Week 14: Begins with a vowel #52Ancestorsin52weeks

Irish! That begins with a vowel and my Irish heritage has left me with an unsolved mystery.

It was when I was doing research decades ago that I first came across the name Sarah Diammond. What a lovely name, I thought. Little did I realise that she would be a real mystery woman and that is because she came from Ireland.

I first saw her name on the death certificate of my 2x great grandmother Mary Boag, wife of John McAra. Mary died in 1869 and her mother is listed as Sarah Diamond (deceased), father William Boag, cotton spinner. Sarah and William got married in the Gorbals, Glasgow in 1819 by an independent minister. Why an independent minister? It took me many years before I solved that one.

Meanwhile Sarah and William are found living in Eaglesham in the 1841 census with three sons and two daughters. Sarah's birthplace is indicated as Ireland.

I found the sons' baptismal records easily enough, but I couldn't find the daughters. It took a while - until I thought to check Catholic Baptisms. Sure enough, there were the girls, Caroline baptised in St Mirin's, Paisley and her sisters in St. Andrew's Parish, Glasgow.

So ... the sons were baptised in the Church of Scotland and the daughters in the Roman Catholic Church. That could only mean one thing - Sarah Diamond was an Irish Catholic and this was a 'mixed' marriage, which explains why their marriage was conducted by an independent minister.

Unfortunately after 1841 her story comes to an end. By the time of the next census in 1851, William has a new wife, Margaret, and a new baby son and they are living in Glasgow. If Sarah has died by this time anywhere in Scotland, I should have been able to find her death in parish records. In 1855, she is named as deceased on her son William's death certificate. However, up until now, I have still been unable to find her, though every now and then I look again, trying something new.

As for her Irish heritage, knowing she was brought up Catholic, I have searched Irish Catholic records. There is a Sarah Demond, born in 1802 to John and Anne Demond in County Carlow. This could be her, but the fact that she did not name any of her children John or Anne might caution against this. Her sons were named Thomas and William - both names from their father's family. Might the third son Hugh be named after her father?? My 2 x great grandmother named one of her sons Hugh - this would make sense if it were after her own Irish grandfather. As of yet, I have no evidence to support this.

Sarah and her Irish family remain a mystery. The search goes on.

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