William Holmes Isabella Mcateer. Gortfad,Ahoghill

[abunile]

Hi,

I'm trying to find out about the Holmes side of this union.
Willam Holmes and Isabella Mcateer were married in Ahoghill 1st Prespyterian Church 23rd March 1874, Isabella lived in Gortfad townland, but I have no details of William's birth place.
On the marriage certificate Williams father is shown as Henry Holmes, occupation Farmer, but I don't know where he farmed.
From Williams death certificate(Greenock Scotland) his mother is shown as Mary Anne /olmes, which I take to be Holmes.

I have exhasted all online sites that I know of looking for more details of the Holmes's without success, and I'm hoping some one might have something on their tree that might coincide with mine or may suggest any avenues of further research.

Many thanks to AR for exceptional help with the Mcateers.

Thanks for any assistance.


Abunile

[aghadowey]

The marriage certificate should list the groom's residence at the time of the marriage.

[scotmum]

One possibility for Henry could be the Henry Holmes of Drummaul Parish who is listed in the Griffiths Valuation - a number of Holmes can be found in County Antrim on Griffiths.

Ulster Historical Foundation also have numerous Holmes records, albeit on a pay to view basis.

Emerald Ancestors probably have records too, again, pay for info.


The Irish BMD index at

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=2;t=searchable;c=1408347

may also be helpful in your search.

[jwaugh]

Hi

I looked on the Ulster Historical Foundation Website and found the marriage.  It gives William's Townland as Greenock.

So it looks like you might have been looking in the wrong place for William's birth.

I can PM you the full details if you wish.

John

[aghadowey]

Marriage lists residence at time of marriage which may or may not be his birthplace or where his family were living.

[abunile]

Hi, Thanks everybody for the help,

William Holmes residence was listed as Greenock on the marriage certificate, however on the 1881 census of Scotland he showed that he was born in Ireland. I have also found who I think is him on the 1871 Scottish census in Greenock listed as a lodger aged 16, with him was his sister Mary Anne Holmes aged 22 years. So I'm guessing he left Ireland seeking a job around 1870 and returned in 1874 to marry Isabella Mcateer. ( Ah young love!!!)

I had found a Henry Holmes on Griffiths living in Muckleramer Drummaul, in fact he is still there on the 1911 Irish census, but I can't tie him to William. The whole Holmes family in Ireland remain elusive, the upside  is that Henry does not appear to be a particularly common forename which helps.

With regard to websites, on Emerald Ancestors, I've only found the Marriage Cert, and I've spent a small fortune on UHF with no luck.

I thanks for your help so far and any further suggestions much appreciated.

Abunile

[abunile]

Hi Folks,

I finally managed to rule out Henry Holmes of Muckleramer Drummaul as not being from my tree, by working back from 1911 Irish census and then through Scottish People.
The Henry Holmes from Drummaul was married to a Jane McBride. He had a son Robert who moved to Glasgow and married there; before returning to Ireland c1895. At least I can can put that avenue of research to bed!!

Still scratching my head about my Henry

Cheers

Abunile

[scotmum]

Have you worked your way through the family search Irish BMD indexes for potential Holmes marriages/births in your timescales:

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=2;t=searchable;c=1408347

[abunile]

Hi Scotmum,

Thanks for the advice,

I have tried Family Search with no luck, perhaps I'm not using it correctly,  but my results show some Henry Holmes's and William Holmes's but lack any real detail that could tie them to my tree, just names and life events nothing more.

Perhaps I'm not ticking the right boxes!, I know a lot of folks seem to have a good success rate on that website.

abunile