I am descended from a James SIMPSON. He would have been born some time between 1750 and 1780. His son David was born about 1800 and was living at Artikelly in the 1830s. I believe that there was a brickworks nearby as several generations of the family were Bricklayers or Masons. I have a death registration entry for David which gives his mother's name as Nancy RUSSELL. I am not sure whether this name is correct though. In 1831 there was a James SIMPSON living at Ballymoney but I don't have any further information about him. The SIMPSON family were Presbyterian. I have not had much success with church records although a daughter of David SIMPSON was baptised in the neighbouring parish of Drumachose in 1835. I would be interested in hearing from anyone with SIMPSON family connections from Aghanloo or surrounding parishes.
Sunday 24th Apr 2016, 09:49PM
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If your family lived in Artikelly and were Presbyterian then they probably attended church in or around Limavady. There’s 4 churches to choose from: Limavady 1st, Limavady 2nd, Drumachose and Derramore. Unfortunately none of them has records earlier than 1825 (Derramore) so they won’t contain the records of David’s birth.
There’s no Simpsons in Aghanloo in the tithe applotment records for 1825. That tends to indicate that the family in the 1831 census could have been masons or bricklayers (ie they didn’t have land and so weren’t in the tithes). See:
http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/derry/tithe-applotments/aghanloo-parish.php#.Vx1Eb6t9eg0
You could try churchyards in the area to see if there are any gravestones. As masons you might expect they would have one.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Sunday 24th Apr 2016, 10:14PM -
Thank you Elwyn. The only church records that I have been able to find are a baptism in 1835 which took place at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Limavady and the marriage of my 3 x Great Grandparents who were married in 1851 at Drumachose. Various members of the SIMPSON family moved to Belfast and/or Scotland in the 1850s and in 1861 David SIMPSON was a widower. I have no information about when or where his wife died. Her name was Elizabeth BACON.
Monday 25th Apr 2016, 07:50PM