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Archiver > CountyCork > 2004-08 > 1093842258


From: Thomas Glassel <>
Subject: Lynch fam Islington
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 00:04:35 -0500
References: <200408300200.i7U207eS021812@lists5.rootsweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <200408300200.i7U207eS021812@lists5.rootsweb.com>


John Lynch,
Your full description of the 1881 - 1891 census question is quite
interesting. What about London / Islington city directories for the
years surrounding those censuses? Would be great for comparisons, by
using both their alphabetical surname lists, then street-by-street
lists. Keep track of a few of the neighbors too. Directories should be
on microfilm, maybe only in certain libraries, but many librarians are
quite helpful, or somebody on this list may have ready access to them.

Whether in those directories or not, you will still have part of the
question: Why would this whole family be missing for two consecutive
censuses? Maybe Thomas Lynch was separated from his family due to
military or seasonal employment -- would Hannah [Johanna/Hanora?] then
be listed as head of household, or would she have gone to live with
friends or relatives elsewhere? [seems more likely to be London area
than Ireland.] He could have been in a workhouse or a hospital for a
time, not necessarily Islington.
Sometimes a whole street was missed, or part of one. Also, if a family
wasn't home, the landlady or neighbor could have given erroneous ages or
even names to the census taker.
We couldn't find my own great-grandparents in the 1900 WI census, even
though we knew which street. [To test our detecting abilities?] ...the
census taker had given them the same surname as their next door
neighbors! My sister pored over city directories from a few adjacent
years until "the light bulb turned on." Sure enough, the kids' first
names and ages matched, or nearly matched, and later we realized an obit
confirmed the street address.
So census mistakes can happen, and they may still be there, just more
difficult to find.....

While Macroom is quite possible, I'm hoping that your Hannah's Macrone
is Macroney, because there seems to be some extra help for that area,
Kilworth and Leitrim, northeast Co. Cork, including scarce census
fragments for 1851. They were published in a 1994 US book, "County Cork:
A Collection of 1851 Census Records," edited by J. Masterson, &
reprinted in 1996. It is in some Irish-American genealogy libraries.

If you send their probable religion to this mailing list, we may be able
to think of some added ideas.
Best of luck,
Barb Glassel




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