RUTLEDGE - Manorhamilton 1775-1830

[LUV]

HI again 

A Robert Rutledge was supposedly born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim circa 1775.  Anybody else researching Rutledge from Manorhamilton?

Robert Rutledge immigrated to Hastings Co., Ontario, Canada in around 1830-1835.   

Of course the area he relocated to, the first census is 1861 (1851 for the particular township he resided in Hastings co was lost).

Thus, by 1861 he is a very old gentleman and whatever family might have accompanied him thirty years earlier has themselves married, died or moved on!     Robert is listed as Weslyen Methodist in 1861...so..I guess Church of Ireland.

I am trying to find out about this Robert Rutledge, perhaps find something to indicate his children's names and maybe a wife...?  Anybody have access to the Manorhamilton Parish records?  I believe 1816 onward survives at the PRONI? 

I SUSPECT HE HAD A DAUGHTER CATHERINE RUTLEDGE WHO MARRIED AN ALEXANDER LOVE around 1830 in around Manorhamilton  but I cannot find any records...

Anybody have anything to offer up

Thanks all
LUV

[behindthefrogs]

I don't understand how you get from Robert being listed as a Weslyan Methodist in 1861 to Church of Ireland.

The Church of Ireland is an Anglican Church and distinctly different from the Methodist Churches

David

[luimneach]

As your ancestor was born c 1775 he may well have been baptised/married in Anglican C of I.Methodism at time was a movement within that church and only later became a separate church.
Google Manorhamilton Methodist church to get contact details re dates of records for their church.
If you google "failte romhat" you can access Griffith's valuation extracts 1848/64-you can see distribution of Rutledge name in Leitrim around that time

[LUV]

Hi David and Luimneach... 

I had found David, as luimneach verified, that the Methodists began in the C of I...in that time frame...not a separate church until early 1800's...  Now my info came from digging around online...but of course I will stand corrected if it is not right.   

I found that often when new immigrants arrived in Canada, their religious affiliations changed....you will see Bible Christians, Wesleyan Methodists quite prevalent in the settlement areas where they were Church of Scotland, Church of England and Church of Ireland...as well as Episcopal and sometimes even the Roman Catholics changed???

But I am not professing to be an authority on Religious Denominations and will defer on this to others...

I will indeed google the Manorhamiliton and see what I can find..

LUV

[behindthefrogs]

The first Methodist chapel was built in 1731 but they didn't formally separate from the Anglican church until after John Wesley's death in 1791 mainly due to his personal resistance to that separation.  However by 1784 the Methodist clergy were barred from Anglican  churches and separation had already effectively taken place.

There were numerous reasons why Methodists were baptised in Anglican churches which had nothing to do with their faith but more to the political power of the parish church in the 18th century and earlier.

David

[LUV]

Thank you David 

So now... it is indeed quite possible that Robert Rutledge was Wesleyan Methodist prior to immigrating.   One learns something new each day....

Was religious persecution one of the reasons people left Ireland other than the poverty & famine??  Was the Methodist Church frowned upon?

Do records for the Wesleyan Methodist churches survive today? 

Thanks again
LUV

[behindthefrogs]

I wouldn't have thought that religious persecution would have been a factor.  Of course the church would have been supporting the poor to some extent and so the ability of the local methodist circuit to give such support could have been a mitigating factor.

David

[Ben Bowe]

See link to Griffith's Valuation that has the following enteries:
Surname          First Name      Townland                                 Parish            County

Rutledge          George           Kilmakerrill                                Cloonclare     Leitrim
Rutledge          James             Lughawnagh                            Cloonclare     Leitrim
Rutledge          James              Mullaun                                    Cloonclare     Leitrim
Rutledge          John                Donagh More                           Cloonclare     Leitrim
Rutledge          Thomas           Lissinagroagh                          Cloonclare     Leitrim
Rutledge          Thomas           Tawnylust                                 Cloonclare     Leitrim

Cloonclare is the Parish name for Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim.

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/leitrim/cloonclare.htm.

I hope this is of some assistance to you,   Ben Bowe

[aghadowey]

Welcome to Rootschat, Ben. Unfortunately Griffith's Valuation is a bit late for finding details of Robert Rutledge but here's a better site to search it:
http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_family_search_form.php