Major family of Bangor

[pcjr]

Hi,
I am trying to find the siblings of William Major born 1843 parents are/could be Robert Major and Margaret Smith, William had a sister Jane born 1851.

William left home to go to New Zealand, I can't find him on  the shipping lists for NZ, but his future wife Fanny Jane Simpson left  Ireland in 1866 along with a Selina Magor on the Blue Jacket.

Fanny and William were married a month later in NZ, which makes me think that he was already in NZ and also that they knew each other before hand.

What I am searching for is the birth of Selina, according to the shipping entry she was 17 in 1866 and from Down, have already checked the bmd of NZ and no Selina that fits the dates, but their is one who died in 1886 age 19,
 who was the daughter of Fanny and William's, but this Selina's birth is not registered in NZ.
any ideas and help would be gratefully appreciated
thanks in advance
pcjr

[aghadowey]

You will find variations in the spelling for the surname. Is this your Jane Major?
Miss Jane McJURY, Co Down- single; a dairy maid aged 16, ; arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand on board 'Himalaya ' (1000 tons) on 10 Feb 1867; left London 2 Nov 1866 under Capt. Cow; travelling with Smith family.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/M/MahMak.htm#maj

[pcjr]

I have been looking  for the church parish records, but it seems that William never was christened.
has anyone got any ideas as to what to do next, is there any marriage records pre 1865, have read the info on this site  etc. but still nothing, I am slowly coming to think that their is no records around pre 1865.
I do know that  a fire destroyed the census.

Thanks
pcjr

[aghadowey]

First of all, not all census records were destroyed by fire- many of the Irish census records were deliberately pulped by the government after all the statistics needed had been extracted (which is actually the purpose of a census, after all).

Registration of Catholic marriages began in 1864 (from 1845 for non-Catholic ones) so before those dates you need to rely mainly on church records. Those records may of may not survive and of those that do survive many will not be available online.

[KatP]

I am also searching for information on Jane Major, daughter of Robert Major of Bangor and spouse of Charles O'Roarke who settled in NZ. I could not find her on the shipping lists either. Did you find any further information?

[pcjr]

Hi KatP,
Jane came out on the boat" Himalaya" with her aunty and uncle  as follows,

Jane Mcjury 10 Feb 1867, age 16, Down,  1866,
Look up the web site,    familysearch.org

pcjr

[KatP]

Excellent! Thank you! Do you have any more information on the family tree of Robert Major? I am researching this at the moment and hit a brick wall. All I know is that he was from Bangor and that is it. I am having a lot of difficulty finding anything in Ireland.

[KatP]

I have also been told that her full name was Jane Montgomery Major, so perhaps there were Montgomery's in the tree...

[marimac]

Hi
I have some information on the McJury/Majors given to me by a descendant of William and Fanny. Unravelling the family connections is a little confusing however and my interest is actually in the Hamilton Smith family (Hamilton married Ellen McJury). You can message me with questions and I will look through what I have.