John Huggins of Glenarb, gent. (I)

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John Huggins, the first of this name ¹ to occupy Glenarb townland, is the earliest known ancestor in this line. Our first sighting of him is in the Vestry Minutes of St. John’s parish church (Church of Ireland) in Caledon, in an entry dated 14th April 1718. On that date was recorded the election of John Huggins, of Glenarb, one of three sidesmen for the ensuing year. In 1719, he was re-elected one of two sidesmen who represented the manor of Caledon, the parish of Aghaloo then comprising two manors (or estates), the second of which was called Ballymagrane. ²

Presbyterians, like the Hugginses, were represented in Vestry, alongside the “churchmen,” i.e., members of the Church of Ireland. The Vestry not only managed administrative matters pertaining to the parish church, but also affairs which, today, generally fall under the mandate of municipal government, such as approving expenditures for: overseeing new roads within the parish; building a new school house, and subsequent repairs; applotting Captain Hamilton’s estate and the rest of the parish; nursing and placement of foundlings; relief of the poor; appointing constables to collect cess; etc. etc.

John J. Marshall ³ (1862–1944) compiled these Vestry Minutes in 1935. In the introduction, he enumerated the surnames still extant in the parish, while lamenting that “others, such as Huggins, Glenarb, [&c.] have disappeared from the parish during the nineteenth century, or even in the recollection of the older people of the present generation.” ⁴ Indeed, the last of this line to reside at Glenarb was the first John Huggins’ great grandson, James Huggins (c.1775–1860), who appears to have given up the farm there in the late 1840s. Thus, the history of the Huggins family in Glenarb townland runs to four generations, through about 125 years.

From which part of Ireland, or elsewhere, John Huggins (I) arrived when he took up residence in Glenarb townland, a documented trail has not been discovered. However, in a brief family memoir, penned in 1962 by a sixth generation namesake, John Alfred Huggins (1896–1962), of Toronto, Canada, recited a long held family oral tradition: ⁵

Family tradition had it that the Huggins family settled in Armagh during [the] 1650’s when Cromwell was arranging Ireland.

If this oral tradition is true, then John Huggins, who was born probably no later than 1693 (allowing that a man as young as twenty-five years might have been elected a sidesman in 1718), was a son or grandson of the original adventurer. Would that we could learn more about this emigrant to the venerable city of Armagh!

Curiously, there are two early entries from Armagh of note:

on 28th November 1710, the marriage of John Huggins and Mary Bailie at the Presbyterian Church in Armagh (now, Armagh First Presbyterian); ⁶ and,
in 1714, the name of John Huggins, at Drumad O Kenan, ⁷ ^, ⁸ on a list of the “Chief and Under Tenants of the Manor of Armagh.” Drumad O Kenan was situated about a mile east-southeast of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland cathedral. The Chief Tenant of Drumad O Kenan was Thomas Dawson, and the other Under Tenants were Jas. Draffin P, Gilbert McGlenney P, Neile McKee R, and David Anderson P, where P designated Presbyterian, and R, Roman Catholic. ⁹

Sorry to say—these two genealogical gems must be consigned to the footnotes section of our family history, because no evidence has yet been discovered which proves that John Huggins of Glenarb was the same John Huggins of Drumad O Kenan near Armagh. Indeed, it is doubtful that any records survive which would resolve this research question.

On 30th August 1731, John Huggins entered into a lease agreement with Lord Charlemont. The terms included a rental fee of £23 per year, with six pence per pound for Receiver’s Fees, to hold 80 acres in Glenarb. ¹⁰ As John and his family continued in their tenure at Glenarb, in 1735, John Huggins was granted another lease by the Hamiltons for 73 acres of land in Kedew townland, due north of Glenarb. From this deed, we learn that John Huggins was required to build a sizeable dwelling house, with suitable offices (out buildings), and to plant an orchard of 60 apple and pear trees—an undertaking which his son, John jun., would complete by 1752. ¹¹

Edward Mathews of Newcastle, county Down, granted a lease to John Huggins in parts of Drumacanver and Lisglynn townlands in the parish of Derrynoose, county Armagh. The parcel comprised 74 acres 7 perches Plantation measure . Mr. Huggins held the lands in trust for John Mc Call and Nathaniel Mc Call subject to the yearly rent of £6 : 3s with 6d per pound receiver’s fees. When Mr. Huggins died in 1741, his son, John (II) became the leaseholder. ¹²

Three children are known to have succeeded John Huggins (I):

John Huggins the younger (d.1756), mentioned above;
Margaret, wife of David Ferguson of Irish Farriter, in the parish of Killeeshil; ¹³ and,
Ann, wife of Joseph Marshall of Blackwatertown, county Armagh.

Remarks written into the margin of the Caledon Estate lease book noted the death of John Huggins (I), the original lessee (date not cited), and also the death of his son, John Huggins (II), in 1756. ¹⁴ John Huggins the elder’s death by 1741 is proven by an entry in the Prerogative Court wills index ¹⁵ and an abstract of the will.

Though the original will document was lost (as were so many probate documents in the fire at the Four Courts in Dublin in 1922), Ellis & Eustace compiled the following abstract of John Huggins’s will: ¹⁶

HUGGINS, JOHN, Glenarb, parish of Aghalow, Co. Tyrone. 7 April 1741. Précis, 1/4 p., 23 April 1742. His son-in-law David Ferguson. Town and lands of Kedie. ¹⁷ Witnesses: Wm. Peebles of Rahachy near Carrantall, ¹⁸ Co. Tyrone, a Dissenting clergyman, Wm. Maxwell, Guinea ¹⁹ near Callidon, Co. Tyrone, gent., Robert Huggins, Glenarb. Memorial witnessed by: Wm. Maxwell, Hugh Carmichael, Dublin, gent. David Ferguson (seal)

… which document yields another research question:—was Robert Huggins of Glenarb another son of John Huggins (I)? or brother, cousin, or uncle? Scant traces, only, have been found for the elusive Robert Huggins, leaving us with another family history mystery.

Footnotes :

In practice, the subject of this sketch was referred to as “John Huggins, gent.,” not John Huggins (I). The Roman numeral at the end of the name is used to denote the several John Huggins who inherited Glenarb, beginning with the first (the subject of this sketch) and proceeding through three first sons named John Huggins II, III, and IV in succession. ↩︎
Marshall, John J. Vestry Book of the Parish of Aghalow (Caledon, County Tyrone). Dungannon: The Tyrone Printing Co., Ltd., 1935. ↩︎
Full name, John McWilliams Johnston Marshall. ↩︎
Marshall, John J., Vestry Book, op. cit. ↩︎
Huggins, John Alfred (1896–1962), Toronto. Family history notes (1962). From the collection of his niece, Mary Elizabeth Brandum née Huggins (1926–2007). Gratefully received from C.H., 25th Jan. 2015. ↩︎
Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Armagh First Presbyterian. Marriages, 1707–1728. Abstract: marriage of John Huggins and Mary Bailie, 28th November 1710. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast. Archival ref. PRONI MIC/1P/4/1 (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick, Nov. 2003). ↩︎
Drumadd townland experience.arcgis.com, in the parish of Armagh, county Armagh. Irish, Dromad Uí Chianáin, O’Keenan’s ridge. Online at tinyurl.com/2tfa48ah Northern Ireland Place-Name Project; retrieved 3rd Nov. 2015. ↩︎
Glancy, Michael. “The Church Lands and Armagh: No. 1. The Lands of the City and Manor.” Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. Vol. II, No. 2 (1957), pp. 327-55. Glancy wrote that Drumad O Kenan, also Drumadokenean, was formerly “part of Ballynahonemore, and belonged to the sept of Patrick McKenny. It was set in 1615 for one year to Art McShane but was subsequently leased for 60 years to John Symons, Clerk. It was held by his family until 1710, when it was leased, with its corn and tuckmill (i.e. for shrinking linen) for 21 years to Thomas Dawson, as Chief Tenant.” (pg. 340) ↩︎
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Belfast). Rent rolls of the See of Armagh, including a return of the tenants’ names returned at a Manor Court held by the Archbishop of Armagh, 1714. Archival ref. PRONI ref. T729/3B (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick, Nov. 2003). ↩︎
Registry of Deeds, Ireland. Memorial no. 79-503-57084: Lord Charlemont to John Huggins of Glenarb, parish of Aghaloo, county Tyrone (dated 30 August 1731, registered 14 November 1735). Outline and extract from copy on microfilm at the PRONI, Belfast, ref. MIC/311/50 (accessed Nov. 2003). Microfilm copy held by the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (FHL microfilm no. 522815; digital images online at familysearch.org. Annotated transcript by Alison Kilpatrick; submitted 12th July 2016 to the Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland . irishdeedsindex.net. ↩︎
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Belfast). Transactions Relateing [sic] to Caledon Estate Since the Grant Thereof to William Hamilton Esq. by King Charles the 2nd. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Belfast). Archival ref. PRONI D2433/A/5/3 (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick, Nov. 2003). ↩︎
Registry of Deeds, Ireland. Memorial no. 128-511-87797: John and Nathaniel McCall of Mullyneill, parish of Aghaloo, co. Tyrone, formerly of the Dyan, to John Huggins of Glenarb, parish of Aghaloo, to McCall (dated 21st Jan. 1747; reg’rd 23rd Feb. 1747). Extract from copy on microfilm at the PRONI, Belfast, ref. MIC/311/84 (accessed Nov. 2003). Microfilm also held by the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; archival ref. FHL microfilm no. 522833. Annotated transcript by Alison Kilpatrick; submitted to the Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland irishdeedsindex.net, 12th Aug. 2016. ↩︎
Registry of Deeds, Ireland. Memorial no. 75752 (v.109, p.245): A marriage settlement executed by John Huggins of Glenarb, parish of Aghaloo, county Tyrone, to Andrew and David Ferguson of Farriter, parish of Killeeshil, county Tyrone, re: the marriage of Margaret Huggins and David Ferguson (dated 2nd Oct. 1730, registered 7th Feb. 1742). Annotated transcript by Alison Kilpatrick, published to Arborealis. ↩︎
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Transactions Relateing [sic] to Caledon Estate, op. cit. ↩︎
Ireland Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes 1595–1858. Extract: “John Huggins, Glenarb, co. Tyrone, Prerogative Court, date of will: 7 April 1741.” Index entry online at FindMyPast.co.uk (accessed 19th Sept. 2015). — Please note that the original will document has not survived. ↩︎
Ellis and Eustace. Abstracts of Wills. Vol II. (1708-1745). Ref. 106, 283, 73771.† Dublin: Stationery Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1984. † Note: This reference translates to Memorial no. 73771 (v.106, p.283). ↩︎
Kedie is Kedew townland, which lies due north of Glenarb. ↩︎
Rachachy was one of several 18th century spelling variants for Rehaghy, a townland in the parish of Aghaloo. Carrantall was a variant of Carnteel, which lies in the parish of the same name. ↩︎
Guinea was Guiness townland in the parish of Aghaloo. ↩︎

End notes :

Source citation for this page: Kilpatrick, Alison. “John Huggins I of Glenarb (died c.1741).” Biographical sketch published to Arborealis, online at arborealis.ca/family-history/irish/huggins/john-huggins-1741, accessed [insert date].

Published 1st April 2015; updated 11th Feb. 2024.

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