Benjamin Gowdy

[MargaretMarch]

Name - Benjamin Gowdy
Date and place of birth date not known but probably Belfast area, Northern Ireland c1854
Names of parents not known
Date and place of baptism not known, but probably Presbytarian
Details of each of his or her marriages not known
Occupation(s) Hackler (from grandmother's marriage certificate 1909)
Military service not known
Addresses where they lived not known but probably Belfast
Date, place and cause of death not known
Date and place of burial / cremation not known
Details of will / administration of their estate not known
Memorial inscription not known

I have put this up more in the hope of someone else finding it than expecting members to help find any details, especially since I can't even find my grandmother's birth record! She was known as Rosena (on marriage cert 1909), Ana on 1911 census. She also had two step/half sisters with the surname Glass but nothing else known of her before marriage to my grandfather James Todd Nugent.
Margaret

[kiterunner]

Do you know what a Hackler was, Margaret?

[kiterunner]

Margaret, when (and where) was Rosena born, roughly? Because the Ulster Historical Foundation website lists a birth or baptism for Rose Gowdy in 1885, father Benjamin and mother Mary (a lucky guess on my part!), county Antrim. There is also an Anna Mary in 1882, a child with no name given in 1884, and Margaret Elizabeth in 1900, all with the same parents' names.

[MargaretMarch]

Thanks Kite,
A hackler was something to so with the manufacture of linen which was the big industry in NI at that time.
Rosena was born about 1885 and I have seen the record you mention it's for Rose Anna and it could very well be her but I haven't yet sent for the birth certificate, I think the record shows mother as Mary Magee. The other child Anna Mary I saw but I haven't seen the others so I'll go and have another look. May be I can trace them and get some confirmation that this is the same family.
Margaret

[kiterunner]

The mother's maiden name for Anna Mary is McGee and the mother's maiden name for Rose and the unnamed child is Magee. The mother's maiden name for Margaret Elizabeth isn't either of those, so she might not be the sister of the others.

The marriage between Benjamin Gowdy and Mary Magee is also on the UHF site (1877), and it shows the name of Benjamin's father as Samuel. Then there is a Benjamin, son of Benjamin, marrying another Mary in 1887 so Margaret Elizabeth is likely the daughter of that couple.

[MargaretMarch]

Thank you again Kite,
I have not been working on this part of my tree for a while as it's so difficult with so few resources online. Your input has inspired me to have another go and see where it takes me :)
Margaret