My hunch is that all our known clan members born in the 18th Century whom we find in County Antrim, Ireland, must 'fit together' in a Family Tree. After all there are only 25 names covering the period from about 1720 to the end of the century. There are also about half a dozen people in the same families from the first decade of the 19th Century.
Who was the earliest? It is between two men, both of whom appeared in the Belfast Newsletter - either Nathaniel who was coming to the end of a tenancy on Islandmagee in 1770 or William who rescued a beef cow in the parish of Connor in 1781. If Nathaniel was retiring he could well have been born as far back as say 1720 and if William was an established farmer he could have been born say 1740. I have on another occasion suggested that William may have been born in 1743 in Ayrshire, Scotland, son of David of Dalmellington. William is the earliest name we find in Connor parish which suggests he may have been the father of later farmers there, Henry, born about 1865 and five men any or all of whom could have been Henry's sons, Henry (1784), John (1795), James (1805), Francis (1809) and William (1810), all of whom also had offspring.
Nathaniel's link with Islandmagee suggests he could have been the father of brothers Samuel and James ('Senior') who farmed there and were born probably between 1740 and 1755; and perhaps he was even the father of Nathan, born about 1758 who found his way to Carnmoney to marry Betty Burney in 1783 and have (I think) six children, five of whom were born in the 18th Century, Nathaniel, Jon, George, Patrick, Agnes and Nathan. A firstborn called Nathaniel does of course suggest a grandfather Nathaniel. With regard to Samuel, I still think that his eldest child, whose name is lost from his 1818 Will, was Andrew who was involved with the United Irishmen in 1795.
James (Senior) was born about 1755, probably married and had three sons, James 'Junior', Samuel and William. The next question which arises is whether James Junior married and if so could he have been the James who married Sarah and moved to Shankill? The answer has to be not unless he moved back again to Ballytober on Islandmagee where he was know to be still farming in the 1820s. So where do James and Sarah, and Nathan and Sarah (see my last blog) and their children, three born in the 1790s, fit in, if not on Islandmagee? At present I do not know.
I next come to John McElhager and Jenny McCarley of Lisnacrogher who were both born about 1790, who were to emigrate to the USA. John called his only son James which leads me to think that John's father was James. He would have had to have been born before 1765, so could have been either James Senior of Islandmagee or else the James we find in the Tithe Applotment Book for Kenbilly in 1823, when he might have been in his mid-forties. Could this James be the father of both John of Lisnacrogher born 1790 and of William from nearly Ballycloghan born 1795? Yes, I think so. Could he also have been James whom we find in Shankill fathering a William in 1792 and then another William in 1798 followed by Martha and Ann in 1803 and 1809? Yes, I think so. It is not unlikely that between 1809 and 1823 James could have moved from Shankill to Kenbilly, and this would allow for the possible Shankill scenario that I outlined a couple of days ago.
We have certainly not related all the clan members known to have been born in the 18th Century who lived in County Antrim, but we may have gone some way towards it. What remains to reconcile is what I wrote some time ago on 25 Oct 2011, when I named a younger brother of William, namely John, who was living next door to him in Ballycloghan, and Mary living in Killygore in 1862. I think I was wrong then to imagine she was their mother, more likely a sibling. And we have to deal with two Johns! If the parents of William and John of Ballycloghan were in fact James and Sarah, then John of Lisnacrogher cannot also be their offspring. Still too many loose ends! I will be patient until a new lead turns up!
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
A half-sister?
The early Baptism Registers of St. Anne's Church of Ireland, Shankill, Belfast, have two baptisms which look as if they might be related for the surname of the first is McIlhaggy and of the second is McIlhaggey. What is more the name of the mother in both is Sarah. However, the children concerned cannot of course be full siblings for Margaret baptised on 4th March 1790 had Nathan as her father and William baptised on 25 February 1792 had James as father. I have mentioned these baptisms on a couple of occasions in this blog, and puzzled about them, not knowing which family they belong to. There are however a couple of things which occur to me now which might throw a little light.
My bafflement is not least because these folk were in the centre of Belfast. Where did they move from, and did they move away again? I have no other reference to the clan name there. The most likely thing seems to be that they moved from Islandmagee. However the parents must have been born as early as, if not earlier than, 1770, and I have no Nathan who might have moved about that time. There is James 'Junior' on Islandmagee, but I don't believe he moved away from the farm there. The next thing to note is that after 1790 there are no further references to a Nathan fathering other children. He disappears from the baptism scene. I have to suspect that he died at a young age, in which case Sarah would have been left with the child Margaret.
Now within a short time frame there are several references to a James with a wife Sarah, with other children who were baptised not long after Margaret, all at St. Anne's, Shankill. First there was William baptised 25th February 1792. Then, after a gap of six years, another William baptised on 29 June 1798. We have to assume that the first William died, maybe soon after birth, which could have made them avoid having other children for a few years. Then five years later there was Martha baptised 6 July 1803 and finally Ann baptised the following year on 6th September. In the Registers all have William and Sarah as their parents, though the surname gets a variety of spellings. As we have learned, that was to be expected at that period. William in 1792 was McIlhaggey; William in 1798 was McIlhagar (though Sarah was McIlhaggar); Martha was McIlhaga and Ann was McIlhagart.
I think these records do raise the question of whether by some misfortune Nathan died soon after the birth of Margaret and whether his wife remarried to James, very probably the brother of Nathan. This would of course make Margaret, assuming she lived, a half-sister to William and to the other siblings.
Now I have one further observation. I have recently learned the death date of my great-great grandfather William in 1882 at the age of 87, giving him a birth year of 1795. Given that many people were a little uncertain of their age, and other people reporting their death even more uncertain, and given that 1795 and 1798 are only three years apart, I have to raise the possibility that my William was in fact the William who was baptised in Shankill in 1798. I know of no other reference to a William with whom I can identify him, and I have on another occasion said that I suspect that his father was James, not least because in the Tithe Applotment Books for Ballycloghan and Kenbilly my William and a James McIlhagga rented neighbouring plots.
My bafflement is not least because these folk were in the centre of Belfast. Where did they move from, and did they move away again? I have no other reference to the clan name there. The most likely thing seems to be that they moved from Islandmagee. However the parents must have been born as early as, if not earlier than, 1770, and I have no Nathan who might have moved about that time. There is James 'Junior' on Islandmagee, but I don't believe he moved away from the farm there. The next thing to note is that after 1790 there are no further references to a Nathan fathering other children. He disappears from the baptism scene. I have to suspect that he died at a young age, in which case Sarah would have been left with the child Margaret.
Now within a short time frame there are several references to a James with a wife Sarah, with other children who were baptised not long after Margaret, all at St. Anne's, Shankill. First there was William baptised 25th February 1792. Then, after a gap of six years, another William baptised on 29 June 1798. We have to assume that the first William died, maybe soon after birth, which could have made them avoid having other children for a few years. Then five years later there was Martha baptised 6 July 1803 and finally Ann baptised the following year on 6th September. In the Registers all have William and Sarah as their parents, though the surname gets a variety of spellings. As we have learned, that was to be expected at that period. William in 1792 was McIlhaggey; William in 1798 was McIlhagar (though Sarah was McIlhaggar); Martha was McIlhaga and Ann was McIlhagart.
I think these records do raise the question of whether by some misfortune Nathan died soon after the birth of Margaret and whether his wife remarried to James, very probably the brother of Nathan. This would of course make Margaret, assuming she lived, a half-sister to William and to the other siblings.
Now I have one further observation. I have recently learned the death date of my great-great grandfather William in 1882 at the age of 87, giving him a birth year of 1795. Given that many people were a little uncertain of their age, and other people reporting their death even more uncertain, and given that 1795 and 1798 are only three years apart, I have to raise the possibility that my William was in fact the William who was baptised in Shankill in 1798. I know of no other reference to a William with whom I can identify him, and I have on another occasion said that I suspect that his father was James, not least because in the Tithe Applotment Books for Ballycloghan and Kenbilly my William and a James McIlhagga rented neighbouring plots.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
A Wedding visit?
In recent months I have been passing on some of the interesting discoveries I have made by searching the Internet site Ancestry.co.uk, using different versions of our clan surname. The final category I have noted for 'McIlhagga' is 'Immigration and Travel', especially the UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960.
It is fascinating to note the comings and goings of both men and women, often unaccompanied, travelling between the home country and the 'New World' of Australia, Canada and the United States of America. One learns the names, ages, ports of departure and arrival, the names of the ships and of the Shipping Companies, a person's normal place of residence, the address to which people are travelling, their occupations and occasionally the passenger 'class' like 'tourist' or '2nd Class'. Clearly very often the travel was to visit family either at home in Great Britain or in the country of immigration.
There are two journeys of special interest, both, it so happens, of people fairly closely related to myself. The first I have commented on before, that of John S. travelling on the ship Penisular which sailed from Sydney, Australia, to London in 1898. The interest is created by the fact that John embarked at Bombay. I had no idea that he had ever been to India. He would have been nineteen in 1898. He was a great uncle of mine.
The second occasion refers back to one of the earliest blogs I wrote, and I think one of the most interesting, on 24th January 2009, entitled Home Children. It concerned my first cousin, once removed, Thomas who after his mother's death was sent as a thirteen year old to Canada where he was 'adopted' by a farmer in Quebec. I had been able (and have since been able) to find out quite a lot about Thomas in Canada - see my blogs of 11 April and 8 July 2009. I ended the last blog on the depressing note that Thomas had probably lost contact with his family in Liverpool and may be had never returned to his birth 'home'.
How wrong I was! And how pleased I am to discover I was wrong. It is clear that Thomas must have kept contact with at least one of his siblings, his eldest sister. The passenger list for the Canadian Pacific Liner Metagama shows that Thomas was on board from Montreal to Liverpool arriving 24th June 1919. The record confirms that he was resident in Canada and that his occupation was 'Farmer', an occupation to which he must have returned after the end of the First World War, in which he served.
Thomas gave the address to which he was travelling as 118 Tatlock Street, Liverpool, the same address from which his sister Agnes would get married to Michael Doyle a couple of months later. Presumably the pending nuptials gave Thomas the excuse and the impetus to make the return journey to his native city. He would have been twenty-four at the time. I have no information at present about a return journey to Canada, though return he did. An interesting side-light on the visit is that Agnes married in a Roman Catholic Church, something that Thomas was also to do when he returned to his adopted home.
It is fascinating to note the comings and goings of both men and women, often unaccompanied, travelling between the home country and the 'New World' of Australia, Canada and the United States of America. One learns the names, ages, ports of departure and arrival, the names of the ships and of the Shipping Companies, a person's normal place of residence, the address to which people are travelling, their occupations and occasionally the passenger 'class' like 'tourist' or '2nd Class'. Clearly very often the travel was to visit family either at home in Great Britain or in the country of immigration.
There are two journeys of special interest, both, it so happens, of people fairly closely related to myself. The first I have commented on before, that of John S. travelling on the ship Penisular which sailed from Sydney, Australia, to London in 1898. The interest is created by the fact that John embarked at Bombay. I had no idea that he had ever been to India. He would have been nineteen in 1898. He was a great uncle of mine.
The second occasion refers back to one of the earliest blogs I wrote, and I think one of the most interesting, on 24th January 2009, entitled Home Children. It concerned my first cousin, once removed, Thomas who after his mother's death was sent as a thirteen year old to Canada where he was 'adopted' by a farmer in Quebec. I had been able (and have since been able) to find out quite a lot about Thomas in Canada - see my blogs of 11 April and 8 July 2009. I ended the last blog on the depressing note that Thomas had probably lost contact with his family in Liverpool and may be had never returned to his birth 'home'.
How wrong I was! And how pleased I am to discover I was wrong. It is clear that Thomas must have kept contact with at least one of his siblings, his eldest sister. The passenger list for the Canadian Pacific Liner Metagama shows that Thomas was on board from Montreal to Liverpool arriving 24th June 1919. The record confirms that he was resident in Canada and that his occupation was 'Farmer', an occupation to which he must have returned after the end of the First World War, in which he served.
Thomas gave the address to which he was travelling as 118 Tatlock Street, Liverpool, the same address from which his sister Agnes would get married to Michael Doyle a couple of months later. Presumably the pending nuptials gave Thomas the excuse and the impetus to make the return journey to his native city. He would have been twenty-four at the time. I have no information at present about a return journey to Canada, though return he did. An interesting side-light on the visit is that Agnes married in a Roman Catholic Church, something that Thomas was also to do when he returned to his adopted home.
Friday, 23 November 2012
Derry
The McIlhagga clan in Ireland has been found almost exclusively in County Antrim, though there are rare references to Galway, Dublin, Down and Derry. One of the Irish Genealogical sites has just published the Index of Civil Births for the County of Derry where you can find just four McIlhaggas in the first decade of the 20th Century, namely:
Mary Ann 1906;
William 1907;
John 1909;
Samuel 1910.
As you can guess these four were siblings. They were the first four children of James Spence McIlhagga and Elizabeth McGrillis. At the time James was a Railway Locomotive fireman. In fact the town of Coleraine, not far from Londonderry itself, was where Elizabeth was living when she and James married and presumably it was convenient for them to live there, probably in her home town and near her parents. Then after number four child, maybe it was his job - he eventually became a train driver - made it better for them to move to the central Antrim town of Ballymena, where their last three children were born.
Samuel (b.1910) and his wife Jessie went back to live in County Derry, in Portstewart, and his son Ronald James was married in Coleraine. A couple of years ago I wrote about a Jeannie McIlhagga living in Londonderry itself when she signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912.
Mary Ann 1906;
William 1907;
John 1909;
Samuel 1910.
As you can guess these four were siblings. They were the first four children of James Spence McIlhagga and Elizabeth McGrillis. At the time James was a Railway Locomotive fireman. In fact the town of Coleraine, not far from Londonderry itself, was where Elizabeth was living when she and James married and presumably it was convenient for them to live there, probably in her home town and near her parents. Then after number four child, maybe it was his job - he eventually became a train driver - made it better for them to move to the central Antrim town of Ballymena, where their last three children were born.
Samuel (b.1910) and his wife Jessie went back to live in County Derry, in Portstewart, and his son Ronald James was married in Coleraine. A couple of years ago I wrote about a Jeannie McIlhagga living in Londonderry itself when she signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912.
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Probate Records
The Internet site Ancestry.co.uk holds seven sets of PRobate records for the surname McIlhagga. They are for the following people:
Margaret, died 13 May 1927;
Margaret, died 31 Dec 1940;
Robert, died 13 Apr 1951;
Lindsay, died 16 Feb 1954;
Adelaide, died 31 Aug 1956;
George Robinson, died 20 May 1957;
Harry, died 15 Dec 1962.
I think that a number of general and random comments are in order. First, three of the seven are my own immediate family, my father, grandmother and aunt. It is interesting to compare the value of money at different times, e.g. £1000 (sterling) in the 1930s was worth approximately £40,000 in today's money. Second, four of the seven are people who died in Ireland and the amount of their effects, which in each case is fairly small, only applies to the portion of what they owned which was in England. Presumably there is a record in Ireland of the portion which applied to Ireland.
Each record names the person to whom probate was granted. The relationship to the person who had died is of course of interest and usually of genealogical interest. Margaret who died in 1927 is stated to be the wife of William, a Commercial Traveller. So we know that William survived his wife, and we know his occupation. Margaret who died in 1941 is said to be a spinster. The administration is given to Lindsay, a Company Director, without any mention that he was her brother.
Robert who died in 1951 was in fact a bachelor, though on mention is made of this. Probate was granted to Robert Kennett a Merchant, with no mention that he was a nephew. Robert (Jr.) was the son of Robert (Sr.)'s nearest sibling, Rebecca. Robert Senior was one of twelve siblings and maybe he felt closest to the one who had named a child after him. The full name of Robert junior is recorded, Robert McIlhagga Kennett. From a genealogical point of view not only do we have an example of our clan name being continued as a middle name, we have learned for the first time that Rebecca and her husband Charles Kennett had a son, who like his uncle was a merchant.
Lindsay who died in 1954 clearly named his business partner as his executor, to whom probate was granted. What is 'hidden' behind this fact is that they had a private agreement that his partner would look after Lindsay's family from a financial point of view which was honoured until Lindsay's wife died many years later. Adelaide died in Dublin in a Nursing Home directly opposite the house in which her husband was living. She's called a 'married woman' so we know that her husband was still alive, and he is named, with his occupation of Hardware Merchant.
George Robinson McIlhagga, who died on 20th May 1957 gives us an example of an Estate taking quite a time to wind up. Probate was granted two years later, probably because he died insestate. Administration was given to his widow. It is from the probate records that we learn her middle name. Apparently she was Kathleen Madden Trueick. Finally we learn the basic 'vital' fact of the date of death of Harry McIlhagga, on 15th December 1962, administration being given to his widow, Sarah Laura (nee Browne).
Margaret, died 13 May 1927;
Margaret, died 31 Dec 1940;
Robert, died 13 Apr 1951;
Lindsay, died 16 Feb 1954;
Adelaide, died 31 Aug 1956;
George Robinson, died 20 May 1957;
Harry, died 15 Dec 1962.
I think that a number of general and random comments are in order. First, three of the seven are my own immediate family, my father, grandmother and aunt. It is interesting to compare the value of money at different times, e.g. £1000 (sterling) in the 1930s was worth approximately £40,000 in today's money. Second, four of the seven are people who died in Ireland and the amount of their effects, which in each case is fairly small, only applies to the portion of what they owned which was in England. Presumably there is a record in Ireland of the portion which applied to Ireland.
Each record names the person to whom probate was granted. The relationship to the person who had died is of course of interest and usually of genealogical interest. Margaret who died in 1927 is stated to be the wife of William, a Commercial Traveller. So we know that William survived his wife, and we know his occupation. Margaret who died in 1941 is said to be a spinster. The administration is given to Lindsay, a Company Director, without any mention that he was her brother.
Robert who died in 1951 was in fact a bachelor, though on mention is made of this. Probate was granted to Robert Kennett a Merchant, with no mention that he was a nephew. Robert (Jr.) was the son of Robert (Sr.)'s nearest sibling, Rebecca. Robert Senior was one of twelve siblings and maybe he felt closest to the one who had named a child after him. The full name of Robert junior is recorded, Robert McIlhagga Kennett. From a genealogical point of view not only do we have an example of our clan name being continued as a middle name, we have learned for the first time that Rebecca and her husband Charles Kennett had a son, who like his uncle was a merchant.
Lindsay who died in 1954 clearly named his business partner as his executor, to whom probate was granted. What is 'hidden' behind this fact is that they had a private agreement that his partner would look after Lindsay's family from a financial point of view which was honoured until Lindsay's wife died many years later. Adelaide died in Dublin in a Nursing Home directly opposite the house in which her husband was living. She's called a 'married woman' so we know that her husband was still alive, and he is named, with his occupation of Hardware Merchant.
George Robinson McIlhagga, who died on 20th May 1957 gives us an example of an Estate taking quite a time to wind up. Probate was granted two years later, probably because he died insestate. Administration was given to his widow. It is from the probate records that we learn her middle name. Apparently she was Kathleen Madden Trueick. Finally we learn the basic 'vital' fact of the date of death of Harry McIlhagga, on 15th December 1962, administration being given to his widow, Sarah Laura (nee Browne).
Monday, 19 November 2012
Correspondence
I have just returned from the monthly meeting of my local Family History Society where the speaker was our local archivist who was born and bred in Northern Ireland. She told me that on the occasion when she had to clear the house after the death of a relative she found a letter signed by a Mr. McIlhagga. Sadly that letter doesn't still exist and there is no memory of its contents, though it must have been important enough for the person who received it to keep it.
Mention of it is a timely reminder that such correspondence can be most valuable in building up a picture of an ancestor, be they sender or receiver. We have a wonderful example in the letter a copy of which was sent to me by a correspondent in Alberta Canada, from Henrietta the wife of Nathaniel Owens McIlhagga, which lists most of the dates of births, marriages and some deaths of her large family.
I included that letter in my blogs of 8th and 19th of May 2010. If any readers of this blog have family correspondence or of course other documents or photographs that they would be happy to share, I would be delighted to receive copies and preserve them in the clan archives.
Mention of it is a timely reminder that such correspondence can be most valuable in building up a picture of an ancestor, be they sender or receiver. We have a wonderful example in the letter a copy of which was sent to me by a correspondent in Alberta Canada, from Henrietta the wife of Nathaniel Owens McIlhagga, which lists most of the dates of births, marriages and some deaths of her large family.
I included that letter in my blogs of 8th and 19th of May 2010. If any readers of this blog have family correspondence or of course other documents or photographs that they would be happy to share, I would be delighted to receive copies and preserve them in the clan archives.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Champion Jockey
I have written before about Richard McIlhagga who lived in Dublin in the mid-20th Century and who bred race horses. I have often found references to him in Irish Newspapers and in Ireland he is probably best remembered for winning the Irish Grand National with King's Sprite in 1971.
The internet site findmypast.co.uk has just added British Newspapers 1710-1950 to its genealogical resources, where we can find four references to Richard McIlhagga in the newspapers of South-West England. Three are only notices of runners, two in the Western Morning News in 1949 and one in the Gloucester Echo in 1950. The fourth however is more interesting. It is in the Western Morning News for 21 April 1949 where we find the following report:
'Mr R. McIlhagga's five-year old grey Impeccable, ridden by Gordon Richards, was one of the easiest winners of the City and Suburban Handicap in the history of the race at Epsom yesterday.
After being among the leaders for a mile Impeccable took the lead in the last two furlongs and Liberty Light, who had taken second place, was unable to get in an effective challenge, Impeccable winning by three lengths.....
Mr. McIlhagga who is a Dublin manufacturer who has won many races with the horses he runs in England... said after the race: "I hope that one of my future wins on this course will be in the Derby in 1952 with Impeccable's full brother, now only a foal".'
We have no record of Richard McIlhagga ever winning the Derby, but at least we have this report of one of his horses being ridden by Gordon Richards, perhaps the most famous champion jockey of the 20th Century.
The internet site findmypast.co.uk has just added British Newspapers 1710-1950 to its genealogical resources, where we can find four references to Richard McIlhagga in the newspapers of South-West England. Three are only notices of runners, two in the Western Morning News in 1949 and one in the Gloucester Echo in 1950. The fourth however is more interesting. It is in the Western Morning News for 21 April 1949 where we find the following report:
'Mr R. McIlhagga's five-year old grey Impeccable, ridden by Gordon Richards, was one of the easiest winners of the City and Suburban Handicap in the history of the race at Epsom yesterday.
After being among the leaders for a mile Impeccable took the lead in the last two furlongs and Liberty Light, who had taken second place, was unable to get in an effective challenge, Impeccable winning by three lengths.....
Mr. McIlhagga who is a Dublin manufacturer who has won many races with the horses he runs in England... said after the race: "I hope that one of my future wins on this course will be in the Derby in 1952 with Impeccable's full brother, now only a foal".'
We have no record of Richard McIlhagga ever winning the Derby, but at least we have this report of one of his horses being ridden by Gordon Richards, perhaps the most famous champion jockey of the 20th Century.
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