Surgeon

Michael,

Your ancestor’s birth and departure from Ireland was long before the start of statutory birth registration. To find any trace of him you really need to know his denomination and parish. In the absence of that information probably all you can do is look at later records to see where Surgeon households were found in Tyrone.

Griffiths Valuation lists a John Surgeon in the townland of Drumcullion in 1860. He had plot 7 which was a house and an acre of land. Not too far from the modern Ballygawley roundabout near Dungannon. The revaluation records show he lived there till 1883. (His likely death was registered in Clogher 9.1.1881 aged 82).

Drumcullion is in the parish of Errigal Keerogue, so you could search their parish records to see if you can find your ancestor. Their records start in 1812.

Looking at the 1901 census of Tyrone I see only 2 other Surgeon families. One in Ballygowan and the other in Culmore, both in the parish of Drumragh. Both families were Church of Ireland. The Drumragh COI records start in 1801.

Copies of both parishes records are held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast.

Elwyn,

Thank you for the information. I have come across some other information online that has been indexed from PRONI records of baptisms of Errigal Keerogue 1834 which has a James Surgeon baptised by a Pastor John J Montray and parents James Surgeon and Margaret Fitzgibbon.

But the church name is not listed. The abode is Halftown. 

In my opinion the surname Surgeon is evidence that the family was actually of English or Scot descent. Would you agree ?

Also, is the Church of Ireland protestant or catholic?

Thanks again.

Michael 

Michael,

Church of Ireland is Protestant. (It’s the Church of England in Ireland. So Episcopalian). Halftown is a 76 acre townland in Errigal Keerogue. You can see where it is using the maps on Griffiths Valuation:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

There were only 9 people named Surgeon in Co Tyrone in 1901. All were Church of Ireland. That would generally indicate English or Scottish ancestry (save for intermarriage). They probably settled in the area in the 1600s. The name is very rare in Ireland and, in my opinion, is probably a Plantation Settler name. So English or Scottish origins. However it’s not a very common name in GB either. The 1841 Scottish census has just 8, and that for England and Wales has 27. Some sources suggest it’s variation of Sturgeon. Sounds fishy to me.

Elwyn,

Thanks. Think I'll stick with SURGEON.

Michael