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My gg grand parents William and Jane Spears ( as spelt on their  marriage cert. in June 1833 ) lived in Ballynocker, Castledawson. 

I can,t find any trace of them. Jane was known as Margaret (Jane) McCool before marriage. It is possible they entered the Magherafelt workhouse in the early 1850s or late 1840s.

Three sons John, William and James, emigrated to Australia starting 1857.

One son who stayed in Ballynocker, appears on the 1911 Irish  census with his family. His name is spelt Samuel Speer with wife Rachel (Weir).

mspeer

Friday 18th Jan 2013, 05:12AM

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  •  

    Hi,

     

    Thank you for your message. I have passed it on to one of our volunteers who hopefully may be able to assist or advise you.

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Genealogy Support

     

    Friday 15th Mar 2013, 04:31PM
  • Emma Carty sent your queery to me.

     

    I see that William Spears married Margaret McCool at the Castledawson Presbyterian Churchon July 18, 1833 (PRONI Microfilm 1P/90 Castledawson Presbyterian Church) but their parents names were not listed in the record.  There were a number of Spears in Ballynocher in the records for the 18th century with all of the variant spellings:  Spier, Spiers, Spear, Spears, Speare, Speares, Speer, Speers.  I find these a little surprising because normally "ea" in a name would be also spelled with a long "a" so I would have expected Spare as an alternative spelling of Spear. 

    William and Jane McCool baptised the following children at the Castledawson Presbyterian Church:

    • Elizabeth, born February 5, 1836 and baptised on Feb 19, 1836
    • John, born December 25, 1837 and baptised on May 5, 1840
    • Samuel, born Oct 23, 1839 and baptised on May 5, 1840

    While I have records of several William and James Spears from that area baptised in the same period, they are not the children of William and Margaret Jane McCool.  I can only find the records for the baptisms of those listed above.  Further, I have a record of John Speer of Ballynocher marrying Mary Weir of Ballynocher in 1892 in the 1st Magherafelt Church of Ireland.  John Speer's father is John Speer, farmer of Ballynocher who I think is the brother of the above Samuel.

    Does your record of John, William and James' emigration include their father's name?  These names were very common in that family so there was a James and William and John baptised by other Spears from Ballynocher.

    I could not find any burial records for William or Jane.

    You can contact me at  ronaldjdale(at)netscape.net if you would like a gedcom of my entries for the Spears recorded from the Presbyterian and Church of Ireland records from Magherafelt and Artrea parishes.

    Ron Dale 

    Ron Dale

    Friday 15th Mar 2013, 06:12PM
  • I know this is a really old thread, but rumour has it that we have a Mary Spiers from that area in our pedigree.  This stems from a census search form I believe.  I'd be very interested in seeing your GEDCOM please, Ron. Is it ok if I email you?

    Thanks

    Helen

    HelenS

    Sunday 21st Nov 2021, 09:02AM
  • Hi Helen,

    My information is much more up to date now.

    John, William and James (my great grandfather) emigrated to Australia and their father was William.

    Samuel was another brother of John/williamJames who lived at Ballynocker and died there. He married Rachel Weir there and one of their children was called Mary. More later......

    Regards,

    Milton

     

     

     

     

    mspeer

    Sunday 21st Nov 2021, 01:21PM
  • Spier Family

     

    Hello Helen,

    Feel free to contact me at ronaldjdale@netscape.net.

    Ron Dale

     

    Ron Dale

    Sunday 21st Nov 2021, 04:29PM
  • Hi,

     

    I have a William Speers in my family tree who was born in 1833 in Castledawson and moved to Australia in about 1858. He married Mary Jane McIntyre (born about 1834 in Tyanee, Co Derry) in Beechworth, Victoria, Australia on 3 January, 1860. His father (aparrently) was Robert Speers(born 1795) and his mother was Jane Simpson.

    Not sure if that helps or hinders....

    Good luck in your search.

     

    Rob

    Crooks Family

    Monday 22nd Nov 2021, 01:07AM
  • Attached Files

    Thanks Rob,

    I don't think you're in my direct line.

    Anyway (Ron and HelenS), 

    Here is information on my ancestry from Brian Watson (from several years ago) followed by more comments from me:-

     

    Family Ulster

    Email:              info@familyulster.com

    Website:          www.familyulster.com

    Social Media:   www.facebook.com/familyulster

    Address:          24 Moyne Park

                            Belfast  BT5 7Q Northern Ireland

    Research on:   Spier / Speer Family Magherafelt

    On behalf of:    Milton Speer

    Compiled by:   Brian Watson

    Date:               August 2015

    Speer Family

    Information provided

    We know that William Speer married in 1833 to Jane McCool

    William was born c. 1802

    They had a number of children, one of whom was Samuel Speer.

    Samuel Speer married Rachel Weir on 24 April 1877 and had a number of children. We want to identify these children and research forward in time to the present day.

    RESEARCH

    Our first record to look at is the valuation carried out around 1859 in Ballynocker.

    Primary Valuation of Ireland (Griffiths Valuation) 1848 - 1864

    Irelands Valuation office conducted its first survey of property ownership in Ireland from 1848 to 1864.The surveyors started in the very south of the country so the valuations for Cork or Waterford date from 1848 while the Province of Ulster was last to be valued between 1858 and 1864

    This survey became known as "Griffiths Valuation" after Sir Richard Griffith who was the director of the Valuation Office at that time. The survey was used to determine the amount of tax each person should pay towards the support of the poor within their Poor Law Union. The rate was based on the value at which each unit of property could be rented year after year.

    The resulting survey was arranged by barony and civil parish and townlands.

    Griffith's Valuation can be used as a census substitute for the years after the Great Famine and provide the names of the heads of households for each property.

    This record shows 3 families of the Speers surnames:

    Griffiths Valuation Parish of  c.1859

    Townland

    Name

    Lessor

    Nature of property

    Area in

    Acres   roods and   perches

    Ballynocker       Property number 11a

    William Spiers

    Worshipful Company of Salters

    House, office and land

    15-2-20

     

    11b     Robert Spiers

    Worshipful Company of Salters

    House, office and land

    Land above shared with William Spiers

     

    14     Andrew Spiers

    Worshipful Company of Salters

    House, office and land

    8-1-25

    This is interesting. The record was taken 26 years after William married Jane.

    The other two Spiers families are headed by Robert and Andrew, neither of whom are sons of William. We would expect them to be related so may be brothers, cousins etc., or one may even be his father.

    Tithe Applotment records 1823 - 1837

    Tithe was a tax on all agricultural land (originally a tenth of the produce) except for those living on church owned lands and glebes and in urban areas. It was paid by leaseholders and occupiers of all religious denominations to the clergy of the Established Church of Ireland. There was growing resentment against this tax, particularly after 1815 and the government was forced to give way and introduce a Tithe Composition Act 1823 which replaced payment in kind by payment in cash by landlords.

    In order to effect this change, all the agricultural land in the country, which was liable to pay the tithe had to be surveyed and apploted or valued. During the period 1823 to 1837 a Tithe Applotment Survey was made in each civil parish for the whole of Ireland to determine the value of tithe payable by different landlords. The material was arranged by civil parish and townland in volumes known as TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOKS. In some parishes more than one survey was taken, while in others the manuscript has not survived.

    The Tithe record for Ballynocher was taken in 1829 and shows:

    John Spier                         8-1-25 acres

    William Spier                     10-1-25 acres

    Samuel Spier                    5-1-11 acres

     

    These three families are probably related and give us some clues to previous generations. Possibly one of these names may be the father of William.

    [In 1796 there is a Samuel Speer and William Speer from Magherafelt listed as flax growers by the Irish Linen Board]

     

     

    Researching forward from Samuel Spier

    Samuel Spier married Rachel Weir on 24 April 1877

    They had a number of children:

    22 Jan 1878                      Nancy

    3 May 1879                       William

    14 Nov 1880                      Robert

    30 Dec 1882                      Samuel

    13 Jun 1885                      James

    11 Feb 1888                      John and Rachel (twins)

    28 Jan 1890                      Gamble

     

    Of these children we can find:

    Robert died on 7 Oct 1897 of scarlatina age 16

    James died on 3 Mar 1939, a bachelor, age 53, died of a “gunshot while depressed”

    John the twin of Rachel died on 1 Mar 1890 age 2

    William Spier married Maggie Jane Mawhinney on 19 September 1906

    They had children:

    28 Apr 1907                       Elizabeth and Robert (twins)

    26 Sep 1908                      Maggie

    8 Sep 1910                        Annie

    Of these children, Maggie married Thomas Campbell on 25 August 1933

    They had children:

    24 Jan 1934                      Samuel George

    27 Jan 1936                      Mary

    18 May 1937                     Annie

    29 Aug 1940                      Thomas

    10 Sep 1943                      Maureen

    12 Feb 1947                      William

    Maggie Campbell nee Spier died on 5 Sep 2005 at 16 Lowertown Road, Magherafelt, County Londonderry, BT45 5DU

    Her death was registered by her daughter:

    Maureen Loughrey

    7 Bridge Street   Castledawson   Magherafelt

    County Londonderry    BT45 8AD

    Samuel George Campbell born 24 Jan 1834 died on 15 February 2014 at:

    23 NorthlDrive     Moneymore    Magherafelt

    County Londonderry  BT45 7QT

    His wife was Norah Elizabeth Campbell

    His death was registered by his daughter:

    Fiona McColgan

    11A Fairlea Heights  Moneymore  Magherafelt

    County Londonderry  BT45 7UQ

    There is also a Mary in the 1911 census in the following information:-

    Residents of a house 5 in Ballynocker (Magherafelt, Londonderry)
    Show all information
    Surname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion Birthplace Occupation Literacy Irish Language Marital Status Specified Illnesses Years Married Children Born Children Living
    Speer Samuel 69 Male Head of Family Presbyterian Co Derry Farmer Can read and write English Married - - - -
    Speer Rachel 63 Female Wife Presbyterian Co Derry - Read and write English Married - 34 8 6
    Speer Nancy 33 Female Daughter Presbyterian Co Derry House Keeper Read and write English Single - - - -
    Speer Samuel 28 Male Son Presbyterian Co Derry Labourer Cannot read English Single - - - -
    Speer James 27 Male Son Presbyterian Co Derry Stone Mason Read and write English Single - - - -
    Speer Rachel 23 Female Daughter Presbyterian Co Derry House Keeper Read and write English Single - - - -
    Speer John Gamble 21 Male Son Presbyterian Co Derry Labourer Read and write English Single - - - -
    Speer Mary 2 Female Grand Daughter Presbyterian Co Derry - Cannot English - - - - -

    mspeer

    Monday 22nd Nov 2021, 02:15AM

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