Hi, I was wondering if anyone any info on the following family before they came to Australia in 1854:
The words that are in red are not confirmed.
TIA Lin
Lin
Thursday 16th Jun 2022, 03:38AMMessage Board Replies
-
Lin,
The parish of Tullylish is in Co Down, not in Co Antrim.
I looked in the statutory marriage records on Irishgenealogy for a marriage between James Sturgeon & Susan Boyce anywhere in Ireland 1845 – 1854 but did not find it. (There were 5 James Surgeon marriages but they were to Mary Arrell, Rebecca Johnson, Eliza Irvine, Mary McCreedy & Eliza McClean. None of those names coincides with any of Susanna’s names, and none of the fathers were named Ezekiel).
I note that 2 of the children were born in Sayle which I assume to be in Ireland since the births were in 1848 & 1852. I can’t find anywhere named Sayle in Antrim or Down. Saul is the nearest. It’s near Downpatrick in Co. Down.
Griffiths Valuation (1864) lists an Ezekiel Sturgeon in Ballydugan townland which is in the parish of Tullylish. That Ezekiel had a house, garden and half an acre in Ballydugan. His first wife appears to have died pre 1851 as he remarried then to Sally Dawson nee Hamilton. (Death registration only started in 1864 so finding deaths before that can be challenging).
She died too and so he remarried again in 1865 to Anne Rogers:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_re…
Ezekiel died in 1875 aged 82 (which fits with the year of death you have in your notes). He was a weaver, and his last wife was still alive then:
There was an Elizabeth Sturgeon death in Ballydugan but who was married to William Sturgeon who I’d guess was closely related to Ezekiel as he lived next door.
There was 1 Sturgeon family in Ballydugan in the 1901 census, a family of weavers:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Down/Tullylish/Ballydugan/1243640/
The head of household Edward was the son of a Samuel Sturgeon. Edward married Margaret England in 1878:
The Sturgeon families in Ballydugan look to have been Church of Ireland. Tullylish Church of Ireland’s birth and marriage records start in 1820, burials in 1829. There’s a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast and some years records are on the rootsireland site (subscription). You could search them to see if your James is listed as born there. Various trees on Ancestry give his date of birth as 3rd March 1822 but no source is given.
You’ll find plenty of Ballydugan and Tullylish Sturgeons on this site:
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/S/StuSy.htm
Map of Tullylish parish:
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/MAPS/TullylishTownlands.htm
I found marriages for 2 children of Ezekiel Sturgeon of Ballydugan. The first was Elizabeth Jane born c 1830 who married John Lockhart in 1850:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_re…
The second was a George Sturgeon who married Sarah England. Both were living in Hacknahay, in Seagoe parish:
Edward Sturgeon married Margaret England in 1878 so possibly some family connection there.
The trees on Ancestry generally credit Ezekiel with 6 children, 2 of whom died in Canada.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Thursday 16th Jun 2022, 05:28PM