Our Research: Ongoing research over a year into all branches of the tree involving genealogists, experts and
historians in the UK and Ireland.
Tracing Irish ancestors is very difficult because of the preponderance of common surnames; in this case, two
of the most common - McGrath and Ginty. Irish records are also very difficult to locate as they are not all
centralised or digitised; they belong to the local parishes and many do not survive.
A lengthy search unearthed birth, marriage and death records for our particular McGraths and Gintys
which took us to County Mayo and generations of tenant farmers. We also found record of them in
the 1901 and 1911 censuses. However, we wanted to build up a more vivid picture of family life and
widened our sources. Scouring Tithe Applotment Assessment Books and Land Holdings moved the family
back in time to 1886. The Primary Valuation of Ireland Cancelled Books gave details on occupancy,
ownership, size or value of a property and was of enormous use in serving to underline the precarious
nature of the family's life at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords. Records showed that our Gintys were
involved in some kind of protest regarding their tenancy which resulted in the threat of eviction in 1881.
We eventually traced the family back to 1827, excellent for Irish ancestry, and built a very comprehensive
tree for our client.
Back in England, what happened to ‘the twins who died young’? We needed to first locate their birth certificates.
These told us they were born at the Mothers' Hospital so we searched in their archives for records of the births,
which gave very moving details of their state of health when born, exact time of birth and the hospital they were
transferred to when only a few weeks old. Given their poor health, we found them as babies on the death registry.
Finding their graves was a far more complex matter as the family remembered they were buried in a particular
graveyard, but there was no mention of them in their extensive burial records. Research concentrated on searching
all nearby cemeteries and graveyards in the East London area until eventually they were found.
We were keen to find out if there really was a ‘seaman’ on the family tree and through vital records we discovered a
Master Mariner, our client's great great grandfather. His profession of Master Mariner meant there was a good
possibility that there would be documentation of his career and so extensive research was undertaken at both
the National Archives and the Guildhall Library with both archives containing comprehensive manuscripts of his
sea-faring exploits. A picture of an illustrious career emerged with a series of swift promotions, from First Mate
to Officer in Command with trade journeys made all over the world from America, to Africa, India and
Australia - and even a shipwreck in the West Indies.
As this ancestor had such an important career, the search was widened to see if there was mention of him in
the newspapers of the day. An article was found in the London Times newspaper which indicated that he was
involved in a Court Martial on the legendary HMS Victory. Looking for further documentation on this, our client
was delighted to read the hefty tome of the original handwritten transcript from the court martial in 1869. Part
of the trip was a visit to the very room on the HMS Victory where the court martial took place, retracing the
footsteps of the ancestor who was a main defence witness in a huge case of the day.
From the merchant seamen records we discovered exactly where the master mariner was born (in Dartmouth, Devon) but
were unable to locate his baptism record. This was puzzling as there were records for his elder siblings in the local church.
The research was extended to include an examination of the registers of the Independent chapel in Dartmouth where we
finally found a record for his baptism there in 1827. This gave our client a good picture of exactly the time the family
would have left the traditional church - a radical move in those days, often resulting in being shunned by the local
community.
The preponderance of the surname locally meant it was incredibly difficult to trace the family back further in Devon.
But after much meticulous genealogical research, our client’s branch was traced back to the 1600s via baptism records,
and were even located on the Hearth tax records in the 1670s. A tour on foot of medieval Paignton revealed where
they lived and were baptised.
Places visited: East London, The National Archives in London, HMS Victory in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight in Hampshire, Totnes, Dartmouth and
Paignton in Devon, Andover in Hampshire and Great Shefford in Berkshire.
Luxury Hotels stayed in:
Claridges Hotel in London
Hambrough hotel on the Isle of Wight
Royal Castle Hotel in Dartmouth
