Whinery (Whinnery) Family 1690 Ballyhagan/Richhill

The Quakers kept fairly good records in Ireland. There are copies of most of their Irish records on findmypast. There are also copies on microfilm in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast.

As far as I can see there are just 2 Whi(n)nery records in that collection. An Elizabeth Whinnery died in May 1726 in Dublin.

A Thomas Whinnery of Kilmore married on 4th Jan 1706 or 23rd Jan 1706 (depending on which record set you use) at Ballyhagan meeting to Kettren (Catherine) Smith of Ballyhagan, Co Armagh.

Witnesses:

William Brownloe

William Gray

John Williamson

William Richardson

John Anderson

James Tough

Benjamen Macky

James Stevenson

Robert Delapp

James Brownloe

Samuell Murphy

Samell Gray

Henry Clarke

Francis Hobson

John Smith

James Smith

Charles Woods

Robert Morrow

Henry Redford

James Fox

William Foster

John Stevenson

Robert Barns junr

Nicholas Barns

John Brownloe

Mary Smith senr

Mary Smith

Rose Smith

Eliz Barns

Abigail Gray

Mary Gray

Hanah Stevenson

Eliz Shepherd

Ann Morrow

Elinor Stevenson

Whinnery is not a native Irish name and it is likely that the family moved from England to Ireland in the 1600s for business reasons.

Thank you Elwin.  In the 1967 book "Guide to Irish Quaker Records 1654-1860," by Olive C. Goodbody, there are records shown for the Ballyhagan and Grange near Charlemont meetings dating to the late 17th Century and early 18th Century. The book notes at the time of the book's publication, 1967, that the records were kept at 6 Eustice Street, Dublin. I find the records were moved sometime after 1967, but I have been unable to find to where they have been moved.  Would you know, Edwin, or anyone else know?  

Yes, I believe the Whinery folks moved into Northern Ireland before 1690, from likely the Cumberland area (now Cumbria) of England.  

Respectfully, Eric

Kansas,

There’s a copy held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast and the Friends Provincial Office in Lisburn also has a copy. This is what the PRONI guide to church records says:

"(e) The Religious Society of Friends (or Quakers) 

The Religious Society of Friends began in Ulster in the mid-17th century, settling mainly around Lisburn, Co. Antrim, and Lurgan, Co. Armagh. From the beginning there was a strong emphasis on recordkeeping. George Fox, the founder of the Society, advised every meeting to keep a record of its business and also to keep registers of births, marriages and burials. The records are very complete and for most monthly meetings they exist almost continuously from the date of origin. 

Apart from registers of births [not baptisms, as baptism was not practised by the Society of Friends], marriages and burials, the Society of Friends also maintained a number of other unique types of records. Records of sufferings detail the penalties endured for the religious beliefs (for example, they often suffered for non-payment of tithes). There are copies of removal certificates, given when members transferred to other societies, and testimonies of disunity from those who committed offences contrary to church rules (for example, marrying outside the Society, failure to pay debts or drinking to excess). Minutes record in great detail the work, organisation and oversight of meetings, including details about sufferings and records of births, marriages and deaths (sometimes arranged by family name). Wills and inventories throw a great deal of light on social conditions and on rural and domestic life because they list household and farm equipment. 

PRONI has copied all the records at the Lisburn Meeting House which include not only those of Lisburn, but of Lurgan, Ballyhagen and Richhill in Co. Armagh, Grange near Charlemont, Co. Tyrone, Antrim, and Cootehill, Co. Monaghan. They are to be found under the reference code MIC16. In the last century indexes were made of the early registers of monthly meetings and these contain abstracts of all births, marriages and deaths up to 1859. Thereafter, new abstract registers were kept. Another valuable search aid is a list [Jones Index] of every surname occurring in the registers of the Society of Friends in Ireland and showing the monthly meeting in which each name appears. All of these are available at the Dublin Friends' Historical Library." 

I have used those records at PRONI. They are on microfilm and it can take quite a bit of time to go through them. The births, deaths & marriages are interspersed with details of the regular meetings and other business. So you have to trawl through quite a lot of microfilm if you are searching say 30 or 40 years. Allow several hours.

Thanks again, Elwyn!  I've reached out to PRONI.  Eric

Kansas/Eric,

PRONI charge about £50 for 30 mins research, and they generally don’t do sweeping searches (eg all records relating to Whinery). You might find  other researchers cheaper. Check the sgni site http://sgni.net/