Page 171 – Family History is my passion and my goal is to help others find and share that same passion.

Bourne Family Research

My Bourne family has left a lot of really good records behind. I have been lucky for the most part with my research into this family. Walter Bourne and his son Walter were solicitors in Dublin and both held the post of Clerk of the Crown for the Queen’s Bench and Deputy Clerk of the Crown for the northeast circuit. Walter junior took on the job after his father retired.

The family lived in Taney parish, Dundrum, Dublin County. They also lived and worked in Harcourt Street Dublin.

A very good book was researched by Mary A. Strange and Elizabeth B. Fitzgerald and written by Mary A. Strange in 1970 called “The Bourne(s) Families of Ireland” I had the great privilege of getting to know her and she sent me a copy of her book. Mary’s book covers the research of her Bourne(s) family as well as others that she believed were connected but she had not been able to make that connection yet.

The book is divided into three parts one on the different locations where the Bourne ancestors of Hannah Maria (Maxwell) Bourne lived and the other relating to Hannah Maria (Maxwell) Bourne and her descendents. Mary and Elizabeth were connected to Hannah Maria (Maxwell) Bourne. The last part is related to the pedigrees of Dr. Lorton Wilson. My Bourne family was included in the last part of the book.

No connection has yet been made between my Bourne line and Mary’s but I am still researching. New records come up every day. I am researching parish registers and writing down all names that may relate to Bourne. So far I have come up with Bourne, Bourn, Bourns, Bournes, Byrne, Burne, Burn, Bryn and Bowrn. I believe this wall can be broken down it will just take a little time and perseverance.

The Toomey Name Game

1 Comment / By Ruth Blair

My Toomey family has not made research into this line very easy. The first known ancestor is Anthony Toomey; his son is Mark and the next generation is where all the trouble begins. Mark named two of his sons Mark and Mark Anthony and both of these boys lived into adulthood.

Mark Toomey’s grandchildren include three Mark Anthony Toomey’s and one Mark Toomey. There are several other Mark Anthony’s but these come from Mark’s daughters so they have different surnames. The next generation has two Mark Anthony Toomey’s and two Mark Toomey’s and so the naming practice goes. In my database I have five Mark and nine Mark Anthony Toomey’s and most of them were born in the mid to late 19th century.

At least I know that if I come across a Mark or Mark Anthony Toomey the chances that they are connected to my family is good. The problem comes in differentiating between them in the records such as city directories. This is where the next family link comes into play. A lot of the Toomey men were solicitors. So it is not that easy to figure out which Mark Anthony Toomey Solicitor is the one I am researching in the city directory.

Now I sit with my list of Mark and Mark Anthony Toomey’s with their dates of birth and death and their address, if the address can be found on civil registration records and directly linked to them. Every one is noted and I try to see if they can fit into any of the information currently relating to them.

This problem is one that keeps growing but it not insurmountable. It just takes a little patience and a lot of detail work to make sure the information is connected to the right Mark or Mark Anthony Toomey. Thank goodness the family did not start using Anthony or Anthony Mark as names or we could be in a lot more trouble.

1939 National Register England, Scotland and Northern Ireland vs 1940 National Register Canada

Leave a Comment / By Ruth Blair

Recently in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, through a Freedom of Information request, the 1939 National Register has become available to researchers. You can only get it for people who are deceased and you need a name and address to request the information.

The information gathered was to provide everyone with their National Identity Card and with the evacuations and mobilization it needed to be done quickly. The date was 29 September 1939.

The questions asked were name, address, gender, birth date, marital status, occupation and whether you had any membership in any kind of military forces which included Civil Defense Services and a like.

In England the fee to get this information is 43 GBP. In Scotland you would pay 13 GBP.

Since the register entries became available in England and Scotland, Northern Ireland has also started to release their information. It is not as easy to get the information yet, mainly because of the large amount of files and the fact that the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is getting ready for a big move and will be closed from September 2010 to May 2011. You can read a description of how to order the registration from Northern Ireland at the Scottish Genealogy News and Events blog. I would recommend reading this blog regularly if you have Scottish ancestors.

Remember one thing – this is only for Northern Ireland. The war was after Home Rule and the South of Ireland was not officially involved in the Second World War.

What I find very interesting is that this information is only coming to light now in the United Kingdom. In Canada we had a similar national registration but ours is called the 1940 National Registration. The public have been able to order copies of this registration for a long time. You need to prove the person is deceased twenty years and a newspaper death notice is accepted. You also need to provide as much identifying information as possible. The fee is $47.25, which includes the GST, and will not be refunded if the search is negative. You can find details for ordering a copy at the Canadian Genealogy Centre.

I have ordered this information several times and it provides much more information than the 1939 National Registration. The information includes: name, address, age, date of birth, marital status, number of dependents, place and country of birth of individual and his or her parents, nationality, year of entry into Canada (if an immigrant), racial origin, languages, education, general health, occupation, employment status, farming or mechanical skills and previous military service.

There are two forms one for men and one for women. Copies of these can be found on the website. Every man and women 16 years of age and over had to complete these forms except for members of the armed forces, religious orders or those confined to an institution. If they died between 1940 and 1946 then it is possible that the form was destroyed. Try anyway because I know of some instances when this was not the case. It can also take upwards of three months to get the registration.

The information I received when I got the 1940 National Registration form was an abstract of basic information like name, place, age, etc, then a copy of the form that had been transcribed and a copy of the original form. I was very glad they sent the original because where the transcriber was not able to decipher the writing I could decipher it. The copy of the original is not very good but careful study can provide more accurate information.

If you are researching someone who was alive during this time period in Canada I would recommend getting a copy of their 1940 National Registration. It could prove to be very enlightening.