David King-Ballynagalliiagh/Coshquin

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church after which she’d usually attend her husband’s. If David & Sarah were married in St Columb’s, that suggests she was Church of Ireland. St Columb’s records start in 1642. You might find her baptism (and that of any siblings) in those records.

You have mentioned Ballynagalliagh and Coshquin as places the King family may have lived. There were 2 King families in Coshquin (headed by David & Samuel) and one in Ballynagalliagh (headed by Robert). All were Presbyterian. The only Presbyterian church in Derry with records for around the time you need is 1st Derry. Their records start in 1815. Copies of both sets of records are held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. A personal visit is required to view them. You could also try the rootsireland site. I am not sure if they have either set of records but if not a visit to PRONI is probably required.

Griffiths Valuation for 1858 has no King households in Ballynagalliagh. There was a Mary King in Coshquin. She had plot 5a, which was a labourer’s cottage with a small garden. She was probably a widow (most women listed in Griffiths tended to be widows). Her name remains against the property till 1870 when it is deleted. So she may have died or moved around that time, though I don't see a death in the statutory records, so possibly she had just moved. I noticed the marriage of a Samuel King, labourer, to Margaret Cambell in 1857, again in St Columb’s. Samuel lived in Londonderry and his father was David, a labourer. I wondered if he might be connected to your family.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_re…

Apart from the church baptism & marriage records there are few other records to research. Getting back beyond 1800 is notoriously difficult in Irish research, especially for labourers (which is what I suspect your King family were from the limited records available) as they moved around a lot and mostly lived their lives below officialdom’s radar.

Coshquin & Ballynagalliagh are now on the outer fringes of Derry City and will be much changed from the 1840s when they were both agricultural land.

Moving from Ireland to Scotland and then on to the US or elsewhere was very common. It was called stepped migration. Scotland offered employment opportunities not available in Ireland (the industrial revolution largely passed Ireland by as it has very few natural resources whereas Scotland had lots of coal, limestone, oil etc which led to a boom in new industries there.) Scotland was cheap and easy to get to. There were regular sailings from Londonderry to Glasgow. The main cargo was cattle and the passengers were top-up revenue. So fares were low. Once you had worked in Scotland for a few years, that gave you the funds to move again. If the family were in Scotland by 1850 you should be able to find them in the 1851 Scottish census. If they happened to have a child born there in 1855 the birth certificate should give you details of where and when the parents were born. Worth searching for. 1855 was the first year of birth registration in Scotland and in that first year they recorded a lot of additional information which was subsequently dropped as being too time consuming. Scottish birth certificates are on the Scotlandspeople site as is the 1851 census.

Elwyn,

Wow, you can research things in a small amount of time. 

We had found a Samuel King that lived in Coshquin in  the 1831 census and it is believed that he was married to the Mary King that is mentioned in Griffith's Valuation.

He is the father of the David King that was born in Derry in 1813.

The Kirk side of the family we believe came from Ballynagalliagh and her father's name is Thomas.

We have searched Scotland's people which it was led us back to Ireland which then led us to the marriage record in 1844 at St. Columb's.

Todd

Death registration only started in Ireland in 1864 so there won't be a statutory record of Samuel King's death if he died before 1862. If he was Church of Ireland his burial may be in St Columb's records though (as may Mary's too).

Is there a way of contacting St. Columb's directly?  I wasn't able to  a few years ago.

Todd

Todd,

Here’s a link to the church. (It’s actually a cathedral). If the parish staff are agreeable to checking the records there’s normally a search fee to pay. It used to be something like £19 (sterling) per hour. They’ll advise you.

https://www.ireland.anglican.org/find-a-church/parish/11720/templemore-…