no fathers name on bith certificate

[tomy]

had a friend check out 1st Presbyterian dromore but no baptism there so probably it was 1st Presbyterian dromara but I have no idea how to check out church records myself.

[RosemaryJoan]

Would this be your Emma's baptism?
   1st Dromara Presbyterian
Address 1   KINALLEN
Address 3   Banbridge
Date of Birth   22:11:1857
Date of Baptism/Registration   11:03:1859
Father's First Name   ALEXANDER
Father's Surname   KERR
Mother's First Name   MARY
Mother's Surname   KELSO
Comment 2   Minister/Priest: CRAIG WILLIAM.

Rosemary Joan

[tomy]

Thanks for your effort Rosemary Joan it is indeed Emma's baptism but I am looking for her son Alexander Kerr born 04/04/1886 and I think that it may have been at 1st dromara Presbyterian also.

[RosemaryJoan]

Yes, I realise that.  Still looking, but this is probably John McRoberts info  (?)
Alexander   McROBERTS   .   Killinchy   married Martha McVea 4 Jun 1842 at Killinchy Presbyterian Church; father of child b. 18 Mar 1847 & John b. 21 Feb 1850 & David b. 4 Sep 1852 & James b. 12 Dec 1854 & Martha & Alexander b. 5 Sep 1857 & Ringland Fisher McRoberts b. 8 Feb 1860 & Martha b. 30 May 1862 & Andrew b. 18 Jan 1865 & bpt. Raffrey Presbyterian Church   
RosemaryJoan

[RosemaryJoan]

Unfortunately the baptism records of Dromara Presbyterian only go up to 1881 online, so no luck there.  You would have to get in touch with the church I think, unless someone else has any ideas.
RosemaryJoan

[Elwyn Soutter]

There's a copy of 1st Dromara's baptisms in PRONI. They go from 1762 to 1959, so should cover the year you are interested in.

[RosemaryJoan]

This search is getting very strange.  John McRoberts and Emma Kerr had a daughter Violet born 17 Sep 1889.
John McRoberts and Sarah Jane Kerr had a son, John born 19 Mar 1886 in Drumillar
John McRoberts and Sarah Jane Kerr had a daughter Sarah Jane born 26 Apr 1888 and here is a marriage for John McRoberts and Sarah Jane Kerr
   Civil Marriages
Date of Marriage   21/07/1882
Husband's Name   JOHN MCROBERTS
Husband's Address   TULLINDONEY
Husband's Occupation   LABOURER
Husband's Age   FA
Husband's Denomination   Presbyterian
Husband's Marital Status   Bachelor (Previously unmarried)
Husband's Father's Name   JAMES MCROBERTS
Husband's Father's Occupation   LABOURER
Husband's Witness   SAMUEL KERR
Wife's Name   SARAH JANE KERR
Wife's Address   DRUMMILLEN
Wife's Age   FA
Wife's Denomination   Presbyterian
Wife's Marital Status   Spinster (Previously unmarried)
Wife's Father's Name   JAMES KERR
Wife's Father's Occupation   FARMER
Wife's Witness   ELIZABETH ANN MORELAND
Comment   BY LICENCE REV J RENTOUL.
Address 1   DROMORE 1ST Presbyterian
Address 2   BANBRIDGE
Address 3   DROMORE

How many of these children were on the 1891 census?

Rosemary Joan (puzzled)

[tomy]

The John Mcroberts and Emma Kerr who had violet in 1889 is not the same John Mcroberts who married Sarah Jane Kerr.

I have already contacted the church but no response from them.

Alexander Mcroberts who married Martha mcvea are a different family.

Just to make things even more puzzling is that my John Mcroberts was born illegitimate in 1866 to a Rebecca Findlay but he then gives his father as Alexander Mcroberts on his marriage certificate.

[tomy]

To everyone who offered advice on this subject thanks and to draw a line under it can I ask one last thing.You guys have more knowledge than me on Ireland in 1880/1890 so what are your final thoughts about who Alexanders Kerrs father could be.He was born on 04/04/1886 and his mother was Emma Kerr,there is no father named on his birth certificate only Emma Kerr.Emma Kerr had a daughter Violet in 1889 and the father is named as John Mcroberts,they come over to Airdrie and get married in 1890 with Alexander and he then calls himself Mcroberts.What are the chances or not that John is his real father from 1886 when his next child with Emma was born nearly four years later.I have tried to obtain his baptism certificate from the local churches in Dromore and Dromara without success.