Robert Sherrard married Mary Buchanan

[Christine Lyttleton]

I am just wondering whether anyone has any personal recollections of Jane Buchanan or her parents William Buchanan and Mary Norris?  I would like to find out about Mary Norris, but this may be beyond my capacity.  The letter from America may give some clues
Christine

[captainbeecher]

the social history of a time and place can often offer a glimpse of who people were and why they took the steps they did in life. On the Katherine and Catherine debate, I think it does just come down to Katherine being spelling that was going out of fashion in faour of catherine more so than a religous thing. It was only with the proper keeping of records in the late 18th century that these things started becoming more important to people. It's a point to note that the first half of the nineteenth cenrtury was a time when a great many still couldn't read or write so spelling wasn't necessarily a big deal for them.

Religion too is a less clear thing in the first half of the century as Presbyterians were regarded by those in the established church as no better than Catholics, for whom they had little regard. There wasn't necessarily open hatred as such but those in the established church would have considered themselves, privately at least, as being socially better than Presbyterians and Catholics. That said, marriage to and between Protestants and Catholics wasn't as uncommon rurally as many would think.

Marriage itself prior to the 1840s wasn't as big a deal as it was later in the century. for rural folk, living in small tight knit communities where families knew each other going back a century or two, marriage was more conceptual than religious. Often it was a case where, as long as the families and the communities regarded them as married then that was good enough. Jumping the broomstick so to speak. Starting in the 1830s and moving into the Victorian age, Ministers applied soft pressure on their parishoners who were also employers that it was their moral duty to ensure their employees were married in the eyes of god and not living in sin. It became common for married men to earn more than those that weren't so men started marrying. It was as true then as it is now that most simple folk were god fearing but not especially religious. In truth though, children born out of wedlock for a community like Slaughtmanus wouldn't have been a big deal as long as their parents lived as man and wife. One actual upshot of the pressure to marry was the growth of arranged marriage. It wasn't rife but equally not uncommon for a young woman to attract the attention of a middle aged farmer in need of a wife. A labourer could find his circumstances improved by agreeing to marry the poor girl off to a man over twice her age. Such practices happened in rural Ireland right up until the early 1950s, indeed my wife has an aunt who found herself in such a position when just a girl of 17 in the late 1940s.

That makes it all the more remarkable for Catherine to have left her husband. Then again, with limited knowledge of emigrant history, I've always felt that Ulster-Scots who went abroad took their religion but were hoping to get away from the social restrictions of their homeland as much chasing the dreams of better lives in Australia, USA, South Africa etc.

I think it's telling that the first thing the Buchanans do on arrival in Australia is leave Melbourne. Fair enough, there was a gold rush and the newspapers in Ireland virtually tell people that the streets of Melbourne are paved with gold. Folk from Belfast and Londonderry would still probably have been more likely to stay in Melbourne and tried to seek their fortune in a more built up environment. The Buchanans however came from a place so small and rural that it wasn't even, and still isn't on the map. There were a good five miles away from the nearest village in Claudy.

I'm probably telling you what you already know but the Genghis Khan sailing of 1853 was a very famous one and perhaps the worst sailing any emigrant ship ever encountered without actually floundering.

[Christine Lyttleton]

Thank you captainbeecher for you very knowledgeable understanding of life in Slaghtmanus.  It sounds exactly the same as life in Beaufort in those days.  James and William were not city people.  They did come to Australia for the gold, but headed to Beaufort and Waterloo where there were also gold diggings.  Only the Robert Buchanan of the Buchanans in Beaufort was a gold miner. I still do not know whether this was their brother.  He married a lady named Janet Bruce. I have not looked into this. The George Buchanan married a lady named Selina Peake.
 
Knowing James' life, the time lines for his marriage to Catherine after the birth of little William James indicate the same type of pattern he always had in relationships.  James' was a particular character!!  When Catherine deserted him, James put a notice in the Ballarat Star stating that he would not be responsible for any of Catherine's debts incurred in his name, as she had deserted him without reason.  There was no pension in those days.  It was quite remarkable that Catherine left James.  You are correct that wives rarely left their husbands in those days.  James' second wife, dear Mary, died in a mental asylum in Ballarat in 1922 of 'melancholia and heart failure'.  I don't know what went on in James' marriages.
I have this quite large document on William and James in Beaufort.  I am trying to send it, and hopefully this time it will go through, as I have copied and saved it in a different format.  But I do know absolutely that in James' and William's generation, and in several generations after, marriage outside of the Protestant faith was an extremely significant issue.  It may not have been with Jane and your family.
James left Beaufort due to an argument with his wife Mary's brother George McGuire over the purchase of a block of land. It resulted in fisticuffs.  His brother William Buchanan was well respected and an ardent Rechabite, especially since his wife Matilda was from Salford.  Matilda had a lot of influence on the family. 
I will try and send this document and then continue.... no, it won't go through. It is too big. It is late here, and I will split it in three tomorrow and forward it.
I must tell you that the Buchanans have always been known as very musical.  In Beaufort, they were known as the 'Musical Buchanans'.  One in particular had an operatic voice. The Buchanans really can sing beautifully, and are very good on musical instruments.  Some can memorise music without being good at sight reading.  I was told that some of the Buchanans in James, William's and Jane's generation had red hair.  Must go now, it is late here.
 
 

[captainbeecher]

Much like the Buchanans of Victoria, the Sherrards who gradually levitated into Londonderry city would not have tolerated marriage to a Roman Catholic. This attitude would have begun in the 1840s and gradually become more ingrained as the various political actions of the next hundred years divided catholics and protestants on political lines. over the 130 years from the 1840s to the 1970s First you've got the famine, which doesn't affect majority protestant Ulster as badly as it does majority catholic Leinster, Munster and Connaught. Thats followed by the birth of the land league and the Irish parliamentary party where again it's mostly rural catholics who feel more affected by unfair rents. The Orange order is born and you now have working class protestants coming to the defence of middle class protestant landlords, Captain Boycott being the most famous when his name became the term for being boycotted. So in the space of a generation you've got rural protestants and catholics who lived side by side in harmony, now tolerating each other but holding resentments under the surface that has caused a split in the community. It then goes on to the push for home rule starting in the 1880s, home rule riots in the 1890s, the arming of Ulstermen to resist home rule in 1912, the rising of 1916, the partition of Ireland and then fifty years of protestant paranoia in governing Northern Ireland that sparks the violence of the 1970s and '80s. Even today you can find that people of the pre 1968 generation, who appear tolerant on the surface, still carry old resentments and prejudices when you scratch the surface. The '60s and '70s was something of a wake up call for most that such bitterness couldn't continue though. I think the whole first world experienced something of a wake up call in terms of racial and religious tolerance generally from the 1980s and beyond in which acceptance of inter religious marriage in Northern Ireland was just one part.

[Christine Lyttleton]

Thank you captainbeecher. 
I am still having trouble with this document but will post it as soon as I can. 
Does anyone know definitely from where the Buchanans came in Scotland?  This is, of course, a difficult issue.
I have just managed to email a Great Granddaughter of the Robert Buchanan in Beaufort who bought land in 1856 alongside James and William.  I will wait and see if there is a reply.  This Robert apparently came to Australia in May 1853 aboard the ship 'Sea'.  I have other information which may indicate he was born about 1820 and married in Dundee.

There may be a Buchanan connection with another Buchanan family in Australia.  I cannot verify this at all.  James' youngest son Herbert headed up to Broken Hill in about 1910 where he married. Then, surprisingly, Herbert went to Townsville, Queensland.  This is a tropical area with serious creepy crawlies everywhere.  Herbert's brother Robert went at about the same time to Gympie, Queensland and then settled in Pomona.

The issue is the photo of James Buchanan which I posted.  In Townsville, there is was a Hotel called the Buchanan Hotel. This was owned by a David Buchanan who came from Barrhead, Renfrewshire in Scotland.  For some reason, our James Buchanan's photo was placed in the Buchanan Hotel in Townsville.  There is, of course, the possibility that there is no connection at all, and it was merely a gesture of the owner of the Hotel to put James' photo up because of the association of members of the Clan Buchanan.  However, it is very unusual that Herbert would head all the way up to Townsville. This was around 1913. Townsville was not an easy place to access then.  And, last year, one of the senior cousins of ours went to Townsville to try and sort out this issue. The Townsville Historical Society said that there was an unknown connection between the owner of the Buchanan Hotel and Ballarat (next to Beaufort). The Historical Society also knew the names of close relatives of mine, despite the fact that Herbert only stayed a few years and then moved a long way away.

When James Buchanan sailed on The Genghis Khan, he put his nationality as both 'Scottish and Irish'.

Now, back to dear Mary Norris and William Buchanan; their parents.  William Buchanan in Beaufort named one of his sons Ernest Samuel, and Samuel was not known in his wife Matilda's family.  Last year ago, one of my super sleuth researching cousins on another side of my family, gave me the following details of an Irish certificate.

Name: Henry William Buchanan
Marriage: 26 March 1866, Ireland
Father: Samuel Buchanan
Spouse: Mary Jane Norris

Maybe this means something if this marriage was around Cumber Lower or nearby, in consideration that Mary Norris married our William Buchanan.  If there is any birth certificate around Cumber Lower with a Samuel Buchanan and an Alexander Buchanan, then they may be relatives.  Maybe our Mary Norris had the middle name of Jane as well.

James used to carry a walking stick with him at all time.  His son Robert also carried a walking stick, even though he didn't need this. This was something that the Buchanan men used to do, and must have been a personal habit from Londonderry.  One thing about the men in that generation is that, when the occasion arose, they certainly knew how to dress very well. They were not at all uncomfortable in their 'good clobber' (proper clothes). They could be very stylish, despite living in what we call 'the sticks' of Beaufort and Stawell which were as far away from the city as Slaghtmanus.

[Christine Lyttleton]

No one needs to look up the certificate for the Henry Wiliam Buchanan.  It is nowhere near Cumber Lower.

[aghadowey]

... When James Buchanan sailed on The Genghis Khan, he put his nationality as both 'Scottish and Irish'.

Now, back to dear Mary Norris and William Buchanan; their parents.  William Buchanan in Beaufort named one of his sons Ernest Samuel, and Samuel was not known in his wife Matilda's family.  Last year ago, one of my super sleuth researching cousins on another side of my family, gave me the following details of an Irish certificate.
Name: Henry William Buchanan
Marriage: 26 March 1866, Ireland
Father: Samuel Buchanan
Spouse: Mary Jane Norris

Maybe this means something if this marriage was around Cumber Lower or nearby, in consideration that Mary Norris married our William Buchanan.  If there is any birth certificate around Cumber Lower with a Samuel Buchanan and an Alexander Buchanan, then they may be relatives.  Maybe our Mary Norris had the middle name of Jane as well.
...

William Henry Buchanan married Mary Jane Norris
marriage (1866) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGD2-TRJ
Children-
Mary Jane (1867 Limerick) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPW6-BQ8
Ada Georgina (1868 Limerick) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FP8G-XV6
Wilhelmina (1870 Limerick) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPYN-L49
Isabella (1872 Limerick) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F5FQ-QPY
George Ferdinand (1874 Limerick) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPTJ-TH9
Eucline (1876 Limerick) https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F5FQ-QPY

Above details typed out before last post 

The Buchanans, like many of their neighbours, would have called themselves Scotch Irish or Ulster Scots so it's not surprising to see nationality as Irish and Scottish, even if the Scottish-born ancestor was back quite a few generations.

[Christine Lyttleton]

The letter from Elizabeth Brown (Buchanan) to Victorian Police/Post has arrived.  No matter how it is scanned, the letter uses up too much memory to post.  The contents of the letter are as follows. The handwriting is very legible copperplate and matches the style of the signature of Elizabeth's brother William Buchanan on James' marriage certificate in 1876.

Mingo Ohio
Dec 31 1893
To the post master of Melbourne Austraillia
Dear Sir
As I have brother's in that country some where as I don't know which part they are in I take this means to try and find out from you.  they went their between thirty and forty years a go from Landaire North of Ireland and their names are Robert, William, and James Bauchannan (Beaucaninan) if you do not know them would you be kind enough to look at your directory and try and find out if they are in that part of Austraillia and if they are would you be kindenough to give this letter to them and oblige their sister and I will be ever so thankfull to you
Mrs Elizabeath Brown any word I will be thankfull received
Directione is
Mrs Elizabeth Brown or you can send it to my son Robert Brown
Mingo Junction
Jefferson Co. ohio
America

I have included all the mistakes in spelling and grammar, as written in the letter.

I have also had phone contact with the GGGrand daughter of the Robert Buchanan in Beaufort who claimed land in 1865 with a George Buchanan and our James Buchanan at Trewalla.  You can look at some information about this Robert Buchanan by Googling 'Robert Buchanan and Janet Bruce, Beaufort'.  This lady grew up in Beaufort and knew of James and William Buchanan. She said that she believed that James was her GGGrandfather Robert Buchanan's cousin.  She will look back at all her information and get back to me on this.  This Robert Buchanan's father's name was also Robert Buchanan and his mother's name is illegible on any records.  He arrived in Melbourne in May 1853 from Scotland, with James Buchanan arriving in Melbourne in July 1853. I hope that I will have more information on this soon.

James Buchanan put his usual place of residence in 1876 on his marriage certificate to Mary McGuire as 'near Horsham'.  Horsham is quite a distance away from Beaufort.  James never went back.  If there was a brother named Robert, then it is possible that this Robert was in Horsham.  Horsham was, back then, also an area for gold exploration.

I am still trying to scan the large document I have on the Buchanans in Beaufort.  The new printer is not cooperating. 

[Christine Lyttleton]

I have the following information which may relate to Jane's sister Elizabeth Brown, nee Buchanan and a son of her's named Robert Brown.

Emigration from Ireland  21 September 1852  Ship: The Superior From Londonderry to Philadelhia Elizabeth Buchannon Age 20 From Scotland/Ireland.  There is no Dennis Brown travelling with this Elizabeth. 

I have an emigration record for another Dennis Brown, aged 21 on the ship The Bark Zone Hope on 8 June 1853 from Glasgow to Philadelphia on 8 June 1852.  This Dennis is listed as a Labourer and Irish. There is no Elizabeth Brown on the ship with him. This record comes from the Public Records Office, Ireland

Census, United States of America, 1920
Robert J. Brown
Age: 60
Born: c. 1860
Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Address: Commercial Street, Mingo Junction, Jefferson, Ohio
Spouse: Isabella Brown, age 49 (Born West Virginia)
Father's birthplace: Ireland
Mother's birthplace: Ireland
Also resident in the house: Emma Brown, daughter, 21 years.

Census, United States of America 1910
Steubenville, Jefferson , Ohio
Robert Brown, 56
Isabella Brown 39
James Brown 20
Elizabeth Brown 18
Mary N. Brown 14
Emma A. Brown 12
Elisabeth B. Brown 80
Steubenville is very close to Mingo Junction in Jefferson County, Ohio

Emma Brown, the daughter of this Robert and Isabella Brown was born on 4 Feb 1898 and died on 22 October 1990 in Jefferson, Ohio. She married a Paul Hartmann, and, had two daughters that I could locate, these being Mabel, aged 16 in 1940 and Mary, aged 10 in 1940.

Thankyou aghadowey for the information on the marriage of a Dennis Brown and Elizabeth Buchanan in 1852. Yes, this lady's father is listed as John.  I have a baptism record for an Elizabeth Buchananan on 21 September 1823 in the Parish of Banagher, County Derry, Church of Ireland, whose father is John Buchanan and whose mother is Mary.

I have two cousins going off to speak to our most senior cousin at Easter. She does not hear too well on the phone.  She knows the most about the Buchanans in Ireland.  Hopefully, more will be revealed. This senior cousin is adamant that a couple of Buchanans in the family in Jane's and James' and William's generation moved to America.