Thread: forster family history originally born in fermanagh ireland but liverpool 1850+

I have been researching my family history for some time now and cannot get any further, I am aware that my great grandparents Robert Forster b.1811 and Alice b.1810 moved here along with there sons Joseph Forster b. 1848 and John Forster b.1836. both of the sons were born in ireland but i cannot trace what year that they moved to liverpool.
Robert died in 1879.
Joseph Forster married a Annie hughes b.1857, they were married in 1877 and had 6 children:
Elizabeth Evangeline b.1884
Josephine b.1891 m. 1921 d.1955 - Josephine electricuted herself with a faulty wire in iron
Rachael b.1894
Joe b. 1897
Alfred b. 1899 d.1918 - died in the army
John Frederick arnott Forster b.1903 m.1939 d.1966 (my Father)
Another child Gwen Wynne also grew up with this family b.1901.

The other son from Robert and Alice Forster was John. ( i believe John dropped the 'R' is forster so on some census it is foster)
John married a welsh wife Elizabeth b.1837, they had 4 of their own children
John b.1869
William b.1872
Robert b.1876
Elizabeth b.1878
The census also say that johns nephew William Forster b.1867 lives with them.

I am unsure of what to do next but i would like more information of where or what to do next!
I have listed below addresses that i am aware of where the above families lived:
1877 76 gerard st, everton
1881 53 Rupert Hill, Everton
1891 41 Delta Street, Litherland
1901 78 Dryden Street, Bootle
1911 10 Ruthven Road, Litherland
1914 17 Warburton Road, Seaforth
1938 17 Warburton Road, Seaforth (occupied by Elizabeth)
1940 Ruthven Road (occupied by Elizabeth and Rachel)

I know there is alot of information here but any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you
John Forster

Your information is that Robert came from Fermanagh, though you don't know when he moved to Liverpool. If he was still in Ireland in 1862, you may be interested to know that there is a record of a Robert Foster renting a garden of 1 acre, 1 rood in Bunlougher townland (nearest significant town Lisnaskea).

Griffith's Valuation

He's the only Robert Foster in Griffiths. That doesn't mean it is your Robert, but if you have no other information, it might be something to use for further enquiries.

There are no Forsters living in Bunlougher in the 1901 census.

Thank

Thank you for such a rapid response.

Noggin - i think that you are spot on with what you say about when the family moved here, i think my next steps are to try and track a birth certificate for william, this will confirm who his parents are! (maybe josephs son or another brothers son?)

Elwyn - Thanks for that info will keep it in mind for future reference, it's a good start for me, have been trying to find some record of them in Ireland but always is difficult and had no luck. if i could just get a positive starting point over in Ireland things may unfold.

Thanks
John

I made a typo in my previous post. The entry in Griffiths was for Robert Forster, not Foster. Sorry.

Statutory records of births, deaths & marriages 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. (Some have been lost, some are incomplete and some are not yet on line).

To use church records effectively, because there’s no centralised index, ideally you need to know the ancestor’s exact religion, townland and parish in Ireland. (Otherwise it’s a needle in a haystack). You do at least know which county your ancestors came from. You need to try and narrow the search to a parish or townland. Good sources for this sort of information are military records, gravestones, family bibles, wills and obituaries.

There were 92 Forster entries in Fermanagh in the 1901 census. If you want to look at them go to:

National Archives: Census of Ireland 1911