George Fletcher, Pomeroy, Tyrone.

You enquire about weaving. In rural areas most weaving was done at home using hand loom weaving machines, such as are still used in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland to make Harris Tweed. These machines were collapsible, so as to be stored out of the way when not needed and for ease of transport should the weaver move home, as they often did, to follow the available work.

Most weavers in Ulster were labourers who earned a bit of extra money by weaving in the winter months when there wasn’t much labouring work required on farms.  This meant that labourers in Ulster had a slightly better standard of living than elsewhere in Ireland. It also gave them some ready cash (in a society that mostly operated by barter) for the things that could not be bought by barter, eg a ticket to America.

At one time weavers wove a lot of cotton but the interruption of supplies from the southern US states during the American War of Independence  in the 1770s meant they focused on other materials, notably flax (which linen is made from) and which grows well in Ireland in contrast to cotton which won’t grow at all.  They did weave other products eg calico and wool as required, but by the 1800s it was mainly linen. Linen made at home was taken to the local linen market and sold there.

As the 19^th century progressed, water powered linen mills were introduced all over Ulster. These were faster than home weavers and often made better quality material and so gradually made the home weaver redundant.  In addition, the factories also mostly employed women and children (being nimbler and cheaper) so this impacted on male employment too. At a time when farms were starting to mechanise and so needed fewer labourers, the average labourer/weaver therefore faced a bleak future and so these combined changes were a major factor in many a labourer’s decision to leave Ireland during the 1800s.

A little more information on this link: https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/flax-plant.html

You say that George was a weaver. I wonder about that. I can see that in 1901 he described himself as a farmer, and that he lived in Killey townland:

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Pomeroy/Killey/1731191/

According to the Valuation Revision records (on the PRONI website), he lived on plot 5 which was 13 and three quarter acres.

Griffiths Valuation in 1859 shows him on that same plot of land, so he had been a farmer for well over 40 years. The only change was that in 1859 he had just over 15 acres. A farmer was very different to a weaver. With 13 acres, whilst not rich, he would have been able to support himself and his sisters without too much trouble (and would have fared better in the famine too as compared with a weaver).

In 1829, according to the tithe applotment records, a Rosey Fletcher was farming in the townland. Was that George’s widowed mother? These records suggest to me that George was a farmer most of his life, rather than a weaver.

https://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/tyrone/tithe-applotment-books/parish-of-pomeroy.php

The Killey property today is on the modern Lurganeden Rd. Still farmland.

You might find: “Researching farming Ancestors in Ireland” by William Roulston a useful source.

In addition, I have attached the Ordnance Survey memoirs for Pomeroy in 1824. Written in a slightly condescending tone by an English military officer who wasn’t very impressed by the “bleak and  miserable” appearance of Pomeroy. Nevertheless it is a contemporaneous description from 1834 and contains information about the town and surrounding parish you might find helpful.

Next, a word of caution about George’s claimed age. When he died in 1906 the informant (his grandson according to the certificate) said he was 118. However in the 1901 census he was a mere stripling of 109. The two obviously don’t reconcile. An additional 4 years had been acquired by 1906. The reality, in my experience, is that most Irish people didn’t celebrate birthdays and often had little idea of their exact age. He undoubtedly lived a very long time but it wouldn’t be surprising to find that the age on the death certificate is out by a margin of anything up to 10 or 15 years. There are no baptism records for Pomeroy in the 1700s and it’s unlikely anyone will be able to show for certain exactly when he was born. But maybe I am wrong. (You may have noticed that his daughters' ages between the 1901 & 1911 censuses don’t reconcile either, though there may be a reason for that as they were approaching pension age - 70).

I have attached a letter which I found in parish records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast from someone in Pettigoe, Co. Donegal in 1908 writing to his Minister, asking for proof of age (ie a baptismal certificate). All he knew was that he was between “70 and 78 years of age.” He clearly had only the vaguest idea and couldn’t narrow it down to within 9 years. (The likely reason for the letter was that the old age pension was being introduced in 1909 for people aged 70 and over. Documentary proof of age was required. Thus, probably for the first time in his life, establishing his age accurately became relevant to him).  For me, that letter summarises many people’s knowledge of their age in Ireland in the 1800s.

The Dungannon News of  26th April 1906 reported George’s death, that he was 118 and had been presented with a gold snuff box by the King for being the oldest British subject alive. That said, the newspaper also wondered what proof there was of his age and invited those who knew him to let them know.

Finally,  I have attached a document describing rural life in Tyrone in the 1800s. It is from PRONI’s collection and was taken down by James Brown’s daughter in about 1906. He lived near Pomeroy and so you might find elements helpful.

Hello sjordan,

In his very well written and extremely interesting reply, Ireland Reaching Out volunteer, Elwyn had mentioned that George Fletcher was recorded in Griffiths Valuation for Killey, County Tyrone.

Based on this information I accessed a copy of the Griffiths Valuation page for Killey, which is attached to this reply. Griffith Valuation was accessed at the free Ask About Ireland website: https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

You'll see three townlands recorded on the Griffiths page. Killey is the third town recorded, just below the townlands of "The Bonn" and "Tanderagee."

You can enlarge the page to get a better view of George Fletcher's lease at map reference 5a. He leased a house, office, and land from an Immediate Lessor named Robert W. Lowry. The next person after George is John Fletcher, at map reference 5b. John may have been George's brother, but that's a guess. John did not lease any land, but did lease a house from George W. Lowry.

The map references pertain to the location of the Fletcher leases on a Griffiths Valuation Map of Killey. The Griffiths Valuation map is attached to this reply with the label, "GV Map." I placed blue arrows on the map to show the locations of map reference 5, subdivision a, and map reference 5, subdivision b. Just below the letter a, and to the left of the letter b, you'll see two oblong structures. These represent the houses that George and John had leased. You'll also see a very tiny square structure. This would be some type of outbuilding. It could be a small barn, or a shed. The land that George leased was 15 acres, 1 rood, and 25 perches. You can see the majority of this acreage where the number 5 is situated on the Griffiths Valuation map, just across the road from the Fletcher houses.

The Griffiths Valuation Map comes with a modern Google Map overlay, showing the present-day locations of the Fletcher leases in Killey. 

Here is a Google Street View of the location, or approximate location, of the area along the Lurganeden Road where George and John Fletcher had lived. This view is looking southwest: https://tinyurl.com/5n64kfdx

You'll see a house on the right side of the road. The Fletcher homes would have been some where near this house. 

This second Google Street View is looking northwest along the Lurganeden Road: https://tinyurl.com/yzhyf5tc

You didn't mention the exact date you'll be visiting County Tyrone, but what you can do at this point is fill out an Ireland Reaching Out Meet and Greet form, to see if a local volunteer is available during your time in Killey. If so, you'll want to see if the volunteer can take you to the Lurganeden Road in Killey, where George and John Fletcher had leased the property from Robert W. Lowry back in the late 1850s. This is a free service.

I’ve also attached an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1829 to 1841 time period showing the location of the Fletcher houses in Killey. Their houses are in the center of the map. This map is similar to the Griffiths Valuation Map, but the Ordnance Survey Map does not include all the map coordinate numbers and letters, and will give you a much clearer view of the area where the Fletchers had lived in Killey. The map is from the Tailte Éireann website: https://tailte.ie/en/

Griffiths Valuation shows that the Immediate Lessor of the property that George and John Fletcher leased in Killey, was Robert W. Lowry. Griffiths Valuation doesn’t mention if Robert Lowry owned the houses and land outright, but he would have been the owner, as his family is noted in the Civil Parish of Pomeroy, at the Landed Estates website, which you can view at: https://landedestates.ie/estate/4120

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

SOURCES

IrelandXO Volunteer Elwyn's reply to sjordan, 24 August 2024
Ask About Ireland: Griffiths Valuation: https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Ask About Ireland: Griffiths Valuation Map:https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Google Maps
Google Street Views
Tailte Éireann: Ordnance Survey Map
Landed Estates website: https://landedestates.ie/estate/4120