Stephen Telford / Tedford Where Did He Come From ?

[darylrodger]

Hi,

I'm currently trying to find out where an ancestor of mine came from in Ireland, but without much luck
His name was Stephen Telford, and he was born c. 1840-44. His parents were George Telford & Abigail Jane Benson.
Apparently George was a farmer in Ireland. Stephen came over to Glasgow in the 1860's, and married in 1868 in Partick, Glasgow.
I've noticed that after he arrived in Scotland, the spelling of the family name Telford changed to Tedford. Is there a reason for this ?
Any help would be much appreciated.

Daryl

[Elwyn 1]

Statutory birth registration didn’t start in Ireland until 1864, so you will be reliant on parish records to trace him. To do that you really need to know his denomination and the parish or townland he came from in Ireland.

If he died in Scotland his death cert should have his parents names on it. Check every census to see if a more exact place of birth appears than Ireland. Check obits and death notices, gravestones and wills for a clue as to his place of birth. If he ever made a Poor Law application in Scotland they usually have the person’s parish in Ireland shown on it, often with additional family information.

Most, but not all, parish records for Northern Ireland (where I suspect he came from) have been copied and are held in PRONI, Belfast. Unlike Scotlandspeople, few are on-line. For the Republic of Ireland the records are in different locations depending on denomination.

Telford & Tedford are both found in Ireland. People weren’t all that bothered about an exact spelling of a surname in Ireland in the 1800s and the spelling often changed from time to time, sometimes as a result of the whim of the official recording it, and sometimes for other reasons. It could be that on arrival in Scotland he found that people tended to mis-spell the name and so he changed to the spelling the locals expected. Easier for all that way. You often see names like McDonnell change to MacDonald for the same reason.

[darylrodger]

Hi Elwyn,

Many thanks for that.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that Stephen was Presbyterian, as it was stated on his marriage cert.
Does this fact make finding him easier ?

Is it possible to find his parents deaths ? They were both alive when he married in 1868.

Daryl

[Currie]

Hello Daryl,

Tedford isn’t a very common name in Scotland. Looking at the free name search on SP there were none in 1841, 5 in 1851, none in 1861, 3 in 1871, and a gradual build up from there to 55 in 1911.

According to FreeCen the 1851 family were residing at Camlachie, and originally from Ireland. Perhaps they were Telford in 1861. Maybe there’s a connection.

There’s not much Tedford stuff in the Scottish 19C newspapers.

In the Glasgow Herald, Wednesday, November 17, 1886, and again on December 2, there’s a story about a Nicholas Tedford, labourer, 7 Grace Street Partick, being injured in an explosion.

And in the Glasgow Herald, Friday, March 2, 1900, there’s a casualty list for the 1st Bn. Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, slightly wounded was Private James Tedford, native of Partick, enlisted at Stirling, 14th December, 1894, brother resides at Church Place, Glasgow.

All the best,
Alan

[Elwyn 1]

I think I may have found their deaths. I searched on Abigail as it is a less common name than George. There’s only 1 death that fits. Abigail Tedford, death registered Lurgan, Co Armagh Jan – Mar 1888 Volume 1, page 640. Estimated year of birth 1818.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/col ... on/1408347

So, looking for a George Tedford who also died in Lurgan 1868 to 1900, there are 2 possibles:

Jan – Mar 1884 Vol 1 page 557, b c 1822
1874 Volume 6, page 530, b c 1827

You can order photocopies of those certs from GRO Roscommon for €4 each provided you quote the place, year, quarter (where there is one), volume & page number.

http://www.groireland.ie/

So you probably just need to search Presbyterian churches in Lurgan. Presbyterians in Ireland don’t use the parish system, so which church you attend can be a matter of personal preference, and it’s not always the nearest one to where you live. You can see what records survive on the PRONI website, but none are on-line as far as I am aware:

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/research_ ... ndexes.htm

[darylrodger]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for looking that info up.

I've had a look on SP at the 1911 census, but it appears he isn't on it.
There are 2 Stephen's but they're the wrong age, and one is married whereas
my Stephen was a widower at that time.
He died aged 77 on 8th April 1921 in Crawford St. Partick.

He's also missing from the 1871 census, which makes me wonder if he went back to Ireland to visit family.
I think I might check the poor relief records to see if he applied for help in Glasgow.

Regards,

Daryl

[darylrodger]

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you so much for finding that info regarding Abigail & George's possible deaths.
I'm sending a fax to thr GRO in Rosscommon in the morning, hopefully I'll get lucky !

I'll also contact the Presbyterians about possible parish records.

Regards,

Daryl

[WilmaM]

I took a look at the 1911 & 1901 census for Ireland, 2 Stephen Telfords - father & son living in Co Kildare.
and the only Tedford is a 2 year old.

So he wasn't recorded there for the 1911 census, no obvious candidates in England/Wales either,

[nelmit]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for looking that info up.

I've had a look on SP at the 1911 census, but it appears he isn't on it.
There are 2 Stephen's but they're the wrong age, and one is married whereas
my Stephen was a widower at that time.
He died aged 77 on 8th April 1921 in Crawford St. Partick.

He's also missing from the 1871 census, which makes me wonder if he went back to Ireland to visit family.
I think I might check the poor relief records to see if he applied for help in Glasgow.

Regards,

Daryl

There is a Stephen Telford age 65 at Partick in 1911 - have you discounted that one?

Regards,
Annette

[darylrodger]

Hi Nelmit,

I had a look at the 1911 census for Stephen and found a couple, but they weren't him unfortunately.
I've sent a message to the GRO in Roscommon, and also to the Presbyterian church in Armagh but they haven't replied so far
Thank you for looking in SP though.

Regards,

Daryl