My Great Grandfather Daniel McDowell married Grace Nelson McMinn in 1869 ( 17 Feb) in Drumbo . Marriage shows Daniel’s father was Robert McDowell.
I have been trying to find out more about Daniel’s birth and his family .
Think he was born about 1826 as his death cert gives his age as 70 . He died in Waterford in 1897. He had a career in railway locomotive engineering : was in Jamaica with his first wife Susan Curry (from Northumberland ) and daughter Margaret Jane , born in 1861 in Jamaica . He returned to Ireland in 1866 but wife died on passage home and I think young daughter Margaret may have gone to live with her mother’s relatives in England as she lived and married in Staffordshire.
His second marriage to Grace McMinn shows him as a widower. Daniel and Grace moved to Waterford and he worked for Waterford - Kilkenny railway and became the Superintendent. They had several daughters and one son , Daniel (my grandfather) who had a career with the Royal Navy mainly in England.
Any information on Daniel’s links to Drumbo would be welcome . We have found out very little except he was from a Presbyterian family and father was Robert.
Also on Grace McMinn (1840-1922) . Her father was Joseph McMinn and from Drumbo. Mother ? Magill.
Fiona Crowther
Friday 16th Feb 2024, 04:21PMMessage Board Replies
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Fiona,
In the tithes in 1829 the only Robert McDowall farming in Drumbo parish lived in Knockbracken. Possibly your family.
http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/drumbo-parish.php
Still 1 McDowell family farming there in 1901:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Down/Drumbo/Knockbracken/1239073/
Mother was Arabella McCullough. Birth of a male child in 1864:
James’s father was a William McDowell, a weaver.
If the McDowell family attended Drumbo Presbyterian, then the following records exist:
Baptisms, 1699-1723, 1764-73, 1781-92, 1802 and 1827-1980;
marriages, 1706-21, 1772, 1782-3, 1786-91 and 1845-1921.
A copy is held in PRONI in Belfast. Personal visit required to view them. You might find Daniel’s baptism in those records.
Assorted McDowells from Drumbo on the RosDavies site:
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/Mc/McDowellKW.htm
Grace came from Ballycarngannon. Possibly connected to this family:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Down/Ballymacbrennan/Ballycarngannon/1239394/
They were Joseph McMinn and Margaret Robinson. Here’s son Hans birth (probably a brother to Grace):
Joseph died in 1872:
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_retu…
Probate abstracts from the PRONI wills site:
The Will of Joseph M'Minn late of Ballycarngannon County Down Farmer deceased who died 16 September 1872 at same place was proved at Belfast by the oath of Mary M'Minn of Ballycarngannon (Boardmills) aforesaid Widow the sole Executrix.
McMinn George of Ballycarngannon Lisburn county Down farmer died 3 April 1944 Probate Belfast 22 September to Thomas Graham and Thomas McCormick farmers. Effects £2528 12s. 2d.
1st will is on-line and the second one should be in PRONI in paper format.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
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For tracing his links to Drumbo, have you tried checking local historical records or reaching out to any local genealogical societies?
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