This John McDermott was categorically named as the father of Michael Desmond McDermott in the latter’s birth documentation.  This documentation included that John was an schoolmaster in an elementary school.
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His birth index:

Name:                      Mother's Maiden Surname:
MCDERMOTT, JOHN            SHARP  
GRO Reference: 1907  J Quarter in BRAMLEY  Volume 09B  Page 301
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The following sections explore how I found the information that the above birth record was for the father of Michael Desmon McDermott.
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In the 1939 Register there is this separate entry for him at Stillington York, Easingwold, Yorkshire where he was lodging with the headmaster and his wife probably of the school where he was teaching:

First name(s)  Last name(s)  DOB  Sex  Occupation  Marital status  Schedule  Schedule Sub Number
William H   Metcalfe   05 Feb 1880  M  Elementary School Head Ma?(ster)         M  3  1
Margaret J  Metcalfe   25 Jul 1888  F  Unpaid Domestic Duties                   M  3  2
John        McDermott  08 Mar 1907  M  Assistant Elementary School M?(aster)    M  3  3

1939 Ref: RG101/3272A/003/13

His wife and daughter were lodging in Easingwold with the local postman and she was recorded as “Helper for evacuation scheme”.  Additionally their two sons, Michal Desmond and Patrick Neil, were living with a larger establishment also in Easingwold.  It all sounds like a major trauma in the preparations for a major war.

But the above 1939 Register gives John’s birth date.
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The above birth date is in Q1 of 1907 so he would be registered in Q1 or Q2 of 1907.   The following are the registrations in the first three quarters of 1907 in England.

Name:                     Mother's Maiden Surname:
MCDERMOTT, JOHN           LONGHRAN  
GRO Reference: 1907  M Quarter in CARLISLE  Volume 10B  Page 580
MCDERMOTT, JOHN           MCNAMEE  
GRO Reference: 1907  M Quarter in WARRINGTON  Volume 08C  Page 226
MCDERMOTT, JOHN           SHARP  
GRO Reference: 1907  J Quarter in BRAMLEY  Volume 09B  Page 301
MCDERMOTT, JOHN           ATHERTON  
GRO Reference: 1907  S Quarter in WARRINGTON  Volume 08C  Page 182
MCDERMOTT, JOHN           KING  
GRO Reference: 1907  S Quarter in BRENTFORD  Volume 03A  Page 176
MCDERMOTT, JOHN           -  
GRO Reference: 1907  S Quarter in WOLVERHAMPTON  Volume 06B  Page 601
MCDERMOTT, JOHN           MCGARTY  
GRO Reference: 1907  S Quarter in SOUTH SHIELDS  Volume 10A  Page 952
MCDERMOTT, JOHN JAMES     LAMBERT  
GRO Reference: 1907  S Quarter in WEST DERBY  Volume 08B  Page 319

I would quickly remove the last five, the Q3 registrations, leaving the first three that are more likely to be him.  Currently births have to be registered within 42 days of birth, in 1907 this time may have been longer but certainly not more than three months.  So it is highly likely that John had his birth registered before the end of Q2, thus excluding Q3 registrations.

The next thing is to search for the 1911 censuses to see what additional information is there.

It might also be sensible to check if any of the first three may have led to any infant mortality, and thus to be excluded from the search.  There was only one death of a John McDermott born between 1907 and 1911:

Name:               Age at Death (in years):  
MCDERMOTT, JOHN     0  
GRO Reference: 1907  D Quarter in PRESCOT  Volume 08B  Page 534

And this does not look like any of the 1911 census candidates.
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Now to present the information on the candidates for this John McDermott from the 1911 census.
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The Bramley candidate omits the birthplaces (what were the enumerators doing?) and was at 25 Aston Road, Bramley, Leeds, Yorkshire:

First name(s)  Last name  Relationship Marital status  Sex  Age  Birth year  Occupation  Birth place
Joseph Michael  McDermott  Head  M  M  35  1876  Police constable  Roxcommon Kilgefin Resident
Elsie           McDermott  Wife  M  F  33  1878  -                 -
John            McDermott  Son   -  M   4  1907  -                 -
Catherine       McDermott  Daur  -  F   2  1909  -                 -
Mary            McDermott  Daur  -  F   1  1910  -                 -
James           McDermott  Son   -  M   0  1911  -                 -

1911 ref: RG14 PN26858 RG78 PN1543 RD499 SD1 ED2 SN168
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The Warrington candidate was at 115 Station Road Haydock, Lancashire:

First name(s)  Last name  Relationship  Marital status  Sex  Age  Birth year  Occupation  Birth place
Peter      McDermott   Head  M  M  35  1876  Colliery labourer under ground  Mayo Charlestown
                                                                               Resident
Honora     McDermott   Wife  M  F  31  1880  -                               Mayo Kiltimagh Resident
Catherine  McDermott   Daur  -  F   7  1904  -                               Parr St Helens Lanc
Ellen      McDermott   Daur  -  F   6  1905  -                               Lanc Parr St Helens
Winifred   McDermott   Daur  -  F   2  1909  -                               Lan Haydock St Helens
John       McDermott   Son   -  M   5  1906  -                               Lan Haydock St Helens
William   Connaughton  Brdr  S  M  28  1883  Colliery labourer under ground  Mount Bellew Galway
                                                                               Resident
Martin    Raftery      Brdr  S  M  25  1886  Colliery labourer under ground  Galway Calton Resident

1911 ref: RG14 PN23104 RG78 PN1350 RD459 SD1 ED3 SN198
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The Carlisle candidate was at 5 Hodgsons Court, Scotch St, Carlisle, Cumberland:

First name(s)  Last name  Relationship  Marital status  Sex  Age  Birth year  Occupation  Birth place
Thomas    McDermott  Head  M  M  43  1868  Paviour                  Carlisle Cumb
Elena     McDermott  Wife  M  F  40  1871  -                        Carlisle Cumb
James     McDermott  Son   -  M  14  1897  Message boy shoemakers   Carlisle Cumb
Thomas    McDermott  Son   -  M  12  1899  School boy               Carlisle Cumb
Harry     McDermott  Son   -  M  10  1901  School boy               Carlisle Cumb
John      McDermott  Son   -  M   4  1907  -                        Carlisle Cumb
Margaret  McDermott  Daur  -  F   2  1909  -                        Carlisle Cumb
Mary      McDermott  Daur  -  F   0  1911  -                        Carlisle Cumb

1911 ref: RG14 PN31323 RG78 PN1797 RD574 SD3 ED2 SN285
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The census was taken on the 3rd April 1911.  So anyone born on 08 Mar 1907 would be 4 years and nearly one month old.  The person filling in the census sheet would have to write down the age of everyone in their house.  It is probable that they knew the ages of their children and would also have known what date they were born.  Though a century earlier, before birthdays were made so serious, many people did not know their birth date.  Anyhow I would expect the age of this John McDermott would have been clearly entered as four years old.  This eliminates the Warrington candidate and leaves the Bramley and Carlisle candidates.

I think I have to get one of these two birth certificates for John McDermott.  I choose the Bramley birth as there is a strong view that their McDermott ancestry was Irish and Roxcommon (or more usually Roscommon County) for John’s father’s birthplace is in Ireland.

A persuasive feature of choosing the Bramley family as John’s is that John’s father would then be Joseph Michael.  John’s son Michael Desmond had a youngest son named Michael Joseph McDermott; might this naming be in memory of his great-grandfather?

There is also the possibility that the other John McDermott married or died or was in the 1939 census.  So this can be investigated first to see if there are any indication of which was which.
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The Carlisle candidate:

He has no second name at birth registration.

All the four John McDermott marriages in Carlisle, from 1932 to 1959 but with birth year unknown, have second names so are less likely to be this John.  Within a radius of 50 miles from Carlisle there are a further four John McD marriages and one has a sole John name and was married in 1935.

None of these marriages were in 1929 and to a Moran.

It is, of course, possible that the Carlisle John McDermott came down to Staffordshire and met up with and married Honorah Moran.

Now see the analysis of the additional information presented for the marriage of John McDermott and Honorah Moran.  This led in fact to the ordering of that marriage certificate.

——————

A few days later the certificate arrived and added the salient information that John was 22 years old on the 18 May 1929 which agrees with the above birth date of 8 Mar 1907.  Plus that his father was Joseph Mc Dermott and who was then an Insurance Agent.

This corresponds with the Bramley family of the 1911 census of which the father was a police constable called Joseph Michael McDermott and aged 35 so that in 1929 he he would have been 53 and could well have retired from the police.

On the other hand the Carlisle families father in 1911 was Thomas with a job named as ‘Paviour’.

I have tried to find both families in the 1939 Register and the Bramley family is clearly living in Leeds, Yorks with Joseph then an ‘Insurance Agent (retired)’, confirming this identification

Unfortunately the slightly older Carlisle parents were not in evidence in 1939 so had possibly both died.

For the moment my conclusion is that John’s parentage was indeed Joseph and Elsie McDermott of Leeds; there is an Ancestry family Tree which has the same family, though with inadequate documentation.  The next step will be when the 1921 census is released in early 2022, a little over six months from now.
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His and Honorah’s children:

                          Birth   Death
Last name  First name(s)  Year    Year           Birth Location                 Death Location
McDermott  Michael D      1930    2021           Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire  Sraffs
McDermott  Patrick        1932    Q2 of 2015     Dudley, Staffordshire          Sussex
McDermott  Mary B         1934    Q4 of 2018     Dudley, Staffordshire          Glos
McDermott  Moira J        1940    rep. as 2012   Hull, Yorkshire                Switzerland
McDermott  Gerald         1942    —              Bulmer, Yorkshire

Patrick m. Roberts in Q2 of 1960
Moira m. Lakdasa Hulugalle in Q1 of 1973
Mary B m. Dastgir.
Gerald: too many marriages!

There is an Ancestry Family Tree that has most of the above information, dunno where from.
It is the Wells-McWhinnie Tree.  Owner is Sean McWhinney.
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His death index, the only John McDermott death with a birth year of 1907 and with the same birth date as given in 1939:

First name(s)               John
Last name                   McDermott
Gender                      Male        
Birth day                   8
Birth month                 3
Birth year                  1907
Death quarter               3
Registration Month          7
Death year                  1995
District                    Cannock Chase
District number             7301
Register number             23D
Entry number                283
Date of registration mm/yy  0795
County                      Staffordshire
Country                     England
Record set                  England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007
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On the other hand the above Ancestry tree says that John McDermott born in 1907 is the same person as a Michael John McDermott who died on 12 Jan 1952.

I did not accept this so obtained the Death certificate of that John Michael and this showed:
(a) John Michael was not plain John,
(b) John Michael was 75 at death, so was not born in 1907,
(c) John Michael was down as a ‘Cemetary Labourer’, not the teacher we know John to have been.
(d) The informant to John Michael’s death was his son N McDermot; no such son has been found for John McDermott born in 1907.

I conclude that this 1952 death of Michael John McDermott is categorically not the man born in 1907 and known all his life as John McDermott.
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His probate index:

1995
MCDERMOT, John of Cannock Chase Hospital Cannock Staffs died 11 July 1995 Probate Birmingham 15 September £159625  9581704155K

This will has been ordered.
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His will was dated 19th February 1988 and referred to his wife surviving him by a month and then being left all his estate.  In fact she died a year after signing this will and he survived a further 6 years.

So section 3 came into effect and his son Michael Desmond was the executor.  And no other person was named.
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Between 1920 and 1930 there was only one marriage of a McDermott and a Moran:

First name(s)       John
Last name           McDermott
Marriage quarter    2
Marriage year       1929
MarriageFinder      John McDermott married one of these people
                    Honorah Moran
Spouse's last name  Moran
District            Dudley
County              Staffordshire
Country             England
Volume              6B
Page number         1867
Record set          England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005

They are precisely the names on the birth record for their son Michael Desmond, so it looks very solid.

I may have to get their marriage certificate to identify their fathers and their ages so that I can find them in a census, assuming they were born before March 1911.  There is a chance the the 1921 census will also hold their details.

In fact the 1939 Register has the pair of them and their children with birth dates for all of them, so that what is now needed is the name of the father of John McDermot.  There are two candidates for John McDermott’s family: one in Carlisle and on in Leeds, both of which have Johns born in Q1 or Q2 of 1907; see the Misc Notes for John McDermott for an analysis of this.

In view of the fact that Honorah’s family has been so clearly identified, what is needed now is to identify John’s family and this can be done from his and Honora’s marriage certificate by the names of their fathers.  Buying just one birth certificate might not be the right one and will then still need the purchase of the other one.  So: buy the marriage certificate!

Ordered on 7th August.  Posting scheduled for 13 Aug, so arrive 14/15 Aug, all in 2021.
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No record of any church marriage can be found on FindMyPast, FamilySearch or Ancestry.
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The marriage certificate was received on 14th August 2021 and the marriage had been in a Catholic Church, and here is the transcript of that document by me:

“1929.  Marriage solemnized at Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred heart, Tipton
“ in the district oTipton in the Counties of Dudley and Stafford
“No:            67
“When married:  Eighteenth May 1929

                  His                      Hers
“Name & Surname:  John Mc Dermott          Honorah Moran
“Age:             22 Years                 29 Years
“Condition:       Bachelor                 Spinster
“Profession:      School Teacher           Clerk Municipal Offices
“Residence:       19 Victoria Road Tipton  73 Hale Street Burslem
“Father:          Joseph Mc Dermott        Martin Moran (deceased)
“Father’s Job:    Insurance Agent          House Painter (Master)

“Married in the Roman Catholic Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Roman Catholics
“ by Licence by me: C S Barnes Catholic Priest,  R V Westwood Registrar
“The marriage was solemnized between us:  John McDermott,  Honorah Moran
“In the presence of us:                   F Ballance,  Soo Grigg

Now go back to John’ Misc Notes to complete the analysis of his parentage and birth.
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