William Rankin of Maloon,Cookstown

[Curley]

William Rankin died in Cookstown on 3 May 1880, age from death registration says born 1802.
He  had at least 5 of a family of which William was only son who died aged 40 on 6 Mar 1883.
My missing information is who was William senior,s wife and when married.From William junior,s age I suspect marriage was around 1830-40. Any information appreciated.
Curley

[Lewis21]

Hi Curley,

I don't have the answer, but it may help if you are able to provide any additional details. For example do you know what denomination the family was? This would allow you to see which churches need to be searched and whether the records actually exist for the relevant time period and denomination.

I briefly the checked the registers for St Luran's Church of Ireland (Derryloran - these are freely available online) and there are one or two Rankins but no-one matching the names you gave.

That being said, I noticed on William Sr's death certificate that he was married, i.e. not a widower, which implies his wife was still alive, and the informant was Elizabeth Rankin of Maloon.

I couldn't see a death of a Rankin who was a widow in the registration district of Cookstown between 1881 and 1900 that would fit. She may have died somewhere else.

On checking the Revision Books for Maloon, the property previously held by William Rankin was at some point between 1882-1889 changed into the name of Elizabeth Rankin. It's not clear if this is his daughter or his widow.

Appreciate this doesn't answer your question but hopefully may be helpful.

Lewis

[Curley]

Hi Lewis
Many thanks for your prompt reply.
Presbyterian I think,as Williams  grandchildren were married in Ist Pres ,Cookstown. I think the Elizabeth who recorded his death is hie wife,as Eli zabeth his daughter married Samuel Warnock on 7 July 1863.
At least we might have a Christian name  now thanks to your good deduction.
Austin

[Elwyn Soutter]

Probate of the Will of the late Elizabeth Rankin, Maloon, Co. Tyrone, Widow, who died 22 May 1920, granted at Armagh, 27 November 1920 to George Faulkner and John Faulkner, Merchants. Effects: £279.

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1920/05113/4405992.pdf

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tyrone/Cookstown_Rural/Maloon/858032/

[Curley]

Thanks Elwyn. This Elizabeth is the wife of William Rankin,Junior who died in 1883, referred to above.
Austin

[Lewis21]

Hi Lewis
Many thanks for your prompt reply.
Presbyterian I think,as Williams  grandchildren were married in Ist Pres ,Cookstown. I think the Elizabeth who recorded his death is hie wife,as Eli zabeth his daughter married Samuel Warnock on 7 July 1863.
At least we might have a Christian name  now thanks to your good deduction.
Austin

Interesting! As it happens I was at PRONI in Belfast late last year and I was doing some digging in the presbyterian church records for this area, as many of them appear to be in fiche form only - although Roots Ireland does have some transcriptions.

In any case, the presbyterian records for Cookstown start in the 1820s/30s so there's every chance you'd find baptisms for some of William Sr's children if they were born in the area. The marriage records start later but he may also have married in a CoI church for which the availability is often better, so you might find the record in a neighbouring CoI parish. If you haven't already, John Grenham's website is great for seeing what is available and where.

Just to give you a flavour of what to expect these are a couple of the transcripts I made from the registers of the 2nd and 3rd Cookstown presbyterian congregations, in my ultimately unsuccessful attempts to locate some of my Elliott/Davison family in the Cookstown/Lissan area. Pity I was not looking out for Rankins!

Cookstown 3rd Presbyterian
James Davidson, born 9 Jun 1836, baptised 5 Feb 1837, to William and Betty of Cranfield

Cookstown 2nd Presbyterian
William Davidson (unclear if date is birth or baptism) 14 Feb 1822 to John Davidson and Jane Franklin

Frustratingly some presbyterian congregations didn't start naming the mothers until well into the 1830s, I found this to be the case in Moneymore 1st and Magherafelt, across the boundary into County Londonderry.

Lewis

[Lewis21]

You might already have this but thought I'd mention it just in case.

It does seem that the Rankins have a long history in Maloon. This the 1766 religious census record for the townland (from https://cotyroneireland.com/census/1766derryloran.html)

MALONE [MALOON]   HAGAN   Jas.
…   RANKIN   Alex.
…   RANKIN   Jn.
…   RANKIN   Wm
…   WHAN   Jn.
…   PARK   Widow

Although it might hard to prove the link via the paper trail I'd say it seems pretty certain they go way back there as half the protestant households were Rankins!