Family history research can often hit those brick walls which can stop you in your tracks. It is then that the benefits of technology and online research websites come to the fore to help out.
Griffith's Valuation records, helps family historians find their Irish ancestors
One such issue can occur when tracing those ancestors who lived in Ireland. In the 19th Century there was an extensive amount of record taking in Ireland to analyse the population of the country. Despite the best intentions, the first Census in 1813 was felt to be greatly flawed and was deemed useless and subsequently destroyed. However, the 1821 census was more successful and produced the first comprehensive record of all the names in every household, fully 20 years before this was done in England!
This excellent record taking would have been ideal for the family history researcher looking to trace their records. Unfortunately, the Irish census records for 1861-1891 were pulped by government order during the First World War to clear space, and then an explosion and fire in 1922 destroyed most of the census records from 1821 to 1851.
This has proved unfortunate but there are ways around this for the family historian. Griffith's Valuation records provide a valued substitute for the lost census records for Ireland, as it lists every householder in Ireland at the time it was taken.
Griffith's Valuation was carried out between 1848 and 1864 and provides records on where people lived and who owned property in Ireland. A typical example of how the records can be accessed online can be seen below courtesy of www.TheGenealogist.co.uk
Simple, easy searching online gives the researcher the following results:
Complete with the original image:
Using the records on TheGenealogist, the database is searchable by forename and surname with phonetic matching and wildcards in combination with County and Barony and lists over 2.6 million Individuals.
The information given includes county, Barony, Poor Law Union then divided into electoral divisions, parishes and townlands, and OS map sheet number with link to view available maps. This is the first time that Griffith’s Valuation has been made available with Phonetic matching, Nicknames, Wildcards and OS Maps.
2012 has proved a great year for Andy Murray after winning Olympic Gold in the Men’s singles and a Silver in the mixed doubles. He’s now added to his success by becoming the first British player to win a Grand Slam men’s singles tournament since Fred Perry in 1936. Murray is now the first man ever to win an Olympic Gold and the U.S Open in the same year.
Although the Scottish tennis ace Andy Murray has made comments on supporting “anyone but England” in games of football, his maternal grandmother Eileen Shirley Edney was born to English parents John Marsom Edney and Joyce Mary Anderson. John Edney was a solicitor born in Berwick onTweedin 1931 and Joyce Anderson was born in York in 1906. The couple married in Berwick on Tweed in 1957.
John Edney’s mother Catherine Hush was born in Berwick in 1869, his father also John M Edney was born in the London area in 1857. The exact birth place given on the Victorian census records on TheGenealogist.co.uk varies but with the majority indicating New Cross London. The occupation given on the Northumberland 1901 census shows his occupation as a potato trader, and previous occupations given as Corn Merchant and Shirt Machinist. His ancestry can be traced further back through the London area with forbearers recorded as Railway Clerk, Accountant and School Master.
Joyce Anderson’s ancestry however is predominantly northern, giving Andy Murray a very cross-country English heritage. Her mother Gertrude Golding was born in Sheffield in 1882 and her grandparents were born in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
