Rev William BURNS - Wexford 1853

[aghadowey]

Just remember that Irish death certificates contain very little detail- name, date and place of death, age in years, cause of death, sex, marital status, occupation, name of informant. Birthdate and place, prents, spouse and place of burial not listed.

[ashe]

Just remember that Irish death certificates contain very little detail- name, date and place of death, age in years, cause of death, sex, marital status, occupation, name of informant. Birthdate and place, prents, spouse and place of burial not listed.

Will have to reconsider obtaining certificate at this stage, as I was hoping to confirm his parents were Huston Burns and Elizabeth Liscoe, his birthplace, and any other siblings other than Jane. The info that I have has come from Jane's death certificate here in Australia.

Shane is there a possibility for a death look-up for Huston and Elizabeth??

Ashe

[aghadowey]

Index to civil registrations is online-
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails;t=searchable;c=1408347

There are 7 matches for searching 'Huston Burns' in index but none could possibly be the father of Rev. William and sister Jane so perhaps he was dead before 1864 when registration of deaths began.

Found another tidbit about William Burns under Enniscorthy Presbyterian Church- he apparently preached at 2 misssion stations in Ballingall (7 miles NW of Enniscorthy) and nea village of Clonrocke (on New Ross road)- no date given but before 1865.

[shanew147]

I think It might be worth ordering his death cert anyway as it will include his marital status, and on the chance it might include his wife's name (as informant).

It would also confirm that this is the correct William, as it would include his occupation. If you can establish his wife's name it may be possible to locate his marriage reference in the civil index, and order a cert for this which should show his father's name, and occupation.

(Non-Catholic marriages were registered from 1845)


Shane

[aghadowey]

Not sure what the local newspaper was but there probably was one or more mentions of his death/funeral in paper.

[shanew147]

Found a notice of his death, no family details unfortunately - Freeman's Journal of Dublin,  May 13, 1881  (Friday)

Headline :  Presbyterian News

'Another minister of the Irish Presbyterian Church has been called away, and that suddenly. The worthy minister of Wexford, the Rev. William Burns, was in his usual health on Monday, and was walking about Wexford. On Tuesday morning he was found by his servant dead ... Mr. Burns was of a reserved and retiring disposition, continuing his attention to his pastoral work... was for more than twelve years pastor of the Wexford congregation.'

as aghadowey said a local paper might give more info and a death notice. I'll pm you the full article details.

Some details from Slater's Directory of 1881

 Wexford town - Presbyterian Chapel, Ann st, Rev William James Burns, minister
 Residence : Park [?]

I think that the Wexford Independent newspaper may be worth checking into - I know the NLI (National Library of Ireland) has microfilms of this paper covering from 1871 onwards, but dont know of anywhere that has online editions at present.

Link to the full NLI Newspaper Index.


Shane

edit : corrected mistranscription

[ashe]

Apologies for the delay in replying.....no  power for 20 hrs.

Wow....amazed at all the info, especially the tidbit re William preaching at the mission stations....gives me some idea of his life.

Have sent emails to both the Wexford Echo and W People newspapers, will also try Baillieborough newspapers. Did not have any luck accessing the NLI Newspaper Index, but will keep trying.

Will apply for a death cert. It may not enhance anymore info than you both have given me, but will confirm I have the right William, and of course you never know what else.

From the Slater's Directory 1881 info, would this be the new minister? Interesting to note that I have a James down as a possible brother...time will tell.

It is greatly appreciated all the research you both have done.

Cheers
Ashe

[shanew147]

.... Did not have any luck accessing the NLI Newspaper Index, but will keep trying.

Will apply for a death cert. It may not enhance anymore info than you both have given me, but will confirm I have the right William, and of course you never know what else.

From the Slater's Directory 1881 info, would this be the new minister? Interesting to note that I have a James down as a possible brother...time will tell.

The NLI Newspaper Index is a Acrobat (pdf) list of the papers they have copies of, and might help establishing which newspapers may have been publishing in Wexford at the time.

The directories are usually compiled in the year before they were published, so always a little bit behind the times - I'd say that's why William appears.

The details of the article on William suggest to me that he was living alone and probably unmarried.


Shane

[aghadowey]

Some details from Slater's Directory of 1881

 Wexford town - Presbyterian Chapel, Ann st, Rev James Burns, minister
 Residence : Park [?]

Suspect this is a mis-print and should read William Burns (not James)- as Shane says the directories were compiled earlier than the published date.
The next minister in Wexford Presbyterian Church, Samuel McClune (from America) was installed 25 Oct.1881.