Joseph Alexander Whitten(c1860-1940)

Hi Kerrie,

Thank you for your message. I hope that someone with information on the family makes a connection with you.

In the meantime, have you tried looking at church records in Ballymyre? Do you know the family?s religious denomination?

Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For parish, follow this link:

Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.

Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. Ballymyre civil parish belongs to the Catholic parish of Loughgilly.For Loughgilly parish, follow this link:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Armagh&parish=Loughgilly&churchid=228

Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.

Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so any births, deaths or marriages in the family after this date would be recorded in these records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:

http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

You can search the indexes to these records online at:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

You could search for Joseph?s father Griffith's Valuation. This was a property Valuation survey carried out 1848-64 in Ireland.:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

With regards to Samuel, if he studies in Ireland I would say that it was very likely that he studied in Queens University in Belfast. As for the letters after his name, a quick Google search should explain these.

Some other websites that you may find helpful are:

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Family Search: www.familysearch.org

Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/armagh/index.html

You could also try contacting Armagh Ancestry for some assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: researcher@armagh.gov.uk

Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

Kind regards,    

Genealogy Support

Thanks for your reply and useful web links. I am still working through them.

I have found the will/probate of Joseph Alexander WHITTEN's mother, Sarah WHITTEN on proni website. She died 12 Nov 1896 & probate was granted 3 Mar 1904. The family's religion is Presbyterian and they would have attended a Presbyterian Church near Ballintemple, Ballymyre, Armagh.

Joseph Alexander was one of 9 children with 8 still living and mentioned in the will in 1896.

Father: Samuel WHITTEN Deceased before 1891. Found in Griffiths Valuations 1864 in Ballintemple( Ballymyre,Armagh). Possibly is the Samuel WHITTEN who died in1883, aged 87 at Newry, Vol 1 p 675.

Mother: Sarah WHITTEN Died 12 Nov 1896 but I can't find her death in Ireland.

Children (in no particular order)

1. David WHITTEN

2. Eliza Jane WHITTEN married before 1896 to ? ROBB

3. Margaret WHITTEN married in 1888 to James McBIRNIE(Maggie Sarah WHITTEN to  James M'BIRNEY)

4.Robert WHITTEN

5. Susan WHITTEN married before 1896 to ? LADD.

6. Thomas Andrew WHITTEN

7. Dr William John WHITTEN (c 1848- 1891) married in 1874 London to Sarah Ann CHAPLEN.

8. Dr Samuel WHITTEN (c 1858-1935) married in 1887 London to Alexandra Elizabeth COOK.I have found the meaning of the letters after his name in a medical register.

9. Joseph Alexander WHITTEN (c 1860-1940) married at Southwold, Blything,Suffolk, England in 1891 to Marion Ann CLARKE (my great grandparents)

I have found a few appropriate bdm's registered in Newry, Armagh and some possible extended family but am not absolutely sure they are the right ones. Any more hints/information with the Irish families would be appreciated.

Regards

Kerrie

Kerrie Whitten:   Your grandmother (Norah) was my aunt, so I'm interested in your search for Joseph Alexander Whitten's (my grandfather's) roots in Ballintemple, Ballymyre  -  back in 1952, I visited the old farmstead where my grandfather was brought up along with his brother Dr. Sam Whitten.  I've found little about their father Samuel and Sarah beyond their being listed as a tenant  farmer in 1864 (Griffith's).  I noted your citing Sarah death in Newry on 12.11.1896 from the Proni record, but the Ireland Civil Registration Index is transcribed as Sarah Whitton aged 73 - this Whitton maybe our Whitten but both names were surprising common in Armagh at that time, so I'd like to be convinced this is our relative.

Samuel Whitten was tenant farmer in Ballintemple, Ballymyre Parish, Barony of Fews, Upper of a 30 acre 3 rods farmstead in 1864 according to Griffiths Valuation Record 1864; Immediate lessor of Samuel land was Marcus Synnot.

The 1901 Census shows Geroge Whitten, 43, living in house 75 Ballintemple (with wife Elisa Jane and daughters Jane (8) and Minnie (6) - I wonder whether George might be another child of Samuel and Sarah.  In the same Census, a David Whitten was in house 82, apparently unmarried, and he was also a tenant farmer in 1864 according to Griffith's (1864). Samuel Whitten is not in this 1901 Census, pressumably because he'd died by then.

The Mormon site Family Search has just come up today with a Sarah Little, the wife of Samuel Whitten:  the dates could make this a possibility but it needs a bit more digging - if correct it could be a break-through.  

I'd be very interested to learn if you have made any new discoveries about Samuel and Sarah.   I've made considerable progress tracking down Joseph Alexander Whitten's wife ancestors back into the 16th Century -  I could let you have these data if you're intersted - probably ordinary e-mail would be easiest. 

Masses of information about Norah Middleton and also Walter W Fish - were they divorced or merely separated?

Best wishes    Tim Whitten  (aged 88 living in Devon, England)

Tim, my long lost 1st cousin 1x removed now rediscovered! I shall contact you by private email. Thank you for replying as no doubt we have much to share. Kind Regards, Kerrie

Hi Keery - I see you have made contact with Tim and I am assuming you have all of his information?  I have pasted below the reply I sent to him today having just come across his search.  Maybe there is something in my reply which will be of use to you.

Eileen

Hello - my great grandparents, I believe, are the same as yours.  I can confirm that they are buried in the grave yard of the 2nd Presbyterian Chuch @ 17 Dundalk Road, Newtownhamilton.  (You can view this on google earth).  I haven't been to the grave yard for some years now but do remember that the headstone records Samuel as being born around 1795; he and Sarah are buried together as are other members of the family including my own parents.  My father is the Samuel who went to live in Belfast.  I actually don't know much more than you about my relatives but it is likely that they came from the Scottish borders during the plantation of Ireland during the reign of James 1st of England, 6th of Scotland (of King James Bible).  Apparently baptismal records were destroyed in a fire at the church some years ago which makes research difficult.  My father inherited the farm in Ballentemple (which was owned by the family from, I don't know when).  He sold the farm and moved to Belfast when my mother was ill and had to be resident in Belfast to be treated in a Belfast hospital; that was in the early 1950's.  Shortly after the farm was sold the house burnt to the ground; this was the original house that our great grandparents lived in.  I have an older cousin who remembers the house well as she lived there for some time as a child.  It was a large house with some rooms locked and not used.   I never met my grandfather, David (Davy); he married late and died when my father was 13, that would have been around 1936/7.  I think he was born around 1856 but can't be sure.  I don't know if this information is of any value to you but hope you have gleaned something.  

Eileen Irvine (nee Whitten) 

Dear Eileen, my 2nd cousin 1x removed!

Thank you for making contact and for your useful information about my great great grandparents Samuel and Sarah's burial. I actually visited Newtownhamilton 2nd Presbyterian Church a couple of years ago from Australia and had a cursory wander around the graveyard on a very cold rainy day but unsurprisingly did not sight any WHITTEN graves. Do you remember what area they were in, in relation to the church? I also found the old WHITTEN family farm in Ballintemple Rd (from 1865 Griffiths Valuation) and it was indeed in ruins! A near neighbour, Eamon McParland remembered your father Sam (as of course does Tim) and also some elderly ?aunts, Stella and Ruby, of whom I now have photos.

Please can you contact me kerrie.lang@optusnet.com.au as I do have further questions and information regarding the family.

Kind Regards,

Kerrie Lang (nee Whitten)

To Mrs. Eileen Irvine   1st March 2017

Hello Eli: 

Your posting is very interesting and it seems extremely likely the details you give match your ancestors with mine. It would seem that your grandfather David (Davy) b. about 1856 and died 1936/7 is my grandfather's (Joseph Alexander Whitten's) younger brother David True Whitten b. 1861 and baptised on 8 August 1861 at the 2nd Presbyterian Church in Newton Hamilton and died on 30 June 1935, with probate issued 30 July 1945 with probate awarded to Samuel Whitten, farmer. I have David True's wife as Lizzie, but no other details. In the 1911 Census, David True was cited as being 22, having been married to Lizzie for 3 years and their having one child (unnamed).  Do you believe these details match with your grandparents?

Also, could the unnamed child have been your father Samuel, whom you say moved to Belfast in the early 1950s?

One day in about 1951, I visited Ballintemple (whilst working in Donegal) and met briefly Samuel and his wife and child (an infant) at the old family farmstead.  All three were very poorly healthwise - without any real evidence, my friend and I thought Samuel was probably suffering from TB;  the house was very sparsely furnished.  I don't recall how, but somehow I heard one or two years later that Sam and his family had moved to Belfast and my parents (Charles A and wife Muriel Whitten) while on holiday in Ireland visited Sam and family in Belfast.   All contact with Samuel was lost after that.  Were you the infant I saw so briefly in Ballintemple?

On my visit in about 1951 two ladies (apparently relatives), probably in their forties (?), appeared when we arrived for our surprise visit, but promptly disappeared - I don't know if they were aunts?

I see my distant cousin Kerrie has already posted a reply to you - she unearthed quite a lot of family history when visiting the Six Counties a couple of years ago.  It would be most intereting if further details could be confirmed by us all - perhaps you'd like to respond directly by e-mail to me at tw@bonehill.eclipse.co.uk

Very best wishes    Tim Whitten (E. H. T. Whitten)

Hello fellow Whittens,

                                 Would anyone have turned up any links between the south Armagh  Ballymyre Whittens and the North Armagh Ballymore Whittens   from which i originate, 

                                                                                                                      thanks Charles Whitten

Hello Charles,

So far we have found nil connection with the North Armagh Ballymore WHITTEN families. I believe that there are many in the town of Tandragee area. We are still trying to sort out the Ballymyre WHITTEN families so any information from anyone would be appreciated - particularly from the towns of Newtownhamilton or Markethill (and nearby Ballintemple Rd area).

Thanks,

Kerrie

Hi Charles Whitten, We have a lot of connections with Ballymore Whitten families and we would be interested to compare notes.  Kind regards Heather Cook

To Heather Cook

Just saw your post of yesterday which intrigues, although it's rather enigmatic. Being the Great Grandson of Samuel Whitten of Ballymyre with a fairly complete tree on Ancestry, it would be most interesting to learn whether you have any connections at all with the extensive Ballymyre Whittens (from near Newton Hamilton). We are most anxious to find any information about Samuel Whitten's siblings and/or his parents and also those of his wife Sarah Little, and where they were married. Please reply here or contact me direct at timwhitten@btinternet.com

E. H. T. Whitten

Heather, had not looked in a while, please contact me on charlesw7@gmail.com,regards Charles Whitten