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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Antrim => Topic started by: PBeckett44 on Wednesday 07 July 10 17:28 BST (UK)
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Does anyone have any info on the Beckett family from Portrush co Antrim,i can go back as far as James Beckett who married Sarah Lester in1876 but dont know either of their dates of birth or parents names,any help would be appreciated
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Any relation to James Lester Beckett?
Possibly this is James and Sarah Jane in 1911 census-
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Portrush_Town/Causeway_Street/130922/
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Yes James Lester Beckett is their grandson ,i'm trying to find out
their birth and death dates.There is a Beckett family plot in Portrush cemetary but i don't know if these details can be accessed online
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Cemetery details not online- you'd need to contact Registrar at Coleraine Borough Council Offices.
The James and Sarah Jane Beckett in 1911 census were both born before civil registration of births started in 1864 so you'd need to search for church records.
I.G.I. lists 1 child Daniel Beckett born 18 Nov.1880 Coleraine, Co. Antrim [although Coleraine is actually in Co.Londonderry but 'Coleraine' might refer to the registration district of Coleraine rather than the town]
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Sorry for not replying sooner ,computer went down
thanks for your help
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I now know that James and Sarah married 11/12/1876 at Dunluce church in the parish of Dunluce Antrim,residence at the time was Bushmills and fathers names John Beckett and Ralph Lester.There are several John Beckett's listed on IGI and to make the link I really need James birth record,in 1901 he's 42 and in 1911 he's 54 so born late 1850s.Does anybody know if the records exist for this church although it may or maynot be place of birth it's all I have to go on.
Thanks in advance
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Which religion?
According to this book (http://8) -
Duluce Church of Ireland (Bushmills) baptisms from 1809, marriages from 1826, burials from 1826 (records in local custody) and Dunluce Presbyterian Church baptisms from 1865, marriages 1845 (local custody, PRONI, Coleraine Library)
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Thanks aghadowey,religion was Church of Ireland
does that mean that the church still holds the records?
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Apparently so.
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so sorry for asking
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No problem- let me know if you need contact details for the rector.
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Never heard anything back from the rector but according to another site Dunluce Church of Ireland baptism records 1809-1898 held at PRONI and Coleraine library,so will look into that next
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Hello
I have been researching Becketts from south Antrim but have had to do a lot of disentangling from your Becketts! If you are still interested maybe you would like to let me know and I will tell you what I know
Anne
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Hi Anne, yes I'm still researching and would be very interested in any information you may have on the Becketts from North Antrim.
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Am very pleased to get a reply from this site even if it's not from my family of Becketts!!
How much do you know?That there was a big Ballymoney connection who spread out a bit to Portrush for example (and even to my area of interest - the Lester in the name gave the connection away!)?
I had to do your family tree to disentangle us all.There is a lady called Dolores who is an American I think descended from your family - I will dive into my stuff to find details if that would be helpful. Are you UK based?
Anne
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Yes I'm in the UK and never did find the birth record for my GG Grandfather James Beckett so haven't managed to get further back. I always suspected that they were related to the Beckett's from Ballymoney but couldn't prove the link. I have traced family members to Ballyclare, Port Glasgow in Scotland, the Wirral UK and one in Australia but haven't found any in the US so would be interested in anything you could share, thank you.
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Civil registration of births didn't start until 1864- according to 1911 census James Becket was 54 so born c1857.
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Will have to dig stuff out - did huge amounts of family tree for a year and then put it aside and have just gone back to it now but it is not so fresh in my mind now.
Have got son James a coachman in Donacloney, his brother Daniel Craig (original DC a Ballymoney man) in Portrush but children in Durham (buried P'rush!) and dying in India, and Ralph Lester in Port Glasgow.
My husband is a Portrush man in fact and I was surprised to find Becketts there! There are a number of strands of the family I couldn't tie up but was not needing to for my research. We live in the Midlands now.
Anne
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Yes that's definitely my family. My Grandfather James Lester died in Durham hospital but is buried at Ballywillan in Portrush. His brother John died in WW2 and is buried at Kirkee war cemetery India. I'm assuming you're connected to the Beckett's from Ballinderry? I was in contact years ago with a Ralph Beckett in America whose family came from Ballinderry. he had a website I seem to recall, with lots of information on the family. I'm certainly interested in the Ballymoney connection and look forward to hearing from you once you've had a dig around. Many thanks - Paul
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Yes I've had contact with Ralph. He didn't seem to know of our connection but we definitely are about 8th cousins I reckon! There seem to be 4 or 5 main lines. The modern Becketts in the area generally don't know each other incredibly!!
Re your family, I knew re the death of your James Lester in Co. Durham but know nothing about his cousin James Lester other than his father was a coachman in Donacloney etc in 1911. Only have the d.o.b. of him and 3 siblings and the Portrush cousins including Cathleen Elizabeth's Sheila. It's incredible what you can find free online these days!
Delores Bickett Overskei of Dakota has written a book re your family - originally from Scotland it is thought. She may have passed away. I am not sure how much of the book is about the NI family rather than the US descendants. It is called Bicket-Bickett family - 1756-1989:Adam and William....
I found your posts re Ballycormick. I don't think that that is your closest relations as your James' father John is referred to as a labourer (although it might have been an elastic term!) whereas I think that the Ballycormick John's son James died c1885. I could most certainly be wrong! I have found the Ballymony lines as cofusing as the Ballinderry ones - and our family seems to have sttayed over the county borders to Down and Armagh to make things even worse! There are at least 2 other John Becketts about Ballymoney! Have you seen the Griffiths Valuation entries?
Have you any knowledge of the William born 1831, son of Joseph, who married Mary Getty 22/6/1853?
Do you want me to make a fair copy of the Portrush crowd and post it to you or do you know about Sheila for example and Daniel Craig born 18/11/1880 and his sister who died 1890? If you know all this then maybe I know little more than you!
Anne
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PS I think 73 Causeway St is up for sale!!
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PPS I think Bazaar St doesn't exist any longer
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PS I think 73 Causeway St is up for sale!!
https://www.propertypal.com/73-causeway-street-portrush/511424
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Thanks aghadowey for the link. I was in Portrush and took some photos of the house last October.
Anne thanks for the info, I will certainly look out for the book by Delores Bickett Overskei . Daniel Craig b 1880 was my Great Grandfather, his siblings were - Elizabeth 1877 -1890, James 1878 who later moved to Donacloney and it's his descendants that are now around the Ballyclare area., Ralph 1882 moved to Port Glasgow, John 1884 emigrated to Australia, Sarah Jane 1886 married Hugh McGratten, William 1887 who died at birth and kate Elizabeth 1889. I haven't come across a Sheila?. yes I had seen several John Beckett's on the Griffith's valuation but without my GG Grandfathers baptism record which should give place of birth I can't link him to any of them or the Beckett's from Ballymoney. Bazaar street and garden Court are long gone, 73 Causeway street holds some very sad memories for my family as that's where James took his own life in 1915. I will have to take a closer look at the Beckett's from Ballymoney to try to find any connection to my family.
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Have seen on a Bill McAfee list that the Ballymoney CoI baptisms are held in the PRONI so that might yield the info you need - I can't find the info on any free source I have tried.
Kate/Cathleen/Kathleen Elizabeth born in Bushmills 21/11/1889 married Christopher Co(a)dy, a clerk in the Northern Counties Hotel in Oct 1914 in both Coleraine registrars and Holy Trinity P'rush - why I don't know. Sheila was born 29/9/1915 but is the only child I have found although birth records fade out at the end of the decade.
I knew about the tragedy of James but not the location. That was a very substantial house they had.
I cannot find his son James in the 1901 census - James occurs in my Becketts too and there are one or 2 I can't place! I was rather pleased he had called his son James Lester in Donacloney to disentangle them!
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Have just noticed that James' wife Sarah Jane Lester was born in Co Down. That maybe explains why the son got a job in Donacloney