McComb family genealogy.

Kenneth,

The name Auld was quite common in Carnmoney in the tithe applotment records in 1835 (records of folk with land). McComb is not so common.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/carnmoney-parish.php

There’s no John McComb (senior) listed so either he wasn’t a farmer, or he had died or he had left the area.

There are 72 trees on Ancestry that have this family. The McMullin tree has John McComb senior born 1781 in Carnmoney (parents Samuel McComb & Martha Morrow). It has him marrying Mary Ann Auld in 1805 (not 1801). John is shown as dying 26.11.1874. The tree has them having about 12 children (some look to be repeats, ie 2 Elizas and 2 Johns all alive at the same time. Might not be correct).

John senior is shown as dying 26.11.1874 in Antrim and Mary Ann is shown as dying 13.11.1865 in Clonboy, Randalstown, Co Antrim. I can confirm that there is a statutory death record for Mary McComb that fits that date but I do not see one for John. Whether or not they are your family is not something I can say but hopefully the owners of the trees should have further evidence. The Belfast Newsletter of 16.11.1865 has a death notice for Mary McComb who died on 13.11.1865. It describes her as the relict of the late John McComb. So her husband died before her.  Obviously that doesn’t reconcile with a death of 26.11.1874. You can view the original death certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option: 

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate. 

As with all research, checking of information is required. If the family lived nearly all their lives in Carnmoney, I have doubts about Mary’s death in Clonboy in 1865. Clearly someone named Mary McComb died there then but is it the Carnmoney family? Death registration only started in Ireland in 1864 and so if John & Mary died before that there won't be a record.  Possibly someone has picked up another McComb family.

You didn’t say what denomination the McComb family was. I’d guess Presbyterian or Church of Ireland. I’d start by looking for first hand evidence eg checking the church baptism records for those Carnmoney Church of Ireland & Carnmoney Presbyterian church in PRONI in Belfast to see if you can locate the couples children and verify which are theirs. If there are any townlands or occupations shown that might also help. Those records are not on-line so far as I am aware so a personal visit to PRONI is required to search them.

PRONI also has some extra records on Carnmoney (known as the McKinney stud book) in the series T 1013.  T 1013/1 is details of baptisms & marriages 1708 – 1813. T 1013/2A has more marriages, births & deaths 1708 – 1917 including some Presbyterian records.  T 1013/2B is an indexed notebook of Presbyterian marriages births & deaths 1708 – 1917. The Minister also conducted a census of the parish in 1813. That’s in those records too.

You could also contact some of the tree owners on Ancestry. I’d treat all that information with a degree of caution. A lot looks replicated (ie the same information has been copied from tree to tree without any further verification work)m and there's not many sources shown. Some of the information looks to be unreliable, eg John senior’s date of death and also a reference to the family in the 1851 census for Larne. I don’t think they lived anywhere near Larne. I think someone has perhaps taken Ancestry’s hints and accepted them as accurate data. But for all that some of the information may be accurate. You will need to test it.

                                   Thank you  Elwyn  for your prompt reply. .  John ( 1809- 1881)  immigrated to Perth  County, Ontario, Canada in 1833. and married Mary Ann Carr ( 1809-1852), while still in Ireland . According to my data from this side the marriage was sometime before 1833  with . one sone born ( John 1833 in Ireland) and seven children after they arrived in Canada. Again, according to what I have from data acquired here,  Mary Ann died in 1852 due to childbirth ( we assume) from birth/death records. Achile M.J. McComb was lost as an infant at the same time.

                      I appreciate you information and suggestions. I have printed off a copy, will re-read and decide re my next steps. If you have any further suggestions re finding connections please do send them along.

                    Gratefully, Kenneth

            Elwyn, I neglected to tell you that my recodrs show John ( 1809-1881) as Wesley Methodist religion.

        Regret typing errors  ----should have read  " my  records"

Methodism took a lot longer to become established in Ireland as a separate denomination than in England. In Ireland there was considerable resistance to separating from the Church of Ireland. It was 1815 before Methodists started to conduct their own baptisms. However because of continuing loyalty and other factors, many continued to use the Church of Ireland for baptisms and marriages for years after this, and it was 1871 before all Methodists routinely performed their own baptisms.

For marriages, the earliest ceremonies conducted by a Methodist Minister in Ireland that I am aware of, date from 1835 (Belfast Donegall Square, the first Methodist church in Ireland). However in the mid 1800s there were only a few Methodist Ministers in Ireland (Methodism relied heavily on lay preachers). So the shortage of Ministers contributed to the continuing practice of marrying in the Church of Ireland. In addition, in the early years, many Methodist Meeting Houses were not licensed for marriages so that too contributed to couples marrying in the Church of Ireland.

So to summarise, you are unlikely to find many Methodist baptisms before 1820. Few marriages before the 1840s and only a handful for many years after that. If there are no Methodist records in the location you are researching, I would search Church of Ireland records instead, as that’s the most likely place to find the relevant event.

Not many Methodist Meeting Houses have graveyards and so they may be buried in public or Church of Ireland graveyards (which are open to all denominations).

I looked in the PRONI catalogue of church records. There isn’t a Methodist Meeting House listed in Carnmoney. I don’t know where the nearest one would be. Belfast or Carrickfergus perhaps? However as I have explained above for baptisms and marriages in the late 1700s and early 1800s, you need to search the Church of Ireland records as they will not have taken place in a Methodist church at that time.

Thank you again fo a prompt reply. It is possible John changed to the  Methodist Church after immigrating to Canada. This crossed my mind after sending my last message. I shall look into  The Church of Ireland route.

I appreciate your direction, I am finding everything I learn very interesting,sincerely, Kenneth

Dear Kenneth,

I'm a direct descendent of the Carnmoney McCombs on my paternal side. My father was born in Antrim, and I still have close family members living there to this day. John McComb Sr and Mary Ann Auld were my 4th great aunt and uncle.

The family is quite well-documented; my great great grandfather Rev Sam McComb was a personal friend of William Fee McKinney, and their history is traced back several generations in the 'stud book'. I have copies of that information if it would be of interest.

I would love to connect with you and share what I know of the family. 

Kind regards

Jenny