One of the enduring brick walls in my genealogy is a great-great-great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Frazer, who was born in Laois (then Queen’s County, of course) on Nov. 12, 1808, and later emigrated to Canada. I am in Canada and have so far found no Irish or Canadian records online that have been any help in figuring out what parish or townland she might have been born in, nor the names of either of her parents, but I hope that perhaps someone on the message board with deep knowledge of Laois might at least know of pockets of the county that had clusters of Protestant Frazers in the early 19th century.
Elizabeth Frazer was married in Montreal in 1827 to a fellow Irish immigrant, William Robinson, who had emigrated from North Tipperary with his family in 1819. Elizabeth was 18 at the time of her wedding, so almost certainly emigrated to Canada while still a minor, presumably with her parents. Although William Robinson’s family was Church of Ireland, Elizabeth and William’s wedding took place in a Presbyterian church in Montreal, which clearly suggests the bride’s family was Presbyterian (which would not be surprising, of course, given the Scots origins of the Frazer surname).
This is speculative, but since many Irish immigrants in the Americas married into families they had known back in the old country, it’s possible the Frazer and Robinson families knew each other in Ireland. William Robinson’s father was from Clareen, Seir Kieran, County Offaly, and William’s mother was from Borrisokane, North Tipperary -- both of which are not many miles from the western Laois border. So possibly my Frazer forebears were from a Laois parish close to the border with Offaly and/or Tipperary. But that’s just a hunch.
My only other clue is that Elizabeth and William named one of their sons John Frazer Robinson, which points very strongly to her father’s name being John Frazer.
Does anyone know of Laois parishes or townlands with Presbyterian Frazer families living there in the early decades of the 19th century? Or suggestions for how I might track down a Protestant Laois household of the period headed by a John Frazer? Thank you very much!
Kester
Monday 11th Jan 2021, 08:52PMMessage Board Replies
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Patricia
Monday 11th Jan 2021, 10:50PM -
In the mid-1800s, Griffiths Valuation listed the following Frazer heads of household in Laois:
Source Surname First NameTownland Parish CountyGriffithFraser ClononeenOfferlaneCo. Laois
GriffithFraserChristopher GortnaleeDonaghmoreCo. Laois
GriffithFraserRober tGortnaleeDonaghmoreCo. Laois
GriffithFraserRobert KilpurcelDonaghmoreCo. Laois
GriffithFrazerChristopher DunaclegganRathdowneyCo. Laois
GriffithFrazerRobert DunaclegganRathdowneyCo. Laois
You might also look at the Tithe Applotment List to see what townlands Frazers were in.
Patricia
Monday 11th Jan 2021, 10:53PM -
Kester:
The 1827 Tithes for Rathdowney parish showed a Robert Fraser leasing 51 acres of land in Barney which I believe is currently Barny and Belady townland in Rathdowney. There may be a connection to Elizabeth Frazer. http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004625710/00…
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Monday 11th Jan 2021, 11:58PM -
Hi Kester
I might have some thing on the Frazer.s
Can i email you direct
Ballypierce
Tuesday 12th Jan 2021, 05:47PM -
First off, thank you very much, Patricia and Roger, for providing all this information (and so promptly!). Although my immediate Frazers had emigrated before the time of both Griffiths Valuation and the Tithe Applotment Books, the households you've provided certainly give me some promising parishes to look at more closely. I'd say it's pretty likely that I'm related to at least one or two of those Frasers/Frazers you've listed. And I see that Donaghmore and Rathdowney are only a few miles apart, so perhaps most of these families are in fact interconnected. (In my original post I mentioned that my Elizabeth Frazer and her husband named one of their sons John Frazer Robinson -- but they named their fourth and final son Robert Robinson, so I'm interested to see several Robert Frazers/Frasers heading the households you've pinpointed. Possibly another clue for me as a recurring family given name.)
And to Ballypierce, thank you very much as well! I'm more than happy to have you email me directly -- but, although I've been following the Ireland XO website for several years, my posting yesterday was my first one and I'm not sure what all your procedures are. Do I simply put my email address into an open post on the message board, or as a volunteer are you able to access my email address directly? Please let me know the best route.
Thank you all very much again. This is a great help.
Kester
Tuesday 12th Jan 2021, 09:08PM -
Kester:
Patricia and I are volunteers. Not sure about Ballypierce. As volunteers, we are not able to access the e-mail addresses of those individuals like yourself who post messages.
Generally, we recommend that you do not share your personal e-mail address on the message board but in this particular case if you and Ballypierce are going "offline" someone will have to share their e-mail address. All the best!
Roger
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Wednesday 13th Jan 2021, 05:24PM -
Hi Kester.
I have interest in genealogy & I share what I have .I am not sure what there is a way around it without putting your email on this site. What I have is a family tree where one was a Frazer girl from Donaghmore that married in Roscrea .It will not go back as far as you are looking for. Most records started in Ireland only in the 1840.s.
Ballypierce
Wednesday 13th Jan 2021, 08:03PM -
Hello Ballypierce.
This sounds as if it could be promising, even if from a later period.
For security purposes on an open forum, I'll give you a secondary email address of mine that I use only rarely, if you want to contact me directly: waupoos1968@gmail.com.
Thanks for your help.
Kester
Wednesday 13th Jan 2021, 09:28PM