Looking For My Past Maybe You Are A Part Of It

A Memory of Belfast.

I clicked 1860 because that's as far back as the choices went. Perhaps someone who has deep roots in Belfast might recollect a piece of my story. It begins with the birth of Margaret Jeffrey in 1828. Her mother was Margaret Kahey, but, for this Margaret, I have no dates and no parents. Margaret Jeffrey grew up and married Hugh Hayes, b. 1830. After that, my story follows 2 paths. One says that Margaret and Hugh had 3 children, Thomas b. 1844, Martha b. 1856 and Agnes b. 1865. One record states that Thomas was born on a ship coming from Ireland! The other story comes from a Passenger Contract Ticket, H.C. Bowden, 24, Donegal-Quay, Belfast. The ship was the Nelson Village, registered in Burthen, leaving Belfast for Quebec on 8 May 1847. The contract notes their accommodations as steerage and quotes the amount of rations their payment allotted them.The names and ages on the contract are Hugh Hayes, age 65, and Margaret (21), Mary (19), William (15), Elenor (12), Hugh (9), and James (6). And so it is, interesting stories with more questions than answers. The family(ies) left Ireland, one for Ontario, as the story goes, and one for French Canada. Are you a part of my past?

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