New member querying Ann Aiken and William Forbes

Jasper's mum:

You say that William Forbes may have been of Scottish origins and you are not sure whether he was born there or in Ireland. All the names you have provided – Forbes, Aiken & Hutchinson are Scottish names, so they probably all originate in Scotland. Much of the population of Co. Down have Scottish origins.

Something like 200,000 Scots settled in Ireland in the 1600s (about a fifth of the entire population of Scotland), mostly in the counties of Ulster, especially in Co. Down. Even to this day the majority of the population of that county are Presbyterian or Church of Ireland which generally reveals their distant origins in England, Scotland or Wales.

(It’s only about 20 miles across from Donaghadee to Portpatrick in Scotland and so no distance at all. An easy move. In the 1600s, when there was a shortage of Presbyterian Ministers in Co Down, people went to Scotland on Sundays to attend church. It’s that sort of relationship).

Some Scots did arrive in Ireland in the 1700s and 1800s but they were in no great numbers. From the 1700s onwards the Scots settlers were leaving Ireland looking for land and work in the US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. It’s perfectly possible that William did arrive in the early 1800s but if so he’d have been bucking the trend a bit. Statistically his ancestors likely arrived in the 1600s.

There are no migration records for journeys between Scotland & Ireland. It was just a short domestic journey between 2 counties in the same country and no records have ever existed for that sort of travel.

Death and birth registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864. So for William Forbes who you believe was dead by 1849 there will be no birth or death certificate. If you knew where he was baptised it might be possible to search church records – where they still exist – but otherwise it can be difficult.

We know that Ann Aiken was baptised Church of Ireland, and tradition was to marry in the bride’s church (after which she’d attend her husband’s). So we don’t actually know if William was also Church of Ireland. He might have been Presbyterian. It’s the most common denomination in Co. Down and many Scots were Presbyterian.

However if he was Church of Ireland and came from Donaghadee, he should be in their records. They have the following records:

Baptisms, 1771-1893; marriages, 1772-1844; burials,
1771-86 and 1817-41; vestry minutes, 1779-1870; list
of parishioners, 1797.

Indexes to baptisms, 1771-1845, marriages, 1772-
1844, and burials, 1771-1841 are on the library shelves in PRONI.

The Church of Ireland is the only denomination to routinely keep burial records so if he was that denomination you might find his burial in the above records, as well as his baptism.

There are 6 Presbyterian churches in Donaghadee (I said there were a lot of Scots living there). The only ones with records for the period you need are:

1st Donaghadee
Baptisms, 1793-1950; marriages, 1805-06 and 1813-
1936; session and committee minutes, 1783-1826;
index of baptisms, 1793-1921, marriages, 1805-1936,
and communicants, 1879-1916.

Millisle
Baptisms, 1773-1941; marriages, 1845-1936; marriage
notice books, 1845-1941; list of elders and members of
the congregation, 1777; call to the Rev. Hanna signed
by 82 members of the congregation, 1815.

There are copies of all the above records in PRONI in Belfast. A personal visit is required to view them.

You are trying to get a feel for what your Donaghadee ancestors did. Apart from being a small fishing port, and until the 1850s, the main ferry port for travel to Scotland, it was largely agricultural. The tithe applotment records for 1834 list all the farmers in the parish. (The tithes were tax on arable land). There are no Forbes or Aiken households listed so from that you can probably infer they were labourers or other workers with no land. There were some Hutchinsons, so perhaps Elizabeth’s background was farming. Without her father's name it’s difficult to know.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/donaghadee…

I searched Griffiths Valuation (1863) for Donaghadee looking for Aiken households. There were only 2 – Thomas H. & Francis. Both lived in the town of Donaghadee. No sign of an Arthur so I suspect he was dead by that year.

Arthur Aiken isn’t a very common name. I noticed another one, who perhaps might be related:

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/A/AiAl.htm

That Arthur ran a pub in Bangor, though when he married he was a farmer. Here’s his son’s birth certificate:

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

That Arthur’s father was named Michael and farmed in Ballyconnell, Bangor, so there may be no connection:

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

Hi Elwyn,

I am delighted to recieve this information.  Very interesting indeed and certainly gives me a lot to follow up on.  You are very well informed and I appreciate your help!

Kind Regards, Amanda, Jasper's mum :)