JAMES WILSON born 1796 - IRELAND

[chaney999]

I am trying to find any information regarding JAMES WILSON born 1796 in Ireland.

I have searched IGI in births for JAMES WILSON born in Londonderry in 1796 and there are so many. Does anyone have any ideas how I can locate his birth. I dont know who he married but I have his children and have him in 1851 Census in Hull living with his son William. He is a widower at this time. Prior to 1851 or after 1851 I cannot locate him.

[chaney999]

Further to this he was a gypsy - I do know this from his childrens marriage certs which state he is a traveller and this is consistent throughout the family as his children married the Boss/Boswells

[Peter Goodey]

Your conclusions may well be right but in the 19th century "Traveller" as an occupation tended to mean "commercial traveller" (travelling salesman) rather than being a reference to a person's lifestyle.

The OED has some 19th century references to "traveller" meaning tramp. The blanket term to include Romanies seems to be of much more recent origin.

[romanyjones]

Hi, Do you know if he was a Romany or an Irish Traveller as there was not that many Romany in Ireland and remembering that both are from different nominations so it may be worth looking at Catholic records and non conformist,do you know his wife's maiden or given surname,people of irish gypsy descent are sometimes recorded as Tinkers but many other terms could of been used such as Hawker,Gypsy,Grinder,Sweep depending on his work,getting back in history to find these relatives can be difficuilt, if any have been to court those records can sometimes state their breed also it has been discovered that on census returns alternative surnames were used or travelling people had not been recorded on the census due to enumerators not recording them.

[Elwyn Soutter]

I think you will struggle to trace this man unless you can find out a little more about him from sources in England. Statutory registration of births didn’t start in Ireland till 1864 so you won’t find a birth certificate for him. You might find his baptism, if the records have survived, but to do that you need to know his exact denomination and the parish or townland he came from. (And when you say he comes from Londonderry, is that the city or the county?). Not many Irish parish records exist for that period. (In the City of Londonderry for example, only the Church of Ireland* has baptism records for the 1700s. No other denomination has any records for that period). And without his father’s name or a townland (address) it would be difficult to be sure you have found the right baptism even if you did find someone born c 1796.

Statutory registration of marriages started in April 1845 for non RC, and 1864 for RC. If he was born in 1796, his first marriage was probably about 1820, so well before the start dates for those records. So no help there.

The 1831 census for Co Derry has about 30 people named James Wilson, so no help there either.

Normal advice in this situation is to check every census he is in, in case you get a more specific place of birth, check obituaries and any will, gravestones and Poor Law records etc. All of these can give clues as to where a person originated in Ireland.

*Church of Ireland = Church of England.

[chaney999]

Thank you so much for all your replies and advice...... This one is proving difficult, so I guess I will just keep battling on.

Regards
Tracey

[chaney999]

I may have a breakthrough................. I have found a marriage in Hull in 1823 for James Wilson and Ann BRAY. I believe this maybe the one as I have then found baptisms for their boys William and George also in Hull in 1837. (they were baptised around the age of 10/11) . If anyone has any information on the BRAY family then this would be of great help.