Agnes McCearney..a mystery

[adicol]

I am trying to find records, and struggling on Agnes McCearney.
In 1891 she was living in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England with my g grandfather John Martin.
They married in 1888 in Halifax, and her place of birth on census was Scotland.
Have not found anything so far that is of help; even googling McCearney only brings up a small amount of Irish links.
Incidentally John Martin was Irish!
Can anyone find anything out on her or the McCearney surname please??

Thanks

Colleen

[avm228]

What does the marriage certificate say about the name and occupation of Agnes' father?

Anna

[luckydog]

Have you tried different spellings of the surname . I have Kearneys in my family and that is often spelt Cairney in Scotland and both of those might be prefixed with a Mac . The recorders often got name spellings wrong , writing it down as they heard it pronounced .
Mike

[adicol]

Hi Anna and Mike,

I haven't got the marriage cert yet, found there marriage on the free bmd.
I haven't thought to look for all the different spellings on the internet, but on all searches I have done on censuses etc, have looked for soundex etc.
Think I am best just ordering the cert...it seems odd though that she lived in Halifax at least 20 years, and I can only find the marriage under her maiden name and no record of any others McCearneys.
I would have assumed that when she married some of her family where with her in Halifax.

[avm228]

How do you know that McCearney was her maiden name, as opposed to the name in which she married John?  She was 36 in the 1891 census, 46 in the 1901 census, giving an approx age of 33 at the date of the marriage to John.  Are you sure she hadn't been married before? (I was wondering whether you had established that it was a maiden name from a child's birth certificate, but the couple don't have children with them in either the 1891 or the 1901 census...)

Anna

[adicol]

Hi Anna,

You have just confirmed why genealogy, lack of sleep and housework don't mix, because that never even occured to me.
Problem is, I searched all records for a McCearney marriage or any record other than hers and no others came up...back to the drawing board!

Thanks

Colleen

[avm228]

I wouldn't get too hung up on the McCearney spelling of the name - it could easily have been rendered McCarney, McCartney etc. And any previous marriage of Agnes could have taken place in Scotland, Ireland or elsewhere.

I do think that in order to progress with Agnes you'll need that 1888 marriage certificate!

Anna

[sancti]

She may have been born 1854 and catholic so her birth won't show up on the OPR's

[adicol]

Thanks for your help everyone...cert is on my list of many I need lol.
Sadly I have had to restrict myself to 1 per week and have sent off for one already this week!

Regards

Colleen