Roberts Family Irish Mystery

Morag · Post by **Morag** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:42 am

Hi
I have a mystery with Irish connections which has become more involved after looking at 1911 Census.

I have known for a while that George Roberts abandoned his wife Eliza Jane Law and 2 children William & Leonard in Hillsborough , Co Down about 1894 when he moved to Glasgow.

He went on to have 9 children in Glasgow with Mary Ann Barr Paton who he never married and remained with until both their deaths in Glasgow in 1940's.I suspect the Glasgow family didn't know they weren't married.A family tale is that he always went back to Ireland for the Orange Walks in July.I have all the details of this family as their daughter was my husbands grandmother.

On the 1911 Census , Eliza Jane is still living in Hillsborough , with her mother and 2 daughters - Sarah Jane Roberts age 9, Mary Agnes Roberts age 2. She states that she has been married for 20 years and has 5 children , all still living !

Is there a way to find out who the father of these girls is on their birth certificates ? Is there an index to try and find the 5th child ?
Son Leonard has been found travelling back and forward to Canada between 1913 & 1932 - I had wondered if maybe his mother then died ?
It looks as if George didn't abandon the Irish family after all , and was still having children there after his annual visits !
If that is the case , he had 2 daughters named Sarah - one Irish, and one Scottish !
Alternatively , Eliza Jane could have had children to someone else , and as she was still married gave them the name of Roberts - is this possible ?

I would be grateful for any advice as to where to go next. Several years ago , we got an Irish genealogist to obtain George's birth and marriage certificates , and also 1901 census for Eliza and the 2 boys.

Thanks - and apologies for this being long-winded!
Morag

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:43 am

Hi Morag
As you are probably aware, the Irish civil indexes can be searched at http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html

It works pretty much like the English system, in year "quarters" and registration districts, so depending on the name and how good your homework and guess work is, you may be able to order certs from GRONI using the refs. A birth cert will give both parents -again, same kind of format as England. (Marriages only give fathers' names, deaths give no parents. etc. )
At least it is free to search on these indexes.

Best wishes
Lesley

Morag · Post by **Morag** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:32 pm

Hi Lesley

Thanks for that -I had checked that site on Friday night but it came up with no results - but when I did it again yesterday I got the birth details of the 2 girls , so I have sent off for the certificates. I don't know what I did on Friday !
Interestingly , one of the births was in the Apr- Jun time frame - which fits with the family tale of George returning to Ireland every July ! It will be interseting to see if he is the father.
Thanks again
Morag

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:22 pm

Hi Morag

I don't know what I did on Friday !

I'm not convinced that pilot site area is always entirely stable as I've sometimes had odd results, though I've not used it for a while...it may not be you!

Or, maybe it is both of us!!
Anyway, that is great that you found the two births - I hope they help solve the puzzle.

Best wishes
Lesley