Where can I find the origins of my 3x great grandfather, who was born in Ireland?
QI’m trying to trace my 3x great grandfather, Adam Killen, who I believe was born in Ireland. His son, also called Adam, was born in Belfast circa 1831. Adam junior moved to England and married Sarah Jane Scott in Liverpool on 18 October 1860 (according to Ancestry’s Select Marriages dataset). He appears in the census records for 1861-91 and had several children including John Killeen, my great grandfather, born on 15 May 1863 in Pembroke Street, Liverpool. Andrew Hardy, by email
AThough your research has shown that Adam Killen (junior) was born in Belfast circa 1831, the son of Adam Killen senior. Posts on rootschat.com suggest Adam (junior) was born in Newry, County Down!
My first suggestion is to obtain Adam junior’s marriage record from 1860 to see what additional information is recorded there, particularly the occupation of Adam senior and whether he was living or deceased at the time. Don’t simply rely on the transcript in Ancestry’s database ‘England, Select Marriages: 1538–1973’. For instance, did you notice the marriage appears twice, once noting Adam junior as a widower, indicating a previous marriage?
I searched rootsireland.ie, the site indexing Irish church records, without success. However, given the first names, I would guess that this family was Protestant and many Church of Ireland parish registers were destroyed in 1922. Also, of those that survive, not all have yet been added to the website.
Adam junior is recorded as a cabinetmaker in the census records. When I searched the 1841-51 census for other folk around Liverpool called Killen, I came across a married man called Fitzpatrick (“Fitz”) Killen, born in Ireland circa 1817, who was also a cabinetmaker by trade (though I couldn’t trace him in subsequent censuses). This man, too, had a son called Adam, born circa 1844 in Liverpool. It seems very likely that this family is connected to your own.
Fitz was married to Jane ( born circa 1815) and they had five children together: Catherine (circa 1837), John (circa 1839), Adam (circa 1844), Jonas (circa 1848) and William (circa 1851); two born in Ireland, and the last three in Liverpool.
I would suggest you identify and obtain one or more of the Liverpool birth records to confirm the father’s name and to establish Jane’s maiden surname. I think I have found William for you, recorded as “Male” Killen, volume 20, p304, March Quarter 1851, Liverpool. The maiden surname of his mother is Cearns.
Getting a link back to Ireland through Fitzpatrick Killen and his family will probably help you to establish the background of both Adam Killens – junior and senior. Steven Smyrl
The marriage appears twice, once noting Adam Junior as a widower, indicating a previous marriage