Surname Saturday 2.0: The Currans

The Curran Family

Though the Park family was the name I should think of when thinking of my "Irish branch" of the family, for some reason, it's the Curran name I always think of first, even though it was my great-great grandmother's side. Because of that, I often forget that it's not the main branch of the Irish branch of my family tree.

Like the Parks, I know very little about this line of my tree, but I know more than the Parks. My great-great-grandmother was born Elizabeth Curran to a couple in Northern Ireland, and for many years, I did not know much more than her birthdate and two of her sister's names: Sarah and Rhoda. I'd only managed that much through one of the cousins on that side who used to visit when we had family gatherings in Vancouver.

I was lucky enough to find death certificates for both Elizabeth and her husband, Robert, and in doing so learned her parents' names: Thomas Curran and Jennie Blair. Still quite common names, but through those names, I have managed to find a list of children I think may have been her siblings. I'm still not entirely sure how many children her parents had, nor have I been able to find a birth or christening record for her, but through those names, I have even managed to find their wedding date, and the names of their fathers. Quite a bit more than I had when I started my search. Only took twenty years to find it.

What I do know is that the family was in and around the Belfast area, and most or all the children are listed as born in Antrum, Ireland, which is the county Belfast is in.

The story I know picks up after Elizabeth and her husband left Ireland and settled in America. They lived in Philadelphia and had nine children there, two of whom died in early childhood, then moved back to Ireland when things became too difficult in the early 1900s, but eventually settled in Vancouver BC, where my great-grandmother met and married her husband, and they raised two sons there.

The Curran line as I currently know it is as follows, for those interested:

* Francis Curran and his as-of-yet unnamed wife had at least one son, Thomas Curran. Francis was born about 1814 according to records I have found, and died in 1877 in Antrim, Ireland.

* Thomas Curran was born 1840, and married Jennie/Jane Blair in 1840. They had 8 children I am aware of: Elizabeth, Anna, Sarah, John, Thomas, Sarah Jane, Joseph, and Rhoda.
+ Elizabeth Curran's line is detailed below.
+ Sarah Curran was born 1867 and married John Stevenson, but I know little more about her.
+ Rhoda Curran was born 1878 and married John Carruth, and I believe this is the mother or grandmother of the cousin that I met in Vancouver, but I have no specific information on this branch.
+ I know nothing else about the rest of the children, aside from birth dates.

* Elizabeth Curran was born 1862. She married Robert James Park in 1883, I believe, and the two emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they lived for almost thirty years and raised their children. They returned to Ireland for a few short years before emigrating to Canada and settling in Vancouver BC, where both died. She died in 1954.
+ Two children died at a very young age. I believe one was named Jennie Curran Park. As of yet, I am uncertain of the name of the other.
+ Robert Curran Park was born 1887, and died 1912.
+ Elizabeth Park was born 1889. She married Louis Phillips, and died in 1966.
+ Mary Dunlop's line is detailed below.
+ Rhoda Park was born 1891. She married Wesley Standlick, and died in 1982.
+ Margaret Park was born 1895, and she died in 2001.
+ George Dunlop Park was born 1897. He married Florence Williams, and died in 1993.
+ Florence Park was born 1903. She married Ross Sexsmith, and they had four sons, and those sons had 13 children between them. She died in 2001.

* Mary Park was born 1891. She married Bjarne Bordewick in 1917, and they had two sons: George Robert and Henry Norman. Henry died in World War II. George had two sons and two daughters, and two grandchildren, and has two great-grandchildren. Mary Died in 1982. George died in 1991. All of their descendants currently live in the greater Seattle area.

What I don't know:

* I would love to know the name of Francis's wife, or how many children they had.

* I would love to verify the children I have listed for Thomas and Jennie/Jane Curran, and to find a birth record for Elizabeth. I'd also love to know what became of the other children, and even more about the two daughters I do know aside from Elizabeth.

* I still want to find a record for Elizabeth and Robert's marriage beyond a possibility that only included his name and a range of three months.

* I also would love to know the names of the ships they took to the US, back to Ireland, and then to Canada.

Other information about this branch of the family:
Brick Wall Posts -
* Brickwall Ancestors
* Brick Wall Update #2
* Brick Wall Update
* Brick Walls: a Different Listing
* Brick Wall Update
* Brick Wall Update 2012
Old Surname Posts –
* Curran
Where We're From Posts –
* Where We're From – United States
* Where We're From – Canada
* Where We're From – Ireland
* Where We're From – The Unknown
Other -
* The Bordewick Family
* Four Generations
* New Discoveries
* Women's History Month – Week 2
* Heirloom Quilt