Booth family

Good day Dobbin,

William Booth is my great/great/great/ grandfather.  He came to Canada and settled in the national Capital region of Ottawa.  If you look at ancestry.ca you will find further information about he, his wife and the many children he had.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Michael Booth   

Michael and D. Booth. I am looking for a Booth family from Londonerry but I don't know the townland. They travelled to Canada about 1848 settling in Innisfil, Ontario. They are: James Booth b. 1786-90 (son of Robert Booth) and his wife Sarah nee Rogers b. 1790, their children Mary b. 1821; Robert b. 1823, Margaret b. 1826; William b. 1828; Eliza b. 1830; James b. 1833; Sarah Ann b. 1836. Margaret is my gr. grandmother. Susan (Black)

Susan,

I had a look at the 1831 census for Co. Londonderry. There were only about 17 households with folk named Booth in the county. There was a James Booth in Magadone. Only 2 people in that household and both RC. Another in Ballyriff again with 2, both Church of Ireland. Another in Killyfaddy which had 3 males and 2 females, again Church of Ireland. So the Killyfaddy family are the best fit numbers wise to your family. They appear to have been farmers as they were listed in the 1829 tithe applotment records:

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/derry/tithe-applotments/magherafelt-parish.php#.W_KmyBR2ug0

They are gone from that townland by 1859 when Griffiths Valuation was compiled. So that fits too.

Magherafelt Church of Ireland baptism, marriage & burial records start in 1718. They are complete save for a gap 1794 to 1798. You might want to search them to see if that’s where your family were baptised or married. I don’t think they are on-line anywhere, but there is a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. If you can’t get there yourself, you could employ a researcher to do it for you: Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Thank you Elwyn, I looked at that family but didn't think there were enough people. They were Church of England in Canada.I was at PRONI two years ago but didn't know what I was looking for then. Susan

Susan,

There might be a reason why the number of people in the Killyfaddy household doesn’t match your expectations. Perhaps 2 of the children were staying with neighbours or the wife’s parents? (The 1851 census had a section requiring details of people normally resident there, but temporarily absent on census night. There were plenty).

But what the 1831 census tells you is that there were just 3 James Booth households in the county then. So one of them probably has to be your family. You may want to rule out the RC family if you are sure that’s the wrong denomination, but it would be worth checking all the available records for the other 2.

I have a clue for you. Rootsireland has the baptism of Robert Booth on 6.4.1823 in Magherafelt 1st Presbyterian church. Father’s name is James. No mother’s name recorded. Family lived in Killyfaddy. None of the other children appear in the on-line records. Perhaps it’s your family and they changed denomination between 1823 and 1831?

I’d be inclined to check through Magherafelt 1st’s records as well as Magherafelt Church of Ireland. Magherafelt 1st has records for 1771-1781 plus 1813 – 1964.  However something that you also ought to check are the Minister’s Visitation books, which according the the PRONI catalogue, cover the years 1823 – 1832. My recollection from reading them some years ago is that they cover some other years too. The Magherafelt 1st Presbyterian Minister went round his catchment area and, in little notebooks, detailed which families lived in each townland, together with children’s names and comments such as “gone to America” or whatever. They are in PRONI too. Well worth a look.

Elwyn, Thank you for your reply. The 1820 Bible says that Robert Booth was born April 8th, 1823. Does baptism 6.4.1823 mean the 6th of April or the 4th of June? Here, in Canada we go day, month, year. The parents were buried in the Church of England cemetery. Some children, like my grandmother, Margaret Booth b. August 18th, 1826 married Presbyterians and were buried with their spouse. Yes, those records in PRONI would be wonderful, but so far away. Susan

6.4 means 6th April. (it's just Canada and the US that do it the other way round. The rest of the world seems to follow the European format). So the dates suggest to me it's probably the same person. People didn't celebrate birthdays in Ireland in the 1800s and often didn't really know exactly when they were born. If officialdom asked for a birth date they sometimes just guessed. Discrepancies like this are very common. And then you have date of birth and date of baptism. There can often be a gap between the two. It's not always clear which date is in the parish baptism record.

If you can't get to PRONI you could hire a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net