Records lost in St John, NB Fire, 1877
If immigration records (ship manifests for example) to Canada were lost in the fire in St John, NB, would it be possible there would be the same records of people leaving their country of origin? I have a whole line of ancestors who all immigrated prior to 1845 and I haven't been able to find anything on their travels in Canadian records. They came from Ireland, some of them in the 1820's, but it seems their ship records don't exist. Would it be possible to find any exit records in Ireland? If so, any advice on where I should look? Thank you!
|
Re: Records lost in St John, NB Fire, 1877
OMG Those records were destroyed??They could have come in handy in finding my Irish ancestors!
|
Re: Records lost in St John, NB Fire, 1877
I am not so sure about their loss, at least in the fire of 1877. Beinging in 1865 passenger ships coming into ports in NB were required to keep a list of passengers (though most did prior to 1865, but they were not standardized and those are more likely to had been lost to the fire). Post-1865 ship manifests in NB are generally considered to be complete. Before then, its hit or miss, especially those before 1850---have you tried other resources to figure out information about them? Did they stay in the St. John area?
As for them leaving Ireland, in my experience, ship manifests that early (1820s) are also very hit or miss on the Irish side too. We tend to rely on the ones on this shore, but more times than not it seems they are no longer extant.
|
Re: Records lost in St John, NB Fire, 1877
Thanks for your reply. New Brunswick Archives has a database of names from ships, but it also seems that most are from 1840's and on. My ancestors (GGGG and GGG grandfathers), according to the 1851 census, came in 1823 and my GGGG and GGG grandmothers came in 1840. I have found church records of their marriages from the 1840's and of course they are in all of the census records after that. That's about it. I don't know if they actually landed in New Brunswick, or maybe in the USA and came up to NB, but my feeling and of course family lore, says they landed in New Brunswick. My grandfather side (Gourley), I haven't been able to find anything on him in Ireland, but that is where he supposedly is from. My grandmother side (Dogherty), I have found her first marriage in County Tyrone.
It sure keeps us busy, doesn't it? Thanks again. I keep hoping that something will show up. Would just love to fill in the space between Ireland and Canada...and then fill in the whole space before that! Ha!
:-)
|