BURNETT of Longford

[Glory1505]

Hi There

Can anyone tell me the parents of James Burnett b. 1846, d. 1925.

We have him as being from Mullingar, Westmeath however frequently appears in the English census as from Longford. He was working as a policeman in England by the 1850s.

I was told there are no Irish birth certificates prior to the 1860s and am in England so can't visit the local parish.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as to how I can trace this line back as have reached a dead end.

He married Sarah Ann Edmonds from Warwickshire and had 10 children (9 girls, 1 boy!)

Thanks

[aghadowey]

Civil registration of births started in 1864 but to find church records (if they exist) you'll need to know the family's religion and where they lived.

[Glory1505]

My Grandma tells me they were Protestants from Mullingar.

[shanew147]

A first step might be to search for his marriage, as a cert would show his father's name. Do you know if this was in England  ?

see : Introduction to Irish Records

Mullingar is in Co. Westmeath and not that close to Co. Longford... maybe 30km to the west of Mullingar town.


Shane

[aghadowey]

Protestant is not a religions denomination- you'll need to know if they were Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Quaker, or whatever.

[shanew147]

in case you dont have the marriage cert, these look like the index references required for a cert.

 Jun Quarter 1878   
 Registration Distrct : Kensington     
 volume: 1a   
 page: 206     

Names

 James Burnett
 Christopher Venn Childe
 Sarah Ann Edmonds
 Gardeazabal Ramon    
 Harriette Emily Grane   

(from freebmd)


Shane

[Glory1505]

I asked my Grandma again and she says he was Church of Ireland.

Can anyone recommend where I can search for more information about him before he moved to England?

[shanew147]

I had a look at the English census returns, and any that I found that for James which state a specific county have Longford. Just wondering what evidence there is for Mullingar ?

If he was born in Longford you will need to know more details of where  - i.e. which townland or parish.

What does the 1911 census have for his place of Birth ?

Do you already know his father's name and occupation from the marriage cert ?
If so it might be worth searching for  him on Griffith's valuation. This was a land tax survey that was taken around the time of James' birth. This would give you some locations where Burnett households were in the county at the time.  See : Griffith's Valuation on AskAboutIreland


Shane

[shanew147]

If you want to try searching online, you could try the pay-website of the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF) at : http://www.rootsireland.ie  Note they only have details for a few Church of Ireland parishes for counties Longford & Westmeath.

I had a quick search of the index of details they hold, but didn't see any results for a James Burnett baptism around 1846 in either county, although there are some other Burnett baptisms close to that year in Co. Longford.


Shane