Wilsons (Culfeightrin / Ballycastle in County Antrim)

[gaffy]

... They moved from Ireland to Scotland between 1869 and 1881 where they show up in a census in Coylton, Ayrshire.

I think we can tie that down a bit better through the births of the couple's children.  When they had a daughter Maryanne in February 1871, they were still living at Ballyreagh:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1871/03313/2214201.pdf

Sadly, that daughter died the following year at Poor Row in Ballycastle, which were miners'/miner's widows' houses:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1872/020729/7272628.pdf 

By July 1875, when they had a daughter Fanny Jane, they gave their residence as Bonamargy, a townland just outside Ballycastle, which is today mostly covered by golf course and containing Bonamargy Friary:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1875/03093/2134008.pdf

https://www.townlands.ie/antrim/cary/culfeightrin/the-fair-head/bonamargy/

Then came a daughter Mary in June 1879 and again the residence was Bonamargy:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1879/02910/2066048.pdf

And the last child I can see born in Ireland was William in June 1881, William senior was recorded as living in Scotland, but Martha was living in Tanyard Hill in Ballycastle (I imagine the children were with her too):
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1881/02819/2034052.pdf

So I'm guessing that if the family was recorded in the April 1881 Scottish Census, that they were actually in the throes of moving during that period of months, the 1881 Ireland census returns haven't survived, so we don't know what, if anything, was recorded for them on this side of the pond.
 

[gaffy]

Presumably this is the Fanny Jane Welsh, who witnessed the 1869 marriage of Martha Welsh to William Wilson, marrying Archibald McDonnell in 1873, witnessed by Martha Wilson, so likely sisters  (note, in Glenshesk RC church, a few miles south of Ballycastle):
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1873/11269/8132608.pdf

[gaffy]

I think we can tie that down a bit better through the births of the couple's children ...
 

Found another daughter born to William and Martha, Martha junior born in July 1877 at Bonamargy:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1877/03001/2099713.pdf

So it's likely enough that in the 2 years from William and Martha's stated marriage residences of Ballyreagh and Drumnakeel in 1869, to 1871 when they had their daughter Maryanne, that they lived in Ballyreagh. For the decade thereafter, until moving to Scotland in spring/summer 1881, these folk made a life for themselves in the more immediate Ballycastle vicinity.

[KrisWilson]

Thank you so much gaffy, those are incredible finds! I really appreciate the help as I have been searching in isolation and it’s great to get a fresh perspective on everything.

The first time I found the family in Scotland was the 1881 Scotland Census in Coylton, Ayrshire and the household was:

1881 Scotland Census - Coylton, Ayrshire
William Wilson 37 (Head)
Martha Wilson 29 (Wife)
Fanny Jane Wilson 15 (Daughter)
Martha Wilson 3 (Daughter)
Mary Wilson 1 (Daughter)
Alexander Welsh 20 (Boarder)

Which checks out with the records you found of the daughters. So thank you for filling the in the gaps with their births. This is the details of the next census, where William and Alexander show up:

1891 Scotland Census - Shotts, Lanarkshire
William Wilson 44 (Head)
Martha Wilson 40 (Wife)
Fanny Jane Wilson 15 (Daughter)
Mary Wilson 11 (Daughter)
William Wilson 9 (Son)
Alexander Wilson 7 (Son)
Helen F Wilson 1 (Daughter)
Alexander Welsh 27 (Boarder)
Quintin Clerk 20 (Boarder)

Martha Wilson (Daughter) is missing from the 1891 census, I just searched ScotlandsPeople and there is a death record for Martha Wilson (Mothers MS Welsh) in Shotts aged 11 in 1888 so she passed between these census sadly.

[gaffy]

See what you think of this, it's slightly tenuous for now, but worth noting until something emerges to rule it in or out. To recap thus far, we know there was an Edward Welsh/Walsh with a daughter Martha born c. 1851 and a daughter Fanny Jane born c. 1853.  There's a reasonable candidate for Edward in Griffith's Valuation living in a house in Drumnakeel, the local print date being 1861 (with Drumnakeel tying in to Martha's address at the time of her 1869 marriage).

So I wondered if Edward (and his as yet unknown wife) had more children, more specifically one after the introduction of civil birth registration in 1864, and happened upon a child Susan born in June 1867 to an Edward Walsh and a Susan Taylor, the informant being an Elizabeth Taylor:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1867/03488/2281875.pdf

In it's favour, it's at Drumnakeel. Edward's stated occupation of flax miller is different to that in Martha's 1869 marriage record (labourer) and to that in Fanny Jane's 1873 marriage record (scutcher), though one could argue that there's no inconsistency in that labourer is a known catch-all for various such occupations and scutching is part of the flax milling process. Anyhow, it is what it is.

An Edward Welsh married a Susanna Taylor in Ballymoney (Church of Ireland) in May 1849, which would fit nicely time-wise with births for Martha and Fanny Jane, one of the witnesses was a Betty Taylor (possibly the same Elizabeth in the 1867 birth registration for Susan?):
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1849/09362/5390264.pdf

The two fathers in the above marriage record were given as Edward Welsh (labourer) and Hugh Taylor (flax dresser). The residence of bride and groom looks like it could be Drumard townland, just north of Ballymoney:
https://www.townlands.ie/antrim/dunluce-upper/ballymoney/stranocum/drumard/

What took this couple from Ballymoney to Ballycastle?  I can speculate but I don't know.  Incidentally, a Hugh Taylor appeared in Griffith's Valuation in Drumnakeel in close vicinity to Edward Welsh, it's not an uncommon name, but again just worth noting for now.

[KrisWilson]

Thanks for these gaffy, I actually found quite a bit of information on the parents, brothers and sisters of Martha Welsh in Poor Law records in Scotland and your findings match up.

I've attached a screengrab of my Ancestry tree containing the ones you mentioned above and a few others below.

Do you use ancestry at all? It may be useful to share my tree with you. Not sure if I am allowed to post the links on these threads? If not I could direct message you the tree.

[KrisWilson]

I have been looking to find a source of denomination with the Wilson family but I'm still unsure on what method I can use to find that out.

Going off the comment about marriages taking place in the brides church, I found marriage records for William and Marthas daughters in Scotland:

Fanny Jane Wilson & Lamond Walker - 1897
According to the forms of the Free Church of Scotland
(Reformed Presbyterian denomination)

Mary Wilson & Lamond Watson - 1899
According to the forms of the United Presbyterian Church

Not sure if these help to figure out denomination?

[KrisWilson]

As a refresher here is a timeline for what I have for William Wilson and potential research areas:

William Wilson

1831 Census (Ireland)
Parents: John Wilson (Occupation: Miller) & Elizabeth (nee Wylie) Wilson (both on death cert.)
Haven't found them in the census

1841 Census (Ireland)
Parents: John Wilson (Occupation: Miller) & Elizabeth (nee Wylie) Wilson (both on death cert.)
Haven't found them in the census

1851 Born (Ireland)
Possibly Culfeightrin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland?

1851 Census (Ireland)
Parents: John Wilson (Occupation: Miller) & Elizabeth (nee Wylie) Wilson (both on death cert.)
Haven't found them in the census
William would be age 0 / months old

Marriage 1869 (Ireland)
In Culfeightrin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
William Wilson Age: Full (Residence: Ballreagh, Culfeightrin) Occupation: Miner
Martha Welsh Age: 18 (Residence: Drumnakeel, Culfeightrin)
Wiliams Father: John Wilson (Occupation: Miller)

1871 Birth: Mary Anne Wilson (Ireland)
Ballyreagh, Culfeightrin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

1875 Birth: Fanny Jane Wilson (Ireland)
Bonamargy, Culfeightrin, Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

1877 Birth: Martha Wilson (Ireland)
Bonamargy, Culfeightrin, Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

1879 Birth: Mary Wilson (Ireland)
Bonamargy, Culfeightrin, Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

1881 Birth: William Wilson Jnr (Ireland)
Tanyard Hill, Ballycastle, Antrim, Northern Ireland

1881 Census (Scotland)
Coylton, Ayrshire, Scotland

I also have his Census records in Scotland from 1891, 1901 and his death in 1911 where I found both of his parents details.

I found a great document covering Culfeightrins history that includes information on the coal mines there. (Starting p458)

The document can be found here:
https://niarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Placenames-and-Fieldnames-BOOK-WR.pdf

Wilson is listed as family surnames in the area of the mines in 1831, (p460) William was a miner staying in Ballyreagh, Culfeightrin at his marriage could his family have been living here since 1831? His father is marked as a miller at his marriage though.

I also found within this document his wife Martha Welshs father Edward Walsh from the Griffith’s Valuation 1861 (p348) also a flax miller, could John Wilson have worked with Edward Walsh as he was a Miller and that's how their children met?

I have recently been searching for death records for John Wilson and Elizabeth (nee Wylie) Wilson and most of the records I have found are around Randalstown and Antrim which seem a bit far from where everything else is, I'm currently going through Coleraine records as it is not far from Ballycastle and some records I have above are nearby.

I did find this death record from 1913 in Coleraine for Edward Walsh signed by grandson Alexander Wilson based in Cleland (Scotland) https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1913/05321/4481078.pdf

Appreciate everyones help so far!

[aghadowey]

Not surprising you haven't had any luck in 1831 and 1841 census as the first complete census for Ireland is 1901. Some fragments that survive for 1831 County Londonderry and 1851 County Antrim are online.