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Hello,

I am looking for any information on the family of Henry Agnew and Elizabeth Kerr (or Carr), who most likely lived in Ballycorr in the early 1800's. Their firstborn son, Robert Agnew, was born in 1828 and has a baptismal record at the First Presbyterian Church of Ballyeaston the same year, where his parents are listed as being from Ballycorr. I have never seen a record for their marriage, or for the names of Henry's parents, siblings, or relatives. I would be interested in any of these items, as well as any gravestone photos for the Agnew family in the immediate area. I am also interested in any history of the citizens of Ballycorr, especially regarding their origins and distribution.

Thank you very much in advance! You can post replies here or directly to my email at awbrewster@cox.net.

Cheers,

Arlin Brewster

Friday 3rd Aug 2012, 03:47PM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Arlin,

    Church records often include marriages, so it may be of benefit to check the Presbyterian registers which are held in three main locations: in local custody, in the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast. PRONI has microfilm copies of almost all registers in Northern Ireland and also lists of records held by the Presbyterian Historical Society. For the rest of Ireland, almost all records are in local custody. It can difficult to locate these as many congregations in the South have moved, amalgamated, or simply disappeared over the last sixty years.

     

    You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38): Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.

     

    The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. The tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.

     One genealogy database for County Antrim is available for a fee at http://antrim.rootsireland.ie/ .

    I wish you the best of luck with your search.

     

    Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

    Kind regards,

    Genealogy Support

    Ireland Reaching Out

     

    Friday 10th Aug 2012, 03:59PM

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