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Messages - kirk6704

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1
Antrim / Re: Donegore - Bryson-Wilson
« on: Tuesday 03 April 18 18:23 BST (UK)  »
Hi Rebecca,

My great great grandfather James Buchanan was born in Ballymena and came to a property his family had purchased near what is now Ottawa, Canada in 1847.  I have a written account by one of his daughters that says that he had "Bryson cousins" in the area.  His mother was Jane Ballagh and her sister Margaret was married to John Bryson of Ballybracken, Antrim.  They had daughters Sarah and Agnes and sons James, Robert and John.  I don't know if any of these five cousins settled in the area.   

2
Antrim / Re: Donegore - Bryson-Wilson
« on: Thursday 20 July 17 22:53 BST (UK)  »
Hi Gilby,

The name "Ballagh" and specifically "Jane Ballagh" is something known within my family and passed down through the generations.  I learned of her parents, grandparents and siblings by way of various records found through on line genealogical research sites and PRONI.  The wills have been very helpful. I only wish that information on James Buchanan and his family was as readily available.  My search will continue!

I'm not sure where Agnes Wilson would have married Captain Peter Davidson, but I would be inclined to believe it was in Ireland.  I highly doubt any young unmarried woman would make her way to this part of the world in the early 1840s alone or in the company of any man to whom she wasn't married.  I do know that the land that the Davidsons settled was not far from the Buchanans.

3
Antrim / Re: Donegore - Bryson-Wilson
« on: Monday 10 July 17 01:36 BST (UK)  »
Hi Gilby,

My heart skipped a beat or two when I saw the picture of the headstone!  Many thanks!  I've come to know a little about the Ballaghs through wills available online.  The stone is also inscribed with Janes' parents and grandparents all of whom I've discovered through other means.  Agnes Wilson the daughter of Anne Ballagh and James Wilson married Captain Peter Davidson and emigrated to Canada West sometime prior to my gg grandfather James.  They were 1st cousins.  I have a transcription of recollections of a long dead relative that also mentions that there were cousins named Bryson already here as well.  I would really like to find out more about my ggg grandfather James Buchanan and his family.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, he died while he was here getting his son settled and had no will back in Ireland. 

4
Antrim / Re: Donegore - Bryson-Wilson
« on: Sunday 09 July 17 13:30 BST (UK)  »
Hi Gilby,

Thanks for the reply!  I have known since I was a child that my great-great-great-grandmother's maiden name was "Ballagh" or "Ballah".  I grew up and still live not far from where her son James settled.  Of the eight children in James' family, two of them had "Ballagh" as a second name.  James' eldest brother was Robert Ballagh Buchanan was a merchant who died in 1900 in Pine Villa Ballycloughan, Down, Ireland.  I have found several wills through PRONI.  Incidentally, there is a Wilson/Bryson connection on this side of the Atlantic too.  James my great-great-grandfather settled here because he had a Wilson cousin already here.

5
Antrim / Re: Donegore - Bryson-Wilson
« on: Thursday 06 July 17 01:09 BST (UK)  »
I was thrilled when I came upon this post quite by chance.  Jane Buchanan is my great-great-great -grandmother.  Her husband was James Buchanan from Ballymena.  He accompanied his youngest son, also James, to Canada in the mid 1840s intending to help settle his son and return to Ireland.  Sadly he died while in Canada and was buried in a pioneer cemetery in what is now Ottawa.  The cemetery is now gone and all the remains were haphazardly transferred to another cemetery.  We have no record of his final resting place. His son James, my great-great-grandfather, married a Elizabeth Freeman from County Wicklow, prospered as a farmer and had a family of eight.  I'm the great- grandson of his oldest son.  Where is Donegore?  I would love to one day see the grave and hopefully find out a little about my ancestors in Antrim!

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