James McBride (b.1845 Ireland, d.1904 England) - sheepstealer?
I'm trying to find information about my great grandfather James McBride (1845-1904). According to the 1881 and 1901 England census records he was born somewhere in Ireland. From recently acquired copies of marriage and death certificates I have deduced that he was born between 24 May and 29 August in 1845.
I would love to discover which part of Ireland he came from and to obtain his date of birth and details of his parents.
There is an old family story that he actually came from the island of Arran, off the wqest coast of Scotland. James and his friend (or brother)used to occasionally cross the sea to the mainland at night to steal sheep. One morning at dawn, as they returned to their boat carrying dead sheep, they spotted a policeman waiting by the boat. They dropped the sheep and ran, ending up in near Newcastle upon Tyne in England! If the story is true, he would have been wanted by the Scottish police and may therefore have lied to the English authorities about his place of birth. I have searched the birth records for Scotland and discovered that two James McBrides were born in 1845, both fairly close to Arran (one on the island of Bute and the other on the mainland). Their dates of birth and the surnames and occupations of their fathers do not match those of my great grandfather, so I have concluded that he was probably an Irishman.
It's possible that he came from an island off the coast of Ireland, perhaps the Isle of Aran (known as Aranmore in Ireland), or Tory Island (also part of Co. Donegal), or the Aran Islands, Galway. He was born in the year that the Great Famine began ('the potatoe famine') - from memory I think about 1 million died of starvation and a greater number emigrated, mainly to the USA and Britain. In those days sheep stealing was a hanging offence and offenders rarely escaped the death penalty, even in cases where sheep were stolen to feed families that were dying of starvation. It's also possible that the lover of lamb chops was another ancestor!
I have obtained a copy of his marriage certificate - in 1873 he married Alice McGurk in Blaydon, near Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The certificate states that James's deceased father was a draper and he was also named James McBride.
More Replies:
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Re: James McBride (b.1845 Ireland, d.1904 England) - sheepstealer?
Hilary McBride 10/13/04
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Re: James McBride (b.1845 Ireland, d.1904 England) - sheepstealer?
James Michael McBride 9/29/12
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Re: James McBride (b.1845 Ireland, d.1904 England) - sheepstealer?
James Michael McBride 9/29/12
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Re: James McBride (b.1845 Ireland, d.1904 England) - sheepstealer?
James Michael McBride 9/29/12
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Re: James McBride (b.1845 Ireland, d.1904 England) - sheepstealer?