How Australian records broke through a long-standing brickwall

Goal: finding Margaret Agnew’s birthplace in

Ireland

Margaret Agnew – age 39, 1868

Margaret Agnew age 54, 1883

What I already knew about Margaret Agnew – my great grandmother

• Parents: Esther Fleming - died 5 March, 1875, BelfastJohn Agnew - died 20 January, 1843, Belfast

• Siblings: David – born 24 May, 1831, Belfast

• Jane Anne, born April, 1833, Belfast

• Robert – born 1 March, 1835, Belfast

• David G., born 16 October, 1836, Belfast

• Marriage: 28 May, 1858, Belfast (to Alexander Lockhart)

• Died: 18 October, 1887, Belfast, age 60

But where was Margaret born?

• All Belfast Church of Ireland records searched by professional for birth approximately 1827

• All Belfast Church of Ireland records searched in person

• No birth/baptism record ever located

• Conclusion:

The family must have moved into Belfast from somewhere else.

But from where, and how to determinethis locale?

Years pass

And more years pass , until……

June, 2008 – while researching at Salt Lake City (the vibes must have been good)

• An email from Oregon, U.S.A.

“Hi. My name is Sally Agnew. I just sent a reply to your Gen Forum posting regarding John Agnew.  

I am married to Robert Agnew who is descended from John

Agnew, (b. 1791, died 20th January, 1843; Belfast, married to Esther,

b. 1796, died 5th March, 1875, Belfast, at the house of her daughter

Margaret who married A. Lockhart on 18th May, 1858), via one of his sons,

(I have a count of 5 sons), Gilmore Agnew, b. 1822, d. 1884 at age 62. 

We have a family Bible (Edinburgh, 1836) with information that I know

you'll be interested in.  I will wait to hear back from you”.  

Notice all the matching data?

• Dates and places all matched mine.

• The date of my original message on Gen Forum? January, 2001

• Any idea how many nanoseconds it took to push the reply key?

• What did I receive once I contacted Sally?

Notice thatthe middle section iswritten inShorthand – more mysteries

What new data did I obtain?• More siblings of Margaret Agnew –

• William, born 1819, died 1st May, 1865, London, England

• Gilmore, born 1822, died April 7, 1884, San Francisco, California

• Torrens, born 1825, died 20 Nov. 1869, San Jose, California

• John, born 1828, died July 16, 1868, New York

• But – still no reference to Margaret’s birth

Next step – (amongst others) - the U.S. census records

• Torrens Agnew – had died in 1869 in San Jose, California

• but the 1870 census for San Jose, California showed that his wife and two children were born in Australia

• Assumption – Torrens went to Australia before going to the U.S., and married there

How to determine a locale in Australia?

• Knowing that Australian records are very complete, sent excited email to our local expert on “Down Under” – Marian Press

• Within minutes received response that World Vital records shows him in land records in Ballarat, State of Victoria

• Learn that State of Victoria has placed their Civil Registrations on-line

• Victoria - http://online.justice.vic.gov.au/servlet/bdm_home

• Located and downloaded Agnew marriage, plus 5 births and 2 deaths

• Cost: AUD$17.50 per download – cheaper than flight to Australia

Marriage of Torrens Agnew

• 22 August, 1857, Ballarat, Colony of Victoria• Eliza Bower, 16• Torrens Agnew, 32, bachelor, Commercial

Traveller• Father: John Agnew, grocer• Mother: Esther Fleming• Born: Queen’s County, Ireland

• Queen’s County? – after 1922 name changed to County Laois

Birth of Gilmore Agnew

• Born 4 August, 1858• Ballarat, Colony of Victoria• Mother: Eliza Bower, 16• Father: Torrens Agnew,33• Born: Maryborough, Queen’s County• Ireland

• Maryborough – now known as Portlaoise

Next step:

• Locate records of Church of Ireland for Maryborough

• Learn that records for St. Peter’s Church, Maryborough, are available from 1793

• They are held in the Representative ChurchBody Library in Dublin

Search results

• 1825 – John and Torrens Agnew, twin sons of John and Esther Agnew, were born April 22, 1825 and baptized the same time

• 1827 – Margaret Agnew, daughter of John and Esther Agnew, was born 20 February, 1827 and baptized 25 February, 1827

• 1829 – John Agnew, son of John and Esther Agnew, was born 6th October 1828 and baptized 9 October, 1928

Baptismal font in St. Peter’s Church of Ireland, Portlaoise, Laois County

Conclusion and Next Steps

• Searched surrounding parish records – no sign of first two sons, nor of marriage of John and Esther, nor of any other Agnew’s or Fleming’s

• It seems the family was only in Maryborough for a few years

• So – I now need to go back to earlier Belfast records for births/baptisms of two eldest sons – William and Gilmore, and marriage of parents

• OR – Wait for another email !!!!!