Joseph McMillan
- Born
- 1 Jun 1810
- Died
- 1 Jun 1840
- Gender
- Male
Our family line of McMillans "ends" with Joseph McMillan from Newtonards, County Down. We believe that our McMillan family originated from Galloway we assume before Joseph./ .
Using as a guide the scottish naming traditions... where in general, the first son was named after the father’s father, the second after the mother’s father, and the third son after the father himself. Certainly, Joseph’s and Mary’s third son was named Joseph, suggesting the McMillans followed this plan. (Marys maiden name was either McKimm or McCann?)
The name Andrew, then, would appear to come from the McKimm side of the family. The McKimm family tree does include an Andrew (see below – he is Mary’s eldest brother, according to McKimm family sources), and an Andrew McKimm is recorded as a witness to a marriage in the First Presbyterian records:
1848 Samuel McKim, Labourer, Father: Charles McKimm, Farmer
married Eliza McLean, Drumhirk
Andrew McKimm was a witness, and signed with an ‘x’.
Following this pattern, ‘Hugh’ would have been the name of the senior Joseph McMillan’s father. The research uncovered a very large number of McMillans called Hugh throughout County Down. Without further information, this makes it very difficult to connect Joseph McMillan with any of the Hugh McMillans found.
Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to mention a couple of these Hugh McMillans. Among the Clandeboye estate pay sheets (labourers working Lord Dufferin’s land) for 1850-65 were found a Hugh McMillan Sr., Hugh McMillan Jr., William McMillan and Samuel McMillan. These names hint at a connection with Joseph McMillan’s family. Also, in Drumawhy, another ‘townland’ in the parish of Newtownards slightly to the east of Drumhirk, a Hugh and Mary McMillan were tenants of Lord Londonderry in the late eighteenth century. They also seem related to a Samuel McMillan and may be relatives of Joseph McMillan.
There are very few instances of the Christian name Joseph anywhere in the archives for County Down. Aside from Joseph McMillan, the husband of Mary McKimm, and their son Joseph, the only other Joseph McMillan found was born in 1799 in Killinchy and married there in 1824.
(Killinchy is south of Comber and the Drumhirk near Comber, on the western side of Strangford Lough.) It seems unlikely that Joseph McMillan of Killinchy was immediately related to the Joseph McMillan of Drumhirk. Therefore, due to a lack of any other Joseph McMillans found and based on the patterns of naming children discussed above, this would suggest that Joseph McMillan senior’s first name comes from his mother’s family. If Joseph sr. is descended from the Drumawhy McMillans, there were other Josephs there. There was, for example, a Joseph McClune listed in Drumawhy whose lease began in 1808. Unfortunately, however, the names of Joseph’s parents have not surfaced, so it is not possible to confirm his relationship to any of the McMillans uncovered during our search.
Joseph had shown his occupation as a Weaver.
