James and/or Richard Thornton, County Armagh

Greg,

There aren’t many records for Co. Armagh in the early 1800s. Statutory registration didn't start until 1864. Prior to that you have to rely on church records. Not all parishes have records and of those that do, not all are on-line. So it can be difficult.

You haven’t said what denomination your family were. 

The tithe applotment records list those with land. So servants, labourers and others without land aren’t listed but farmers usually are. If your ancestors were farmers, then they could be in the tithes. Here’s a list of Thorntons in Armagh around 1830, so potentially useful areas to focus on:

Thornton, Alexander-- Townland : Artabrackey Year : 1828-Drumcree-Armagh

Thornton, Anne-- Townland: Toneyvalton Year: 1833-Kilmore-Armagh

Thornton, David-- Townland : Drumnakelly Year : 1828-Drumcree-Armagh

Thornton, George-Townland: Lurgan Town Year: 1833-Shankill-Armagh

Thornton, George-Townland: Tullyglush Nevin Year: 1827-Tynan-Armagh

Thornton, Henry-- Townland : Artabrackey Year : 1828-Drumcree-Armagh

Thornton, Henry-- Townland : Ballyworkin Year : 1828-Drumcree-Armagh

Thornton, James-- Townland: Clonlum Year: 1834-Killevy-Armagh

Thornton, James-- Townland: Clonlum Year: 1834-Killyman-Armagh

Thornton, John-- Townland : Drumgreenagh Year : 1825-Derrynoose-Armagh

Thornton, John-- Townland : Foy More Year : 1828-Drumcree-Armagh

Thornton, John-- Townland: Clonlum Year: 1834-Killyman-Armagh

Thornton, John-- Townland: Clonlum Year: 1835-Killevy-Armagh

Thornton, John-- Townland: Toneyvalton Year: 1833-Kilmore-Armagh

Thornton, Major - Townland: Tullyard Year: 1832--Grange-Armagh

Thornton, Michl.-- Townland : Rassan Year : 1828-Creggan-Armagh

Thornton, Neal-- Townland: Clonlum Year: 1834-Killevy-Armagh

Thornton, Neal-- Townland: Clonlum Year: 1835-Killyman-Armagh

Thornton, Owen-- Townland : Madden Year : 1825-Derrynoose-Armagh

Thornton, Philip-- Townland : Rassan Year : 1828-Creggan-Armagh

Thornton, R.-- Townland: Legarhill Year: 1832-Grange-Armagh

Thornton, R.-- Townland: Mullynure Year: 1832-Grange-Armagh

Thornton, William-- Townland : Fernaloy Year : 1825-Derrynoose-Armagh

Have you been able to find marriage or death records for James & Richard? If so, do they contain details of their parents? That would be very helpful to try and trace the families.

Markethill is split between the parishes of Mullaghbrack & Kilclooney. If you know the Thorntons denomination, I’ll advise what parish records exist.

Researching in Ireland in the 1700s and early 1800s is very hard going due to the general lack of records. If you don’t know where they lived it’s a needle in a haystack. Ideally you need to know the person’s exact denomination and the townland or parish they lived in to have any chance of finding them, and even then there may not be any records for that location.

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, 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,

  Great thanks for all of this information. James Thornton was a Catholic, Richard as well, as were all of my Thornton ancestors, so that narrows down the field somewhat.I have come across some Baptismal records for a few  Thorntons in County Armagh, though the birth years do not match, though they are just a few years apart from 1819.No Richards yet. I have both of their residences in the US Censuses, Wilmington, Delaware, which is how I discovered them in the first place, plus death records and family members. I am in touch with an Oliver Thornton whose DNA matches both James and Richard, but not me. My guess is we may match, but quite distantly. We may be looking at cousins, not brothers,in the case of James and Richard Thornton to my Edward (1828) and Charles (1825) Thornton born in Dublin to Hugh and Eliza Long Thornton and baptized at St. Nicholas (Without) on Francis Street, Dublin.

Again great thanks. The search continues...

Greg Thornton

The problem you face is that not all RC parishes have any records for 1819. No easy way around that. I have attached a link to a site that shows you all the RC parishes in Armagh. Markethill is split between the RC parishes of Ballymore and Ballymacnab. 

https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/counties/rcmaps/armaghrc.php#maps/

Ballymore has baptisms for 1798 – 1802 and then none till 1843. Ballymacnab’s start in 1820. Apart from DNA testing there are few solutions if there are simply no records to search.