Peter Murphy

[troubled]

I am looking to find out anything about a Peter Murphy who was born 1846 at Warren Point.

 He was a seaman and came over to Holyhead Anglesey and was a Trinity House Light house keeper. He married Mary Ann Williams from Holyhead and died in Holyhead in 1916.

I hope somebody can help me about his early life.

[shanew147]

do you have the name and occupation of Peter's father from that marriage record ?

see : Introduction to Irish Records
        My Ancestor came from Ireland - where do I start?



Shane

[shanew147]

Warrenpoint is in Co. Down ....



S.

[troubled]

Hello Shane

Do I have it wrong? I see now on the 1911 Census he is down as being born Newry County Louth.

  To go further on this search it looks like the only way is to try and get the marriage certificate is this correct? 

Thanks for your quick reply to my post

[shanew147]

Newry is also in Co. Down, although I think parts of it are in Co. Armagh. It's quite close to Warrenpoint, about 7 miles, but a separate town and parish etc

Murphy was the most common surname in Ireland, so you need all the clues you can find to start a search for the correct Peter Murphy. You would probably require a more definite location..

Presume this Murphy family were RC ?


Shane

[shanew147]

The border with Co. Louth is only about 8 km (~5 miles) south of Newry, and even closer to Warrenpont - wonder if Peter was giving the name of the nearest well known towns to where he was from ?

Dundalk (Co. Louth) though is also very close to this area, which might have made more sense for him to put that on the census if he was from this part of Louth - not really narrowing down the specific location, but his clues look a bit crossed at the moment, and you really need a location or parish to begin a search for records

Hopefully his father will turn out to have a distinctive name...


Shane

[troubled]

Hello Shane

Thanks for your input so far. Most of my family tree work has been in the Holyhead side of things and we are looking to tie in Peter Murphy's background but as you say he has the hardest name to trace. I also find his census listing through the years is a mystery. His wife was Mary Ann Williams born 1850 and they married 1870 we think.

The marriage took place in Holyhead and she was from Holyhead.

Can you suggest any other way to trace his background? or have any idea when he came across to Holyhead?

[shanew147]

I think you need more details on him to start any search over this side of the Irish Sea - with a surname like Murphy and uncertain location I dont think there's much point searching for baptisms at this stage, as there would be no way to prove, or disprove, a connection. Even with his father's details it may not be easy - he could turn out to be a small farmer or labourer and not easy to trace.

for any details of his life before his marriage you would probably have to look for records related to his occupation, or census returns for Wales or England.



Shane