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Some Special Interests => Occupation Interests => Topic started by: M_ONeill on Saturday 20 March 21 00:22 GMT (UK)
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Hi all,
Perhaps a bit specific, this, but I'm looking for some input from anyone with knowledge on early railways in Northern Ireland.
My 3x great grandfather Michael McChrystal seemed to travel a long way from his family's home base in Annagh, near Desertmartin/Magherafelt, at least based on the baptismal records of his children (those we can find, that is). My theory is that he may have been travelling to work on the railways, and am trying to see if the construction dates of particular lines might shed any clues.
Michael married a Susannah Owens, date and place unknown. There are some baptisms that may give a clue, though. Their two earliest children I can find were both baptised in Tempo, Fermanagh (1853 and 1854 respectively). The name Owens is very common there, as the surname has links to the local church going back many hundreds of years. The two Tempo baptisms also had sponsors of Edward and Ellen Owens, possible relations, making me think it's a good bet that Susannah likely came from the area.
So how did Michael get all the way down there? The next baptism I can find is that of Arthur McChrystal. He was baptised in Lisbellaw, Fermanagh in 1859. Interestingly, the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_North_Western_Railway) reached Lisbellaw the previous year - though construction was heading west towards Tempo and Enniskillen, not away from them.
The final child we have a baptismal record for is a Thomas Edmund (or 'Redmund') McChrystal. He's baptised in 1865 in Crumlin, Antrim another large jump. Sadly, the record of births is incomplete and I haven't found baptisms for all of the known children - so there isn't a complete picture of the family's movements. They appear in the 1871 census for England, living in Heath Charnock. I think they moved back to Annagh after Michael's father passed away in 1875, when he went to take over the family farm.
The family definitely has later links to the railways; Michael's own son Michael 'Mick' McChrystal (my 2x great grandfather) was listed as a 'Farmer and foreman platelayer' in his 1908 civil death record in Annagh, where the family returned after Mick's grandfather died. This is likely as part of the Draperstown Railway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draperstown_Railway), which ran through Annagh and was built between 1881 and 1883.
So that's what I have. My theory of Michael moving to work on the railways is complicated by the fact that I can't find any line that had gone from the Magherafelt area down to Enniskillen prior to 1853. If anyone can shed any light on the question I'd be incredibly grateful! :)
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It is likely the couple lived near to where he worked and they travelled to baptise their children in the 'family' church 'back' home.
I guess you have already seen this although I beleive they don't have railmen personel records before 1880ish http://irishrailarchives.ie/resources/links/
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I hadn't actually seen that site iluleah, so thank you for linking!
I suppose I'm not sure exactly what would count as the 'home' church. Michael McChrystals 'home' church would have most likely been St Mary's Coolcam in Desertmartin.
The church at Tempo seems fairly certain to be Sarah's church though. I think the couple who sponsor their two baptisms there are an Edward Owens married to an Ellen McDonagh. He was a egg merchant according to civil records. All of their children were baptised in Tempo.
I suppose I still can't picture exactly how Michael McChrystal got down there. I'm fairly certain the McChrystal family origins are in county Derry, rather than Fermanagh.
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The line was built between 1881 and 1883, a short single-track branch line 8 miles (13 km) in length, to connect Magherafelt and Draperstown. The engineer was John Lanyon, and the contractors were J & W Grainger.
From the Internet
From the Internet
It was operated by the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway and taken over by them in July 1895.
Passenger services were withdrawn in 1930 and the line was finally closed in 1950.
Stations
The following stations were on the route:
Magherafelt
Desertmartin
Draperstown
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Thomas Edmund McChrystal's 1865 birth registration records his father as a Railway labourer:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details-civil/3ced8f8067831
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Thomas Edmund McChrystal's 1865 birth registration records his father as a Railway labourer:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details-civil/3ced8f8067831
Thomas Edmund born at Ballynadrentagh townland........very close to Belfast International Airport.
https://www.townlands.ie/antrim/killead/ballynadrentagh/ballynadrentagh/
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/a/aldergrove/index.shtml
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Thanks for the responses all! This is all incredibly useful stuff!
I hadn't found that link to the disused station, Kiltaglassan, that's very interesting. So we know Michael McChrystal was working as a railway labourer in 1865. We also know that the Lisburn to Antrim line (including stations at Crumlin and Aldergrove, both near Thomas' birthplace) opened on 13th November 1871.
We happen to know that the family was in Heath Charnock, Lancashire on the night of the 1871 census in England, 2nd of April that same year. So they weren't there for the opening of the line. Perhaps Michael was laid off as the line neared completion? Maybe that's why he had to head across the water to England.
I'm kind of surprised at the distances that a labourer would travel to work on the railways. In this case, is the term 'labourer' underselling the job? How specialised would this kind of work have been?
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He would have been a "navvy" - short for navigator.
There were up to 250,000 Irish navvies employed during the British Railways explosion.
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He would have been a "navvy" - short for navigator.
There were up to 250,000 Irish navvies employed during the British Railways explosion.
Following on this might help https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/navvies-workers-who-built-railways
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A navvy might have lived in a camp near the construction site. Families may have accompanied them or may have stayed home.
Group travel may have been arranged by a gang-master, like for modern groups of migrant workers. If they travelled as individuals or families or small groups of workers, there were ways of getting around before railways. People were used to tramping for miles and hitching lifts. There was a network of Bianchi coaches in Ireland in 19thC.
Are you assuming that Michael was present at baptisms of his children? He didn't need to be there. He might have been away for months before and after each birth. Who registered the births? My GGF was informant at the birth registration of a nephew of his wife in 1864, it's possible the baby's father was away working in England, as was the custom.
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Thank you all for the amazing info - I think I'm really starting to get a feel for the kind of life Michael McChrystal and his family would have been like.
Maiden Stone: The only birth I've seen that would fall under the civil registry is the previously linked one for Thomas Edmund in 1865 (I believe he may have been the youngest child of the family). The informant was a woman called Sarah Morgan, who I believe is likely the same woman shown in this 1879 death record (https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1879/06531/4881815.pdf), so you may well be right about Michael being away from home at the time.
It seems to me that the family movements seem to revolve around land - specifically the farm in Annagh. Michael's father (also Michael - all the eldest sons in this family seem to be named Michael) dies in 1875. As his eldest son Michael and his wife Susannah are seemingly still over in England at this time, he wills his interest to his daughter Mary who holds it until Michael returns and takes over. Michael's sons all marry in Ireland but only the eldest (named Michael, what else!) remains in Ireland. His other brothers return to England and seem to adopt their father's travelling manner of work until they finally settled in North West England.
I'd assume it's a case of the small farm only being able to support the one family, so one holds it while the others go and hit the roads for work. Maybe that's what initially brought Michael (the initial subject of this thread) to go working on the railroads.
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So while I haven't found a path from Annagh to Tempo (and likely never will) I have found one line that does come near-ish to Tempo around the right time for Michael and Susannah's first births.
The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway was incorporated in 1845 and the first stretch, from Derry to Strabane was completed in 1847, then a later extension reached Omagh in 1852.
In 1853, (the year of Michael and Susan's first recorded baptism) the line reached Fintona - only 10 miles away from Tempo. In 1854 the line reached both Trillick and then Ballinamallard (5 and 6 miles away respectively). The line reached Enniskillen with a station opening in August of that same year.
So while I'm not sure how my ancestor first came to be working on the line, I think it's a fairly good bet that he was labouring on this stretch of line at the time of his births and, if Susannah really *was* from Tempo, maybe even at the time of his marriage.
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It seems to me that the family movements seem to revolve around land - specifically the farm in Annagh. Michael's father (also Michael - all the eldest sons in this family seem to be named Michael) dies in 1875. As his eldest son Michael and his wife Susannah are seemingly still over in England at this time, he wills his interest to his daughter Mary who holds it until Michael returns and takes over. Michael's sons all marry in Ireland but only the eldest (named Michael, what else!) remains in Ireland. His other brothers return to England and seem to adopt their father's travelling manner of work until they finally settled in North West England.
Have you seen the father's Will to confirm this actually happened or is this based on an entry in Will book?
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I've seen his father's 1875 will and he technically leaves the farm to his daughter Mary McChrystal and Michael only gets a sum of money. I'll never know for sure, but I suspect that this is because Michael was still away living in England at the time.
The Griffiths valuations then confirm the land passing from Michael to Mary by 1876, and then the land passing from Mary to a Michael by 1879. Michael the younger's children all get married in Ireland despite having been in England in 1871, so I'm fairly sure the basic timeline holds water.
I should clarify that I don't think Mary was willed the land specifically to hold it for her brother, it's just my suspicion that that's how it turned out.
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I've seen his father's 1875 will and he technically leaves the farm to his daughter Mary McChrystal and Michael only gets a sum of money. I'll never know for sure, but I suspect that this is because Michael was still away living in England at the time.
The Griffiths valuations then confirm the land passing from Michael to Mary by 1876, and then the land passing from Mary to a Michael by 1879. Michael the younger's children all get married in Ireland despite having been in England in 1871, so I'm fairly sure the basic timeline holds water.
I should clarify that I don't think Mary was willed the land specifically to hold it for her brother, it's just my suspicion that that's how it turned out.
Still don't understand. How did Michael "technically leave" farm to his daughter? does is say something like "to my daughter Mary I leave my farm"?
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The specific phrasing is:
'I leave and bequeath to my daughter Mary McChrystal, my interest in this farm I possess by her paying all debts and bequests'.
The children in the will are all named in age order, with Michael coming first and receiving £5. His daughter Kate receives a shilling and his son Charles receives £1. Mary then comes last.
Checking the tree, it looks like Mary McChrystal married a Joseph Boyle in December of 1877. They were both listed as resident in Longfield, just to the west of Annagh. So it's possible that she had either already handed over the farm to her brother at this point or that this marriage was the impetus for the handover pre-1879.