Looking for John Hansard born abt 1781

Hi - Thank you for your message. The reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist. Some registers for urban areas pre-dating 1800 may exist ? though often these can be fragmented- as there was an increased need in cities or larger towns to document the population. Please also note that the Church of Ireland was the official church of the country and therefore the bulk of information that does survive for earlier periods is often from these registers.

Most Catholic records are held locally - One site which might be of use is - http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/ - where you can ?browse? an overview of available records per county. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for possible assistance.

Church of Ireland parish registers for the period up to 1870-are public records. Registers are available for about one third of the parishes, however many were destroyed in the Public Records Office in Dublin in 1922. Most are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. A list of all surviving registers is available in the National Archives. http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.  The Anglican Record Project is has created an index to their records: http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/AngRecord/bunclodyunionindex.pdf

Presbyterian registers are held in three main locations: in local custody, in the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI) http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm and at the Presbyterian Historical Society http://www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com in Belfast. PRONI has microfilm copies of almost all registers in Northern Ireland and also lists of records held by the Presbyterian Historical Society. For the rest of Ireland, almost all records are in local custody. It can difficult to locate these as many congregations in the South have moved, amalgamated, or simply disappeared over the last sixty years.

Some sites which may be useful are:

British parliamentary papers on Ireland can be found at: http://eppi.dippam.ac.uk/documents/9824/eppi_pages/215093

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Kind regards,                    

Genealogy Support

Hi - Thank you for your detailed reply.  It gives me lots to think about and to investigate.

There is no evidence of Catholicism in the family so Church of Ireland records sound like the best place for me to start. Extracts from the marriage registers of Saint Columb's Church of Ireland in the Parish of Templemore, County Londerderry have yielded a possible father for my John Hansard.  There are 2 entries; one with a John Hansard marrying Isabella Dougherty on 5 November 1779 and one with a John Hansard marrying Sarah Dougherty on 25 July 1785. Given my difficulty in finding any Hansards, I think it is likely to be the same John Hansard and that Isabella died and he remarried. The first marriage would fit with my John Hansard being born around 1781.

Many thanks for your assistance.

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn. I too am looking for more detail on this John Hansard, a direct maternal descendent. Did you find out his dod, parents' names etc?

Thanks

Will

If John was born in Enniskillen, a possibility to bear in mind is that the surname may have been Hassard there (sometimes Hazzard). That’s quite a common surname in Fermanagh whereas Hansard is pretty well unknown. 91 Hassard in the 1901 census of Fermanagh (nearly all Church of Ireland). Nil Hansard.

Sadly most of Enniskillen Church of Ireland’s early records were lost in the 1922 fire and so if he was born there in about 11794 there don’t appear to be any records left. This is what the PRONI catalogue says exists for Enniskillen. Note that the records are not on-line so a personal visit to PRONI is required to view them.

Extracts of baptisms, 1667-1789, marriages, 1668-1794, and burials, 1667-1781; burials, 1879-1907 and 1941-5.

Hi Will,

Apart from the possibilities I mentioned above. I have not found any other possible parents. Have you done a DNA test? Both my brother and I have with both Family Tree and Ancestry. It has not lead to anything new on the Hansard line or variations of the name but it would beinteresring to see if the DNA of another known descendant made a difference.

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you for your post and the information from PRONI. From early on I look for all variations of the name but nothing likely has shown up.  Looks like a visit to PRONI might be the next step though that it not happenning any time soon!

I hope that both of you and your families are keeping well and safe in these extraordinary times

Hi both. Thanks very much for the replies and sorry for the delay. A visit to PRONI it is, then! Carolyn, it would be fun to hear how you're connected to John Hansard. Shall we email? 

Carolyn. Thought this might be helpful (?). Just realised that "your" John Hansard is a little different from mine or I just got confused!

Mine was born abt.1781 in Enniskillen and married Maria Blackwell. One of their children was Henry Blackwell Hansard, from whom I descend.

I don't have any reference to the Dougherty side, but it's plausible John Hansard "junior" (b. 1781) had a father called John who married the Dougherty clan.

For what it's worth, this Irish connection has long been known in our family (all of whom settled in Wales in the late 1700s). It was said that John had a dispute with his family, and fled to Canada. This is where he met Maria Blackwell, briefly living with her and her father Henry New Blackwell, then emigrating to Wales where the rest of our Hansard line live(d).

Interested to know your connection to the Hansards

Will

Hi Will, yes it would be good to email as we are both from the same family. I am descended from Henry Blackwell Hansard and his second wife Eleanor Haywood who was also his cousin. Their daughter, also called Eleanor, married Hannaiah Richard Jones and they are my great grandparents.

Our stories are a little different. I don't have this Hasard family going to Wales until the 1830s so would love to know more about the earlier Hasards in Wales. Also how you are connected.  My email is cm.jones at ozeamil .com .au - with spaces removed and @ inserted!

Look forward to hearing from you.

Carolyn