MURPHY, KNOUGHER (form of Connor)

[bebbajohn]

Hello All:

Looking for Thomas Murphy (born @ 1843) who married Ellen Knoughar/Knougher (form of Connor) (born @ 1845, died @ 1891) in 1861 in Coleraine, father William Murphy, father Alexander Knoughar.

They went on to have 6 children: Ellen, Thomas, Elizabeth, Annie, Alexander and Martha. Later settled in Antrim with my direct descendant Thomas immigrating to America 1888/1889.

Thanks for the help!
Deb

[Elwyn Soutter]

Deb,

The 1861 marriage certificate tells you that Thomas Murphy was living in Islandmore townland (Ballywillin). He was a labourer, as was his father. His bride was also from Islandmore and her father Alexander was a shoemaker. I note that they married in Coleraine registry office, which can be an indication of a mixed denomination marriage.

I looked in the 1831 census for Co. Londonderry but there were no Murphy or Knoughar (or variant spellings such as Nogher etc) in the townland then. So both families arrived after that. They don’t appear in Griffiths Valuation around 1861 either. Labourers often moved around to follow the available work, so that can make them harder to trace. I see Martha’s birth in the stat records in Ballycraig, near Portrush on 2.7.1868, when Thomas was still working as a labourer. (Ballycraig is half a mile from Islandmore, so they hadn’t moved very far). They were in Inchmearing, Co Londonderry in 1882, again very close-by.

In case you don’t have them, I also see Annie’s birth on 12.10.1864, Elizabeth 24.6.1870, David on 18.10.1874, Ellen’s on 6.11.1876, William on 18.11.1879 & Mary on 5.11.1882.

Thomas senior's birth is before the start of statutory birth registration in Ireland (1864) so to trace him and his father you would need to rely on church baptism records, not all of which have survived and not all of which are on-line. Do you know what denomination the Murphy family was?