Robert and Jane WILSON, Magheracross

[Gwyneth]

In 1838 Robert, a carpenter, and his wife Jane, Gortaloughan had their daughter, Rebecca baptized in the Magheracross Church of Ireland in Ballinamallard.  In 1861 when Rebecca married John H. Thompson, Drumsonnus, County Tyrone in the same church, Robert's residence was given as Mullaghmeen, County Fermanagh.  While I have later information about this Thompson marriage, I have no information about Robert and Jane Wilson. Is there anyone with access to Magheracross Parish records? Who are Rebecca's siblings, if any?  Is anyone researching this Wilson family?  Thank you for any help!

Who was Robert Wilson's father? Was Jane an Irvine or Irwin? John and Rebecca Wilson Thompson named their firstborn son, Irwin William, but he sometime used Irvine William.

[shaunhobson]

There was a Robert Wilson, parish of Kilskeery, and a Jane Bleakly, parish of Magheracross, married at the Magheracross Parish Church on 05 April 1803.

This may be the couple you are looking for.

[Gwyneth]

Thank you so much Shaun Hobson. This is the confirmation I needed. I haven't visited Fermanagh since 2007. Since I am now 79, I doubt very much whether I will cross the Big Pond again. I thought that Robert and Jane were my great great grand parents, but I was not certain of Jane's maiden name or the year they were married! We are surviving 10 inches of fresh snow from Thursday in Pennsylvania, but hopefully the temps next week will take care of melting. It was minus one degree Fahrenheit this morning! Blessings on you and your family for a wonderful Easter season. I am most grateful for your interest in genealogy!

[shaunhobson]

Here is the website I found the information on http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/fermanagh/churches/maghercross-mar.htm

There is a possibility these two people are my husband's 4th great-grandparents.  His 3rd great-grandparent is Newburk Wilson born 25 April 1804 in County Tyrone, according to his gravestone.  He emigrated to Ontario, Canada June 1830, married Sarah Armstrong 12 March 1835 and died there 17 March 1880.  I have found a baptismal record for a Newburk Willson, son of Robert and Jane Willson and baptized 26 February 1804 in the Kilskeery Church of Ireland in County Tyrone and living in Townland Moorfield.  The dates don't quite jive, but there may be a mistake on the gravestone for the date of birth.  The 1826 Kilskerry Parish Tithe Applotment Book records a Robert Wilson located at Barony: Omagh; Townland: Moorfield, Manor: Sloy.  At this point this is all speculative and I need more source information to confirm.  Would you have any information about a Newburk (or Newburgh) in your family?

Shaun

[Gwyneth]

Shaun, I have very little information on the Wilsons, although my father was given the name Wilson at birth to Sarah and Peter Frank Atkins.  Sarah was the second daughter of John Hetherington Thompson and Rebecca Wilson Thompson born in Philadelphia, PA. Rebecca was born in 1838 to Robert and Jane Bleakley Wilson. I have tried to find out why John and Rebecca settled in Philadelphia unsuccessfully. There were Armstrongs in the ancestry of John Thompson. I live in Lancaster, PA, the home of the international Armstrong Cork Co. Although I am 79 I am on a Fermanagh Facebook site and keep in touch with many genealogical friends this way. I have a contact person in Fermanagh, whom I met in 2007 when my daughter and I traveled to Northern Ireland. I had been there the previous year with my third cousin. It was only through serendipity that I found John and Rebecca's marriage through the marriage registry at Magheracross.

[Kerry-Lynne]

Newburk Wilson is my GGG-grandfather. Regarding Newburk Wilson's parents Robert Wilson and Jane Bleakly back in County Tyrone, Jane would have been too old, I believe -- having married in 1803 -- to give birth to the daughter Rebecca born in 1838. Her last child was, I think, Jane Ann, born 1825, who emigrated to Canada at age four with her brother Newburk. I am curious to know whether Newburk had brothers who went to the United States. Newburk settled on the north side of the St. Lawrence River. 

[Gwyneth]

Kerry-Lynne, I have no knowledge of the Wilson in Canada to whom you refer. I continue to believe my great grandmother, Rebecca Maria Wilson Thompson's parents were a Robert and Jane Bleakley Wilson and that Rebecca was born in 1838 in County Fermanagh. I have a photograph of a Robert Wilson gravesite in the Kilskeery Church of Ireland (Anglican), County Tyrone, but I do NOT believe it is the gravesite of my great great grandfather, Rebecca's father. There were too many Robert Wilsons from 1800 to 1838 with too little information for me to discern more than the little I know. Rebecca's father was a carpenter, according to her marriage record, which meant he probably worked for an estate. William Bleakley and John Hall witnessed the marriage of Rebecca to John Hetherington Thompson in 1861. Ceremony was performed by the Rector Henry Burke.

[shaunhobson]

Kerry-Lynne,

I have not been able to find any documents to support siblings for the Newburk (Newburgh) in my family tree. My Newark did settle on the north side of the St. Lawrence River in Shanly.  Are you able to provide information regarding his sister Jane Ann?  Which of Newburk's and Sarah's children are you descended from?

I acknowledge your questioning that Robert Newburk Wilson and Jane Bleakly would be the parents of Rebecca born in 1838, but not knowing the age Jane was when she married there is a chance they may be.  I would love to track down more records pertaining to Robert and Jane and any records regarding other children, but it is difficult when I am currently not able to travel to Ireland and am forced to work remotely from Canada.

I am open to collaborating.

[Kerry-Lynne]

Thanks to George Armstrong’s transcription, these invaluable parish records have been published online. I had set aside my genealogy project and therefore did not see your web entries until this week. The marriage of Robert Wilson and Jane Bleakly took place 5 April 1803, according to the Magheracross, County Fermanagh parish record. Jane Bleakly must have been born circa 1780 and probably did not have children past age 50, therefore, past 1830.  It is my opinion that the last child of Jane Bleakly and Robert Wilson was little Jane, baptized in 1825, according to the parish record, in Moorfield. Siblings for Newburk listed in the parish record at Kilskeery include: Margaret, baptized in 1811; Mathew, baptized in 1813 (named for another Mathew, baptised 1807, who had died); Jane baptized in 1825. Family lore gave me this little sister of Newburk. She came to Canada with him in 1830, aged four. It is not known why. There is documentation in Ontario for her, at least after her marriage. She did not state her parents’ names for the marriage record, but other facts point to her relationship to Newburk.
Records for brother Mathew’s offspring are also in the parish records online.