Hugh Wilson Ireland-Australia

Dear Robin:  

Thank you for your message to the Ireland Reaching Out message board and welcome to the site.  We have several Northern Ireland volunteers who may be able to assist you and I have copied them with your post.  If you need further assistance, please email me directly at:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com.  

Kind regards,  

Jane

Robin,

I am one of IRO’s volunteers for Northern Ireland. Unfortunately I will be out of the country in August and so not able to meet your daughter. Hopefully Bob may be able to assist though.

I did look at the records for Drumkeeran around the time your ancestors were there.  The tithe applotment records show just 2 Robert Wilson farms in the parish in 1832. Both were in the townland of Muckross or Muckros. One was held by Robert Wilson senior and the other by Robert junior. So very possibly father & son.

The tithes only listed people with land. So if your Robert was a farmer, then this could be where he lived. If however he was a labourer or some other profession without land, then he wouldn’t be listed in the tithes.

By the time of Griffiths Valuation in 1862, there was just one Wilson farm in the townland. It was plot 11, a 3 acre farm (so very small, even by Irish standards). The tenant was Catherine Wilson. Usually where a woman is shown as tenant of a farm she’s a widow. Her name remains as tenant till 1871 when she is replaced by Frances Wilson. He in turn was replaced by Isabella Gillinane (or similar) in 1896, and then by Gordon Armstrong. There are no Wilsons in the townland in the 1901 census.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Fermanagh/Drumrush/Muc…

The farm today is on the Muckros Rd, a mile or so west of Kesh. You can see where it is by using the maps on the Griffiths Valuation site.

The burial records for Ardess list a Catherine Wilson of Muckross being buried 12.5.1847 (no age recorded).  I also see a death for a Catherine Wilson on 5th June 1873 aged 82, who might be the person who appears in Griffiths. You can view the original certificate 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.

The local Church of Ireland records start in 1801, so should contain Hugh's baptism, which may confirm whether Muckross was his townland. There's a copy in PRONI in Belfast where they can be viewed free. The local chruch appears to hold the originals but if you ask to see them expect to pay, as the Church of Ireland normally charges for access.

Thank you for your research. As both Hughs parents were desceased when he came to Ausgtralia, I guess the 1847 burial is the correct one. Would there still be a headstone at St Marys Church? Also my cousin sent me from Sydney, some time ago, Census records for Drumkeeran in 1901 of a Wilson family at House 4, "Derrynieve" with John Wilson aged 39 as head and also House 5, "Drummoney" with George Wilson aged 63. Is it possible these were relatives of Hugh who remained in the home country. Then I went trying unsuccesswfuly, to find this. found in 1901 Census, Wilson, Aunt, widowed birth year 1831, family membwrs Robert, Cassie, Tomie, last names Pollock, Wilson, McGuire, Neely. census.nationalarchives ie /pages 1901/Fermanagh/Newparton/Knocknamoul1353309. Does this mean following: Robert Pollock, Cassie Wilson, Tomie Neely, I can't quite put it together right, Could they be family members. Also when I clicked onto Fermanagh Parish on your site, a Margaret Wilson came up, daughter of Thomas Wilson b. 1928, and we believe Hugh had brothers and sisters. One matches this date.

Another cousin sent me the following:

William Wilson born 31 Dec 1814, John Wilson born 22 Aug 1817, Mary Anne Wilson born 2 Oct 1825, Thomas (or Francis) Wilson born 8 Jun 1828, Henry Wilson born 3 Nov 1830, Hugh Wilson born Jan 1830. County fo Fermanagh, Bap Hugh 2 Feb 1834 PRONI 1/37/1-RCB film 222. Then Bap Parish Church Congregation, Catherine Little 5 Feb 1792, and Anne Little 25 Nov 1806 St Michan Dublin. Could this be our Catherine and her sister.

Found somewhere, death Robert Wilson 7 July 1834, just a few months after Hugh born, then found John Wilson b 1824 in Vaughan Charity school in 1834. Think this could John who I match up with DNA with Jeff Clark in USA who I told about this site and he has joined also. Hoping you can confirm if anything of this is correct and may lead to living descendants. Thank you, Robin.

Robin,

I don’t know if there’s a headstone in St Mary’s churchyard. The burial information comes from church burial records, not from a gravestone transcription. Only wealthier people could afford a gravestone in the mid 1850s, so the majority of the population were buried without one.  But you never know.  Unless anyone happens to have transcribed the gravestones there (they may be on some of the pay to view sites), you may need to get someone to search the graveyard for you.

I can’t say whether the Wilson families in Derrynieve and Drummoney may be related to your family, other than to mention that it’s a very common surname in Fermanagh. In the 1901 census there were 569 people of that name in the county.  Derrynieve and Drummoney are both in Drumkeeran parish, so they might be related or it could just be that they all share a common surname. (Wilson is a Border Reiver surname, and very common in Fermanagh. It was heavily settled by Scots from the Borders in the 1600s. Hundreds of Wilsons moved to Ireland at that time. Not all would be related to each other).

You say you couldn’t find the 2 entries in the census. Here they are:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Fermanagh/Drumkeeran/Derrynieve/1353911/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Fermanagh/Drumkeeran/Drummoney/1353933

The 1901 census you found for Knocknamoul lists a Robert Pollock who was a single man. He was a farmer and lived with his aunt (Mrs. Wilson is all they put on the census) and 2 servants – Cassie Maguire and Tomie (Tommy) Neely. Presumably Robert’s mother had a sister who married a Mr Wilson.

The church records you have referred to (MIC1/37) are those for Drumeekran Church of Ireland. As I mentioned in my post on 14th July, they have been copied and are held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast, under that reference number.  They are not on-line there, and you (or your daughter) need to go in person to look them up. Or you could get a researcher to do it for you.

The 1792 and 1806 baptisms you have mentioned were in Dublin, some 120 miles from Fermanagh. I very much doubt they are connected to your family. I suspect someone has been searching on-line databases and making matches based solely on names (which are all very common ones), and not taking into account geography. Not all church records have survived and of those that do exist, not all are on-line. In this particular case, Drumkeeran has no records before 1801 so if your ancestor was born there around 1792, there’s probably no record of their baptism to find.

I think you shoudl start by searching for Hugh’s baptism in Drumkeeran church records. If you can find it an d pinpoint the townland that the family lived in, then you have a chance of working forward from that definite information. Otherwise it’s guesswork, and with it being such a common surname in the area, you need to be very sure of finding the right family. 

Thank you for your help. I have written to both PRONI and ordered Hugh baptism records, whichthey won't be available to search for 20 days, but will get back to me. and also bought some points from GRONI so hope to get some church records for Hugh Wilson and Catherine Little death. I will go to Family History Assn on Monday and hope they willbe able to help me do this. I will let you know how I get on. I googled St Marys Church Ardrass, but couldn't find it. Is it still there? or has it changed its name. As my daughter is staying in Drumkeerin, thought she might be able to see church records, but I wanted to contact them first to ask their permission for her to visit and maybe photograph details. However I couldnt find church details to contact them. Can you help. Looking forward to hearing from you. Robin.

St Mary’s church is still functioning. Here’s the Rector and Curates’ contact details:

https://www.ireland.anglican.org/find-a-church/parish/10930/magheraculmoney-st-mary-kesh

If your daughter is staying in Drumkeeran she can certainly contact the church and ask to see the parish records. However as I mentioned in an earlier message the Church of Ireland normally charges a fee for that facility (whereas the same records are available free in PRONI in Belfast). The fee used to be around £12 (sterling) an hour but it may have changed. If she wishes to see the original church records, she’ll need to phone and make an appointment. No e-mail is given on the contact details so the church may not have an e-mail address, or at least not a public one. (Not all Ministers use e-mail).

Drumkeeran:

https://www.ireland.anglican.org/find-a-church/parish/10770/drumkeeran-tubrid

The church is near Kesh.