"IN THE CENSUS," for #52ancestors challenge: 3 Generations of GILLESPIEs

Here we are on Week 5 of the year-long challenge of writing weekly 52ancestors/52weeks by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow.  This week the prompt is "In the Census."

Here is an 1881 England Census return which gave me 3 generations of my father's family: names, ages, birthplaces, residence address. The "do" on the right column is ditto for place of birth being Ireland for every member of this 3-generation family. This area of Walney [Walney Island] in Barrow in Furness, in north-east England, had many who were born in Ireland, now working in the shipbuilding industry or supportive industries.

However, I thought this was NOT my ancestor family when I first found it. In fact I scanned past it as the names didn't seem to match the tiny bit I thought I knew about my father's GILLESPIE family from England. This particular census of the neighbourhood ward of Walney [Island] in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, showed the Gillespie family all born in Ireland. Well, that couldn't possibly be true - I "knew" that the Gillespies all came from England. I kept looking in England and found a few other possibilities but still, they were not particularly likely, I believed.

I took my list of  5 possibles and looked for them in the following Census, 1891. I eliminated 3 of the possibles because of the children's names - wrong group of names, wrong ages. That left me with only two possibilities.

Ohhh, and then the 1901 Census [above] in Barrow showed a Wm John married to Harriet with daughter Elsie. I knew my Aunt Elsie was the eldest of the Gillespie children. My family - very likely.

And the 1911 Census cinched it. There were all the correct names for my aunts/uncles, in the correct order. This 1911 Census in Barrow in Furness showed their birthplaces also - huge clues for me to use to research further for my Grandma's family in England. I was able to find my Grandpa's father and mother in the 1911 Census, with their birthplaces in Ireland as well.

The confusion about my grandfather's name, William John. I'd always known his name as Jack, and I assumed that was a nickname for his correct first name being John. My mistake. He was going by his second name, which became a nickname, Jack. Don't know why I didn't twig to this shift in names when I first saw the 1881 Census. It was early in my genealogy searches, and clearly I was not as attuned to variants in names at that time.

In addition - this 1911 Census was written in my Grandpa's handwriting - isn't it beautiful? I've since found his signature on my Dad's birth registration as well, confirming this is indeed his handwriting.

Treasure - one finds treasure in the Census. There are so many possible clues to use for further research. The church district listed on the Censuses, place of birth for all in the household, ages, how long married, number of living children, occupations, residence at time of Census, signatures, and more.

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If any of these are ancestors of yours, I would be happy to hear from you with your comments or corrected information. I am also very happy to share any details I might have that are not shown on this post. Contact information is found at the very bottom of this blog.

Blogger has a glitch which is stopping me from replying to your comments, but please do know that I appreciate your comments very much. You make my day! Thanks so much for stopping by to read my family blog.

THE NORTHERN IRELAND CONNECTION - Gillespie line

My father's surname was GILLESPIE, and I knew very little about his parents' ancestors when I started trying to research our family tree about 8 years ago.  All direct grandparents and parents were deceased by then, and I wasn't very close to my much-older first cousins on that side.

Dad was born in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland  on Sunday April 7, 1907, coming over to Canada with his Mom and 4 siblings in November 1914, following his father who had arrived in Canada in 1911.  Thank heavens for passenger lists with all their details!   remember both his parents having an accent of some sort - maybe it was Scottish, or English - I wasn't even sure! My Dad was nicknamed "Scottie" when he was younger because of his accent - which disappeared in his teens. My grandparents never talked about the old country that I remember.

I assumed we were Scottish, because of his birthplace, and the tossed-off comment that his older siblings remembered playing on Hadrian's Wall.  But I also knew they lived in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England, before coming to Canada.  Hmmmm.  Odd that we never questioned them - or maybe it isn't very odd at all.  Children are rather narcissistic by nature and development, so by the time I thought to ask questions, my grandparents and their older children were deceased.

Research now shows that my grandfather GILLESPIE - Jack (William John) - was born in Augher, County Tyrone, Ireland, 23 August 1876.  And I have the birth registration to prove it, showing his father, his mother and her maiden name (ARMSTRONG), the village, and the belated registration of his name in October 1876.  Yeah!! And the person "present at the birth" had the same surname as Grandpa's mother's maiden name: a Margerie Armstrong, living in the same village of Augher. Possibly her mother? A sister? Aunt? Clues galore! Grandpa's younger brother, Jim (James Robert), was born a few miles further north in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland.  Page-by-page-turns through a Family History film found me his birth registration, with same parents' names.  Excellent confirmation.  The entire family - Grandpa, his brother Jim, his parents, and his grandparents with aunt and uncles - all moved from Ireland to Barrow in Furness between 1879-1881, as they are all listed on the England Census 1881.

A few years ago, I finally reached out to a few of my elderly first cousins on my dad's side.  He was the 2nd youngest in the family, and his elder siblings were already married and with teenaged children when he finally got married in 1941. Our first cousins ranged from 15-25 or more years older than us, the youngest grandchildren. June had a lovely large photograph of my Grandpa's siblings and parents, in the mid-1890s (incorrectly labelled as 1890). Grandpa is the young man on the left. What a glorious find! I have also had wonderful conversations with another cousin, Catherine, who is now 87 years old, about our mutual grandparents and stories she remembers.

Now I'm searching diligently through Northern Ireland records, and maintaining a relationship with Catherine, enjoying reminiscing with her, teasing out more possible clues to follow, and enjoying her stories.  She has photographs my parents didn't - which I've scanned, and is also able to give me relatives' names in England, early history of our grandparents in Canada, explanations, and more!

If you have more information on our GILLESPIE-ARMSTRONG family, do please contact me at calewis at telus dot net and I'll be happy to correspond.  Or, leave a comment below.

SURNAME SATURDAY - George GILLESPIE, b. abt 1850

George GILLESPIE, born about 1851 in Newton, Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is my paternal greatgrandfather.  He gave this year and birthplace on the 1911 UK Census in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England, which will help me, I hope, to find his birth registration or baptism, plus marriage registration.  Eventually.

The entire family - George, his wife and two small children, his 2 brothers, 1 sister, and his parents - all emigrated from Northern Ireland in approximately 1879, settling in Barrow where there was a significant increase in ship-building and related industry.

Here is a badly-damaged photo of George, taken in the 1930s; he died in February 1941 in Barrow, at the age of 90, apparently still going for a walk every day with his dog (Judy), according to Mary, his only daughter, with whom he lived:

Grgrandfather George was the eldest of 4 children of James GILLESPIE b. abt 1821 Ireland, and Eliza (Elizabeth) MORRISON, b. abt 1823 Ireland.   James & Eliza married approximately 1850, possibly in the Belfast area, according to several distant cousins.  They had at least 4 children that I have been able to track (to date); these four are listed on the 1881 UK Census for Barrow, and every member in the family is born in Ireland (no place given):
- George (my line) b. abt 1851
- Andrew b. abt 1858
- Robert b. abt 1861
- Margaret b. abt 1863

As you can see, there is a gap of about 7 years between George and his next brother, Andrew, which makes me wonder if there might be another daughter or two, or another son, who decided to stay in Northern Ireland.  Of course they may have lost one or two children at young ages.  There is still much research to do in this family.

George married Catherine ARMSTRONG in about 1875 in Parish Clogher, Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and they had 4 children, the eldest two born in Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the younger two born in Barrow, Lancashire, in England:
- William John "Jack" b. 23 Aug 1876 (my line) b. 23 Aug 1876 ?Augher, Tyrone
- James Robert "Jim" b. 7 Apr 1878 (Parish Beagh?) Armagh or Omagh, Tyrone
- Mary Elizabeth  b. 19 Apr 1883  Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England
- George Armstrong  b. 1886  Barrow in Furness, Lancashire (d. 8 Aug 1916 at Battle of the Somme, France, WWI)

George & Catherine lived in Barrow for the rest of their lives.  George is listed on the various censuses in Barrow as an Iron Founders Labourer, and an Engine Fitter's Labourer.  The first Census I find the family in is the 1881 UK Census, where all 9 are living in the Walney Ward of Barrow in Furness, at "#262 Brick Cottages".  About 300 brick cottages were built for labourers for the burgeoning steel and ship-building industries.

The two eldest sons emigrated to Canada before the beginning of WWI, and the youngest son, his namesake, died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.  By the time the war ended, his daughter was the only child still in England.  Mary (b. 1883) married later in life, in September 1930, widowed by 1948. The couple lived with her father until his death in Feb 1941.

Here is an excerpt from a letter Mary wrote to two first cousins of mine when they were young:

"Your greatgranddad is very well considering his 91 years.  He is always doing something.  Yesterday he was chopping wood.  Just now he is putting the potatoes on for the midday meal.  But the wireless is his pet hobby.  I don't think any scholar enjoys the broadcast for Schools, more than he does.  I tell him he ought by now, to be perfect in German & French.  But I really think the Church services are the broadcasts he likes best." 

If you know any information on the above GILLESPIE names and families, do please contact me at calewis at telus dot com.