MONTGOMERY--James, Sarah and Children who emigrated to Canada

Mary Anne,

Link to previous post on this topic:

https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/message-board/montgomery-james-sarah-children-emigrated-canada-1848

Church of Ireland and Church of England is the same thing. (The Church of Ireland is the Church of England, in Ireland. Anglican/Episcopalian if you like). The Church of Ireland is slowly putting it's surviving records on-line on the irishgenealogy site but it will be a couple of years before this all goes live. In the meantime many of the records are in paper format, some still held by individual churches, and many are not on-line anywhere. So difficult to make effective use of them if you don’t know where a family lived.

In your original post you said you had no idea where the family came from, but in this post you have put them in the parish of Faughanvale, which is near to Londonderry/Derry. If you have information suggesting this is where they originated, then the Church of Ireland records for that parish start in 1802. There’s a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. A personal visit is required to view them. (They are on microfilm). But if you have no real idea of where they came from then it’s a needle in a haystack at present. Both surnames are so prolific across Ulster that there’s no way of narrowing the search without more of an idea as to their place of origin. As I mentioned in my original reply, DNA testing is probably your best bet for the time being.

Thanks for the information Elwyn. The reason I chose Faughanvale was because the only record that I found online that was possibly relevant was one from the website Emerald Ancestors. Although the information we have from Canadian censuses shows that muy husband's great-great grandfather, James Montgomery was born in 1805, the Emerald Ancestors' document showed the following:

James Montgomery,

Birth:  31 May, 1806

Baptism:  1 June, 1806

Church:  Faughanvale, Church of Ireland

Parish:  Faughanvale

County:  Londonderry

Residence:  Edenreagh

Based, on this info, despite the birthdate discrepancy, do you think this has any merit? Besides, PRONI do you have any other suggestions for places within which to search?

Mary Anne

Mary Anne,

I would regard the match in Faughanvale as a coincidence. The name James Montgomery is so common you can’t assume it’s the right family. In the 1901 Irish census there are 235 people named James Montgomery.  Some parish records are on-line on Emerald Ancestors and one or two other sites but many are not.  So it’s not comprehensive coverage. Also you need to know that about 40% of all the Church of Ireland early records were lost in the 1922 fire in Dublin, during the civil war, so coverage is very patchy. (Ironically they had been sent to Dublin for safe keeping).

Looking at the 1901 census, the majority of Montgomerys were in Counties Antrim, Down & Londonderry/Derry but there were plenty in other counties too. The name Houston is also common in those counties so I wouldn’t be surprised if the family came from that general area but I can’t narrow it any further nor can I point to a database that will easily enable you to obtain more information about them.

The 1831 census for Co. Derry has mostly survived but that for the rest of Ireland has been destroyed. I looked at the 1831 census for James Montgomery households who were Church of Ireland. There was just 1 (the rest were Presbyterian). He was in Drumcorran townland (nowadays Drumconan) in the parish of Glendermot, which is also known as Clondermot. Looking at the original census return, his family appears to have consisted of 5 males and 2 females (though the total number is shown as 8, so that’s a bit confusing).

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1831/Londonderry/Tirkeeran/Glendermot/Drumcorran/8/

If the numbers fit the likely size of your Montgomery family in 1831 you could research the Clondermot Church of Ireland records (baptisms start 1810, marriages 1808). But bear in mind that there were plenty of other James Montgomery households in other counties in the 1831 census whose details have been lost. (It went up in the 1922 fire too). There’s a copy of the Clondermot records in PRONI.

I looked at Griffiths Valuation for Drumconan in 1858 and there were no Montgomery families listed there, so it does appear that family had left the area. 

Elwyn, thanks so much for answering my questions and responding so quickly.  I will check out those leads. Our Montgomerys left for Canada in 1848 and were then naturalized also in 1848;  that we know from one of the Canadian census, the records for which seem to be intact and also contain, especially the early 1900 censuses, a fair amount of information.  You're right about the commonness of the name Montgomery.  I also have similar problems on my side, especially my Taylor ancestry side.  Ha ha. In your experience, is there a particular DNA records company that you believe has more comprehensive information for people with ancestry from Ireland?

Mary Anne 

Mary Anne,

Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with Family Tree DNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website). You don’t need to be a member of the NIFHS to participate in the DNA project.