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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Down => Topic started by: isobel58 on Thursday 06 June 13 10:02 BST (UK)
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Hi
According to Poor Relief Records at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, Jane Wilson was born in 1839 in a place called Blowsmore, Co Down. Her parents were John Wilson, a cartwright and Charlotte Welsh. Charlotte and Jane eventually settled in Glasgow were they both appear in the 1861 with Charlotte as head of the house.
I have checked maps and can't find a place with that name. Does this place exist or has the name over time been passed down through the family and like "chinese whispers" be altered?
Any help on this one would be greatly appreciated.
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There's no townland or parish named Blowsmore. Could it be a corruption of the parish of Dromore perhaps?
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Hi Thank you for your reply. That was a thought I had too. No way of telling. I don't know if Jane gave the statement herself when she was applying for Poor Relief or it was one of her family. You would think she would have known where she was born :-\
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I am sure she did know where she was born but probably couldn’t read and so wouldn’t necessarily know what was recorded by the Poor Law official. I suspect that what has happened is that the official has slightly misheard the placename and Blowsmore is a best guess. It’s probably somewhere ending in “more”.
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There is a Broughmore town in Blaris Parish.
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Hi
That could be it. Sorry not up on my geography..is that in County Down?
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Evelyn
Not sure she was able to read or write and there's also a possibility she had a wee drink in her at the time. So most likely the official didn't here her properly.
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Hi,
There are two areas called Broughmore but both are in Co. Antrim, one in the Ballycastle district and the other in the district of Lisburn.
Regards
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Thank you for your reply. I'm thinking this is the most likely place.. it's very close in pronunciation to Blowsmore.
So she's an Antrim lass!
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isobel:
I believe Blaris Parish straddled Counties Antrim and Down.
The townland of Broughmore is on the western end of Blaris, almost due east of Lisburn. It is bounded by Lurganure, Maze and Gortnacor.
In Griffith's, there were three John Wilsons and two Jane Wilsons listed in Blaris Parish in 1864:
Johns: Aghnatrisk, Magherageery and Ravernet.
Janes: Carnreagh and Magherageery.
Happy hunting.
Donn Cairns
Colorado Springs
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Sorry, but I have to disagree with the County Antrim idea. Your search is starting with the information in the Glasgow Poor Law records and says County Down.
Now, Jane may not have known exactly where she was born (especially if the family left Ireland when she was very young or if they loved around a lot) but whatever the 'real' name of the place she would have known what county they came from. Wilson is a very. very common surname in Ulster so finding some Wilsons in Blaris Parish, Co. Antrim isn't really surprising.
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Hi Donn
Thank you for your reply, the information is of great help. Jane was born in 1839 but by 1861 she and her Mother appear in the Scottish Census. Her Mother is head of the household that would mean her father was deceased, I would think? Jane is a very interesting woman 4 children to three different men, and she died in a Glasgow Poorhouse. Lots more to find out about her. It's been made a lot easier thanks to the help of everyone on this forum.
Many, many thanks everyone.
Just saw the last post. That does make sense Jane was alive and I would imagine present when the first statement was made to the Parish officials. She may have left Ireland when she was very young and only was aware of the County she came from. She was aged 22 when she first appears in records in Scotland. I have no idea where she was before that. There is a strong possibility she was a County Down girl going by the Poorhouse Records. Still remains a bit of a mystery but what is BLOWSMORE in the whole picture?