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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Down => Topic started by: miniman27 on Wednesday 27 July 11 21:11 BST (UK)
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looking any on the shanks family co-down :-[
loughadian area or lisnabrague ???
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Perhaps if you give us an idea of names and dates we might be able to help.
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sorri i am new to this
james shanks died 23th may 1871 he had 4 children
mary..who we think went to america .....
john which we dont know anything about ..but we think he died 10-10-1898...
alexander ..again all we have is a death in a family bible ..7-11-1894
samuel....who was my great great grandad we think ....
james was married to margaret ??? died 28-1-1870
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PRONI Will Extracts- "The Will of James Shanks late of Lisnabrague County Down Farmer deceased who died 23 May 1871 at same place was proved at Belfast by the oaths of John Shanks of Lisnabrague and Samuel Shanks of Loughadian both in (Poyntzpass) said County Farmers the Executors." Will mentions eldest son John, son Alexander, daughter Mary Gibson, grand-daughters Mary Graham, Sarah Shanks & Sarah Ann Bryson, wife Margaret, grandson James Cunningham, son Samuel. See www.proni.gov.uk
"Probate of the Will of John Shanks (Senior) late of Glenloughan County Down Retired Farmer who died 10 October 1898 granted at Belfast to John Graham of Glenloughan and James Warwick of Lackview County Down Farmers" Will mentions sister in America Mrs. Mary Gibson of 108 Twelfth Ave., Peterson, New Jersey and other relatives.
You can also search the 1901 and 1911 census, etc. Have a look at Introduction to Irish Records (http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,442233.0.html).
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thankyou :)
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My ancestor, Thomas Shanks, was born in Ireland between 1806-1811 and was the son of James Shanks and Martha Arlow or Arlour. Thomas moved to South West Scotland sometime prior to his marriage there in 1829.
It is likely that he crossed from Donaghadee to either Stranraer or Portpatrick, so I am wondering whether any records of his family might exist in Co. Down?
I would be grateful for any assistance with this.
:)
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i will have a look and get back to you
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This is a big brick wall in my family tree, so any help would be much appreciated.
:)
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Hi -
I have a fair bit of information about the James and Margaret (Guy) Shanks family you are looking for.
James Shanks b.1788, d. 1871-5-23 married Margaret (Peggy) Guy b. 1783, d. 1870-1-28. They were married on 1809-7-14 and had the following Children:
Eliza Shanks b. 1810 (may have died as a child); Margaret Shanks b. 1812 d. 1856-2-25 or 1857-12-20; John Shanks b. 1814-10-15, d. 1898 (kept a diary that is now in the collect at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)); Samuel Shanks b. 1817, d. 1905 (we have a copy of a letter from him to our Greer ancestor in Ontario, Canada, dated April 1892); Alexander Shanks b. 1820-1-1, d. 1894; Eliza Shanks b. 1822-4, d. 1847-4-6; Sarah (Sally) Shanks b. 1824-6-9, d. 1850-3-28 (buried at Loughbrickland Church); and Mary Shanks b. 1827-2-1.
James and Margaret Shanks farmed in an area called Loughadian, which is just east of Poyntzpass, which is on the bordare of Co. Armagh and Co. Down.
Margaret Shanks married John Graham and they had the following children:
Margaret Graham b. 1831-9-21, d. 1857-12-20; John Alexander Graham b. 1833-8-5 (had a son, John Shanks Graham b. 1877-4-28); Sarah Ann (Sally) Graham b. 1835-12-30 (married Wm. Bryson on 1859-6-16); Elizabeth Graham b. 1838-4-14 d. 1868-1-22 (married John Wittan on 1863-6-8); Louisa Graham b. 1841-10-14 d. 1865-9-12; Charlotte Graham b. 1844-2-23; Mary Graham b. 1846-5-20; James Graham b. 1848-10-15; Samuel Graham b. 1853-2-23 d. 1855-2-17.
John Shanks appears not to have married, but farmed the family plot at Lisnabrague until 1873 when he sold it to his brother Alexander. He kept a diary which is available to read at PRONI - T2809 - I read the entire diary last week in Belfast at PRONI.
Samuel Shanks married Mary Jane Bryson on 1847-11-19 and their children were: Sarah Shanks; Jane Shanks (married James Warwick on 1877-1-25); James Shanks (married Agnes Thomson on 1877-12-27); Margaret Shanks; and Alexander Shanks.
Alexander Shanks (son of James and Margaret Shanks) seems not to have married. He bought the family farm from his brother John in 1873.
Eliza Shanks married Thomas Cunningham (d. 1844-11-29) of Killysavan (just south of where she grew up), Co. Down on 1841-1-26 and had the following children: John Cunningham b. 1842-9-18 d. 1854-9-24 and James Cunningham b. ~1844.
Sarah (Sally) Shanks married John Tuft on 1849-3-20.
Mary Shanks married James Andrew (Andy) McClelland of Tullysane on 1851-4-7. He died on 1856-5-26. They had one son, Robert James McClelland, who died 1858-7-14 at the age of 6 and was buried beside his grandparents, James and Margaret Shanks. Then Mary married Samuel Gibson of Tullymore in October of 1860. They had the following children: Margaret Gibson, Robert Gibson, and Samuel Gibson (who left for America on 1880-2-28). Mary and her three children (no mention of her husband, so he too may have died before this)left for America on 1883-8-4.
James and Margaret (Guy) Shanks were buried at the Four Towns Presbyterian Church on Black Bridge Road, just east of Poyntzpass, Co. Down. This information is from a descendant currently living in Poyntzpass. The original head stone for James and Margaret was removed about 35 years ago because it was toppling, but the marker for Robert James McClelland is still there. The living descendant's parents are now buried next to Robert James McClelland. When we visited last week, I took I pictures of the grave as it is today.
I hope this helps in your search!
M Greer
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Here is a link to some information about James Shanks from a website on Co. Down:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/Sha.htm
Note James Shanks of Aghaderg (but he was NOT buried in the Donaghmore Presbyterian graveyard - we looked for him there before we found a local living descendant). Also, see Alexander Shanks of Aghaderg on the same page.
M. Greer
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And here is one more link - look for the gravestone inscription for James Shanks in the sixth paragraph:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donaghmore1/donaghmore/donbfourtownscem.html
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Hi Folks
My 3rd great grandmother was Elizabeth Shanks ( b abt 1798) from , I think from Co Down. Her parents were Robert Shanks (farmer) and Elizabeth Bolton. She came to Scotland with her husband Thomas Pew and their children and settled in Airdrie, Lanarkshire . I've tried to find out about the Shanks family but its not easy at all - do these names mean anything to anyone - I thought farmers would have been easier to find
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Our James Shanks, who was married to Margaret Guy, had cousins James and Eliza (two common names in the family). I only know this from the diary of John Shanks (James and Margaret's eldest son), a copy of which is available at PRONI. This is the only potential link for an Elizabeth Shanks, born in the same era As our James Shanks. Good luck!
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I too have ancestors - Shanks From Poyntzpass, Co Down, N Ireland.
Samuel and Margaret Shanks (or Cruikshanks) from Poyntzpass according to their daughter's wedding and death certificates. Samuel was a farmer.
6 sisters Eliza (b1829), Mary (b1831), Martha (b1833), Agnes (b 1835), Sarah (b1843) and Rebecca (b1850)came out to Australia on different ships between 1853 and 1869, where they all married.
One sister Margaret (b1848) married in Lisnabrague and then migrated to USA with her first husband David B Irwin in 1868. He died shortly after and she then married James Craig in Hanover, Jo Daviess Co. Illinois.
A brother George (b 1836) married Eliza Allen on 10 Jun 1868 in Ballymore, Armagh. I think they lived in Ireland but he died in Pennsylvania USA.
There may have been another son Samuel
I visited Poyntzpass and the surrounding areas in 2015 and met with Kathryn Stewart (nee Shanks) at her mother's home (Mrs Shanks) at Lisnabrague, just out of Poyntzpass. Her father was deceased at this time. Unfortunately, we were unable to make the connection between our Shanks families.
I took photos of graves at Fourtowns Church and the Poyntzpass Presbyterian Church. The latter had a grave inscription to "Samuel Shanks died 04 July 1873 age 87 and wife Margaret Shanks died 10 Aug 1883 age 77 and grandsons George died 17 Apr age 2 and Samuel James died 09 Aug age 35". I cannot verify they are mine, as yet.
Does this match any of your information ? I would love to sort all of the families out for once and for all Please let me know what you think? Isabel
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Hi Isabel - This is what I have on Samuel Shanks(es). James Shanks (1787-1871) and Margaret Guy Shanks (from our Guy/Greer line) (1783-1870) had a son, Samuel (1818 -1905), who married Mary Jane Bryson in 1847. They had sons Alexander, James, George, and Samuel (Sammy) (1834-1843) (as well as daughters Jane, Sarah, and Margaret). George married Elizabeth Allen June 10, 1868 and they had sons Samuel (April 19, 1969), John (April 28, 1871), and George (1873). Hope this helps!
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OOPS
- note there is an error in one of the birth dates I gave, Samuel was born April 19, 1869 (not 1989). Kathryn is a descendant of the James Shanks and Margaret Guy Shanks line.
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Thank you so much for your fast response. I am still unsure that they are the same family as my children born to Samuel and Margaret started in 1829, which would make your Samuel only 11 yo. ALso my girls all have Samuel and Margaret stated as parents. What do you think?
Isabel
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Hi Isabel - You are right - Samuel Shanks, son of James and Margaret (Guy) Shanks, born in 1818 and married to Mary Jane Bryson (confirmed by records and the John Shanks diary) could not be your Samuel Shanks who married to a Margaret and had children starting in 1829. The only thing I can think is that James Shanks had a brother or cousin by the name of Samuel who was likely born about 1800 or so. I don't have my notes with me right now, which I took from the John Shanks diary in PRONI last fall, so I can't check if there was any mention of such an individual. After Easter I can look into it. I do remember that John mentioned a lot of people going to 'America', but I don't remember him mentioning any going to Australia. It is very tricky trying to track family members when they used the same first names over and over again in each generation and at one time there were so many people with the same last (and first) name living in close proximity - we are having the same problem sorting our Moses Greers born about 1800 all living in or near Corlust!!!
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Yes I think the same - that Samuel might have been a cousin or brother. I have a will from one of the daughters who came out to Australia and she mentions her brother George and wife Eliza Allen. So I do know that this one is from my tree :) I can send you a copy if you like by email - my email is Runawayflynn@icloud.com. I am in email contact with Kathryn Stewart also and it would be good if we can work it all out. I have asked Kathryn about a gravestone the sisters here in Australia sent money over to Lisnabrague to have erected in honour of their mother.
Cheers Isabel