GILPIN FAMILY - TYRONE

Mike,

There are 4 different townlands in Tyrone, all named Corkhill. One in the parish of Clogher, another in Kildress, one in Kilskeery and the fourth in Pomeroy. Do you know which one your family lived in?

Also what denomination were they? (The majority appear to have been Church of Ireland but not all were).

Elwyn

Elwyn, thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I do not know any more than in my initial post. The gentleman that did a lot of research some years ago here has passed away.

As far as their religion, the early family were Protestant as far as I know.

I will keep searching.

Mikie

Mike,

There?s this Gilpin family in one Corkhill in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Crossdernot/Corkhill/1735739/

That Corkhill is in Pomeroy parish. I looked at Griffiths and I can see that John Gilpin had plot 4 in Corkhill in 1860. That was a farmhouse, outbuildings and just over 26 acres of land. In 1897 it passed to William George Gilpin (who appears in the 1901 census). He purchased the farm under the Land Act in 1908, and in 1913 it was sold to Hamilton Trimble, though Wm George may have left before that as he is not in the 1911 census either in that townland or anywhere else. He may have left Ireland.

The reason the farm passed to Wm George Gilpin around 1897 was probably that John Gilpin had died. There?s a death registered in Dungannon, Oct ? Dec 1896 ( Volume 1, page 421) that seems to fit. Est year of birth 1818. (That all fits with the information in your first post, so it suggests this is the right family).

This Gilpin family were Church of Ireland. Unfortunately all the early Pomeroy church records have been destroyed (in a fire in Dublin in 1922) and that remains is this:

Baptisms, 1876-; marriages, 1845-; burials, 1876-; Sunday School roll book, 1899-1915.

Those remaining records are all still held by the church in Pomeroy.

You could check the tithe applotment records for Pomeroy parish (1820s/1830s) to see if the family were on that townland then too. Those records are in PRONI and are not on-line unfortunately. You could also check PRONI?s records for any leases relating to the family.

Elwyn

Elwyn, thank you, your information appears to be correct. John Gilpin had a son William George who married  Katherine Warnock - this could have been some time after he left Corkhill. William  also had a neice Elizabeth (Lizzie?) who was the daughter of a sister, Dianah who married a Joseph Potter.

John Gilpin was my Great Great Grandfather. His son, Alexander b. 1842 at Corkhill, came to Australia and married in 1866 and settled in the state of Victoria where he made a fortune in the gold rush days (and subsequently lost it!!) He married twice as his first wife died. Thomas John was one of seven children by his first marrage and my father Thomas Anthony, was one of seven children fathered by Thomas John.

Here is a bit of information I have found in Australia relating to my Great Grandfather, Alexander.

Alexander Gilpin, J.P.
Gilpin was born in 1842 in Co.Tyrone and for some years assisted his father on their farm there. In October, 1864, he set sail for Australia, settling originally in Kilmore, were he was engaged in harvesting for a month or two. From there he travelled through the northern-eastern and Beechworth districts of Victoria, crossing the Jamieson River near Wood's Point.
Early in 1867 he made his way to Bendigo, and there followed mining in all its branches. Two or three years were passed in his work, and during the latter part of them, he and a few others saved enough out of their wages to employ two men to prospect in the surrounding country. They were all well remunerated, for some valuables finds were made. Towards the end of 1870 Gilpin gave over active mining and speculated on the exchange, then known as the "Verandah". Until 1879 he continued on the exchange, and held appointments on the directorate of several mining companies. About that time he was interested in the Madame Berry mine at Creswick, and, foreseeing a great future for the Ballarat district, he settled there. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace, a Government position he filled with a good deal of credit.
ARRIVED ON THE SHIP "LONDON" IN 1864

OBITUARY. Bendigo Advertiser 15 Sep 1905 

Mr. Alexander Gilpin, a well-known Ballarat mining investor, died at the residence of his brother, Mr. Richard Gilpin, Soudan- street, Malvern, on Wednesday, at the age of 63 years, from complications supervening on an attack of pneumonia. Mr. Gilpin, who was a native of Tyrone, Ireland, arrived in Victoria in 1864 by the ship London. Shortly after he came to Bendigo, and during the mining "boom" of 1870-71 in this city he amassed a considerable fortune. About eight   years later he left for Ballarat, where he was closely identified with the Star of the East and other Sebastopol mining companies. He also became part owner of the Guiding Star and Sebastopol Plateau leases. Lieutenant A. Gilpin, who was killed in the South African war, was a son of the deceased. The   afternoon meeting of the Ballarat Stock Ex- change, of which Mr. Gilpin was a member, was adjourned on Wednesday. When the members of the Bendigo Stock Exchange   assembled for the morning session yesterday, the vice-chairman (Mr. M. P. Kelly) made regretful allusion to Mr. Gilpin's death, and it was decided to forward a letter of condolence to the bereaved family.

Thank you very much for the information. I am new at this and would like to find as much information as I can to pass on to my children.

Thanks once again.

Mike

I think the niece?s parents were William Potter (not Joseph) and Dinah Gilpin (not Diana). Their marriage was registered in Dungannon 1877 Volume 6, page 617. 

I looked for Lizzie?s birth. It?s probably Eliza Potter Jul ? Sep 1880 Dungannon Vol 1, page 510.

William George Gilpin?s marriage to Catherine Warnock was registered in Belfast Oct - Dec 1912 Volume 1, page 515.

You can order copies of these certs from GRO Roscommon for ?4 each. Quote the place, year, quarter (where there is one), volume & page number on the application form (anywhere). http://www.groireland.ie/

Many thanks again. I will follow up with the certs.

Mike

I have a very indirect connection to this family but it includes a hint about John Gilpin's origins.

John Gilpin and Elizabeth Buchanan had a daughter named Sarah Jane Gilpin who married a William Matchett from Copney, Armagh. Copney is quite a bit farther from Corkhill than you would usually expect for a marriage at that time which often hints at a connection between the two families.

That Gilpin family in Corkhill sticks out because it's the only one in the immediate area. But, Copney was established Gilpin territory. Many public trees have William Matchett's mother as a Gilpin which I haven't been able to source myself yet but I suspect it's true. His father John Matchett was not from the immediate area around Copney.

My theory would be that John Matchett married a Gilpin and probably acquired land from her family or at least near her family and that his son William married a cousin of some sort on his mother's side.

So that's my hint that your John Gilpin was from the Copney area.

Mike, my mother, Alicia, was a daughter of Alexander Gilpin, of Ballarat,who was your great grandfather. I  am Tony Johns as my motHer married William Johns, who's family came here from Cornwall in 1840. I well remember your father, who to me as a child was Uncle Tom.  I well remember his parents, Uncle Tom also, and Aunty Fan. Her name was Frances. The Anthony seems to have come into the family in Australia via Anthony Simpson, and you will note I have it too.  He was a stone mason here in Ballarat, and his daughter, Hannah was Alexander's second wife and my grandmother.  I was a small child on a farm near Horsham Vic.,when Thomas Anthony, brought Aunty Fan from Adelaide to visit us and stay a few days in about 1938. He had an early Moris 12 car with a canvas top. I visited Tom and Fan in Adelaide in 1945 when I was 18 years old.  I believe Tom,  worked in an office in Adelaice with Don Bradman, but am not certain of that.We have the family history well documented and will be glad to keep in touch with you if you wish. My email is. Johnsy@tpg.com.au for direct contact.  I live in Ballarat.  Regards,   Tony Johns

Mike, just another thought.  Your father, Thomas Anthony,s name is here in Ballarat on the National Prisoner of War Memorial, and of course I have been and found it.   Tony.

Hi Mike, wondering if this is still being monitored. My father Ian Gilpin did a lot of family history research and I have a lot of notes. Interestingly, I have a long letter written by Alan Gilpin from 1981. He says he was born in Ballarat 1921. Any relative. 

I have no record of an Ian Gilpin but I do of Alan Howden Gilpin born in 1921  - D1991 in Sydney. Married Mavis Harvey in 1943 and had three children, two girls and a boy. A distant cousin from my Great Great Grandfathers second marrriage.

Please forward more info via gilpin.mj@bigpond.com

Regards,

Mike Gilpin