Watterson, Watterson, Waterhouse or Hamilton in Artrea, county Derry?

You can use the revaluation records in Griffiths to trace the various families forward from the primary valuation up until 1929.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm

The PRONI wills website has details of 3 Watterson wills in Ballymulderg and Ballyneil. 2 are on?line, the third (for 1923) has not been put on-line yet and if you want to see it, you would need to get a copy from PRONI (for a fee).

The name Watterson seems very common in the area in the mid 1800s, and piecing the families together may be quite a task. Your best bet might be to go through church records at PRONI looking for baptisms to try and put them together that way.

All the Wattersons had left Ballyneil by the time of the 1901 census. (Ballyneil is split into Ballyneilmore & Ballyneilbeg. Beg just means little and more means big).

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Loop/Ballyneal_More/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Loop/Ballyneillbeg/

Ballymulderg is likewise split into Beg & More. Some Wattersons there in 1901, and a Hamilton boarder.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Ballyronan/Ballymulderg__Beg_/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Ballyronan…

The following records exist for Woods Chapel, and a copy is held in PRONI. (Later records should still be with the church).

C.I. Woods Chapel (Armagh diocese) Baptisms, 1807 (or 1808)-97; marriages, 1808-45; burials, 1808-89; vestry minutes, 1792-1895; poor list, 1818; seat list, 1826; confirmations, 1809, 1816, 1824, 1837, 1840, 1843, 1846, 1849, 1856, 1859, 1866, 1870 and 1876. Census of the parish, 1829.

I don?t see the Hamilton family in either Griffiths Primary valuation or in the subsequent revaluation records for Ballymulderg. The usual explanation for that would be that they lived in a cabin of too low a value to be recorded. To make matters harder, such tenants often moved around a lot (in contrast to farmers who tended to stay put) and so they?ll be much harder to track.

Is it possible that the townlands listed for the Wattersons and the Hamiltons are switched?  The reason I ask is that I have recorded quite a number of Hamilton baptisms, marriages and deaths from that part of Derry and none are from  Ballymulderg.  On the other hand, a fair number of Wattersons that I have recorded are from Ballymulderg (Beg or More).  I note the name Leonard Watterson as a witness.  In the entire listing of 35, 738 entries of heads of household for the 1831 census of Derry, only four have the given name "Leonard."   Two of them are Wattersons, one living in Lisnamorrow and one living in Ballymulderg Beg.  Further, I have seven records of Leonard Wattersons from the Woods Chapel records. Some are from Ballymulderg, some from Caraloon and some from Lisnamorrow.  One Watterson girl was born in Ballyneil but her father was born in Ballymulderg.  I suspect that her mother was from Ballyneil.  John Watterson, husband of Mary Jane Dougherty, was born in Ballymulderg but moved to Ballyneil and died there.  Robert Watterson died in Ballyneil in 1847 at the age of 83 but I do not know how long he had lived in that Townland.I have a number of Hamilton records from Ballyneil and Ballyronan and Ballymaguigan but none from Ballymulderg.  In the 1831 census you find them in Ballymaguigan, Ballyronan, Tullylinkisay, Magherafelt.

Do you have a copy of the original marriage record from Wood's Chapel for Ellen and William or do you have someone's notes or transcription? If not, I have copies of the WC records (hopefully up to that time period) and will make a copy if you need one.  Email me at ronaldjdale@netscape.net.