Diamond - Belfast

[BrendanC]

Looking at this thread I wonder if I link into the Portrush Diamonds. My GGM was Mary Diamond who married Willie John McCann in Our Lady and St Patrick RC on 13/02/1881. Her Pension Application compared to the 1851 census for Bendooragh and indicates she was born in 1849. The recently released Irish Catholic Church Records have only one Mary Diamond baptised in the Down & Connor Diocese between 1845 and 1855. She is the daughter of James Diamond and Betty Darragh baptised in Portrush/Bushmills on 11/12/1849.  Her father`s name was James according to her marriage certificate. My grandfather, Patrick McCann, was a cousin of Henry (Harry) Diamond MP. Is anybody able to provide any more information to give authority to the supposition that James Diamond and Betty Darragh are my ancestors?

[aghadowey]

...The recently released Irish Catholic Church Records have only one Mary Diamond baptised in the Down & Connor Diocese between 1845 and 1855. She is the daughter of James Diamond and Betty Darragh baptised in Portrush/Bushmills on 11/12/1849.  Her father`s name was James according to her marriage certificate. My grandfather, Patrick McCann, was a cousin of Henry (Harry) Diamond MP. Is anybody able to provide any more information to give authority to the supposition that James Diamond and Betty Darragh are my ancestors?

You need to remember that not all records survive/are online so the record you found may/may not be the correct person.
Does the 1851 census list any older siblings? if so, have you searched for their baptisms, marriages, etc. to see names of parents, location, etc.?

[BrendanC]

Aghadowey, I thank you for your interest.

Now that the National Archives in Dublin are posting pension applications I have been revisiting my Diamond brick wall. My Mary Diamond`s application from 133, Cavendish St., is confirmed by the 1851 Census referral where she is shown as a 2 year old living with an older brother, James, 4 and sister Elizabeth aged 6. They and their parents, James Dimond (sic),26, and Betty, 24, are listed as relatives of the householder William Biget or Bigart, 45. The final resident of the house is Nelly Dunphy, 75. Interestingly there are two separate rejected applications from a Margaret Jane Diamond. One was made from the residence of Sarah Diamond, 3 Rockmore Rd Belfast and the other from the household of William Diamond, Balnamore, Ballymoney. Both refer to living in the same Biget household as my Mary Diamond but there is no Margaret Jane on the Census return suggesting that she was born after the Census was actually taken. Margaret Diamond and John McCann married in Belfast on 11/06/1893 whereas my Mary Diamond married Willie John Mc Cann in Ballymoney on 13/02/1881. I have looked unsuccessfully for marriages between Diamond and Biget, Bigart and Dunphy but have not looked at marriages for Mary`s siblings I will have a go at that and also try to find out more about the witnesses to any marriage I find.

[aghadowey]

Biggart (Biggert, Bigger, etc.) is a surname found in the Ballymoney area.