PowerPoint presentation given by Elayne Lockhart to Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogy Society for their "Great Moments in Genealogy" evening, 2009.

1. How Australian records broke
through a long-standing brickwall
Goal: finding Margaret
Agnew’s birthplace in
Ireland

2. Margaret Agnew – age 39, 1868

3. Margaret Agnew age 54, 1883

4. What I already knew about Margaret Agnew –
my great grandmother
• Parents: Esther Fleming - died 5 March, 1875, Belfast
John Agnew - died 20 January, 1843, Belfast
• Siblings: David – born 24 May, 1831, Belfast
• Jane Anne, born April, 1833, Belfast
• Robert – born 1 March, 1835, Belfast
• David G., born 16 October, 1836, Belfast
• Marriage: 28 May, 1858, Belfast (to Alexander Lockhart)
• Died: 18 October, 1887, Belfast, age 60

5. But where was Margaret born?
• All Belfast Church of Ireland records searched by professional
for birth approximately 1827
• All Belfast Church of Ireland records searched in person
• No birth/baptism record ever located
• Conclusion:
The family must have moved into Belfast
from somewhere else.
But from where, and how to determine
this locale?

6. Years pass
And more years pass , until……

7. June, 2008 – while researching at Salt Lake City
(the vibes must have been good)
• An email from Oregon, U.S.A.
“Hi. My name is Sally Agnew. I just sent a reply to your Gen Forum posting
regarding John Agnew.
I am married to Robert Agnew who is descended from John
Agnew, (b. 1791, died 20th January, 1843; Belfast, married to Esther,
b. 1796, died 5th March, 1875, Belfast, at the house of her daughter
Margaret who married A. Lockhart on 18th May, 1858), via one of his sons,
(I have a count of 5 sons), Gilmore Agnew, b. 1822, d. 1884 at age 62.
We have a family Bible (Edinburgh, 1836) with information that I know
you'll be interested in. I will wait to hear back from you”.

8. Notice all the matching data?
• Dates and places all matched mine.
• The date of my original message on Gen Forum?
January, 2001
• Any idea how many nanoseconds it took to push the
reply key?
• What did I receive once I contacted Sally?

10. Notice that
the middle
section is
written in
Shorthand –
more mysteries

11. What new data did I obtain?
• More siblings of Margaret Agnew –
• William, born 1819, died 1st
May, 1865, London, England
• Gilmore, born 1822, died April 7, 1884, San Francisco, California
• Torrens, born 1825, died 20 Nov. 1869, San Jose, California
• John, born 1828, died July 16, 1868, New York
• But – still no reference to Margaret’s birth

12. Next step – (amongst others)
- the U.S. census records
• Torrens Agnew – had died in 1869 in San Jose,
California
• but the 1870 census for San Jose, California
showed that his wife and two children were born
in Australia
• Assumption – Torrens went to Australia before
going to the U.S., and married there

13. How to determine a locale in
Australia?
• Knowing that Australian records are very complete, sent excited
email to our local expert on “Down Under” – Marian Press
• Within minutes received response that World Vital records shows
him in land records in Ballarat, State of Victoria
• Learn that State of Victoria has placed their Civil Registrations on-
line
• Victoria - http://online.justice.vic.gov.au/servlet/bdm_home
• Located and downloaded Agnew marriage, plus 5 births and 2
deaths
• Cost: AUD$17.50 per download – cheaper than flight to Australia

16. Marriage of Torrens Agnew
• 22 August, 1857, Ballarat, Colony of Victoria
• Eliza Bower, 16
• Torrens Agnew, 32, bachelor, Commercial
Traveller
• Father: John Agnew, grocer
• Mother: Esther Fleming
• Born: Queen’s County, Ireland
• Queen’s County? – after 1922 name changed to
County Laois

18. Birth of Gilmore Agnew
• Born 4 August, 1858
• Ballarat, Colony of Victoria
• Mother: Eliza Bower, 16
• Father: Torrens Agnew,33
• Born: Maryborough, Queen’s County
• Ireland
• Maryborough – now known as Portlaoise

19. Next step:
• Locate records of Church of Ireland for
Maryborough
• Learn that records for St. Peter’s Church,
Maryborough, are available from 1793
• They are held in the Representative Church
Body Library in Dublin

20. Search results
• 1825 – John and Torrens Agnew, twin sons of
John and Esther Agnew, were born April 22,
1825 and baptized the same time
• 1827 – Margaret Agnew, daughter of John
and Esther Agnew, was born 20 February,
1827 and baptized 25 February, 1827
• 1829 – John Agnew, son of John and Esther
Agnew, was born 6th
October 1828 and baptized
9 October, 1928

22. Baptismal font in St. Peter’s Church
of Ireland, Portlaoise, Laois County

23. Conclusion and Next Steps
• Searched surrounding parish records – no sign of first
two sons, nor of marriage of John and Esther, nor of any
other Agnew’s or Fleming’s
• It seems the family was only in Maryborough for a few
years
• So – I now need to go back to earlier Belfast records for
births/baptisms of two eldest sons – William and
Gilmore, and marriage of parents
• OR – Wait for another email !!!!!