Henry Lyndon

Randy,

You have put this post under Aghagallon parish but I don?t see any obvious connection with the parish. Is there one? What denomination were your family, as that is key to searching for records on them?

I had a look at the 1901 Irish census. There were just 79 people named Lyndon in Ireland at that time. They were roughly evenly split between RC and Church of Ireland (ie Episcopalian). None at all lived in Co. Antrim. Quite a few were born outside Ireland eg in England and the USA. So, to me, it?s not a name with a big association with Ireland, and even less with Co. Antrim.

Looking at the 1901 English & Wales census, there were 3155 people named Lyndon, so they were much more common there and I?d therefore expect to find that your family probably originated there at some point in their history, prior to their time in Ireland.

I looked at the wills index for Belfast, Armagh & Londonderry. There were 3 Lyndon wills. All were from the 20^th century. One was Church of Ireland Minister, one lived in London and the other in Auckland, New Zealand.

PRONI, the public record office, has 100 Lyndon entries eg Edward Lyndon freeman of Carrickfergus in 1706.

The only reference to a Henry Lyndon I can see in the PRONI index was this:

D509/2520 10 March 1830 Lease of 28 acres 3r. 37? per. I.P.M. for three lives renewable forever - Consideration: ?166.13s.4d. - Rent: ?7.14s.8d. p.a. plus fees of Ezekiel Davys Boyd, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim to Thomas Henry Lyndon, Belfast relating to Ballywoodock, Co. Antrim.

Tracing anyone from the 1700s is pretty hard going due to the general lack of records. Only the major landowners and key individuals eg judges and mayors show up. The rest of the population either didn?t leave any record of their existence, or at least not one which has survived to the current time. So it?s easy to assume that because you have found a mention of a Lyndon in another part of Ireland it must be your family. It might be, but there might have been others whose existence in Ireland just hasn?t been recorded, especially if they didn?t live here very long.

You obviously know that your family embarked from Belfast, but what else do you know about their time in Ireland?

Elwyn

Elwyn,

The reason I chose Anhagallon parish is that it is in co Antrim and Belfast and Carrickfergus are in that county; and most of the early history of the Lyndon's in Ireland starts there. Robert Lyndon came to Carrickfergus , Ireland with Sir Arthur Chichester in 1598, sent by the Earl of Essex to replace his brother John Chichester who was killed in 1597. Robert became High Sheriff and later Mayor of Carrickfergus and married Rose O'Doherty, daughter of Sir "John" Shane O'Doherty, and had four sons-Walter, Roger, Hugh, and Robert (not sure that Robert is correct). Walter was listed as owning property in Knockfergus((Belfast ) but I can find no family(in Ireland ). Hugh had only a daughter -Anne. I found nothing on Robert and I'm not really sure if there was a "Robert".The son Roger also was a sheriff and mayor and also a captain of the castle at Carrickfergus. During the rebellion of 1641 the family mansion and every building on the property was burned while he and about fifty foot soldiers defended the castle. He married Jane Marten and they had several children- Anne McNeal, Letitia Done, Sir John Lyndon, Captain George Lyndon, and Robert Lyndon, all named in a Conner will of Jane Lyndon of Carrickfergus. I have traced the sons of George and know that I am not of that line. Robert married very young and went to debtors prison and I have no other record of him. Sir John was a judge of the Kings Bench and lived in Dublin and in 1681, he appeared seneschal of St. Patricks Cathedral and was 3rd Serjeant in 1682. He and his wife "Lady Eliz" had several children that include five sons. Eldest-Captain John was killed at Limerick in 1691with no issue, Edward- no issue, George- two sons Edward and William-no issue, Richard-in college when father died, and Charles a merchant in Dublin married Isabell Brownrigg (daughter of Henry Brownrigg) and had two sons-Charles(died young of smallpox ) and Henry (abt 1710) who was an apprentice goldsmith in Dublin. This is who I suspect to be the father of my 4th great-grandfather Henry Lyndon 1741-1795. Maybe he went to Belfast just to catch the ship and actually lived in or around Dublin! Do you think I should be looking there? Can we forward this material to someone in Dublin? Thank you for your help and for responding so quickly. 

Randy

Carrickfergus is a parish in it?s own right, but I wouldn?t worry too much about that. I just wanted to establish if there was any connection with Aghagallon before suggesting any options there.

Your family were probably Church of Ireland but, as you probably already know, there are no church records from Carrickfergus earlier than 1740. (If there were any, they have been lost over the years). So you are left with trawling legal documents and diaries.

You mention that Walter was recorded as owning land in Knockfergus (Belfast). My recollection is that Knockfergus is an alternative name for Carrickfergus and the immediate surrounding area. (The monument on the hill behind Carrickfergus is the Knockagh monument). Belfast didn?t really exist in the early 1600s, other than as a river crossing and a couple of muddy huts. Carrickfergus was the capital of the Province and seat of local Government. I?d expect any records of the family?s time to be found in connection with it, as much as anywhere.

You have obviously exhausted all the main sources of information. Jennifer will have covered those in the work she did for you. I?d be inclined to seek the advice of a specialist who might be able to suggest other less obvious sources. Possibly state papers in the National Archives in Dublin or London. Dr William Roulson springs to mind. He has published books on research in Ireland in the 1600s and 1700s, and is a renowned expert in this field. He works with  the Ulster Historical Foundation or you may be able to find his contact details via google. Here?s a link that tells you a little about him:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ulsterscots/library/dr-william-roulston-on-ulster-…

Thank you for your help and the time you have spent in researching the Lyndons. I'll follow up on the led you gave me with Dr. William Roulson. I have already talked with James Harte and Bernie Metcalfe at the  National Library in Dublin back in 2011 and they sent me copies of all the manuscript they could find on the Lyndon's in Ireland. Yet, I know that Charles Lyndon lived in Dublin and was a merchant there, and had two children, Charles and Henry. If they were baptized in the church there, I would think there would be a record of Henry's (Charles's son)  childrens baptism; if indeed he lived to maturity and had children in the area of Dublin ( his brother Charles died of smallpox ). Maybe I should try the parish that Dublin is in to see if they have any records back to around 1740.  

There are a number of different parishes in Dublin. For the Church of Ireland, copies of many of their old parish registers are held in the RCB library. They will do a simple look-up for a fee. For lengthier research, a personal visit is required to view the records. However perhaps they will be able to tell you what they hold for the Dublin area, to enable you to assess the potential.

The RCB website contains a list of researchers who might be able to assist you:

http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42