Witherow Family

Darin:

Not sure sure what denomination your Witherows were. RC and Presbyterian records start much later than 1800 and as far as I can tell the Chruch of Ireland records are not available for late 1700s.

Roger McDonnell

Roger,

Thank you, that is what I was afraid of.  Do you know of any records in Ireland that might help me with the parentage of Thomas?  Can the people of Derry County only trace their ancestors back to 1800s?

Thank you

Darin

Roger,

Thank you, that is what I was afraid of.  Do you know of any records in Ireland that might help me with the parentage of Thomas?  Can the people of Derry County only trace their ancestors back to 1800s?

Thank you

Darin

Darin,

There were 45 people named Witherow in Co. Derry in the 1901 census, and without exception they are all Presbyterian. In the 1831 census there were 18 people in the county, again all Presbyterian. So that?s a fairly strong hint that Thomas would have been that too. (Indicating Scottish ancestry originally). The 18 people in 1831 were in just 3 households, two in the parish of Cumber Upper and one in Clondermot. None in Aghadowey.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie

I looked in the records for PRONI (The public record office) in Belfast. I found a mention of a Robert Witherow in Coleraine in 1796. Coleraine is fairly close to Aghadowey:

?Lease for 27 years, life of Rev. Nathaniel Alexander, at rent of ?8 per yr, concerning Rebecca du Pre, Rt Hon. James Lord, Baron Caledon, and Robert Witherow of Coleraine, and relating to land at Colebane. 12 acres. 13 April 1796. D668/R/37?

Interestingly there was a Rev Thomas Witherow (1824 ? c1890) who was a Minister in Maghera, Co Derry. His autobiography mentions being brought up around Aghadowey, when he commented: ?Aghadowey had originally been settled by a Scotch immigration and I found that my new neighbours spoke as pure Scotch as a man might hear in any part of Ayrshire.?[1]

So that points to one Witherow family in the Aghadowey area in the early 1800s anyway. It might be worth getting a copy of that autobiography to see what he says about his parents etc.  You might be able to get it on the internet and there?s also a copy in PRONI in Belfast. (MIC161/1).

The 1740 Protestant householders list for 1740 lists a William Witherow in the parish of Aghadowey. (No further information exists). So that?s a pointer to there being one family there then too.

There are no Witherows (or variants) in the Aghadowey area in the Muster Rolls c 1630. That points to your family arriving in the area sometime after that year.

But in answer to your general question about researching families prior to 1800, the answer is that, in general, it?s extremely difficult if not impossible, unless your family happened to be very famous or ha d a lot of property. (Obviously most migrants didn?t, one of the reasons they migrated).

Elwyn

Elwyn,

Thank you! This was more than I had hoped for. Interesting about Robert Witherow in 1796. Thomas named his second child Robert, I am not well versed in Irish genealogy, but I do know that in other countries there is a naming pattern that is very precise. Is it possible that Thomas named his son Robert after his own father?

Finally, I have not had time to explore this webiste in-depth, but was wondering if anyone is compiling a list of inhabitants of Aghadowey?

Thank you again for your help.

Darin

Darin,

In both Ireland and Scotland there was a tradition of naming children according to the following rules:

The 1st son was usually named after the father's father
The 2nd son was usually named after the mother's father
The 3rd son was usually named after the father
The 4th son was usually named after the father's eldest brother
The 5th son was usually named after the mother's eldest brother
The 1st daughter was usually named after the mother's mother
The 2nd daughter was usually named after the father's mother
The 3rd daughter was usually named after the mother
The 4th daughter was usually named after the mother's eldest sister
The 5th daughter was usually named after the father's eldest sister

The problem with relying too heavily on naming patterns is that, apart from the fact that not all families followed it, there are lots of things that can upset it. Common ones that I have encountered are:

i) when the father and either of the grandparents have the same name. So you obviously can?t have two or even three sons all with the same name, so a different name must be used instead;
ii) if a child dies young, then it was common practice to re-use the name. And if you don?t know about the death, your analysis of who they were named after could be completely wrong;
iii) Or if a close relative had just died and their name was used out of respect.
iv) I have also noticed that many families liked to name the odd child after the local Minister/Priest, schoolteacher or a relative with no children of their own.
v) Sometimes people were christened with one name, but went by a different one (and would appear in censuses and other records by that alternative name).

So for all these reasons, whilst tradition says, for example, that the 4th son was named after the father's eldest brother, it isn?t always so.

I am not aware of anyone compiling any lists of residents of Aghadowey.

You could always check the graveyards in the area for Witherow graves. Check Church of Ireland graveyards as well as Presbyterian (many Presbyterians were buried in Church of Ireland graveyards).

Elwyn

Hello Darin,

It looks like we are from the same relation. I am from the US. I was currently going down the road of finding out my 'witherow' side of the family. I have all up to Thomas Witherow which lead me to this site. I was going to reach out to you on Facebook to see if you had any further info on our greatest grandfather! If you have any will you send it my way?? Thanks so much, this is all very interesting:))

Elwyn,

You wrote a lovely reply to Darin. I was impressed with your work.

Would this be Clearfield County, Pennsylvania Thomas Witherow? Buried at Fruit Hill Presbyterian Church in Knox Township?
I'm very late to the game here, but found this through Google. Have been looking for further connections as he's a direct ancestor.