Family history mystery
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A brief window into the Ferguson family of Farriter townland, 1729–1775
A brief window, indeed, has been opened for the ancestry and descendants of the Ferguson family of Farriter townland. Our interest in this family begins with the marriage in 1736 of David Ferguson (c.1711–bef.1775) and Margaret, daughter of John Huggins (I) of Glenarb townland. David and Margaret had at least two sons, and possibly more,… Continue reading
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Update: The “lost” children of James Huggins [jun.] (1803–1849) of Glenkeen
Discoveries of new records made during the past few years have led to revisions of one page on Arborealis, James Huggins [jun.] (1803–1840) of Glenkeen in the parish of Aghaloo, county Tyrone. The title of the original page did not feature square brackets around the suffix, jun., and James was stated to be of Glenarb… Continue reading
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Mary McDonnell in, “The lot of the soldier’s wife” (revisited)
Since writing the first installment of “The lot of the soldier’s wife” in 2015, the recent discovery of a (third) marriage record lifts Mary McDonnell out of the inscrutable murk of family history mystery. Nevertheless, Mary has led us on a merry genealogical chase to learning what was her lot for the twenty-one years between… Continue reading
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Family history mystery: Adam & Robert Kilpatrick of Lislea, parish of Kilrea
The children of one of our nearly related Kilpatrick families of Lislea townland seem to have disappeared from the Irish record, qualifying as another family history mystery. Adam Kilpatrick (IV) was born on 13th December 1834 in Lislea townland in the parish of Kilrea, county Derry, the son of Adam Kilpatrick (III) (d.1837) and Hester… Continue reading
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In search of three children of James Huggins [jun.] of Glenkeen, in the parish of Aghaloo (1st writing)
This blog post was written to highlight a search for those children of James Huggins, jun., who have disappeared from the Irish records. The several children of interest were born in the parish of Aghaloo and county of Tyrone. Each was baptised in the parish church of St. John (Church of Ireland) in Caledon: Margaret… Continue reading
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Family history mystery: Agnes Stevenson and the Rev. Mr. Pattison of Edinburgh
This latest family history mystery item involves the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Pattison (the former Miss Agnes Stevenson), who lived in Edinburgh in the early 1800s. Agnes Stevenson was born c.1733-ish in Stewartstown, county Tyrone. She was the daughter of William Stevenson (c.1691–c.1765) and Ann Stewart. Ann Stewart was a daughter of Andrew Stewart (1672–1715),… Continue reading
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The lot of the soldier’s wife was unenviable (1st writing)
So little was etched into the written record about our great-great-great grandmother, Mary McDonnell (1794–1869), the earliest known of our ancestors in this line from the county of Mayo. Of course, the system of record keeping favoured male heads of household, tradesmen, and soldiers. Women tended to fall off the archival radar. While we are… Continue reading