McIlhagga - J

There are about a dozen 'J' McIlhaggas on the FamilySearch Beta website, and once again there is some new information. The first thing to note is that there were two Jane McIlhaggas who were alive at the same time and I confess that in the past I have confused them. However, one was from Scotland and one from Ireland. The confusion occurred because the Irish Jane and her husband spent a short time in the same Scottish town as the Scottish Jane and her husband. Jane the daughter of John McIlhagga and Mary Stewart who lived in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland (and my first cousin once removed) married Thomas Smith on 25th February 1870. The new information for me is that they had two children in Greenock, John on 2nd March 1870, just a week after their marriage, and then two years later Margaret, on 1st August 1872. I was tempted into thinking that this Jane must have married twice when I came across a birth of William McIlhagga Boyd in March 1873, whose father was James Boyd and whose mother was Jane McIlhagga, in Greenock. I subsequently realised that this was an error when I discovered that when Jane Smith died the record said she was the wife of Thomas and not James.

The second Jane I have already written about when documenting the McIlhagga - Boyd marriages in the townlands of Maxwellswalls and Castlegore in County Antrim, Ireland (eg on 7th August last). I then included several female children of James Boyd and Jane McIlhagga, including those in FamilySearch, namely Mary Ann born 18th December 1874, Margaret born 6th February 1877 and Mary born 14th April 1879. The child I didn't include, because I didn't know about him, was their eldest, William, to whom they gave the middle name of McIlhagga, who was born 24th March 1873. All the others were born in Ireland but William was born in Greenock, Scotland. Clearly James and Jane had migrated for a short time when he worked in the Sugar Industry.

There are two other Jane McIlhaggas in FamilySearch, both from the Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes. The first Jane died in the Jan-Mar quarter of 1909 in Ballymoney. In fact her death was on 4th January. She was a daughter of William McIlhagga and Agnes McCosh, and my great great aunt. It is interesting that the surname McIlhagga is used in this record as this was her maiden name. She was the wife of Robert Wade. I know that it is a Scottish practice to record the 'vital events' of women under both maiden and married names. but can't remember finding this before in Ireland. The second Jane is in a marriage record in Ballymena in the Oct-Dec quarter of 1919. In fact this marriage took place on 12th November at Kells Presbyterian Church where a Jane McIlhagga married Aaron Scott Crowe. I'm afraid I do not know to which family this Jane belonged.

Finally I come to the three male 'J's, all John. The first John McIlhagga married in Ballymena Registration District in 1863. This was the marriage of John the son of William McIlhagga on 14th March in Ballyclug Church of Ireland, to Mary Ann Atkinson. The second event was the death of a John in the Jan-Mar quarter of 1912 in Antrim. His age was given as 80. I am a little uncertain but I think this was probably John son of Henry McIlhagga, who died on 4th February 1912 aged 82. He was born on 8th February 1830 and married Elizabeth McCullough. The third John married in Dublin South Registration District. This is one of the most interesting clan marriages, partly because it is the only marriage I have in what is now the Republic of Ireland. The only Dublin wedding of which I have a note is that of John and Adelaide McIlhagga. It so happens that I have published a photograph of this event on 21st March last when I was writing about John's brother James. John was the son of William McIlhagga and Mary Spence. Now there is an added interest. On 3rd September 1956 Adelaide was laid to rest in The Friends Burial Ground, Temple Hills, Blackrock, Dublin. I think we can assume from this that she was a Quaker, and so it may be that the marriage in 1923 was a Quaker marriage, though I have yet to find a Friends Marriage Register to confirm this. I have to say that I have no record of offspring from this marriage.