EMERSON - Enniskillen

[Bemerson]

Hello Paddy,
My GG Grandfather was Robert Emerson, born in or near Enniskillen about 1810. I see there'e a Robert among John's siblings and since I cannot seem to find his exact birth record nor his parents, I'm wondering if this is the same family. Robert immigrated to Canada(that's where I'm from) and I found his tombstone in a pioneer cemetery. The inscription on the tombstone read: " Robert Emerson
died 1894 Age 84 yrs CM(or GM). Joined Loyal Orange Lodge no. 1711 County of Fermanagh Ireland 1831."  I traced Lodge #1711 and was told it was at Ballydoolagh a hamlet near Enniskillen. It is now defunct and I'm told the records probably went to HQ in Belfast but I can't get anything from them.
I was also told that a large percentage of birth records from the area were destroyed in the Easter uprising. Hitting a stone wall I gave up a few years ago. Yesterday I googled by chance and found your entry. ... Could this be the same family?? my email is ^(*)  I'd like to converse if you don't mind.    Bob Emerson

(*) Moderator Comment: e-mail removed in accordance with RootsChat policy, to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.

[aghadowey]

Welcome to Rootschat  you'll need to remove your email address but once you have 3 posts you'll be able to use PM (Personal Message) system.

Civil registration of births started in 1864 and all survive. Some Church of Ireland registers which had been sent to Dublin for safekeeping were lost- perhaps this is what you've been told?

Do you know what religion your Emerson family was?

[Bemerson]

I'm thinking Methodist as some Emerson's were and the gravemarker has GM or could be CM after his name - it's weather worn. My father was Presbyterian and then United --my mother she was green

[aghadowey]

If you go back to your earlier post- click on 'modify' remove your email address then click 'save' (otherwise a moderator will remove it)

Lots of Methodists in Fermanagh so that's quite possible. Methodist churches were arranged into circuits, none of their records went to Dublin (so might survive)- will have a look to see what might be available.

[Elwyn Soutter]

Methodism took a lot longer to become established as a separate denomination in Ireland than was the case in England. In Ireland there was considerable resistance to separating from the Church of Ireland. It was 1818 before Methodists could conduct their own baptisms. However because of the continuing loyalty to the Church of Ireland and other factors, many Methodists continued to use the Church of Ireland for sacraments for many years after this date and it was 1871 before all Methodists routinely performed their own baptisms.

For marriages the law allowed Methodist Ministers to marry from 1845 onwards. However in the mid 1800s there were only a few Methodist Ministers (Methodism relied heavily on lay preachers). So the shortage of Ministers contributed to the continuing practice of marrying in the Church of Ireland.

So to summarise, you are unlikely to find any Methodist baptisms much before 1830. No marriages before 1845 and only a few for many years after that. If there are no Methodist records in the location you are interested in, I would search the Church of Ireland instead, as that’s the most likely place to find the relevant event.

[Bemerson]

Thanks for that Elwyn ...very helpful. Sounds like you've studied well.
BobE

[Elwyn Soutter]

My information came from Robin Roddie who is a retired Methodist Minister and is in charge of the historical section at Edgehill Theological College in Belfast.

[aghadowey]

Elwyn has explained it very well 

Looking at a current map, Ballydoolagh roughly in the area between Enniskillen and Ballinamallard which fits with the details for John Emerson earlier in the thread. Your Robert may, or may not, be related but I did find other early Emersons in the area, including this one-
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/FERMANAGH-GOLD/2007-01/1168292528

There were some Methodist links under Fermanagh Resources (at the top of this board) but most of them no longer work and I am not able to update any old posts.

[Bemerson]

Thank You so much --might be making some headway here-- I received a nice response from Paddy as well--Wonderful!