where to get information on 'constables'

[dillonking]

Hello, my great, great grandfather Henry Burgess married in 1853. On his marriage certificate it states that he was a constable. He married in the District COI church of Rich Hill which I have found out is in the Parish of Kilmore. I was just wondering where I can locate him on constabulary records to find out whether he remained stationed in Northern Ireland, how long he served and so on. His son Thomas Burgess was married in 1889 in Wicklow to a RC girl in a RC church and he was a baker. I was wondering whether he may have been sent to Wicklow at some time or whether Thomas moved South later.
Would there have been any events which might have meant constables would have been sent down South?
Any help on this question would be appreciated.

[aghadowey]

Ireland was all one country during this period so it wouldn't be surprising to find people moving freely about. Do you have birthplaces for Henry Burgess' children? Have you found Henry on any census records? do you know when and where he died?

[dillonking]

I know that a Richard Burgess was born in 1864 in Armagh. This is the only birth I have located but I know they had a son called Thomas who would have been born between 1854 to 1859 and probably in Armagh. I have no idea when he died I have not found him on the 1901 census nor his wife Ann (née Ann Reynolds). I only found the above information from the LDS site. Sometimes information is very patchy. For example I found only one birth to another set of great grandparents but they had had 15 children in total. I also found the marriage on Irish Foundation site, but not Richard's birth.

Actually I did not find Thomas Burgess nor his wife Mary on the 1901 census but I found their children who were staying with their maternal grandmother in Bray. Mary is a widow and living with her mother in 1911.

[aghadowey]

Civil registration of births started in 1864 which is perhaps why the only child you found was Richard-
Richard Burgess born 14 July 1864 Forkhill, Armagh, Ireland (parents Henry Burgess & Ann Reynolds).

PRONI have a lot of directories for that period which you can search for clues-
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/street_directories.htm

[Elwyn Soutter]

There’s information about accessing the service records of former RIC officers on this link. If you contact Jim Herlihy at Blarney Garda station he may be able to help you. (his contact details are on the link).

www.policehistory.com/museum.html

My understanding is that RIC officers had to have served a certain number of years before they were allowed to marry (7 years comes to mind but that may not be correct), and it was very rare for them to be posted to the county they originated in.

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
    You may already have all this information. 14 Sept 1853 Henry Burgess married Anne Reynolds in Richill Roman Catholic Church, Armagh.

Regards

[dillonking]

Thank you very much for your contributions as every bit helps.
@Kingerswell. Where did you find the marriage information. On the Irish roots site I was under the impression that it was a COI marriage? It notes 'in the ceremonies and rites of the United churcho of Ireland and England? It would be interesting to see your source.
I think I will need to write to the constabulary museum to get more info. I was sure I saw something somewhere about various trades and professions in Ireland but I can't remember where.
Once again thank you all.

[kingskerswell]

Sorry Dillonking, I should have written Richill Church of Ireland. My mistake. Info comes from a subscription site and I had jotted down the information next to another name and copied the wrong church information.

Regards

[dillonking]

That's ok. I think we may be using the same subscription site. Family legend did speak of COI connection in the past and this marriage confirms it. I found the parents of the bride and groom on Griffith's (published in 1864) which suggests that both families had been living in Armagh for quite some time.
I expect Henry went further South at some point as another family legend speaks of one of the ggrandfathers coming from over the border - at the time meaning Louth. I might find out for sure one day. It was very decent of you to look it up for me all the same. Thanks