Clifford family

Hi Merilyn,

Riverstown  is located in the parish of Kilshalvy. http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/placenames/index.cfm?fuseaction=Simple&UserID= and also http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/placenames/index.cfm?fuseaction=Simple&UserID=

Depending on the dates for William and Sarah, You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38): Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at. 

Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm . Valuations office in Dublin (http://www.valoff.ie) will have a record of the land registry from 1855 to modern times. This will assist in seeing what happened to any land  William may have owned(as it usually passed on to a relation).

 Church records may be of use to you. 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/. Presbyterian registers are held in three main locations: in local custody, in the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and at the Presbyterian Historical Society 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. It may be of benefit to contact the local parish priest for information.

Did they emmigrate and if so have you checked the immigration records in Australia? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867. These are useful for finding out an exact place of origin as well as parents' names. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

I wish you the best of luck in your search.

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support

Ireland Reaching Out

Hello, I'm a new member and am bumbling my way along. I would like to reply to the message from Merilyn Lever as I am also a descendant of William CLIFFORD and Sarah FERGUSON, but I think here that I'm replying to a reply rather than to her message!!!!! Help, please.

Roslyn

Hi Roslyn, I am in UK at the moment and not at my usual computer. I live in Brisbane, Australia and will get in touch when we return home later in the month.  

Merilyn

G'day Merilyn

Thanks for your message. That's great. I'm in Australia, too - Kiama, south of Sydney. My great grandfather was James, son of William and Sarah.. I'd love to compare notes and see the connection. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

cheers

Roslyn

Hi Roslyn,

We have been home for a couple of weeks now and I am finally able to get around to answering your email. James was my great great grandfather. I am descended from his son, David (my g.grandfather), then his son, Hilton (my grandfather). Which of his children are you descended from?

I have made contact with a cousin in the Sydney area who is descended from James' brother, Richard, who came to Australia after James.

I have quite a lot of information about the family from William and Sarah down, but haven't been able to get any further back. I made contact with a distant cousin who was living near Riverstown in Ireland a few years ago. She was descended from a Henry Clifford who we think was William's brother. Her family certainly had direct connections with the same property where William was born, now no longer in Clifford family.

My direct email address is -- merilyn.lever@gmail.com  if you would like to contact me on that.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Merilyn