Thread: David McIntosh b 1848 in Londonderry Ireland

I would love some help in finding anything about my gt gt grandparents. Gt grandfather David McIntosh b 1848 in Londonderry Ireland according to his marriage certificate. He lists parents as John McIntosh ( farmer) and Martha Lindsay. David came to Australia but I have no idea as to when and with whom. He married here in Australia in 1876 to Mary Gilmore ( Gilmour) who arrived here as an assistied immigrant in 1869 on ship "Corona". She gives her parents on marriage certificate as Patrick Gilmore and Mary Dinsy and her birthplace as Londonderry also.
I have no idea whether they knew each other in Ireland . I know Irish records are hard to trace or lost so it is really a bad dead end for me. Any help would be much appreciated.
With a name like McIntosh, it is possible they were originally from Scotland.

Mary Gilmore arrived in Victoria 18 February 1869 on the Corona age 18. Cannot find anything on David McIntosh. Unfortunately I cannot check Victorian Records as my CD for that period is damaged.

Have looked at both the Northern Ireland and Scottish online records but without success - sorry!
Gillian

Managed to get the CD working for a while. David McIntosh married Mary Gilmore in 1876 in Victoria Reg. No. 3723
Children
Sarah Jane 1878 Reg. 929 Carlton died 1878 Reg. 646 aged 2 Months
James 1879 Reg. 1032 Carlton
Jeremiah 1881 Reg. 7747 Carlton
William John 1883 Reg. 15039 Carlton
David 1886 Reg. 1199 Carlton
Robert 1888 Reg. 9389 Carlton.

Sorry the CD from 1889-1901 just will not load and I have to dig out the others to see if anything is there.

Thank you for the help. I have the info on Mary and David in Australia but am trying to find more about the parents in Ireland. I know it is a wild hope due to the loss of lots of the early records but maybe a new clue will emerge .
I have tried all the passenger lists I can find and have only found Mary Gilmore. David must have arrived somehow so I'll keep searching.
thanks again.

Statutory records of birth, death & marriage records started in Ireland in 1864 (1845 for Protestant and Non-Conformist marriages). Prior to that you are heavily dependant on church records, where they exist. In general, there are few records prior to 1800.

Ideally, to trace an ancestor in Ireland through church records you need to know their religion, townland and parish. To find that information if the person died overseas, the usual sources are naturalisation records, gravestones, family bibles, wills and obituaries.

Some Irish BDM records are searchable on line on the LDS pilot site, but a lot of records are still held by the church (some churches have declined to allow their records to be copied) and so this website is not a complete picture:

FamilySearch Record Search

For Northern Ireland, the Public Record Office (PRONI) has copies of many of the parish registers, and has a list of those held elsewhere. www.proni.gov.uk/
The records themselves are not on line and you need to search them in person. PRONI is temporarily closed until April 2011 but there are temporary arrangements to view this data at Cregagh Library. See PRONI website for details.

I had a look at the 1901 census for McIntosh and Lindsay. Most McIntosh entries are Presbyterian, though there are some RC. Nearly all the Lindsay entries are Presbyterian. Likewise Gilmour/Gilmore. So I’d agree with the analysis that the families originated in Scotland. (They’ll have come across sometime from 1610 onwards, perhaps as a part of the Plantation of Ulster.) I couldn’t find any Dinsy entries, so I think that surname has been corrupted.

Tradition is to marry in the wife’s church. The attached website tells you how far back each presbytery’s records go in Co. Derry.

Ireland Presbyterian Church Records - IrelandGenWeb Project

Griffiths Valuation has a John McIntosh renting land in Bogagh, Glendermot, Londonderry. (That would have been a rural area in the 1840s but is now part of the southern suburbs of the city). If you have no other clues, you could start by searching Presbyterian records in that area. Be aware that most of these churches are inundated with genealogical enquiries and won’t do look ups, due to the resource implications. The records are not on line and you need to get someone to look them up for you.

Elwyn

Thank you for all the info. It gives me some new clues to begin again.