Crawfords of Dromara

Rosslyn,

Possibly you are familiar with Rosdavies’ site. If not the James Crawford-Eliza Murray is listed there. 1844 in Dromara RC chapel.

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/C/Crawford.htm

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, so that’s probably the Murray family church. Unfortunately their records only start in 1844 so you won’t find Eliza’s baptism there. James & Eliza’s daughter Agnes baptism is in the Dromara RC baptism records for 29.7.1845. Their townlands then was “M’bane” which will be Moneynabane (near Crossgar). The modern Moneynabane Rd goes through the middle of it.

There are several Crawford households in Moneynabane in Griffiths Valuation for 1863 including a James and a Patrick.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

No Crawfords there by 1901 but there was one Murray family. Related perhaps?

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Down/Crossgar/Munninabane/

The Murray family evidently were RC. You haven’t said what denomination the Crawfords were but if they too were RC and came from that same parish the lack of records will hamper your research. However hopefully we have identified the townland where they lived, so that may help.

What was James Crawford senior’s occupation as per his sons death certificates? We could then compare that information with Griffiths and the tithe applotment records. There were 2 Crawford farms in Moneynabane in 1828, one held by Enos (which is likely Eneas) and the other by James. Both appear in Griffiths in 1863 too. So that might be James senior.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/dromara-parish.php

Thanks Elwyn for you reply.

I did see Ros’s website and need to go thru it again with a fine tooth comb. 

William’s father’s occupation was given as a crofter on William’s death certificate. They were RC. We found baptismal records for William’s children in both the Catholic and Church of Scotland baptismal registers. William gave his place of birth on one of the Scottish Censuses as Drumary and I wasn’t sure whether it was Dromore or Dromara until I had found his brother, James. This led me to the Dromara Parish registers. I was disappointed that they only commence in 1844. 

James Snr would have been born circa 1780/90 so I was doubtful the James in the Griffiths valuations was ours and it certainly wasn’t James Jnr as he was in Scotland by 1848 as his son, James was born in Newburgh, Fife, that year. I did find in the Dromara registers an Agnes Crawford dying in 1844 aged 57 and a James Crawford aged 67. However, I have no way of know whether these are my Crawfords. Oh well I’ll keep digging.

Thank you for help.

Rosslyn 

Rosslyn,

You do have 1 piece of firm information to go on which is Agnes’ baptism in Moneynabane in 1844 which fits the information you gave perfectly. That’s an agricultural area so fits with the information you gave perfectly. I’d be surprised therefore if that’s not where James & Eliza are from. That area was full of farms big and small so that also fits with William’s father being a crofter. (Crofter is not a term used in Ireland but it would fairly accurately describe some of the smaller subsistence level farms here).

The problem you face is the general lack of records in Ireland at the time you need. The censuses 1821 to 1851 were all lost in the 1922 fire in Dublin and apart from parish records, there’s not a lot of other records to search.

Anyway, good luck.