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My maths was a bit out - he would have been 18 in 1916, so could have served.

Yes they are. As for age.. well one of my great uncles on father's side was killed in 1916 in France. We have all his records. He volunteered. He was just 16 when he died. They did lie. Services turned a blind eye apparently.

So, were those the correct death and marriage?

If he was born 1898, he would only have been 15 in 1914 and 18 when the war ended in 1918, so, unless he lied about his age, he couldn't have served in WW1.

Atm I am looking through the Dungannon census for 1901 as that was where they married. Looking at both Burns and Hughes. Then onto 1911. My mother mentioned my grandfather served in WW1, but again with that name... its needles and haystacks

Yes, James Burns does seem to have been a popular name. If the death entry gives James as Agnes's husband, that marriage looks like a good bet.

It is a shame that GRONI won't allow searches for births less than a hundred years old, as a search on MMN might show if James & Agnes Hughes had any children with the same names as your mother's siblings.

Thanks Potty... lots of James Burns got married in Belfast from 1917 to early 1920s.. this could be expensive lol

Only marriage I can find for an Agnes & James Burns:

M/1918/T1/2564/9/92 Agnes Hughes Burns 7th November 1918 Dungannon
M/1918/T1/2564/9/92 James Burns Hughes 7th November 1918 Dungannon

Vivian....If you have the time and inclination you can do just that but you really need some sort of parameters otherwise your flogging a "dead " horse ..no pun intended..!!!

With lots of records its old fashioned detective work...

Thank you for the above. I know assuming is not a good thing. But sometimes by trying out different variations on a theme you find the person you are looking for. I have done this several times on my dad's side, and then been able to confirm it with accurate records. Thanks for the hint about her death. I didn't realise you could search a death record without the first name... you lot are stars xx :-D

Agnes death is on the GRONI site - viewing the entry should name the informant - hopefully her husband.

D/1928/57/1007/69/261 Agnes Burns 30th September 1928 29 Female Belfast(pre-1973 Q4)

Vivian...Given that you "shouldn't assume anything" when doing family research I thought maybe just maybe if James was living in the Belfast area prior to his 2nd marriage it may be that your grandmother died there so searched the Belfast burials between 1926...(I always err on a year or 2 ) and 1932 for a female Burns aged about 24-30 only 1 came up and that was an Agnes Burns 45 Woodstock Road Belfast...

Agnes Burns 29 Years died 30 September 1928 buried 2 October 1928

Doesn't say if she was married/ single.

You can get a copy on line for £1.50 but I don't know what else it would tell you...

http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/community/burialrecords/burialrecords.aspx

Thank you Eringobrach ... great info and thanks for the link

Vivian...Have you considered contacting St Brigid's Church to see if they still have the BMD Registers on site ..? Quite often the Registers at Church contain more info. than would be on a Civil Cert.
It may be that the PP at the time has written details of James previous marriage and name and dod of his first wife....if James was living locally prior to his marriage to Agnes or Mary Ann McGoldrick its possible details of childrens Baptisms are also St Bridgid's..its certainly worth a punt....

http://www.stbrigidsparishbelfast.org/contact-us/

I was thinking maybe he married his housekeeper. I was told they lived in Dromore County Down and my mother was born there. Now my mother was the last child of the first marriage and dob 3/2/27. Her mother died either in childbirth or shortly after ( according to family talk) James remarries in 1933. Can't have gone far. I have remembered there was another boy George. So there was Kevin George James and my mother Mary Bridget. On the certificate it said Belfast for where they lived. No address. I know when I visited him when I was a child he was in Dromore, and there is a photo of him on what looks like a small holding with the second family and the children are young. Interestingly I as told by his daughter that my Uncle Gerald ( from the second family) was born in 1933. They married in October 1933. Oh la la.

Trying to locate where they married and where they were living may help identify an area where James and your grand mother where living when he became a widower...given he would have young children I don't suppose he was able to "move " too far unless they were with his/her parents...

St Brigids RC Church Belfast. No addresses other than Belfast. I am tbh not that interested in Mary Agnes as she is not actually a relative of mine. I want to find James and find my grandmother of whom I know nothing at all not even a name. I seem to be going around in circles with this, whereas on my dad's side I found it quite easy and didn't have either of his grandparents names to start

Vivian........Have you got actual place of Marriage and the address of James/Agnes...?

Think of this as an adventure....!!

Your names may seem common but do you want mine..James and Bridget O'Brien...???

It wasn't on marriage certificate but I have it on an old email as 1909. She is listed as a housekeeper. James Burns as a widower. I was looking in the 1901 and 1911 census for James and his father John but couldn't find them... not with the right age or close enough for James. It is a nightmare. Still can't find my mother's birth either. The Irish records are really difficult,plus my family has such common names. No imagination lol

Found this... Its the only one with a father John and a child Agnes..age is a bit out but nothing dramatic...



Residents of a house 8 in Ardbarren Upper (Clare, Tyrone)

Mc Goldrick John 30 Male Head of Family Roman Catholic Tyrone Labourer Read and write English Married
Mc Goldrick Mary Ann 25 Female Wife Roman Catholic Tyrone - Read and write English Married 7 3 3
Mc Goldrick Patrick 6 Male Son Roman Catholic Tyrone - Cannot read English
Mc Goldrick Agnus 4 Female Daughter Roman Catholic Tyrone - Cannot read
Mc Goldrick Charles 1 Male Son Roman Catholic

Vivian..Does it give an age for her as I am having a devil of a job locating any permutation of her Christian name/names with a father named John pre 1911. Even though they married in Belfast it doesn't follow that the McGoldricks were from there so I was having a trawl through the Island of Ireland....