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Mary

I can't believe how much information you have been able to find in such a short time. Thanks so very much. Robert Wilton is a new addition. I now have the marriage of James Wilton to Sarah McIlmunn on 3rd Feb 1868. They were married in Ballyarnett Presbyterian Church.

From the marriage details his father was Daniel Wilton. Both James and Daniel were coach trimmers, my Alexander Wilton was a whitesmith and later a coach builder. I originally thought that Alexander and the father of James Wilton Sr were brothers but going by the dates of their respective marriages, Alexander in 1862 and James in 1868, they may have been brothers. Alexander and Barbara had quite a large family and a Sarah Wilton was present at the birth of their son Alexander when they were living for a brief time in Ballymena.

Going back to Mary Thomson. This is interesting as my grandmother's bridesmaid was Maggie Thompson and my grandmother always said they were cousins. My dad thought this was perhaps a relationship by marriage as Alexander's youngest daughter married a Thompson in 1901 but my grandmother and Maggie were close friends from they were toddlers together. The other thing is that the first born child of Alexander Wilton and Barbara Walls was named Mary Jane. From Barbara Walls pension records I found that her mother was Jane Hale, so it makes sense that their daughter was named for both grandmothers, with possibly the other one being Mary Thomson. Now I just have to prove it!!

Alexander and Barbara were married in a Roman Catholic church in Coleraine (I don't know which one), their first few children were baptised in the Catholic church and the rest in the C of Ireland. It was a mixed marriage but I have no idea why half were Catholic and half were C of I. Alexander must have died in late 1880's and Barbara died on 18th April 1933 - we have her obituary from the Coleraine Chronicle.

One the marriage certificate for Alexander and Barbara, the surname of the witness for Barbara is listed a McGowan. At the bottom there is this comment: Rev S Walsh MGR 2nd Witness recorded as "a Magowan's girl". Would you have any idea what that would mean?

Thanks again so much for your input.

Thanks very much for the helpful suggestion, I will certainly follow up with the Blackwood Family manuscripts, something I hadn't thought of doing. Thanks for going the extra bit and giving me all the contact details for the Linen Hall Library.

Thanks, I thought the residence was most likely for David and Elizabeth when they married. The house they lived in was next door to one of two houses owned by Samuel Halliday. I wonder if it was just coincidence that they were in the same street as Samuel Halliday since the Maxwell I am drawn to had a brother Samuel??

Perhaps the way forward is to look for a Halliday and Maxwell marriage way back (of course there may not be any records that far back), and then work forwards.

It is so frustrating not having census records!!

Wow that was quick!

Thanks very much, I will see where the dates fit in the family.

Most of this note has been on a couple of other boards and I have had some success with this one in that a second cousin of my dad contacted me from Australia - I didn't know about this side of the family

My g-g-grandfather was John Hamill, born approx 1830 to Daniel Hamill (clerk) and wife unknown. He married Jane McFarland on 26th May 1853 in Dunluce Church of Ireland. John Hamill was living in Portrush at the time of his marriage. The witnesses to the marriage were John Haughey and John McFarland (brother of the bride). He had a brother Daniel Hamill.

My grandmother told me that Jane McFarland was from Scotland, born about 1833, her father was James McFarland and apparently he was a boat-builder in Greenock (not that I can find him or his family in any Scottish census). At the time of her marriage, Jane McFarland was a servant living in Port Ballintrae.

I believe that John and Jane had 3 children, John (my great-grandfather) born 1860, and two daughters, Mary Jane (born about 1855) and Hannah.

John Hamill was a fisherman and was drowned at sea on 3rd December 1863. He went to the rescue of a ship, the Providence, which was floundering off Portrush, Co Antrim. Four coastguards and five fishermen went out to assist and succeeded in boarding her but a storm arose and the vessel drifted on shore and broke up. Three of the crew, two fishermen, one being John Hamill, and one coastguard were drowned. Jane, the widow of John Hamill received £30 for herself and her three children according to Parliamentary papers of 1863. I understand that his brother, Daniel Hamill, was a sailor on the Providence and survived, although I have no proof of this and have no idea how to find out who was on the crew of that ship.

John Hamill, the son of the fisherman, married Mary Jane Wilton from Coleraine, on 25th December 1888 in St Patrick’s Church of Ireland. They had a large family and lived in Coleraine, Portrush and finally Belfast. Mary Jane married William Doherty/Dougherty in 1876, and they had 8 children. Hannah couldn't speak or hear and was sent to a special school in Scotland and married there and had a family (no information on her at all)

Daniel the brother of John Hamill the fisherman may have been married to Hannah Montgomery but I know he had a daughter, Hannah Hamill who married James McCann in the 1870’s.

Any help on my search for information on the Hamill and McFarland families would be greatly appreciated