RootsChat.Com

I’m researching my wife’s Bell family line and I think they trace back from Canada to Middlebie but through Ireland. I am finding it difficult to trace from Ireland to Middlebie. Apparently there was a church fire that destroyed some of the relevant records in Ireland. I believe some Middlebie Bells left during the Ulster Plantation and ended up in Glenavy, County Antrim. The farthest back we have gotten is William James Bell born 1760, died 1845 in Glenavy. His son was Francis Bell, and his son was Francis Charles Bell. The use of the names William and Francis within the family in Glenavy is not likely coincidence and therefore probably linked to the Middlebie Bells mentioned in this thread. Both the Francis Bells, father and son, along with the other children emigrated to Canada in 1850, to Oro, in Simcoe county, Ontario. If anyone has information on any of the Middlebie Bells moving to Ulster during the time of the Plantation, it would be appreciated.