Blain and burnet/ barnets in dough grange, ballycastle ,antrim

Ann-Marie,

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church. Here’s Eliza Jane’s marriage in 1893 in Kilbride Church of Ireland. 

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1893/10603/5862674.pdf

The family likely being Church of Ireland is confirmed by Sophia’s denomination in the 1901 census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyclare/Doagh/917901/

Unfortunately Kilbride Church of Ireland’s early records were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin and they have no baptisms or burial records prior to 1878. The post 1878 records are still held by the church.

I looked for Blain marriages 1860 – 1901 for possible siblings but did not find any in the Doagh area. (They might have married somewhere else of course). John & Elizabeth look to have married prior to 1845 in which case they aren’t listed in the statutory marriage records which started that year. You might find their marriage in church records, if they have survived and if you knew where they married. If they exist there are likely copies of the records in PRONI.  There are quite a few churches around Doagh so it could be a bit of work checking them all. And not all have pre 1845 records.

Likely graveyards in the Doagh area are Kilbride Old, Kilbride Church of Ireland, Doagh and Ballyclare cemetery. 

Labourers couldn’t always afford a gravestone so it’s possible they are buried in an unmarked grave. If Churhc of Ireland, the church may have a burial record though so worth checking with them (You may have to pay a search fee).

There are few records prior to 1800 in Ireland and you may struggle to find details of John & Elizabeth’s parents.

Thank you very much for that info. I'm quite good at searching through the Scottish records, but have found the Irish ones really difficult to get a handle on. You've given me some great leads. Thank you

A-M

Elizabeth Jane born c 1871 married Samuel John Hamilton on 12/8/1893 at kilbride parish church. She was a millworker. He was a labourer. Died 7/2/1929 aged 58 from bronchitis. Buried at Doagh cemetery.

Children: Lizzie c 1895

Annie c 1896

John 1898

Agnes 15/4/1900

Catherine Priscilla 8/7/1901-1/2/1928.  buried doagh cemetery

Family lived at house no 43 in doagh in 1901

Given Elizabeth Jane was born c 1871 and her " mother" Elizabeth Jane Burnett was born c 1810 and was likely menopausal by 1871 and the age difference between Elizabeth Jane and her "siblings", I suspect her "sister" Sophia was in fact her mother.

Irish records are certainly different to Scottish ones, and there are plenty of gaps in Ireland. 

The house numbers in the 1901 & 1911 censuses are just the enumerator’s private numbering system (which varied from census to census). Houses in rural areas then didn’t have actual numbers. Doagh alone would have been enough to identify you and get a letter delivered.

If you have any other questions let me know and I’ll try and answer them.

Thanks. The blain surname appears to originate from wigtonshire, ayrshire. Given that they appear to not be of the catholic faith, I think the family or their ancestors may have emigrated from Scotland to Ireland as part of the plantation scheme.

I've found some blain's in nearby towns ie ballyeaston, templepatrick which may be relatives of John but no proof so far.

Ann-Marie,

With a Scottish surname, Presbyterian denomination and living in Co Antrim, then it’s 99% certain the family originate in Scotland. (Blain isn’t an Irish name). Over half of the population of Co Antrim today likewise originate in Scotland.  Presbyterianism is by far the most common denomination in the county. 

Your family wouldn’t have come as part of the Plantation as such because counties Antrim & Down weren’t included in the Plantation arrangements.  But they may have come as part of the Hamilton & Montgomery settlements c 1606 or as followers of the Adairs & Agnews from Wigtownshire who brought a lot of their Scottish tenants to that part of Antrim in the early 1600s. Not the biggest journey, Wigtownshire to Larne is about 23 miles, and some early settlers went back and forth several times due to poor harvests, the requirement to take the “black oath”, the 1641 rebellion and other events. If you are interested in the history in any great detail, then Raymond Gillespie’s book “Colonial Ulster – The settlement of East Ulster 1600-1641” covers it well. 

Thanks. I will check out the book as I am interested in getting a better understanding of my ancestors lives by finding out more about the social/ historical context of the times they were living in