lee family

[Kiltaglassan]

I don’t have any information prior to my great grandparents. The family was Presbyterian....

Assuming that you have this, but here's the link to your gt grandparents marriage-
James Mitchell Lee married Julia Anna Martin on 25 July 1883 at Eglinton Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast. Fathers James Lee (a farmer) and James Martin (a flax dresser). Witnesses - Sarah Jane Lee (a sister of James?) and Robert Martin (a brother of Julia?).
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1883/10938/5997453.pdf

From - https://apps.proni.gov.uk/WillsCalendar_IE/WillsSearch.aspx

Full Abstract :
Probate of the Will of James Mitchell Lee late of Ardenlee 140 Clifton park Avenue Belfast School Teacher who died 27 October 1910 granted at Belfast to Julia Anna Lee the Widow.
Date of Grant:   12 December 1910
Effects:    £919 1s. 3d.

[gaffy]

My great grandfather, James Mitchell Lee, was a school master, in a state school I think. He died, age 50, on 27 October 1910 and is buried in Belfast City Cemetery ...

... I don’t have any information prior to my great grandparents. The family was Presbyterian so I am assuming Scots-Irish ...

Given everything posted thus far, I'm just throwing this in as a possibility from transcripts I've seen, there are inconsistencies in the surname and forenames, but it looks promising:

- the baptism of a Sarah Jane Lees on 1 November 1857 in First Presbyterian, Magherafelt, parents recorded as William Lees and Mary Mitchell of Dunamoney [perhaps the Sarah Jane Lee witness to the 1883 marriage of James Mitchell Lee and Julia Anna Martin?];

- the baptism of a James Mitchell Lees on 28 October 1859 in First Presbyterian, Magherafelt, parents recorded as William Lees and Margaret Mitchell of Dunamoney (there is a comment that says 'James' appears above the father's christian name). 

Notwithstanding the inconsistencies in recorded forenames and surname, note the following civil registration for a marriage that took place on 8 March 1855 in Magherafelt Church of Ireland between a James Lees, a farmer residing in 'Donamoney' and a Mary Mitchell (fathers recorded as John Lees, a deceased farmer and Richard Mitchell, weaver):

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1855/09494/5441061.pdf

Here is Dunamoney townland, immediately east of Magherafelt:

https://www.townlands.ie/londonderry/loughinsholin/magherafelt/magherafelt/dunamoney/

[gaffy]

OK, way more speculative stuff now.  Again trying to take you back a generation, and looking at the bride in that 1883 marriage record of Julia Anna Martin to James Mitchell Lee, I can see a transcript of a baptism for a 'Juliana Marten', it was a Church of Ireland baptism in the parish of Carrickfergus, on 2 August 1854, parents recorded as James Marten, a flax dresser and Sarah Jane Marten.  So not quite in the right age bracket, but just to note until such times as you can rule it out.

[Jon_ni]

Gaffy

OK, way more speculative stuff now.  Again trying to take you back a generation

see my reply #8 had typed the details this morning, have just bulked it out with some more links for ease.
James Mitchell Lee registered both his wife's parents deaths 1900 & 1907 and the burial shows a [son] James Martin, birth registration James Fox Martin, with the Fox surname continued into the Lee family as Robert Bertram Fox Lee.

James Martin & Sarah Jane Fox married Cairncastle near Ballygally 5 Aug 1853, both of Millbrook, west of Larne https://goo.gl/maps/bMGsZAjn28RZziex8 that baptism does have the right fornames & occupation.
No father recorded for James Martin but Sarah's father Robert Fox was an [Army] Pensioner.

Taking your speculative 1855 Lees marriage & names of Dunamoney find
William Lees, aged 65 died 11 Mar 1879 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1879/06532/4882552.pdf
and Margaret Lees , aged 85 died 7 Nov 1895
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1895/05918/4680337.pdf registered by sons Samuel & Joseph.

[popierson]

WOW! You all are amazing. I am very new to this so everything here is a treasure trove. My cousins and I are going on a research trip to Belfast in October 2023. It's a serious research trip, led by Donna Moughty. I'm trying to bring my knowledge/skills up to the group standard. I'll be off to the LDS genealogy center next week for help in how to decipher and organize all this info. I'm in Richmond, VA. Does anyone know of a professional genealogist in Virginia I could consult? For a fee of course. I'm finding the organizing part difficult/overwhelming.

[Jon_ni]

Work your way through the Genealogy tab on https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/irish-roots.html and you will find info on most of the basic things. Neither Ancestry nor Familysearch websites have access to the Irish BMD images north or south, just older indexes with less info. The census records on both those websites link to the Irish National Archive ones, as can see above none of us have needed to use either when researching, though Ancestry would likely hint eg the census and Will as weblink collections + BMD index entries as construct. Gaffy has I suspect though utilised a sub to RootsIreland to find the baptism transcriptions on https://rootsireland.ie/derry/online-sources.php and I used a sub to Findmypast to check out the Belfast Telegraph death notices, sister site the standalone British Newspaper Archive.
Many people construct their tree on Ancestry and tie things together there, one can add weblinks or custom sources eg to the BMD records. Personally I find the tree facilities on Familysearch more cumbersome and being a global tree there others can input to it both correctly and incorrectly.

can also explore the links on
https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/tutorials/overseas/best-websites-for-irish-ancestors/
https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/tutorials/northern-ireland-family-history/

If you are visiting in 2023 you can order up open and photograph the 1910 Will in PRONI as transcript is not online but stored there. Is the Probate year you need rather than the death year. Also the other two for
Lee Julia Anna of 38 Old Cavehill Road Belfast widow died 12 July 1937 Probate Belfast 11 October 1937 to Evelyn Lee spinster. Effects £29 2s.
Lee Julia Evelyn Anna of 38 Old Cavehill Road Belfast spinster died 9 September 1953 at Royal Victoria Hospital Grosvenor Road Belfast Administration W/A (limited) Belfast 23 February 1955 to Dorothy Tempest married woman. Effects £2338 5s. 1d.

Their other resources are on https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/public-record-office-northern-ireland-proni/search-archives-online and you will need to get to grips with their eCat and think of what you want to look at with references to save time there https://www.irishfamilyroots.com/post/researching-at-proni

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/index-school-collections
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/guide-church-records
For example 1st Magherafelt records start 1771 so possibility of further progress there as well as the ones already mentioned and there are transcriptions as CR codes as well as the microfilms. The references CR3/13; D2725/6; D1926/1-2; MIC1P/450 MIC1P/460 are mentioned in the church pdf guide but I would want to see what they are and the date ranges.
In the eCat I would input CR3/13* in the box against PRONI Ref: with 50 results per page (rather than browsing) to bring up more details of each of the codes. CR3/13/A/1A = Register of baptisms 25 September 1813-7 April 1861. Adding the star asterisk brings up all sub entries.