Members of our family have a DNA match to descendants of this family
Thomas Speers was the son of William Speers and Margaret Smythe. He was born in Tandragee, County Armagh in 1773. He was probably baptized in the Church of Ireland Ballymore parish. We rely on an unpublished 1953 book, “Speers Genealogy, a copy of which is in the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), for most information on Thomas and his family.
Thomas married Ann Evans in Tandragee on Dec. 13, 1801. They had 10 children. Most of the children are recorded in existing records as being baptized in C.I. Ballymore in Tandragee. The three youngest are recorded as being born in Tamnavelton (also called Laurelvale) and baptized in C.I. Mullavilly. According to some of the baptismal records, Thomas was a weaver.
The children were:
William (1802-1858); Elizabeth (1803-?); Ann (1806-1881); Alexander (1808-bef. 1826); Thomas (1810-1897); Archibald (1812-1901); Jain (1819-1890); James (1821-1910); John (1824-1900); Alexander (1826-1909).
In 1828 Thomas and Ann and their 8 surviving children emigrated to Upper Canada. They were among a wave of Irish immigrants to North America at that time. The Speers Genealogy book quoted a saying from the time about the reason for emigration -perhaps it was from Thomas Speers himself: “They voted the land away and [we] were taxed to death.” The comment about taxes perhaps referred to the unpopular Composition for Tithes Act of 1823 which required all Irish citizens to pay tithes to support the Church of Ireland.
The Speers settled first in the city of Toronto, and then in the township of Caledon in Peel County, where they farmed. As time went on, children and grandchildren married and moved on to other parts of what became the province of Ontario, and beyond.
Thomas Speers died in Caledon Township April 24, 1848. His wife Ann died there August 27, 1854.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1773 | |
| Date of Death | 24th Apr 1848 | |
Comments
-
Heather Cook
Thursday 6th August 2020 06:15AM -
Heather:
What DNA company has your matches?
ddfalconer
Thursday 6th August 2020 02:56PM -
Thes test was done with Ancestry
Heather Cook
Saturday 8th August 2020 12:53AM -
Thes test was done with Ancestry
Heather Cook
Saturday 8th August 2020 12:54AM -
Heather:
You will find lots of Speers in my "Dunkeld Falconer" family tree at https://dunkeldfalconer.tribalpages.com/
Best wishes
David Falconer
ddfalconer
Saturday 8th August 2020 04:59PM -
Hi David,
The DNA match we have is a descendant of John Speers 1824-1900. Our Bennett, Redpath, Hamilton, Whitten families are all from Tandragee and surrounding area.
Thanks Heather
Heather Cook
Thursday 20th August 2020 07:07AM -
I am descended from Robert SPEIRS/SPEERS (born c1789 in Mullantine, died 1840 in Lisavague), who married Mary KILPATRICK. One of his sons was James SPEIRS, born c1816 in Lisavague and died 1885 in Bowling, Dunbartonshire in Scotland.
From (much) earlier web searches, I think Robert's parents were William SPEERS and Margaret SMYTH, so Robert would be a brother of this Thomas.
I spent a couple of hours at PRONI in January, while visiting my daughter in Derry, but I hadn't found this website by then, so I was unaware of the book on the SPEERS genealogy - I will have to study this next time we can go to Belfast. I had only a short time at PRONI, so was searching through the registers of Mullantine Parish and fould several, but not all relevant entries.
I did an Ancestry DNA test at the beginning of the year, but I haven't yet uploaded a family tree, as I am engaged in a major exercise of ensuring my data is consistent. I have also just uploaded my DNA data to MyHeritage, Living DNA, FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch. I have also just joined NI FHS and will join their DNA project.
I have just asked for access to David's website and would welcome contact with Heather.
Mick Ralph
Henfield, Sussex, EnglandMick Ralph
Wednesday 18th November 2020 03:54PM
