Looking for McMullan, Johnston, Ramsay in N Ireland

According to the marriage certificate, John & Margaret were married in Ramoan Church of Ireland. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, so that’s probably the McVicker family church. Margaret’s townland was Ramoan itself, and her father James was a farmer. She was a Mantilla maker (a type of lace). John gave his townland as Armoy, and he was a farmer.   His father John was also a farmer.

Statutory birth registration began in Ireland in 1864. I noted the following children born to that couple:

Isabella 23.12.1866 at Stroan

George 1.9.1868 at Stroan

There were likely other children born between 1852 and 1863 but they won’t have birth certificates because they hadn’t been introduced. You might find baptism records if they still exist but you would need to find the church where they were baptised.

Griffiths Valuation (1861) lists John McMullen jr as farming in Stroan. He had plot 9b which was a half share of 45 acres. Nearby were John McMullen senior jointly farming plot 7 with Daniel McMullan. The family also had some additional land in plots 2 & 3, but they lived in 9 & 7. Plot 9 today is along a dead end lane off the Stroan Rd, on the southern side of Knocklayd mountain.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

There was 1 McMullan farm still there in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Armoy/Stroan/920999/

The above Daniel McMullan married Martha Jane Burns on 5.12.1895. His father was a Daniel McMullan. (So Daniel snr would appear to be a brother to John who married Maragert McVickar).

That family had left by 1911. They had apparently given up farming and moved to Corkey where Daniel was sub-postmaster:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Corkey/Corkey__Middle/128035/

I found this probate abstract on the PRONI wills site:

The Will of John M'Mullan late of Stroan in the County of Antrim Farmer deceased who died 3 July 1861 at same place was proved at Belfast by the oaths of the Reverend John William D'Evelyn of Armoy Glebe Clerk and James M'Bride of Turnarobert Farmer both in the County of Antrim the Executors.

The will itself is also on-line and mentions sons Daniel & John, daughters Jane McMullan and Mary Ann Smith. There’s no mention of the deceased’s wife so she presumably pre-deceased him.

You can use the Valuation revision books on the PRONI website to see when John junior left Stroan (and who replaced him).

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni

Daniel senior (married to Esther) died 28.1.1900 at Stroan. He was 83.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_retu…

Thank  you very much Elwyn!    My next task is to find more info for my Grandfather Johnston's side. He was born 11.16.862 to Andrew Johnston born in 1834, Derry, Cavan and Margaret Jane Ramsay, born 2.1.1841 in Loy, Tyrone and was baptised at the Church of Ireland, Derryloran Parish . 

I especially would like to go back another generation or two and the information I have for that is :  Margaret Jane Ramsay born to Samuel Ramsay and Eliza.  Andrew Johnston born to Andrew Johnston and mother unknown.  I don't have any other information about the Ramsay's and Johnstons.

Thank you again, Allan Ramsay Johnston

Allan,

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church. So Derryloran Church of Ireland was probably the Ramsay family church. Their records start in 1795. They aren’t on-line anywhere so far as I am aware. There is however a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. You need to go in person to look them up, so if you can’t get there yourself, you might need a researcher.

Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

That church might also be the Johnston church, and if so you can try and take that family back using the same records.  What denomination were the Johnston family, do you know?

The 1857 marriage certificate says Andrew Johnston lived in Loy (where he was a baker) and that his father Andrew snr was a farmer. Samuel Ramsay was a cabinet maker. I had a look in Griffiths Valuation (1859) for Andrew in Loy but did not find him. There was a John Johnson with land there (but no house). That was the only Johnson in the townland.  There was a Samuel Ramsay listed in James St, Cookstown. That could well be Margaret’s father. There was an Andrew Johnston in Coagh St, Cookstown. That might be Andrew jnr.

Your information is that Andrew Johnston jnr was born in “Derry, Cavan”.  If that is correct, there are 3 townlands in Cavan called Derry. One is in the parish of Crosserlough, another in Killshandra and the 3rd in Shercock. You would need to go through the church records for each of those parishes to see if there is a baptism that matches. (There are copies in PRONI). I looked in Griffiths Valuation for 1857 and don’t see any Johnston households in any of those townlands in Cavan, so I’d wonder how accurate that is.  In the mid 1800s most people courted locally (unless they were in a trade that involved movement eg policemen stonemason, soldier etc). If Margaret Jane came from Loy, I’d expect her husband to come from the same area too, but I could be wrong.

I noted a Samuel Ramsay death registered in Cookstown in 1869 aged 61. No idea if it’s Margaret’s father but you might want to check it out. 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.

I didn’t find one for Andrew Johnston senior. So either he died before 1864 (when death registration began) or he didn’t live in the area. (I looked in Co Cavan but there weren’t any there either).

Many thanks again Elwyn.  When you said you hadn't found any online records.I wondered if you had ever found this site.  http://www.derryloran.com/ParishReg/index.aspx

I spent many hours scouring through these and did find a lot of info.  One of the things that perked my interest is the number of baptisims (a lot) vs the number of marriages (few).  I just got a chuckle out of that!

Thanks again.........Allan

Allan,

Ah I had missed the Derryloran site. Obviously that will save you quite a bit of research work. I hope you find your families there.

The illegitimacy rate in Ireland in the 1800s was around 5 to 10%. Today it’s around 40%, since marriage has evidently fallen out of fashion. Sex however has evidently not fallen out of fashion.

Yes-sad commentary on society.  I recently connected with a person who found she was connected to my family through her DNA.  Seems my uncle was out taking care of business in the neighborhood and no one knew anything until she had her DNA done.

Seems I am just old fashioned because I believe in the sanctity of marriage and mine was wonderful until my wife passed.

Allan