Simpson family information

Scott,

I’d be very surprised if the family lived in Co Antrim and were buried in Inishmacsaint. It’s about 120 miles between the two and in the early 1800s that would have been a very long and expensive journey, taking a body there for burial. It would have taken 5 or 6 days. Tradition was (and still is) to bury someone 3 days after death and most people were buried within a few miles of their home.

The names Simpson and Neely are both common around Ahoghill so it’s quite possible the family lived there before they emigrated. The 1766 census of Ahoghill has survived and it lists a Robert Sympson, 3 Johns and a William. Likewise there’s a William McNealy, John McNeal and a Widow Neely. (McNeal(y), Meneely & Neely are all the same name. Mc & O prefixes are optional and were often dropped or used at whim).

http://www.ulsterancestry.com/free/ShowFreePage-48.html

The census just listed heads of household, so your William born 1750 wouldn’t be listed himself but he could have been part of one of the homes mentioned.

All the above were Presbyterians (which is not surprising since 80% of the population of Ahoghill was Presbyterian). And it was Presbyterians who formed the bulk of the migrants who left Ireland in the 1700s. Being Presbyterian generally indicates Scottish origins. According to the Ordnance Survey memoirs of 1836, the area around Ahoghill was heavily settled in the 1640s by Scots who decided to stay in Ireland after General Munro’s 10,000 strong Scottish army was disbanded at Carrickfergus following the 1641 uprising.

This website takes you to transcriptions of most of the legible graves in the Ahoghill area:

http://thebraid.com/genealogy.aspx

There aren’t many from the 1700s or early 1800s. Most of the older graves are no longer legible plus most people were buried without a gravestone then.

None of the churches in Ahoghill has any records for the 1700s so tracing this family will  be very difficult if that is where they originated.

Elwyn,

Thank you very much for your response and information. Given that my ancestors were common people and of little means I had doubts I would be able to find much about them. Was it common for parents to stay behind while all the children left for America? That seems quite strange that the young children would immigrate while the parents stayed behind, never to join the children. But, I appreceiate the infromation you provided.

Scott Simpson

Scott,

Yes it was quite common for the parents to stay behind, often with the eldest son (who would inherit the farm in due course). People tend to migrate in their 20s. Folk in later life are less keen to make that sort of change and so weren’t as enthusiastic as their children. There were exceptions of course. If there was no one to look after the parents they sometimes went with the children and in some cases in the 1700s the local Minister encouraged whole communities to go. But in general plenty of parents remained.

Elwyn,

Thank you again, very much for your information. It has been very helpful and insightful. I appreceiate you taking your time to pass along your knowledge of Irish ancestry. Thank you.

Scott Simpson