Family of William Hoy, Born in Antrim in 1796, Emigrated to Canada, Died 1864.

A birth in 1796 is long before the start of statutory birth registration in Ireland (1864) and so you would need to rely on church records to find William’s baptism. Not all Presbyterian churches have records for the 1790s and of those that do, few are on-line.  The most comprehensive collection of Presbyterian records for Co. Antrim is held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. A personal visit is required to view those records.  There are probably about 200 Presbyterian churches in Co Antrim but only about 6 or 7 have records for the 1700s.

You are not helped by the fact that William Hoy is a fairly common name. In the 1901 Irish census, for example, there are 25, 17 of whom lived in Co. Antrim, so there were likewise probably quite a few William Hoys there in the early 1800s. Ideally you would need your William’s parent’s names from a marriage or death certificate to be sure of identifying the correct family.