Yes, my Armstrongs are Dublin to Quebec. Lots of those Armstrongs in Ireland.
Katie Green On Dec 3, 2018, at 5:40 PM, Elwyn Soutter via CoTyroneList <cotyronelist@cotyroneireland.com> wrote: > Margaret, > > I echo what Boyd has said. > > Armstrong is a very common name in Ireland. In the 1901 census there are > 6122. 545 in Co Tyrone, 6 named Samuel and 41 named William. The names would > have been even more common in the mid 1800s as the population was > considerably greater then. (It was 8 million in 1841 and it’s only 6 million > today). > > There’s 42 parishes in the county, and probably 250 – 300 churches. Not all > the churches have records back to the mid 1800s let alone 1811 when William > was born, and of those that do, many are not on-line. Only the RC records are > fairly comprehensively on-line. For all other denominations it’s very patchy. > A lot have been copied and are in PRONI, but there are some small churches > where the Minister still has the only copy of the records. No-one has copied > them at all, and the only way of checking them is to contact him/her. > Searching all the various church records for Tyrone is a mammoth task. > Researchers need to be able to reduce the search by knowing the exact > denomination(s) of the families they are looking at. And we need some > reasonably reliable information on where they might have lived to keep the > research within reasonable bounds. Searching the church records for the whole > county for Armstrong would be a huge task. But even then, there’s no getting > away from the fact that the Church of Ireland lost a significant portion of > its records in the 1922 fire, and that other denominations didn’t always keep > records, or if they did, they have been lost or damaged. So no certainty of > success at all. > > It’s worth bearing in mind that not everyone is listed in Griffiths. > Servants, people lodging with others and folk with very low value properties > were all excluded. Labourers who moved around regularly to follow available > work often slipped through the Griffiths clerks net. There are other > examples. Also it was compiled for Tyrone around 1860, so if a family had > left by that year, they won't be in it. > > With your Samuel and William, I would search all possible records in Canada, > or wherever else they ended up. Marriage and death certificates sometimes > give places of birth, as well as parents names. Military records, obituaries, > wills etc can all throw up information about someone’s origins. Because it’s > such a common name, to trace William Armstrong born c1852, we’d need his > mother’s full name, to be sure of finding the right family. Presumably you > know that, though it isn’t in your post. > > The researcher’s expertise is obviously important but equally we can’t magic > up records that don’t exist anymore, and the more accurate your information > and the narrower the search area, the better the chances of success. > > > Elwyn > > From: Boyd Gray via CoTyroneList <cotyronelist@cotyroneireland.com> > To: CoTyroneIreland.com Mailing List <cotyronelist@cotyroneireland.com> > Cc: Boyd Gray <boydgra...@gmail.com> > Sent: Monday, 3 December 2018, 22:31 > Subject: Re: [CoTyroneMailingList] Using a researcher > > Hi Margaret, > > I am a "researcher" currently working on a project very similar to the one > you describe. And after weeks of research, I have not found that magical > "smoking gun" which you seem to desire. Thankfully, I am not being expected > to do so and I made that clear at the start when I offered to help. It is as > simple as this. If the records do not exist, no amount of research, by > anyone other than a magic fairy, is ever going to find that definitive link > for which you seek. In the end, it will all come down to probabilities. If > you have researched every birth, marriage and death, every land record from > the Tithe Applotment Books, through the Griffiths Valuation AND beyond > through the Griffiths Valuation Revision Books, through their overlap with > the censuses and right through to their end circa 1930, then you will have > sufficient sense of the family in that area to know whether they are your > folks, to withing 80% or 90% degree of certainty. But you can not expect > even a professional researcher to magic up a record which does not exist. > > Just like you, we found a Christopher Irwin, but not the Christopher Irwin > who emigrated to Ontario in 1850 because this Christopher Irwin was still in > Co Tyrone when he died in 1906. But, we have done enough work on this branch > of the Irwins, compared to other Irwins from County Tyrone, which was the > only clue given by Canadian records, to be reasonably sure we have the right > Irwins. But no smoking gun. No family bible. No record from a list of > sources which simply does not exist. No researcher with a magic wand. If > you need to know what sources are actually available, have a look here at the > helpful hints, workshop videos, sources and links: > https://www.facebook.com/westulstergenealogy/ > > That is the reality. > > Keep researching, do not give up, but do not look for the impossible.... > though, who knows.... you may strike lucky and find that mythicak family > bible. > > I hope this helps. > > Regards, > > Boyd > > https://www.westulstergenealogy.com/ > > https://www.facebook.com/westulstergenealogy/ > > http://familytrees.genopro.com/boydgray26/Boyd/ > > > > > On Mon, 3 Dec 2018 at 21:42, margaret marion via CoTyroneList > <cotyronelist@cotyroneireland.com> wrote: > I have grown more and more frustrated with my research in Northern Ireland. > Has anyone ever used a researcher? Was it a good experience? Can anyone > recommend someone? > I have done my research for Samuel Armstrong born 1811 and his son William > born 1852, Tyrone, Northern Ireland. > I have done Griffith's Valuation and the census from 1901 and 1911. > I centered on the Armstrong's of Sixmilecross. I went there because in > Griffith's Valuation, they had a Samuel Armstrong. > I now know that it is not my Samuel Armstrong. I figure he came to Canada in > 1860 - 1862. > The Samuel Armstrong of Sixmilecross is present right into the late 1800's. > this is what frustrated me to the most. > I have done the family tree for the Armstrong's of Sixmilecross back to 1797 > with Isaac Armstrong, father Francis, I believe, but not lots of proof. > My own guess is Samuel is a younger brother of Isaac. But absolutely no > proof. > Hence the reason I am thinking of getting a researcher for a bit. > Any advice would be appreciated. > Margaret Marion > Oshawa, Ontario, Canada > _______________________________________________ > CoTyroneList mailing list > CoTyroneList@cotyroneireland.com > http://mail.cotyroneireland.com/mailman/listinfo/ > (_internal_name)s > _______________________________________________ > CoTyroneList mailing list > CoTyroneList@cotyroneireland.com > http://mail.cotyroneireland.com/mailman/listinfo/ > (_internal_name)s > > > _______________________________________________ > CoTyroneList mailing list > CoTyroneList@cotyroneireland.com > http://mail.cotyroneireland.com/mailman/listinfo/ > (_internal_name)s
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