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Trying to trace my great grandmother, we know nothing about her other than she was working as a cook in Dublin sometime around 1900. Cant find her anywhere in Ireland on any census, marriage or death certificate so think she may have come from England. Im assuming Reeves is her maiden name as her son was placed into foster care (in Dublin) and we know who his father was and that he married someone else.
Don't really know how to take this search forward and after 10 years of looking any ideas would be gratefully received.

Welcome to the boards Ros.

Do you know how old she was when she gave birth to her son?

When was her son born?

Hi, no we don't know how old she was. She had 2 sons, born in Dublin in 1903 and 1904. They both went into the same foster care and grew up in that family. My granddad knew who his father was, which is unusual I guess, we think the father may have financed their upbringing. We have managed to trace his father and family. All it said on their birth certificates was that Caroline was a cook by trade. I traced her address on the certificates through the Irish census and found a 'midwife nurse' living there so I assume Caroline went there to give birth. What worries me is that any relatives of Caroline may not even know she had 2 sons! Other than that I know nothing!!

???????????

Name: Reeves
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 11 Nov 1872
Birthplace: Dublin City, Dublin, Ireland
Father's Name: William Reeves
Mother's Name: Catherine Parker

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C70150-6 , System Origin: Ireland-EASy , GS Film number: 255862 , Reference ID: v 17-1 p 661

????????????

Name: Reeves
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 13 Aug 1880
Birthplace: No. 2 North City, Dublin, Ireland
Father's Name: Anthony Reeves
Mother's Name: Margaret Tighe Reeves

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C02304-7 , System Origin: Ireland-EASy , GS Film number: 256059 , Reference ID: p548 rn399

???????????

Gender: Female
Christening Place: 678, NO 3 SOUTH CITY, CITY OF DUBLIN, IRE
Birth Date: 09 Jul 1868
Birthplace: No 3 South City, City Of Dublin, Ire
Father's Name: John Reeves
Mother's Name: Frances Malony

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C70136-3 , System Origin: Ireland-VR , GS Film number: 101171 , Reference ID: 2:W40RTN

oooh thankyou!! Something to look into. :-D

Actually Im not sure I know what to do next!! Can I order certificates based on the information you have given me and will the certificates tell me anymore than you have? For instance the name of the child?
Thanks.

Ros...

I would not be ordering Certs.based on the info.supplied by AnneCardiff...she is just giving you some of the "Female" Reeves births in Dublin and you don't even know if Caroline was born Dublin or only there to have the children..ordering Certs at random can be a very costly and often unproductive business...!!

You say Caroline had 2 children 1903 and 1904 ..what were their names and what was the address you have on the Birth Cert.?
What Religion was Caroline...?
Regardless of the nature of their parentage the children would have been Baptised..(extremely rare for them not to be) you may be able to locate details from Baptismal Registers as this was usually done within the first couple of weeks after birth....if you know when the children were fostered out then that could narrow things down....

Thanks for replying. We don't know when they were fostered or what religion Caroline was. The boys were brought up Church of Ireland. The address for their births is Glengariff Parade, Inns Quay, Dublin, and the boys were brought up in Shelbourne Road, Pembroke West, Dublin. But I wouldn't know which churches Id need to visit to find baptismal registers. Im particularly interested in the females born to Catherine and William as they also had a son called George, and my granddad was called William and his brother called George. Now this might be a tenuous link but might be worth spending the money to find out what the 2 unnamed girls were called??

Ros ...Where the boys named Reeves...?

Ros...Selina Steacy has listed both boys as Nephews so it may be worth looking to see if she was a relation of Caroline...Selina was born Co Wicklow and I cant find a marriage for her in Dublin so I would be looking at the Co.Wicklow somewhere before 1874 when Wm jnr was born.
All her children were Baptised St Marks COI Dublin. her husband was named William.

Ros ..Selinas maiden name was Bolton....marriage to Wm Steacy



William Steacy

Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes

Name: William Steacy
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 1872
Event Place: Dublin North, Ireland
Registration Quarter and Year: 1872
Registration District: Dublin North





Selina Bolton

mentioned in the record of William Benjamin Steacy

Name: Selina Bolton
Gender: Female
Husband: William Steacy
Son: William Benjamin Steacy

mm not sure if they were related..Sydney wasn't her child and Mabel wasn't her neice, they were foster children too. My granddad stayed in touch with her and her family and my mum knew them too. I think they knew more than they let on though!! However I will follow that lead just in case, you never know!
Thankyou

Ros....I agree there doesn't seem to be a connection that I can see at this stage although it could be from the Steacy side...strange she has put 11 years married...think possibly she means widowed..!!

All the children appear after 1901 Census and all "her children" with the exception of Wilhelmina b (1883) she must have been the one who died and Bernard living on Curzon St, ..are living with her.

It's all so frustrating. I managed to trace his father from an off the cuff remark my granddad made to my uncle 30 years ago, tracked the living family did a DNA test and proved it to be so. But his mother, the one person you would think you could easily trace is an anomaly!! I just don't know where to go next :-(