BLAIR, William - born c1780

Sher,

Mulladry and Shewis are both in the parish of Kilmore. They are townlands rather than names of specific farms. Mulladry is 748 acres and Shewis 214. They are several miles apart.

In the 1901 census, Mulladry had 40 houses and a population of 180; Shewis had 8 houses and a population of 36. See:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Armagh/Richhill/Mullad…

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Armagh/Richhill/Shewis/

No Blairs in either by 1901.

I looked in the tithes for 1833 and there are no Blairs listed in the parish (Kilmore) then. That, plus linen weaving, points to them being labourers. The general arrangement with labourers in Ulster was that they rented from a local farmer, usually on an “at will” basis, ie neither party needed to give notice to quit,  which left them free to move at short notice should better work be available somewhere else. They could pay their rent in cash but they often paid it by an agreed number of days work on the farm each year, after which they were free to take any other work that might come up eg on another farm or on government schemes such as road building.

In rural areas most weaving was done at home using hand loom weaving machines, such as are still used in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland to make Harris Tweed. These machines were collapsible, so as to be stored out of the way when not needed and for ease of transport should the weaver move home, as they often did, to follow the available work.

Most weavers in Ulster were labourers who earned a bit of extra money by weaving in the winter months when there wasn’t much labouring work required on farms.  This meant that labourers in Ulster had a slightly better standard of living than elsewhere in Ireland. It also gave them some ready cash (in a society that mostly operated by barter) for the things that could not be bought by barter, eg a ticket to America. 

They are unlikely to have been making linen directly for the Richardsons, though it’s possible they did. In most areas, the weavers were self–employed and sold their linen to commercial buyers at the local market (possibly in Richhill in this case). 

At one time weavers wove a lot of cotton but the interruption of supplies from the southern US states during the American War of Independence in the 1770s meant they focused on other materials, notably flax (which linen is made from) and which grows well in Ireland in contrast to cotton which won’t grow at all.  They did weave other products eg calico and wool as required, but by the 1800s it was mainly linen. 

As the 19th century progressed, water powered linen mills were introduced all over Ulster. These were faster than home weavers and often made better quality material and so gradually made the home weaver redundant.  In addition, the factories also mostly employed women and children (being nimbler and cheaper) so this impacted on male employment too. At a time when farms were starting mechanise and so needed fewer labourers, the average labourer/weaver therefore faced a bleak future and so these combined changes were a major factor in many a labourer’s decision to leave Ireland during the 1800s.

A little more information on this link: https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/flax-plant.html

If your ancestors were Quakers then there are quite good records going back to the 1700s as you possibly know. Findmypast has a lot of Quaker records for Ireland and there are copies of the Ulster Meeting House records, including Richhill, in PRONI in Belfast. In the 1700s and 1800s Quakers in Ireland rarely if ever had gravestones (it was seen as pretentious or ostentatious).

Kilmore Church of Ireland parish has 5 churches.  The Diamond, Kilmore, Mullavilly, Richhill and St Saviour’s. Sadly Richhill lost all its early records in the 1922 fire in Dublin and now has no baptisms before 1878 and no marriages before 1845. So if that’s where the Blairs were baptised or married, the records probably don’t exist. The records for the other 4 churches are in PRONI in Belfast.

Elwyn:

thanks for the information - My BLAIRs left Ulster in 1830, so I knew they wouldn't be on the 1901 census.  I've been to both Shewis and Mulladry Cottage where they lived and I know where they are.  As well as a weaver he was a farmer.  thanks for the information you sent, but now I have to find the Richardson papers to see what I can find.  Most repositories where the papers are housed either aren't available to the public or it costs money to see the documents.  Haven't got that kind of money, so I guess I will have to go without.  To bad the Irish have their hand out so often, when most of the records here in Canada are totally free to access.

Sher,

I knew your immediate family had left in 1830 and wasn’t looking for them in 1901.  However sometimes families left relatives behind and you can find some in the 1901/1911 censuses long after others had left. All I was trying to explain was that in this case there weren’t any Blairs in either townland.

There are some Richardson papers in PRONI (where they are free to view, just not on-line). Since paying to view records seems to be an issue, I will mention that a former Director of PRONI did say publicly that their policy was to make their records available free (which they do) but that meant they didn’t have the money to put them all on-line. Putting them on-line would have involved working with a commercial company who would then charge for access.  Which is why a personal visit is required to view many of the records you are interested in.

Good luck with your research anyway.

Thanks Elwyn.  If we can afford another trip to Ireland I'll make sure I go to PRONI even if it's just for lunch - I love the fare they have in the cafeteria there!  Went back for seconds!  The Richardson papers weren't there when we were last in Belfast 6 years ago, I'll have to look for them.  Thanks for letting me know they are there.

Sher,

You can search for the Richardson papers using the PRONI e-catalogue.  The papers themselves are not on-line but you can see what PRONI has. You can then note the reference numbers and order them up if you visit.

If your Blairs were farmers then there may be leases. Some of them may be in PRONI’s collection. And have you searched the Registry of Deeds? They start in 1709 are on-line on the LDS site. A bit fiddly to work with but if you get a 3 lives lease, a will or a marriage settlement that can reveal good family information. (Search by townland, rather than by surname. It’s easier to find them by townland).

It’s very unlikely the Richardsons were directly employing the Blairs.  Landed society in Ireland didn’t operate like that. They will have employed a few servants in the big house and perhaps some gamekeepers and gatekeepers but otherwise they were not employers. They rented out their land to farmers, millowners etc who paid them rent. And some of those tenants then sublet to labourers and tradesmen.  But don’t expect to find lists of employees in the Richardson papers. They weren’t in business in that way.

Depending on how interested you are in the subject, you might find: “Researching Farming ancestors in Ireland” by Dr William Roulston helpful (published in 2021).

Elwyn;

I'd heard of the Registry of Deeds, but didn't know how to find it.  Since they changed the workings on LDS site - I'm assuming you mean Familysearch.org - I have had a devil of a time trying to use it - no matter how I do my query I can;t find anything anymore - all the records that used to be there are no longer there - I've been trying to update my research from years ago and am hitting brick walls on the LDS site, but I will try for the Registry of Deeds and see what I can find.  Thanks for the heads up on the Richardson papers in the PRONI site catalogue - I'll check that too!  Until I get further information about William BLAIR, bc 1780, then I can't get back into Scotland where the BLAIRs came from - as far as I know it was Ayrshire, at or near Kilbirnie parish, but I'll have to wait and see what I can discover that will take me back there.  Thanks again.

Sher