Page 59 - Canadian Girvans

Adam Girven senior emigrated to New Zealand in 1864, his younger brother John had stayed in the family farm at Derrynavogy farming, John was married to Martha Hogg in 1878 and they had four children. We know that that at least two of them emigrated to Canada, Richard the second son had stayed at the farm and farmed it until he died in 1967. They all like their father kept the original family spelling of Girvan, for this reason I have started a separate page for this family .

We initially knew that Margaret Elizabeth (Maggie) Girvan had lived in both Canada and the USA as a Evangelist, she had returned to the farm to look after her ailing brother Richard and his wife Margaret. Friends in Ireland had kindly given me her 1919 Canadian Passport when i visited in 1999, it was issued at Hamilton in Ontario. We have now traced Johns third son Adam Girvan junior, Adam was born at Derrynavogy in 1884. This was relatively easy for Toni (a Canadian friend to trace for me) because Adam Girvan has such an unusual name, he was easy to trace. Toni could see that he was resident aged 15 in Liverpool in the 1901 census and then aged 25 in the 1911 census he is resident in Sligo, Ireland.

Sligo is 60 miles from Derrynavogy and was a sea port like Liverpool where he had previously been employed as a grocery assistant. In 1911 he was still a Grocers assistant and a Methodist, resident only 50 yards from the parents house of Annie his wife to be. He married Annie Browne in the second quarter of 1913 and then on the 29^th June 1913 they emigrated to Ontario Canada on the Ship “Scandanavian” from Londonderry.

They were then resident in Hamilton, Ontario at 28 Cliff Avenue for the next 30 years, Adam was listed as working as a Clerk/Shipper employed by Mclarens, they went on to have three children, John (Jack) Girvan, Frances Martha Girvan and Margaret I.D. Girvan. His wife Annie died between 1940 and 1945, Adam was still alive in the electoral return of 1945 aged 59. We have traced through the Orbituary’s of his children and their spouses, the rest of the family.

Some of the documents are in the slideshow, the documents that are not pictures are attached to this page. All the hard work was done by Toni and we are very grateful for her excellent investigative work, her description of her discovery is in the attached document. The first and older son William Girvan also emigrated to Canada we believe but he is proving more difficult to trace.

I have recently been contacted by Julie Girvan in Canada, she is the grand daughter of Adam Girvan in Canada, she has been to Sligo recently and traced the Browne family, we nw have a good contact in Canada for this branch.