My 3x GG was Andrew Boyd. I know from his death record that he died May 17, 1866 and was buried at
Carnmoney Church of the Holy Evangelists Graveyard. His death record also states he was 75 which puts him being born in 1791.
For almost all of his adult life he served as a Land Steward (Land Agent) for Hugh McCalmont of the Abbeylands Estate in Whiteabbey and he lived in Whiteabbey. He had 5 children: John (1823-1895) Belfast Architect, Margaret Crawford (1824-1887), Elizabeth, Mary Jane and William. Here's the problem: I can't find any of the baptismal records online and what I'd really like to do is find out the maiden name of Andrew's wife. I know from his will that her name was Mary, but I suspect that the baptismal records and the marriage record for Andrew and Mary are in a Carnmoney parish church that doesn't have records available online. I do have marriage records for John, Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary Jane and they all seem to be from Whiteabbey, but the marriages were in the 1850s and 1860s so civil records were available.
It may be that the Church of the Holy Evangelists was their main church but the marriage record lists "Whiteabbey" which I assume to mean Whiteabbey Presyterian. However, Whiteabbey Presbyterian didn't exist before 1833, so I'm thinking it was either The Church of the Holy Evangelists or some other Carnmoney church where they were baptised.
There is a record of an Andrew Boyd marrying Mary Hunter in 1818 in Carnmoney parish and I thought that might be my 3x grandmother but subsequently I was able to see baptisms where the names and dates for children of that couple didn't line up.
What I would like to be able to do is confirm whether Andrew Boyd was born in Carnmoney (I could only find an Andrew Boyd born in Scotland in 1791)
I'd also like to find the "family church" that they attended in Carnmoney so that I can confirm the maiden name of my 3X GG and the baptismal dates of their children.
Does the Church of the Holy Evangelists have a copy of their reocrds or would I have to go to PRONI? Would they have records going back to 1791 (or at least 1823 for the baptisms of the children)
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Steve Redmond
Saturday 17th Dec 2022, 01:41AMMessage Board Replies
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Steve,
Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, after which she’d normally attend her husband’s, so it’s possible that the marriage and the subsequent children’s baptisms are in different churches. Burials weren’t always in the church that you attended. Many Presbyterian churches didn’t have graveyards and it was common for them to use Church of Ireland graveyards instead, as they were open to all denominations.
In Carnmoney parish, the Church of Ireland (ie the Church of Holy Evangelists) has baptism records from 1788, marriages from 1791 and burials from 1845. Carnmoney Presbyterian has baptisms & marriages from 1708 (with gaps). Whiteabbey Presbyterian lost all its early records in a fire and has nothing before 1897. I looked at the 1856 marriage for Mary Jane and note that it was in Carnmoney Presbyterian church. So that points to the Boyd family being Presbyterian. If Whiteabbey only opened in 1833 then prior to that they probably attended Carnmoney Presbyterian, so that’s probably the first set of records to look at, for the childrens baptisms anyway. But Andrew & Mary’s marriage could be in any church, depending on her denomination and where she lived.
Probably worth looking at T1013/1 – 3 in PRONI. That’s known as “the McKinney stud book” and records a huge amount of information about families in the Carnmoney area. For example there’s an 1813 census, and some death records (which is rare for Presbyterians). Those records also often record occupations. The McKinney family of Sentry Hill compiled a lot of local genealogical information. One of the most important tasks undertaken by W.F. McKinney was the building up of some hundred 'family trees' of Carnmoney people into a Family Register Book.
The main sources were:
Carnmoney Pb (Old Session Books, 1686-1831)
Carnmoney CoI (restricted to 500 names from marriages and births)
Templepatrick
Ballyeaston
Ballylinney
Hydepark
Ballycraigy Cg
And information gleaned from his relations and friends and handed down from generation to generation.
This link explains what church records exist, parish by parish in PRONI's records:
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records
If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher.
Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net
Belfast Newsletter of 19th May 1866 has a death notice which reported that Andrew was to be buried in Carnmoney burying ground on Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock.
Boyd is a common Scottish name. That, plus being Presbyterian and living in Co Antrim all tend to point to Scottish origins. However the main influx of Scots was in the 1600s when some 200,000 settled in Ireland. So I would expect Andrew’s family origins are in Scotland but probably in 1600s. You might just find his baptism in Carnmoney Presbyterian but obviously he could have been born elsewhere and unfortunately few churches have records for the 1700s. Most Irish research comes to a standstill around 1800 due to the lack of earlier records.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Saturday 17th Dec 2022, 09:11AM