Dick Dysart & Livingston

I presume that the parents details you have for Mary Jane Dysart came from a death certificate. It’s quite common for mistakes to occur on death certificates because the informant may not have known the deceased’s family all that well, if at all. Mistakes over ages and parents names are common. In contrast, a death notice is more likely to be accurate since it was worded by someone who knew the deceased. So my feeling is that Mary Jane Dysart’s parents were James Dysart (who had died by 1871) and Mary Anne (Patterson), as the newspaper item reports. Not John & Mary Anne.

There’s a statutory death certificate for Mary Dysart. Registered in Ballymena, and with a date of death of 2nd Jan 1871, it gives her age as 75. You might get a little more detail from the certificate itself. You can view it on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

If you go to this site, you will find 13 gravestones for Dysarts from Portglenone and surrounding area.

http://thebraid.com/genealogy.aspx

12 are buried in Aughnahoy graveyard which is half a mile out of Portglenone on the Ballymena road. It’s opposite the old Portglenone Catholic church. One Dysart grave is in the Church of Ireland graveyard in Portglenone itself.  Portglenone is in the townland of Garvaghy, and you’ll see that on some of the gravestones.

I found mention of the Dick family from Ballynafie in Portglenone Church of Ireland.

Erected By Thomas Dick of Ballinafie In memory of His son John Meek, who departed this life 29th November 1857; aged 4years also his wife Margaret, who departed this life 11th August 1893; aged 69 years Also the above named Thomas Dick, who departed this life 3rd December 1900; aged 82 years And his son Andrew, departed this life 13th July 1927; aged 83 Also his daughter Jane M. Dick Departed this life 1st May 1947, aged 85 years and his son Thomas Dick, departed this life 6th February 1951, aged 93 years

This looks to be your immediate family:

Here lieth the body of James Dick who departed this life March 14 1802 aged 70 years also Agnes Dick his wife who departed this life Octr 11th 1798 aged 60 years Likewise their son Andrew Dick of Ballinafie Who departed this life 9th February 1819 Aged 72 years And also their son Hugh Dick Who departed this life 22nd May 1855 aged 88 years And his wife Rose Dick Who departed this life 6th August 1868 aged 87 years Also their son James Dick Who died 18th January 1877 aged 72 years.

Judging by the 1901 census, the Dysart families around Portglenone were all Presbyterian. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church so Mary Jane Dysart’s marriage to John Dick was probably in one of the 3 Presbyterian churches in Portglenone. If it was around 1837 then the bad news is that only one of the 3 churches has any marriage records for that period. Portglenone 2nd has marriage records starting in 1822. The other 2 churches don’t have any. They were either never kept or have been lost. There’s a copy of the 2nd’s records in PRONI in Belfast. I don’t think they are on-line anywhere. The church itself closed around 1910 and was demolished some years back. The graveyard is still there though.

Griffiths Valuation for 1862 lists James Dick has having plots 10 & 11 in Ballynafie. That was a total of just over 37 acres, which would provide a comfortable living. That farm today would be just off the Ballynafie Rd between Portglenone and Ahoghill. In the Valuation revision books the tenant around 1901 was Hugh Dick jr. 

Elwyn, many thanks for this information which I will certainly follow up.

Kevin