Balmer

Angela,

Here’s Sarah Jane Balmer’s birth on 8.8.1886 at Granagh:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1886/02595/1958478.pdf

I looked for a William Balmer birth 1882 – 84 but didn’t find one in the statutory records.

Sarah Balmer (nee Madden) died at Mullans on 14.5.1906:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1906/05564/4562114.pdf

Possible death for William Balmer 2.1.1926 aged 63, in Ballymoney registration area. That death certificate isn’t available free. You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

Sarah and William married on 10.2.1873. If you view that marriage certificate it should give you both their fathers names. You can view it on the GRONI site. Husband is under “Bamer”.

Elwyn,

So I have no excuse for not coming back to check to see if anyone answered my question, but I do want to thank you for your response.  It has been quite helpful.

Someday I hope to take a trip from my home in Seattle to visit the towns my Ancesters called home in Ireland. Thanks.

Angela Balmer

Hello to all readers of this Balmer entry.

Could any of your  Balmers be connected to these people?

I am seeking the place where my GGrandmother Mary Jane Balmer may have been born as the information we are left from her may/may not be correct. Whether it was she or her Irish born daughter one was not telling the truth!!

I have searched on the Free BMD of England and so far not really been satisfied with possiblilites of Balmer or Ramsay/Ramsey for Mary being born or married there. Our Canadian Cousin infers that Ramsay was Mary Janes Maiden name. 

Mary Jane Balmer was either the daughter of a Samuel BALMER or the wife of person of the same name.

Mary Jane may have come from Rathfriland. On the shipping list she was recorded as having originated from 'Down'

In NZ she was strict Presbyterian all of her life

Mary Jane had a daughter born to her in Ireland named Jane Estelle Balmer. This name fits with the name we have of MJ's mother's name of Ester Jane McBride. (I am unsure if that surname is correct as my reference notes are from my Aunt who was only 10yrs old when her Granny MJ died)

Jane Estelle Balmer (b13th Mar 1857 rec'd Antrim, Belfast) came to NZ in 1878 having been recorded as a Millworker from Down. A younger cousin in Canada says that on the 1921 Census of Canada that Jane recorded that MJ said she was married in England. This info was new to us here in NZ. Other information was from  the Marriage Certificate of Jane Estelle In Christchurch.

Once in NZ Mary Jane Balmer (sic) married an Irishman Robert Samuel McDowell (from Armagh) and together they had 5 children. He died aged 41 (1882) and she remained a widow for the remining years of her long life.

davliz

New Zealand

Birth registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864. Prior to that you are reliant on church baptism records. Not all churches have records for the 1800s and of those that do not all are on-line, especially Presbyterian records.

Rathfriland has 3 Presbyterian churches. The 1st has baptisms from 1827, the 2nd from 1804 and the 3rd from 1834. Copies of all are held in PRONI ion Belfast.

I looked for a Balmer – Ramsay marriage in Ireland and England around the 1850s but without success.

If Jane Estelle Balmer was born in Belfast and was Presbyterian, then there’s about 25 Presbyterian churches with records for the 1850s in the city. This link explains what records exist, parish by parish:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records

If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Death registration started in Ireland in 1864. I searched 1864 – 1921 and this was the only Samuel Balmer I could find of an age to be married or father of Mary Jane. He was a widower and the informant was son Hugh:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1882/06387/4833757.pdf

This looks to be that Hugh in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Court_Ward/Old_Lodge_Road/946957/

Marriage in 1870:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1870/11380/8178476.pdf

Daughter Mary’s birth in Agnes St:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…