robert Middleton

Robert was born c 1794. For a birth around then you normally need to rely on church records. You don’t say what denomination he was though judging by the 1901 census for Co Down, most Middletons were Presbyterian with a few in the Church of Ireland.

Killinchy Church of Ireland records start in 1819. The earliest Presbyterian records start in 1812 (in what is now the Non Subscribing Presbyterian church but at that time was mainstream Presbyterian. There was a split in 1835 when the original Presbyterian church became Non Subscribing (ie Unitarian), and a separate mainstream Presbyterian church was established.). There are a couple of other Presbyterian churches in the area at Ballygowan and Raffrey but neither has any records for the 1700s.

So you may struggle to find a record of this family in early church records. There are no Middletons in Griffiths Valuation for Killinchy, by the 1860s. I did find reference to several Middleton families in Killinchy on the Ros Davies site, which you might find helpful. Nearly all were Presbyterian, which helps narrow the focus a little.

Non RC marriages from 1.4.1845 onwards are viewable on the GRONI site, and will give fathers names, townlands (addresses) etc. You can view the original certificates on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

Presbyterian records pre 1845 are not all on-line. Copies of most surviving church records for that area are in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. A personal visit is required to see them, but don’t expect too much information from the early 1800s. Sometimes all you get is the couples names, the date and the 2 witnesses. Sometimes a townland and occupation but not always. Rarely parents names.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Erosdavies/SURNAMES/M/Mi.htm

If the Middleton family were Presbyterian then, as I expect you know, that indicates the family originated in Scotland (as did over half the population of Co Down), and are most likely to have settled in Ireland in the 1600s. (I don’t see any Middletons in Co. Down in the 1630 Muster Rolls, so it was probably after that).

Hamilton is an extremely common name in Ireland. The 1901 census has 8091 of which 1689 lived in Co. Down. (Again mostly descended from Scots settlers in the 1600s). A lot of agricultural labourers in Ulster moved to Scotland for work, many from Down going to Wigtownshire because it is such a short and easy journey. (The main ferry to Scotland used to sail from Donaghadee, in Down to Portpatrick).  So I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hamiltons were neighbours of the Middletons in Ireland. But if so, the same lack of early records may hamper you in proving that.

According to a leaflet published by the Ulster-Scots Agency, in the 1600s when most Presbyterian Ministers were expelled from Ireland, the congregation from Killinchy used to sail to Stranraer on a Sunday, worship there, and then sail back to Killinchy that same evening. That indicates the level of cultural and practical connection that existed between the 2 counties. Many of the Co Down settlers may have come from Wigtownshire originally too.

Elwyn, Thank you so much for your prompt information.

I plan to visit PRONI on Monday14th August and have applied for a pass.

I should email them prior to that to ask for those records you mention.

Yes they were Presbyterians.

I shall keep searching. Thank you

Ruth