Glasgow

Ellen,

Researching ancestors born in the mid 1700s can be very difficult due to the lack of records.  Very few churches in Co. Tyrone have baptism records for someone born in 1769.

You have said that you don’t know where in the county Robert comes from, but you also say that you found him as some sort of deacon in Derryloran church. Can you be sure that it’s the correct Robert? Glasgow is a fairly common surname and there may have been several people of that same name alive at the same time. (I looked in the 1901 census of Co. Tyrone and there were 3 people named Robert Glasgow living in the county then. So it would have been similarly common in the 1760s).

Derryloran’s parish records start in 1795, so if Robert married in 1798, you might expect to find Margaret’s baptism in those records 1798 onwards. If she is not there, then it would make me wonder if you have the right family. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, after which she’d attend her husband’s, so it’s not unusual to find that a marriage was in one church and the children’s baptisms in another. Obviously if bride & groom both happened to attend the same church, then that’s irrelevant.

There was at least 1 Glasgow family attending Derryloran in the late 1700s as there’s a baptism of James G to Wm & Mary G on 21.8.1799. The 1766 religious census also has 3 Glasgows, 2 James & 1 John in the parish. They were all apparently Church of Ireland and all lived in Drumearn townland:

https://cotyroneireland.com/census/1766derryloran.html

I say apparently because I don’t see any Presbyterians (ie Dissenters) in that list and there were large numbers of Presbyterians living in the parish then, so I am not certain the list is 100% accurate.

I searched the PRONI name base and found a Robert Glasgow of Loy who died around 1823.  Probate was granted on his estate on 19.5.1823. He was a gentleman (ie of independent means). So if he’s the same Robert who was the Derryloran deacon, he was still in Ireland in 1823.

Do you know your Robert’s exact denomination? I mention that because looking at the 1901 census, many of the Glasgows in Tyrone, including 1 Robert, were Presbyterian. Maybe your Robert wasn’t Church of Ireland?

You mention hoping for matches through DNA. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. If you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Elwyn,

Thank you so much for your reply.  I would like to continue this conversation and hopefully maybe together we can find the right Robert Glasgow.

1.  You stated there were very few churches in County Tyrone that have baptism records born in 1769, I have not found any Tyrone Church Baptisms.   Do you know of any that I can search?

2.  Derryloran is the only place that I was able to find a Robert as a deacon and I have no confirmation that he is the correct Robert.  I did not find baptism record for Margaret in Derryloran where Robert was deacon.   

3,.  Thank you for the info on the tradition of where a couple would marry.  Unfortunately, I do not know the brides (Elizabeth) family name. 

4.  I have no idea whether this wm and Mary attending in Derryloran is any relation.  Robert had 2 boys that I know of named John and Wm.   He had 2 girls that I know of named Margaret and Nancy.   I think this name was the name of the Bride's mother.

5.  As to religion - in 1803 John the son of Robert and Elizabeth was baptised at the Reformed church in Fonda, New York.   When they lived in Lewis County, I find family marriages in the Presbyterian Church and when Elizabeth died she was attending a methodist church with her son, William.  No mention of Robert anywhere attending a church.  His son John is completely lost in the records after 1803 baptism.  I do find a James in Lewis County not picking up his mail in the 1820's.   So I cannot find James anywhere in records but  he too might be another son.

6.  Yes there are alot of conflicts already and I haven't even got to Ireland yet.   I am just trying to cover all bases before I do arrive.

7.  Yes I have already did my dna thru Family Tree DNA and found no matches at this time for Ireland but Thank you for the info.

8.   Thank you for info on FHS and DNA, I will be visiting them also.

If you have any more suggestions, I would totally appreciate it.   It seems the name Glasgow in Ireland is more frequent than I thought but different enough I should be able to find the correct Glasgow, Robert and his wife Elizabeth.

Ellen

Ellen,

Regarding baptism records for Co Tyrone, there are some on-line on rootsireland (subscription site) but they don’t have them all. Many of the baptism records for the Church of Ireland and other Protestant churches are not on-line at all. The most comprehensive set is held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. They have copies of most of the surviving records for that county and the other 8 counties of Ulster. They are not on-line and you have to go in person to search them.

Here’s a link to a map of all the 43 parishes in Tyrone:

https://www.ancestryireland.com/civil-parish-maps-for-ulster/civil-parishes-of-county-tyrone/

If you then go to the PRONI catalogue, you can see what records exist for each parish and the years they cover:

http://www.proni.gov.uk/guide_to_church_records.pdf

Excluding Roman Catholic churches, there are probably somewhere around 200 of various other denominations in the county (eg Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist etc). However many, if not most, don’t have any records for the 1700s so that will reduce your search considerably.

Most of the records are on microfilm. The PRONI staff will show you how to find them and how to use the microfilm readers. Some of the older records can be quite hard to read at times.

Elwyn,

Thank you for all your information on Glasgow.   My trip to Northern Ireland was great and I did get to PRONI but I did not find my Robert and Elizabeth Glasgow.   I found the Robert listed as a deacon but he is not my Robert.   I am beginning to think that even tho there are an enormous amount of Glasgows in Tyrone County, there are other Glasgows around Ireland.   So I am starting a search in other Ireland Counties.

Your information was valueable to me and thank you.

Ellen Yost Blakeslee (Glasgow 5x grandfather)