Thread: John Whiteford and Jane McBride

Hi There Paul,
Irish ancestors are so hard to trace. My own Gt Gt Grandfather also came from Antrim and from his Marriage Cert I found out his Fathers name. In the seven years I have been researching I am no further ahead than when I ordered the certificate. You mention Paul you would be happy to hire a good researcher so if you Google Antrim Family History Society a number of links come up connected to various FHS sites. Some offer their services for a fee and all searches are carried out by professional researchers..

Good Luck

Marion

Good Luck Paul.

Marion

Paul,

You look to have done a fair bit of work on this enquiry already. Because of that I have not checked the earliest church record dates – I assume you will already have done that - but I suspect that the marriage of John & Jane and the births of their 3 known children pre-date all the surviving parish records.

Irish records tend to fizzle out pre 1800, unless you were a big land owner, nobility or notorious in some way. So you are at the edge of what is possible, especially as John’s occupation of workman and farm labourer would probably put him outside the scope of some of the sources that do still exist for the early 1800s. As a miller though, he might just get a mention.

I agree with your analysis that the McBride family were probably RC, and that the Whitefords were Presbyterian or COI. You have found a grave in Culfeightrin COI churchyard. It was, and still is, quite common for Presbyterians to be buried in COI graveyards (I can explain why if you are interested) and so your Alexander of Cross may not have been COI even though he’s buried in a COI graveyard. Presbyterians generally didn’t keep burial records. COI did, but not if the burial was of another religion. But in any case, as I have said, I doubt there are records that far back anyway.

You are correct in saying that the normal custom was to marry in the wife’s church, and that this is probably a mixed marriage. The difficulties that a mixed marriage sometimes posed in Ireland could be a factor in a couple’s decision to migrate (even a few miles across to Campbeltown, for example) though at the same time I would comment that families from that area of County Antrim had been going backwards and forwards to the Kintyre peninsula and other parts of SW Scotland for hundreds of years, so there could well be other economic reasons for their move. It wouldn’t have been a big cultural or physical move for them. The only employment in the Glens of Antrim area would have been fishing and farming, whereas Campbeltown had a bit of industry going and so there would have been better employment prospects.

Ideas for where to go next:

1. Try posting on the Glens of Antrim historical society board, in case anyone recognises the families: The Glens of Antrim Historical Society
2. You could check the Townland Valuations for 1828-1840 for the Glens area to identify any Whiteford/McBride families there. (Obviously John won’t be there but it’ll give you a picture of some of his potential relatives). These are in PRONI.
3. Check the Tithe applotment books 1824-1838 for the Glens area looking for Whiteford/McBride families who remained in the area to build up a bigger picture of the numbers and names. These are in PRONI.
4. There was an 1803 agricultural census conducted in Co. Antrim (and in other counties too). These are held in the National Library in Dublin. www.nli.ie/ British authorities, fearing a French invasion, made plans for the defence of the coastline so they knew what to move and what support would be available for the army. The plans involved an inventory of livestock, provisions, crops and equipment. The returns of “live & dead stock” record the names of the householders by townland and parish. Not every parish’s details have survived but you might get lucky.
5. 1766 census substitute: In March and April 1766, Church of Ireland rectors were instructed by the government to compile complete returns of all householders in their respective parishes, showing their religion, as between Church of Ireland (Episcopalian), Roman Catholic (termed ‘Papists’ in the returns) and Presbyterians (or Dissenters), and giving an account of any Roman Catholic clergy active in their area. Some of the more diligent rectors listed every townland and every household, but many drew up only numerical totals of the population. All of the original returns were lost when the Public Record Office of Ireland in Dublin was destroyed in 1922 but extensive transcripts survive and are available under the PRONI Reference T808/15264, 15266 and 15267. Copies of these are available on the shelves in the Search Room in PRONI.
6. Have you checked for any Poor Law applications in Scotland? If John and family ever sought assistance under the Poor Law, the records often say where the person came from in Ireland. (Glasgow Poor Law records are in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, but I don’t know whether this includes all Scottish applications or not. You’d need to enquire).
7. Other sources which might reveal where a person came from are wills, obituaries, gravestones and family bibles. Have you exhausted those sources?

Elwyn