Estate of John Callan

Allison,

I see that the advert was placed by the ?Incumbered Estates Commission? Sometimes called the Encumbered Estates Commission, later the Encumbered Estates Court. I can give you a little background to the function of that Commission.

During the 1800s many of the big landowners in Ireland borrowed or mortgaged heavily against the value of their estates. During the famine (the big famine years being 1847-49) many tenants couldn?t pay some or all of their rents. As a result many of the landowners then couldn?t repay their mortgages. Not only did the landowners thus face bankruptcy but the banks who had recklessly lent them the money, often against inflated valuations, also faced bankruptcy if so many mortgages were not honoured. (There are parallels with the financial crises in Europe and the US in recent years where mortgages were given to people unlikely to repay them, secured on properties of low or dubious value). So back in the early 1850s, the UK Government was faced with a potential major banking collapse and widescale bankruptcies all across Ireland. In order to try and manage the disaster, the Incumbered Estates Commission was created and authorized to sell off the land of the potential bankrupt landowners, at the best possible value. Such of the mortgages and debts that could be repaid from these monies would be, but the rest of the debts would be wiped clean. It was not a perfect fix but was a way of salvaging something from the disaster. (The Irish Government did more or less the same thing a few years ago, by creating a government body named NAMA to acquire and sell off the toxic assets of people who went bankrupt during the recent financial crisis. So history repeats itself.).

For the tenants actually farming or living on the Incumbered lands in the 1850s, in theory it didn?t make much difference. They just got a new landlord, and their original leases had to be honoured. Though in practice some of the new landlords did try to get tenants to leave so that they could try new farming methods. But for others it made no real difference.

So returning to this advert, it looks as though someone named Owen Neary had asked the Incumbered Estates Commission to sell the lands described in the advert, presumably because money was owed to him and wouldn?t otherwise be recoverable. The Commission had evidently agreed to his request and placed the advert. I take it that the Callan family were the owners of the lands being sold.

The Encumbered Estates records can be a very useful source of genealogical information. When each townland was being sold, an inventory was drawn up listing each tenant and saying what tenancy agreement they held. This information was of great relevance to would be purchasers. (Even today, if you buy a property with a sitting tenant, you need to know what terms and conditions they are there on). In the 1700s and early 1800s, 3 lives leases were very popular. In short, the lease lasted so long as the 3 people named in it were still alive. So where there was a 3 lives lease (as in this particular case, judging by the advert) the names and ages of the 3 persons are given in the inventory. Since many of the leases were agreed in the late 1700s, it can be a way of getting back another generation or two.

The Encumbered Estates records are on the findmypast site (pay to view). I think I have also seen some of the original Encumbered Estates inventories for Co Louth in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. National Archives in Dublin may also hold some of them.

Castletown, Tankardsrock & Balrigan are all townlands in Co Louth. You can locate them easily enough using Griffiths Valuation.

Elwyn

Elwyn,

Thank you for the explanation! After looking up the townlands mentioned in the article, I don't think this could be my Callan's. The townlands are all around Dundalk. My Callan's were from Paughanstown, which in today's travel is a 30 minute drive. I would assume that people would not own or farm land that far from their home. I could be wrong though, don't know. I used to use FindMyPast way back when it wasn't so expenive (or maybe even free). I tried a one year, 40 page subscription, but I can never find anything for any of my ancestors, Callan's or otherwise. I searched just on Paughanstown and found very few articles that did not seem relevant, and can't really tell what they're about unless you pay to view them.

I found several Callan's in the Griffith's Valuation, but why pay to view them on FindMyPast when they're free elsewhere.

Well, thanks for your reply and explanation!

Allison

Allison,

Paughanstown?s not that big (517 acres). In Griffiths Valuation for 1854 there were about 24 households listed. (2 Callan farms). By the time of the 1901 census there were 21 households (and only 1 was a Callan). So a rural agricultural townland with that small number of people isn?t going to show up in too many records.

You could use the revaluation records in the Valuation office, Dublin to find out what happened to the two farms between 1854 and around 1929.

The tithe applotment records in 1829 list about 6 Callan farms (Peter, Ann & Peter, Patrick, John & illegible, & Owen.).

Searching church records may also provide details of all their families. Up to a point.

There?s about 80 odd Callan probate files in Co Louth on the National wills site. Might be worth going through them to see if any relate to Paughanmore Callans.

Elwyn

I read the newspaper reference with interest as Callan is the maiden name of my G Grandmother "Ann". I am not yet ready to post a message as my research continues in relation to the Counties of Cavan, Louth, Monaghan and Meath. The families are Clarke, Callan and Murtough/Murtaugh and of course more.

It is registered at Ann's death that her father was James. Her marriage to Clarke indicates that he came from Cavan.

I will visit Ireland in September and attempt to identify my GG Grandparents.

John

I read the newspaper reference with interest as Callan is the maiden name of my G Grandmother "Ann". I am not yet ready to post a message as my research continues in relation to the Counties of Cavan, Louth, Monaghan and Meath. The families are Clarke, Callan and Murtough/Murtaugh and of course more.

It is registered at Ann's death that her father was James. Her marriage to Clarke indicates that he came from Cavan.

I will visit Ireland in September and attempt to identify my GG Grandparents.

John

Elwyn,

I have found the Callan's in Griffith's Valuation & the Tithe, but not knowing the given name of my Patrick's father, I can't pinpoint which of these Callan's would be mine. If I could find a marriage record for Patrick then maybe his father's name would be on it. I'm assuming he married about 1847 since his first child was born in 1848 (I have the baptism record).

One of these days!

Allison

Allison,

If it?s any consolation, you probably won?t get his father?s name from his marriage if you find it. RC marriages weren?t included in the statutory records till 1864 (due to objections by the RC church who saw it as state interference), so for a marriage around 1847 you?ll need to rely on church records. All you normally get in an RC marriage record from that period is the couples names, the date of the marriage and their 2 witnesses. No parents names, occupations, addresses etc. Records may well be in Latin.

All the same if you are determined to find it, Paughanstown is in the RC parish of Ardee. Their marriage records start in 1763 and are on-line on the rootsireland site. Likewise Louth Co Library holds a copy. If the marriage isn?t listed in Ardee, that might be because the bride didn?t come from Ardee. Tradition was to marry in the bride?s church, so if that wasn?t in Ardee, I?d try all the adjacent parishes. (Normally in those days you married someone who lived within walking distance ? for obvious reasons ? but clearly that wasn?t a universal rule, especially for anyone whose trade caused them to move about a bit).

Elwyn

Than you Elwyn! RootsIreland is where I found the baptism records for Patrick and his sister Catharine. And unfortunately, no marriage record for their parents.

Allison