Last Update - 25 February 2016
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Various Help Files are
listed below the Records Menu
The links below will take you to
pages which contain records i am slowly putting together regarding families with any
connection to Newtownards in the past including, births,deaths,marriages and any other
events. Some pages contain the letter H or P in bold capitals after the name, this
will take you to another image. Hope you all enjoy and why not start researching your
family tree..? If there is a family name you would like me to include just let me
know ok,.. have fun... Derek
Note: links are colour coded where possible to enable
you to link a birth to a marriage or death etc.
If you see this
then CLICVK on it to follow that event .. eg: the maternal ine
Indicates that more more research is being fone on this
connection, possibly because there is no direct link with the town or townlands ....
| A-Z of Family Records By Surname with Variants |
Quick Check the ENTIRE site to see if your ancestors or
family appear on the site
Newtownards Registration District Map c1880 - Covering
Bangor - Comber - Donaghadee - Greyabbey and Ards Penninsula - Kilmood - Newtownards
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c1650 Newtownards
was also known as Ballylisnevan
Originally Newtownards was
a mainly farming area in which community it was endeavoured to hold onto your farm thus
you could pass it on to your eldest son having hopefully made enough money to buy your
next eldest son a farm also,. any other sons would become blacksmiths etc. or in many
cases set off for a new life in the New World of America or Australasia but daughters
generally worked on the farm prior to being married.
From about 1717 to 1775, a great many people, mostly Protestants, emigrated America. Poor harvests in 1726-29 led to the "famine" and another in 1741. The harvest failures, with high rents and payment of tithes were some of the reasons why many Presbyterians risked the hazardous sea crossing to America. In 1776 Benjamin Franklin estimated that the Scotch-Irish formed one third of Pennsylvania's 350,000 inhabitants. Many Ulster-Scots and their descendants can be found by clicking on the "American Connection" below. Many also fought against the British in the American War of Independence.
There were five waves of emigration which were 1717~8 - 1725~29 - 1740~41 - 1754~55 and 1771~1775
Ships sailed from Belfast, Larne,
Londonderry, Newry and Portrush
to = Philidelphia, Newcastle Delaware, Ellis Island New York and Charlestown.
The 1st. wave of 1717 etc. settled mostly around Philadelphia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York but by the time the 2nd. wave around 1725 arrived they were beginning to move further west and south towards Virginia, The Carolinas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee etc. they still proudly claim to be the original pioneers of the old west.
The first "passanger" ship to set sail from Ulster for the New World was the 150 tonnes "Eagle Wing" which sailed from Groomsport Co.Down enroute to Boston Massachusetts on 9th. September 1636 but alas the journey was not finished due to a storm which brewed up off the coast of Newfoundland 3/4 of the way into the voyage, the Rev. John Livingstone a Presbyterian Minister decided that it was "Gods will that they should return home" and so they returned to Carrickfergus arriving 3rd. November. they had been at sea for 54 days.
U.S. Presidents with direct
Ulster-Scots ancestry were Andrew Jackson, James Knox Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew
Johnson, Ulusees Simpson Grant, Chester Alan Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison,
William McKinley whose ancestors came from Dervok,Nr.Ballymoney Co.Antrim ,
Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
Three of these had fathers born in Ulster, Jackson, Buchanan and Arthur. The U.S.
constitution states that to be President you must be born there and Andrew Jackson only
just made it as he was born just after the ship his parents had sailed on from Ulster had
docked in the U.S.
A statement by George Washington
during the war of Independence
"If defeated everywhere else. I will make my last stand for liberty among the Scotch
Irish of my native Virginia."
Some other interesting facts about this Island, c1830 there were more Irishmen than Englishmen in the British Army and served throughout the Empire. Also Ireland is where Sir. Robert Peel set up the first Police Force "Peelers" , they were officially the "Peace Preservation Force". In 1836 they became the The irish Constabulary and in 1867 Queen Victoria added the "Royal" tag and they became the Royal Irish Constabulary. Later they were to become the Royal Ulster Constabulary and are currently in order not to show faavouratism to any side "The Police Force of Northern Ireland" , i wonder what the future holds for them,.. any ideas ...
In the United States Census of 2000 4.3 million Americans claimed Ulster-Scots ancestry but is is suggested that approx. 27 million Americans do genuinely have Scots-Ulster ancestry.
1891 Census recorded 9,197 folks lived in Newtownards
Ireland was one of the first countries to adopt hereditary surnames, many of which were devised during the reign of Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, who fell defending Ireland from the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014AD. Many of these names began as patronyms to define a son from his father or grandson from his grandfather. Thus, the reason for the common prefixes found on Irish surnames. Mac, sometimes written Mc, is the Gaelic word for "son" and was attached to the father's name or trade. O is a word all by itself, signifying "grandson" when attached to a grandfather's name or trade. The apostrophe that usually follows the O actually comes from a misunderstanding by English-speaking clerks in Elizabethan time, who interpreted it as a form of the word "of." Another common Irish prefix, Fritz, derives from the French word fils, also meaning "son."
Below are some direct links to helpful information sources
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New page with a list of those linked to North America |  |
Click
below to Search the |
Click below to Search the Unites States Census |
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Where were your ancestors on that day...? Check it out above ...
You often see an address as "Ards Upper" check it out below
Click View Details to see more information. Click on the Barony Name to filter the results.Place Name Id Parish Barony View Details Ardkeen Parish Ards Upper View Details Ardquin Parish Ards Upper View Details Ballyphilip Parish Ards Upper View Details Ballytrustan Parish Ards Upper View Details Ballywalter Parish Ards Upper View Details Castleboy Parish Ards Upper View Details Inishargy Parish Ards Upper View Details Slanes Parish Ards Upper View Details St. Andrews alias Ballyhalbert Parish Ards Upper View Details Witter Parish Ards Upper Eg. Anne Street - Ardquin - Ballyadam - Ballybranigan are in Portaferry, you can check it further by clicking on the Enumerators abstract {Form N} button on the 1901~1911 Census
| A few helpful
tips if you are researching your Scottish connections,. the naming of children generaly
went like this. But of course there were deviations where a child may be named after a
deceased favourite Aunt or Uncle etc. First Son is named for the Father's Father A few helpful tips if you are researching
your Irish connections,. the naming of children generaly went like this. But of course
there were deviations where a child may be named after a deceased favourite Aunt or Uncle
etc. |
1st. January 1909 saw the introduction of pensions for those of 70 and over.
A short description of some occupations
A Carter had a horse
and cart and carted goods
A Carrier had a pony and trap and carried people
A Chandler - Tallow - Sold candles
A Chandler - Ships - Sold groceries to seafarers
A Doffer worked in spinning mills replacing the full yarn bobbins with
empty ones
A Draper - Dealer in fabric and sewing goods - From the French
"Drap-de-Berry" a woolen cloth from Berry in France
A Flesher was the early name for a butcher but later became the name of
someone who skinned game animals for a tanner
A Haberdasher - Sold clothing and accoutrements
A Scutcher would beat flax to soften it
A Tambourer was an embroiderer who used hoops to hold the material
Some of the facts that came to light when researching or indexing the following details enlightened me on many things including the abundance of spinsters especially in the 19th. and 20th. centuries in Newtownards, this i found was often because in many cases well to-do-fathers would stipulate in their wills that "so long as my daughters remain unmarried" so who was going to give up a life of relative luxury and take the risk of marrying...
Excellent new link for
those wanting to find family members buried at Movilla Cemetery - Click HERE
"Under Research"
below includes some details that need clarifying, can you help ...
UNDER RESEARCH
Familiar names - Female
1. -Genealogists will know that many letter were formed differenty in the
past and names were often spelled phoenetically. eg. Tiller instead of Tillie short for
Matilda
2. - Also take care with the Snr. and Jnr. tag it does not always mean father and
son, it may simply mean the older person in the neighbourhood with that name and not even
related to the Jnr. one.
3. - Be careful with fore names, often Mary Jane would simply use Jane as her
common name
| Original | Origins | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Abagail | Abby | |||||||||
| Adeline | Lena | |||||||||
| Agnes | Aggie | Nancy | ||||||||
| Agnes Mary | Minnie | |||||||||
| Alice | Elsa | |||||||||
| Ann | Anne | Anna | Annie | Polly | Patsy | Peggy | Nancy | Nannie | ||
| Belinda | Linda | Lindy | ||||||||
| Catherine | Katherine | Cassie | ||||||||
| Caroline | Lena | |||||||||
| Charlotte | Lotty | Lottie | ||||||||
| Christina | Ina | |||||||||
| Delilia | Dilly | |||||||||
| Dorothea | Dora | |||||||||
| Edith | Edie | |||||||||
| Eleanor | Ellen | Nelly | Nellie | Ella | ||||||
| Elizabeth | Eliza | Lizzey | Lizzie | Beth | Betty | Betsy | Libby | Bessie | Lily | |
| Eliza Jane | Jeanie | |||||||||
| Ella * | Normandy | |||||||||
| Esther | Essie | Ettie | Hettie | Hetty | ||||||
| Eugenia | Ginny | |||||||||
| Euphemia | Eva | |||||||||
| Frances | Fanny | Franky | ||||||||
| Hannah | Nannie | Nancy | Nina | |||||||
| Harriet | Hattie | Hettie | Hetty | |||||||
| Heather | Hettie | Hetty | ||||||||
| Helen | Scandanavia | Lena | ||||||||
| Helena | Lena | |||||||||
| Henrietta | Hettie | Hetty | ||||||||
| Hester | Hessie | |||||||||
| Jane | Ginny | Jenny | Jennie | |||||||
| Julia | Jilly | |||||||||
| Juliana | Jilly | |||||||||
| Lucinda | Rosina | Rosie | Lucy | Sindy | ||||||
| Letitia | Letty | |||||||||
| Madeline | Madge | Lena | ||||||||
| Margaret | Peggy | Polly | Patsy | Nancy | Madge | Daisy | ||||
| Marguerite | Daisy | |||||||||
| Marjorie | May | Madge | ||||||||
| Martha | Patsy | Polly | Nancy | Peggy | ||||||
| Mary | Minnie | Polly | Patsy | Peggy | Nancy | Molly | ||||
| Mary Ann | Mina | |||||||||
| Mary Elizabeth | Maisie | Minnie | ||||||||
| Mary Isobel | Molly | |||||||||
| Mary Jane | May | |||||||||
| Matilda | Martha | Mattie | Tilda | Tildy | Tilly | |||||
| Patience | Sissy | |||||||||
| Penelope | Nelly | Penny | ||||||||
| Rose | Rosie | Rosina | ||||||||
| Sarah | Sally | Sadie | ||||||||
| Theodora | Dora | |||||||||
| Virginia | Ginny | |||||||||
| Wilhelmina | Minnie | |||||||||
| Winifred | Winnie |
Familiar names - Male
| Original | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Alexander | Sandy | Zander | |||||
| Edward | Ned | Ted | |||||
| Francis | Frank | ||||||
| Jonathan | Jack | John | |||||
| Raleigh | Riley | ||||||
| Robert | Bob | Bobby | Robin | ||||
| William | Bill | Billy | Willie |
PRONI have
burial records of Movilla Cemetary 1876~1886 - Ref. LA/60/11C1 - Old Part
PRONI have burial records of Movilla Cemetary 1880~1897 - Ref. LA/60/11C2 - Newer Part
PRONI have burial records of Killysuggan 1885~1898 - Ref. T/3615
Who lived in Newtownards back
then - Who were the grocers,carpenters etc. - Who lived where, by townland
This will hopefully help you trace your ancestors and their circle of friends etc. more
easily
Under construction...
http://www.placenamesni.org/placenamesniviewer/map.phtml
where to locate the townlands
and more..
This is a superb interactive map of the whole of Northern Ireland from 1830 on, take
your time and experiment...
http://www.placenamesni.org/PlaceNamesIndex.html where to locate placenames
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/gro where to order birth,death or marriage certificates
Anyone got any more to add...
Maps on this site HERE
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Below is a
guide to the older section of Movilla Cemetery
Sections photographed and added to Family
Record so far
Old Section - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 9 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18
Most can now be found @
http://billiongraves.com/pages/cemeteries/MovillaCemetery/162591#cemetery_id=162591&lim=0&num=25&action=browse
Section 15 was laid down in the 1920s-30s
The old section will later be revisted as some of the stones require a little cleaning
from weeds etc.
Original Headstone Images
are stored on SKYDRIVE Here
For best results download and view in your own software
Early Tokens from Newtownards
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Other tokens were issued by James Templeton- James Smartts
John McCully was a late 18th. century
brewer of Newtownards
See also "Happenings 1782"
