Williamson/Stevenso/Stephenson Ancestors Came to Canada before 1842

You haven’t said what denomination(s) the couple were but from both surnames I’d expect them to be Church of Ireland or Presbyterian, especially if from what is now Northern Ireland.

Statutory registration of non RC marriages started in Ireland in April 1845. I have searched those records 1845 – 1850 but cannot find a marriage for them. So that suggests they either married prior to April 1845 or outside Ireland.

There is a townland called Ballynewry in the parish of Mullaghbrack (sometimes Mullabrack). In Co Armagh.

The tithe applotment records (lists of those with land) for 1834 don’t list any Williamsons or Stephensons in that townland. But if the family were labourers or had some other trade without land they still might have been there.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/armagh/tithe-applotments/mullaghbrack-parish.php

Griffiths Valuation c 1860 does not have any Stephensons in Ballynewry but there was a Thomas Williamson. He had plot 21a which was a labourer/weaver’s house. He was deleted in 1869 which suggests perhaps that he had died around that time (or had moved). There are 2 possible deaths in that area that might be that man. One on 26.12.1867 aged 72, and the other 13.6.1869 aged 64, both registered in Armagh. You might want to check those out. You can view the original certificates on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option. You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate: 

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

Statutory birth, death and marriage registration (in some jurisdictions called Vital Records) only started in Ireland in 1864, save for non RC marriages which were recorded from 1845 onwards. So you probably won’t find statutory birth, death or marriage certificates in Ireland for this family. For earlier years you usually need to rely on church records, where they exist.  Ideally you need to know the precise denomination and have some idea of where the person was born in order to search the correct records. Not all churches have records for that period and not all are on-line. 

RC records are mostly on-line on the nli site:   

https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

For other denominations, the churches usually hold the originals but there are also copies in PRONI, the public record office, in Belfast. A personal visit is required to access them. Access to the records there is free. This link explains what records exist, parish by parish:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records

If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

A Joseph Williamson was baptized 1 Feb 1824 in Armagh CI parish in Co. Armagh. Parents: John Williamson, Mary. John was a weaver. Family lived in “Shanerods,” which is probably a mistranscription for the townland of Shanroe.

A Sarah Stephenson was baptized 7-Dec-1821 in Tandragee Methodist parish in Co. Armagh. Parents: Robert Stephenson, Mary.

These baptisms were found on RootsIreland. I can't say that these are the people you are looking for, but they might be. Look at the names of their parents--did Joseph and Sarah have children John, Mary, Robert? This might be a clue.

Good luck.

Test

I've been trying to post replies to your kind replies for my cries for assistance. Every time I try to post I see the following message:

"The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later."

So I posted the test message and that worked. Any suggestions about what I'm doing wrong?

The above message has come through fine, so I would assume the problem has resolved itself.

I'm guessing the message might be to long. I'm notoriously long winded. I'll try messaging half at a time. Here's the first part

****** I made a mistake in my first post Joseph and Sarah's first child was born in 1842 not 1847 *****

For Patricia: thank you for that info! That's the closest to the right birthdates that I've seen.

As far as the names of children their names were very unique  Margaret, Mary, Joseph, Ellen, John, William, James, Sarah. Original right?

When my great grandfather John started his family they used almost all the same names but they had more kids so there was a David, Emma, Earl and Alan in addition. 

You didn’t say what denomination the family was but if Church of Ireland then Mullaghbrack lost most of its records in the 1922 fire in Dublin. It only has baptism, marriage and burial records for the following years:.

Baptisms, 1764-83 and 1799-1811; marriages, 1767-83 and 1798-1811; deaths, 1732-62 (5 entries);

There is some coverage at rootsireland but I don’t know which years. But as you’ll see the years you need are missing. The marriage records resume in 1845 and baptisms in 1875, but there are no baptisms for the 1820s and no marriages for the 1830s and early 1840s.

The nearest Methodist church is probably Markethill. It has baptisms from 1830 but no marriages before 1866. Pre 1866 Methodists in that area would have used the Church of Ireland to marry in.

The Markethill Methodist baptism records are still held by the local Minister so you would need to contact him/her to get them searched.

But if the family was Church of Ireland and did originate in Mullaghglass, as your contact stated, then there are probably no records of them in Ireland any more. Sorry about that.

Ballynewry is 413 acres in size. In the 1901 census there were 23 houses there with a total population of 67. With the exception of a butcher and a couple of cobblers, more or less everyone in the townland was engaged in agriculture or linen making. The modern Marlacoo Rd runs through the middle of it today.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Armagh/Hamiltons_Bawn/Ballynewry/

http://www.placenamesni.org/resultdetails.php?entry=10456

Re: the Williamson family from County Armagh

       Denomination: Baptist or Methodist. This u

        Most of the men that were of age belonged to the Orange Lodge if that might help.