is so hard to do research either in Ireland or the West Indies from Australia - this is why I'm hoping for a lead or two!

Thanks,

MarieC

[Christopher]

Hello MarieC,

I'd tend to agree that the family you're researching are connected to the Earls of Drogheda.

I've a book which contains an Index of Will Abstracts in the Genealogical Office, Dublin. It contains the names of Nicholas Moore, Mooremount, Co. Louth (1756) and Nicholas Moore, Ardaghstown, Co. Louth (1673).

Christopher

[MarieC]

Thanks for that, Christopher!

I have discovered a very distant relation in England, whose family also believes that William Moore was related to the Earls of Drogheda, so we have two well separated family lines where this story exists.

Can you tell me how I could set about researching this.  If it is impossible to do it from afar, I may have the opportunity to be in Dublin with a couple of days to devote to family history research in the foreseeable future.  So if you could point me in the right direction when I go there, I'd greatly appreciate it!

MarieC

[Christopher]

Hello MarieC,

The Genealogical Office is now located at the National Library of Ireland in Kildare Street. The records of the Genealogical Office are not available to the public but some of the records have been microfilmed and these films may be available at other repositories.
The staff at the National Library should be able to assist. www.nli.ie/en/homepage.aspx

Christopher

[MarieC]

Thanks Christopher!

I'll investigate that lead.  I may or may not get anywhere, since I read somewhere that the NLI will give genealogical advice to people who call in person, and don't deal in email enquiries.  But I shall have a look and see what they say!

MarieC

EDIT - yes, they can only assist people who go in person to their Genealogy Advisory Service.