Cowan Family at Hill Head Farm near Buckna

[scotmum]

what I believe was his father's address: Mr John Cowan
                                                                Hillhead near Buckna
                                                       Townland of Ballynacaird

My earlier replies acknowledge that Hillhead was indeed a farm in Bally(i)nacaird townland -  perhaps the Cowan family rented a house on the farm.

Do not know if he taught in Ireland

My earlier replies also suggest that William, the teacher who returned from Canada, did continue to teach in Ireland.


The will I mentioned in reply 3, that of a John who died in 1828, may be one you should consider engaging someone to look at for you in Dublin, where it seems to be held.

Again, regarding the other rootschat member I have mentioned in an earlier reply - it may be worth trying to contact them to see what their Cowan research might have gleaned.

Perhaps you already have notes of all the other Cowan snippets of information I have posted in my earlier replies.

[Elwyn Soutter]

The will I mentioned in reply 3, that of a John who died in 1828, may be one you should consider engaging someone to look at for you in Dublin, where it seems to be held.

Re the 1828 will, it is mentioned on the PRONI website. The accompanying note says: “The original documents referred to in this index DO NOT exist. No further information, other than that recorded above, has survived.”

So the will is likely to have been destroyed in the 1922 fire in the Public Record Office in Dublin, and all that remains is the probate index book entry (kept elsewhere) which just recorded the name, parish and year probate was granted.

[scotmum]

Whilst I know that to be true for many such wills, according to FindMyPast:

Today there are many thousands of wills again, gathered from private deposits, abstracts created by researchers prior to 1922, and replacement archives. But they are difficult to find. For this reason Eneclann’s first digitisation project was to create an index to what records had survived and been gathered at the National Archives of Ireland.

and

This index only includes records at the National Archives of Ireland in Dublin. It also only includes records where there is a surviving document, like an original will, administration or grant of probate, a certified copy, a transcripts, or even abstracts and extracts.

and

For every entry in the dataset there is an original document worth looking at

which suggests that as the name and date are returned on their index, a document does exist.

Agreed, though, it may contain minimal information.

[gaffy]

Was Hill Head Farm a family holding or was it a community/area?  I noticed there is a Hill Head road in the area.

I don't know, there's nothing coming back to me from newspaper references.


I've glanced at the online 1830s-1840s OS maps for Ballynacaird townland in Racavan Parish and there really isn't a lot going on there in terms of properties...


Heres a site that lets you look at the townland:

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,722611,906241,4,7

As you may know, Ballynascaird townland lies to the immediate S / SE of Buckna and the 1830s-1840s OS maps only show buildings in the north of the townland.   

So this would reinforce the idea that the farm may have been quite close to Buckna.

[nursesmm]

Thank you for checking.

[nursesmm]

Hello, haven't been back for several years, but have an update question.  I live in Florida, USA and have connected to possible cousin in New Zealand through Rachel Cowan.

Her Rachel Cowan born about 1793 in Broughshane, married Alexander Knox about 1830 in Antrim and died 21 Apr 1875 in Drumrankin and buried in Broughshane 1st Presbyterian Cemetery.  Has no proof that her maiden name is Cowan, but place and date is very close to what I know for her brother John Cowan and have sources.  I have nothing but Rachel's name for Rachel, found on old family tree in bible.

I saw in another post that Presbyterian churches do not keep records, so where can I go to possibly prove Rachel Knox is Rachel Cowan.  There is a tombstone and it is noted on "The Braid".  Thanks Suzanne

[hallmark]

 Death of RACHEL KNOX in 1875
Group Registration ID   N/R
SR District/Reg Area   Ballymena
Deceased Age at Death   82
Returns Year   1875
Returns Quarter   2
Returns Volume No   6
Returns Page No   86

[hallmark]

Have you tried a search like this on

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp  ?  A lot won't have Images online yet!

[nursesmm]

Showed her death, but no maiden name.  Thanks