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James was born in 1871 in Co Cavan, and Mary was born in Belfast in 1879. They were married in Kill, Co Cavan on 22/03/1902. James was the son of William Alexander Richardson and Susan Drury. Mary was born to James Nelson (foreman welder) in 1879, mother unknown.

I have searched the GRO in Dublin and cannot find their marriage record nor their birth records. Whatever happened to them?

In 1901 James was coachman for Maxwell Boyle in Tullyvin, Co Cavan. In 1903 they were living at 25 West George Street in Coatbridge in Scotland where they had their first child, Florence. Three of James's brothers had already moved to Coatbridge and were working in the iron works. The 3 brothers were Alexander, Samuel and Joseph. The 2 first ones both died there in 1936 and 1940 respectively. Joseph emigrated to Canada in 1911 and died in Winnipeg in 1956.

In 1904 James and Mary disappeared from Scotland so they must have moved back to Ireland. In 1911 James was land steward at Bellamont
Forest in Cootehill, Co Cavan and they had 5 children. In 1917 they moved again to Coatbridge having had another 3 children. They ran a post office and newsagent at 15 Gartsherrie Road and Mary was also practicing as a nurse and midwife. In 1920 they had twins, bringing the total to 10 children. James died in 1952 and Mary in 1976.

Without their marriage and birth records I am really stuck on Mary's side. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Did Mary die in Scotland? If so, her death cert should show her parents.

Yes, she died in Scotland and I have her death record but the informant did not know the mother's name. This in itself is a mystery because the informant was her son.

The James Richardson in Tullyvin in the 1901 census is shown as married! Where did you get James and Mary's marriage info from? Was it one of the childrens's birth certs? And did her father's name come from her death cert?

Not surprising that her son did not know her mother's name. My sons wouldn't know my mother's maiden name!

I got their marriage info from the birth record of their first child Florence who was born 16/03/1903 in Coatbridge. And yes, Mary's fathers name came from her death record. At first we thought they had just been visiting in Coatbridge when Florence was born, but the valuation rolls show that they lived there. In 1904 they were no longer listed in the valuation rolls.

That the 1901 census has him down as married I think must have been a mistake made by Maxwell Boyle. Or they gave wrong information which we have also considered. But why would they lie?

Possible scenario:

James was married but not living with his wife. He and Florence Mary leave Ireland for Scotland, unmarried, baby Florence is born and they make up a marriage to save face.

We have thought about that too, but not that James might have been married to someone else. If he was, we need to search for an earlier marriage at the GRO in Dublin. We have also considered that they may never have been married although that is a little far fetched for those times. But it could explain why Mary never talked about her parents or siblings. We have also considered that she might have been born catholic and was disowned by her family for marrying a protestant. But that is also unlikely because she was a staunch member of the orange lodge. As you understand we have a real mystery facing us which means we have to go to both Dublin and Belfast to get any nearer to a solution. Mind you, Dublin is a nice place and as an old soldier I can tackle a bit of shooting in Belfast.

Rolf,

Another avenue might be to try to check the Parish records for Kill or the registers at the local Register office. It is not unknown for BMD registers to go missing between the local office and the GRO.

It is odd that there are no births showing in the index for either of them.

Yes, we are planning to check the parish records next time we are over. We have tried to locate them online because it appears the church is no longer there, but we had no luck. We are also going to check with superintendent registrar in Cavan when we are there.

Thanks for your help.