McKeevers in Sunderland

[Tinker]

Can some kind soul with a sub to Ancestry tell me whether a Thomas McKeever appears in any of the censuses prior to 1881? He married a Sarah Thompson (born 1829, daughter of Richard Thompson and Mary nee Fisher) in Sep Q 1851, Sunderland, but I cannot find him in the censuses on FMP until 1881, when he is recently widowed with 3 teenage children, and living in Zion Street, Bishopwearmouth. I am trying to establish his approximate year of birth, and country of origin, as he may have been born in Ireland. The couple had a good few children who died in infancy or as toddlers, and 'Atkinson' pops up fairly frequently, either as a first or second name for the male offspring.

Many Thanks

[Sue Mackay]

Haven't found Thomas prior to 1881 yet (the 1881 census you mention says he was born in Ireland and was 51) but is this Sarah? Would explain where the Atkinson Christian names came from.

1841 census: Class: HO107; Piece: 321; Book: 9; Civil Parish: Sunderland; County: Durham; Enumeration District: 3a; Folio: 32; Page: 59

Richard THOMPSON Keelman 55
Mary 45
William 16 Mason Ap
Sarah 12
John 4
Atkinson 14
All born in County

1851 census: HO107; Piece: 2397; Folio: 423; Page: 71

Richard THOMPSON 67 Mariner
Mary 54
William 25
Atkinson 23
Sarah 21
All born Sunderland

[Tinker]

Yes, that's her, Sue! Her mother's mother was Mary Fisher, nee Atkinson. One of Thomas's descendants contacted me recently as we're connected through the Thompson line: Sarah's oldest brother, Richard, had a daughter called Mary Isabella who married into my mum's Swinhoe line. Thomas's descendant says his father and aunt have reason to believe that one of the original McKeevers who settled in Sunderland was Irish-born, but we're not sure whether this is the Thomas who married Sarah, or perhaps Thomas's father. I don't know yet whether the descendant has ordered the couple's marriage cert or not, but if he hasn't, I think I will suggest he should.

[Coromandel]

I don't know yet whether the descendant has ordered the couple's marriage cert or not, but if he hasn't, I think I will suggest he should.

Partial details from the marriage register are on FamilySearch: Thomas Mckeever was 22 when he married Sarah Thompson at Bishopwearmouth on 9 August 1851; his father was also called Thomas Mckeever. (This is from film no. 1514549, which the catalogue says is the parish register of Bishopwearmouth St Michael.)

One way to try to proceed would be to order a birth certificate for a child born near a census date in the hope that this will lead you to the family in the census. They did have a son Richard born in 1861: Richardus Mckeever, son of Thomas Mckeever and Sara Thompson, was born 24 September 1861 and baptised 20 October 1861 at Sunderland St Mary, according to FamilySearch. Richard was born too late to appear on the 1861 census, but it would still be worth checking whatever address is on his birth certificate to see if the family were there when the census was taken a few months earlier.

Baptism, marriage and death records for St Mary's R.C. Church, Sunderland, were deposited at Tyne and Wear Archives Service in 1995, according to the National Register of Archives:

http://www.
nationalarchives.gov.uk/accessions/1995/95digests/roman.htm

Perhaps the Tyne & Wear Archive Service would copy the register entry? The baptism register may give an address too and this might be a cheaper option than getting a birth certificate.

The difficulty in finding them before 1881 may be the sheer variety of possible spellings of their surname. Searching for Mc*v*r on FamilySearch brings up a great many different possible spelling variations such as

McCaver
Mcevor
McGivor, Mcgeever, McGeiver
Mcheaver
Mcivor
Mckevir, Mckiever, Mckeaver
(and so on and on and on ... )

To add even more to the permutations, the 'c' in Mc is sometimes written so small or just as a little apostrophe that Mc can be transcribed as just M or even W. So what looks like the same person in various FamilySearch transcripts is down as Barnard Mckever in 1841 and Bernard W. Keever in 1861.

That's before we even get going on possible mis-transcriptions! Talking of mis-transcriptions, the 1881 census transcript has a Thomas 'McKeener' (27) at 12 1/2 Victor Street, Monkwearmouth Shore, with wife and family, including a 3 year old John W. 'McKeener' (presumably an error for McKeever). RG 11/5007, f.5007, p.85. Sadly it looks as if this little chap was the 5 year old John W. Mckeever who was one of the victims of the Victoria Hall disaster two years later:

http://www.
genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DUR/Sunderland/VictoriaHall.html

I think little John W. may be the grandson of Thomas & Sarah. When I was at the library earlier I think I saw this Thomas (by then aged 37) in 1891, with his family plus Thomas senior, who was shown as born in Ireland and as 'G Father' of the head (though presumably he should just be father; perhaps one of the children filled in the form?). Sorry I didn't note down the full details or a reference.

[Tinker]

Coromandel, you've given me plenty of food for thought! My contact had mentioned the baptism of a 'Richardus' which had made me wonder if they weren't Roman Catholic, and you've just confirmed it: that would tie in with the Irish descent, as most folk in that part of the world were C of E or Non-Conformist. I will pass on the info about the BMDs for St. Mary's to my contact, as he's not local to Sunderland and probably won't know about them.

I had also seen the Thomas McKeever in the 1891 census with 'grandad,' and wondered about age creep. I've checked the original and Thomas senior's age has been correctly transcribed, but as you say, the family might have got it wrong. If he is the grandfather, he would be in his 80s, presumably, so more likely to have been born in 1809 than 1819. However it could equally be possible that they wrongly gave Thomas's father's age as 72 instead of 62. In the same census year is another Thomas McKeever, born 1835, Ireland, with wife Ann, who could easily be Sarah's husband remarried. Perhaps he adjusted his age downwards, as his wife was born in 1841! I will have to look for a possible re-marriage, to see if my hunch is right.

You've also solved the mystery of why I couldn't locate the younger Thomas (whose middle name is Atkinson, by the way) and wife Elizabeth in 1881, who as you rightly deduced, is Thomas and Sarah's son. I saw what you meant about the 'c' in McKeever getting lost in transcription when I went to check on 72-year old Thomas. To the uninitiated eye the surname looks like M Keever, so maybe I should try searching for them under that variation.