Mary Fox

Gina,

Statutory registration of births started in Ireland in 1864. In addition to David’s birth on 19.4.1864, I spotted Jane born 22.7.1866 and an un-named brother born 21.10.1868, both at Copney. (In the early years of birth registration it was quite common to register a birth without a name, if one hadn’t been decided upon at that date). My guess is the un-named child was William. No further children after that.

Rootsireland has a record of the parents marriage licence dated 1.1.1842. (That won’t be the actual date of the marriage, just the half of the year it was issued in). No church named on the record. William Cooke died 12.2.1900 at Copney. Mary Cooke (nee Fox) died 15.8.1905 at Copney. Her son William was the informant.

Family in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Armagh/Killymann/Copney/1015588/

And in 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Armagh/Killyman/Copney/323931/

If the censuses are to be believed, Adelaide was born between 1868 and 1871 depending on which one you go by. There is no trace of her birth around that time and I suspect she was being a bit economical with her age and was probably born before 1864, hence the lack of any statutory record.

In the 1901 census, the family is Methodist but I suspect William & Mary’s marriage and baptisms were probably in the Church of Ireland. (The Church of Ireland licence in 1842 also points to a ceremony in that denomination). There are 2 Methodist chapels near Copney, at Moy & Blackwatertown. However neither has any baptism or marriage records before 1874 and that normally indicates that the members were still using the Church of Ireland prior to that. I notice that by 1911, William has gone back to the Church of Ireland.

Copney is in the parish of Clonfeacle. Unfortunately their Church of Ireland records prior to 1869 were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin, so it’s unlikely that you’ll locate William & Mary’s marriage or their baptisms, assuming that’s where those events took place.

I searched the tithe applotment records for Clonfeacle but there were no Cooke farms in Copney or anywhere else in the parish. However William Cooke’s farm is listed in Griffiths Valuation in 1864. It was plot s 21a & b which was just under 16 acres. The farm would be easy enough to locate today should you wish to do so. You can see where it is using the maps on the Griffiths website. It’s on the Clonmore Rd, a few hundred yards south of Clintyclay Primary school.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameS…

Couple of probate abstracts from the PRONI wills site (the wills themselves should be in PRONI in paper format):

Cooke William of Copney county Armagh farmer died 7 March 1935 Probate Belfast 15 July to James Johnston Scott law clerk. Effects £164 2s. 6d.

Cooke Isabella of Copney county Armagh widow died 19 April 1943 Probate Belfast 27 October to the reverend James Egerton rector. Effects £463 10s.

The above abstract suggests William may have married, late in life. There is a marriage between a Wm Cooke and Isabella Gilpin registered in Armagh on 25.12.1926. That might be them. 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.

Both William and his sister Adelaide signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912. You can see their signatures on the Covenant site, and of course it tells you a little about their political views on Home Rule in Ireland (ie they were against it):

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/search-ulster-covenant

I searched for a death for William Fox on 19.4.1871 in Seagoe but did not find one, nor one anywhere near that date. There were 5 Wm Fox deaths in the Lurgan registration area in the period 1864 – 1901. A couple were bachelors and can therefore be rules out but with the others I have no real way of saying whether they are related to Mary or not.

Hi Elwyn....Firstly many thanks for your rapid response and enormous amount of information including the background info re birth dates etc. that you have provided me. I will work on getting my head round it all and sorting out then will check the websites you have provided......Many thanks again....Kind Regards....Gina