James Arthur was my great-great-great grandfather. He was born about 1805/6 in Derry and married Letitia Riley about whom I know nothing but her name. They had five children;
John (1822-1904),
Thomas (1824-1904),
William (1828-1902),
Elisabeth (1831-1909)
John (1848-?)
William was my great-great grandfather. He married Margaret Campbell in the Mascoquin Church of Ireland on August 23, 1852. Although she was Anglican, he was Presbyterian. Her father's name on the marriage certificate is given as "Alex Campbell, cooper". William's father's name was given as "Eaton Arthur. labourer". I don't know why it is "Eaton" rather than "James". The witnesses were Henry Irvin and John Williamson.
After Margaret passed away in Canada, William married a second time in Canada and gave his father's name as "James".
I would be most grateful to learn more about James Arthur and Letitia Riley. James may have been the son of John Arthur, weaver in Easter Glenton? and Janet Leslie, but of this I am quite uncertain.
Much of the information I have on the Arthurs comes from a family history.
Thank you for participating in this wonderful project.
David Lavoie
davidbeattylavoie
Thursday 23rd May 2013, 12:38PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi David,
Thank you for your message.
Have you tried looking in church records for information on Letitia and James?
Presbyterian registers are held in three main locations:
in local custody
in the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI) http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
at the Presbyterian Historical Society http://www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com in Belfast.
PRONI has microfilm copies of almost all registers in Northern Ireland and also lists of records held by the Presbyterian Historical Society.
Also, I did a search for Arthur's in the area in Griffith?s Valuation. This is a property valuation survey that was carried out in Ireland 1848-64. In 1859 there were 4 Arthurs recorded in Macosquin, one of which was a James. It is possible that this is your James and the others are relatives:
Some other websites that you may find useful in your research are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/derry/index.html
Derry City: http://www.derrycity.gov.uk/Genealogy/Derry-Genealogy#.UcgKRflQEaI
Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Emma Carty
Monday 24th Jun 2013, 08:59AM