Acton, Beckett and Brew

Hello, Lisa.  Tithe Applotment Books have entries for Acton. These records were compiled between 1823 and 1837,  while your ancestors were in Ireland.  They contain lists of people who had land holdings which were liable for tithes, taxes paid to the Church of Ireland. As tithes were levied only on certain types and size of holdings, only a proportion of people who held land were included.  Widow Acton had 3 plots totalling approximately 5 acres in Town Park townland in Aglish parish. Castlebar was in Aglish parish. The handwriting is small and faint but it seems to me that she may have been a doctor's widow.  There was a Robert Acton in Balcarra townland in Drum parish in 1834. There were several other Acton holdings in Drum parish and 1 in Kilcommon parish. I didn't see any listings for Beckett, Brew or Greer in Mayo.  Like all documents of the era, some pages are hard to read and some may have been illegible. Spellings of names may have been different or may have been incorrectly transcribed. (E.g. a transcriber for one parish mistakenly transcribed the word "Bog" as a surname instead of a type of land! There are other peculiarities.)  As well as searching by surname, one can browse by place.     Tithe Applotment Books are in National Archives.      http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp ;

Do you know occupations the men followed in Ireland? 

Were all the people you named Church of Ireland, Catholic or another denomination?  Have you identified the churches where marriages took place?  Availability of church records varies. 

Hi Maggie May, thanks for your response.

According to the Canadian census records over the years John Acton (Robert & Christiana's eldest son and my great-great-grandfather) was listed as a "carpeteur" (I assume this is intended to be carpenter), shoemaker, stone mason and finally farmer.  I have absolutely no information on what their occupations were prior to their establishment in Canada.

My Acton ancestors were Protestants.  Again, no particulars as to what specific church(es) they may have been attached to in Castlebar has come down the family.  My best hope, I suppose, is that some day someone will stumble upon a church whose records include mention of John & Marie, their son Robert and the christenings of Robert & Christiana's children.  Fingers crossed - some day it might even be me!

 

Griffiths' Valuation has several entries for Acton and Becket(t) surnames and a couple for Brew and Greer.  Griffiths' Valuation was a survey of property holdings in mid 19th-century Ireland. It was after your direct ancestors left Ireland. It encompassed a wider section of property than the Tithe Applotment Books so there are far more people on it.  www.askaboutireland.ie

Some parishes where Acton holdings were situated are  Aglish,  Breaghy, Turlough, Kilcommon, Drum and Rosslee.

Some properties in Aglish parish were in Castlebar town. A George H. Acton was in Curragh townland which apparently included Spencer Street (My granny lived in Spencer St. much later.)   Several listings for George R. Acton, including some properties in Ellison Street in Castlebar (Knockaphunta townland), one of which he occupied himself and the others he let. His landlord was Lord Lucan.  George R. Acton was also named as immediate lessor of a property in Castle St. which he let to a Mary Shannon (Gorteendrunnagh townland). Part of Spencer St. was in Gorteendrunnagh townland.  George R. held land in Garryduff townland. (I'm not sure if that was in Castlebar too.)  There was also a plain George Acton, without a middle initial, in Aglish parish. 

A George Rose Acton featured strongly in Kilcommon parish, occupying 75 acres  (a good-sized holding) and being immediate lessor to other people. 

John and Peter Acton were in different townlands in Turlough parish. There was also a Peter Acton in Breaghy parish, not far from Castlebar. 

Becket(t) was noticeable in Kildacommogue parish which is east of Castlebar. They were in several townlands - Keelogues Old, Moyhenna, Gortahan and Gneeve. Names were Isaac,  Alexander and William. The name Isaac crops up at least 6 times. The Beckett surname was dominant in Moyhenna where it accounted for 9 of 17 holdings, either as occupier or immediate lessor,  and 100 of 162 acres. Sandwiched among the Becketts was George BREW.  One of Isaac Beckett's holdings comprised land, corn and tuck mill and offices. (Office in Griffiths' Valuation meant an outbuilding.) 

The name Isaac Becket also showed up in Turlough parish. Another Becket in Turlough parish was Nathaniel who had a corn mill and kiln. 

A Michael Becket was in Aglish parish. 

Further east in Toomore parish, John Beckett had a corn mill and tuck mill. 

The only other Brew in Griffiths' Valuation was William in Kildacommogue parish like George Brew. 

The surname Greer was represented by James in Breaghy parish. 

Pigot's Directories contained lists of key people in towns. Pigot's Directory of Ireland, published 1824, is available as a pdf.    https://www.failteromhat.com/pigot.htm

(Edit. This link doesn't seem to work. An internet search for Pigot's Directory of Ireland 1824 should find it.)

Select the province of Connaught, then individual towns.  Names of members of the nobility, gentry and clergy were first for each town, followed by a list of "Merchants, tradesmen &c." grouped by occupation.

Castlebar: The name John Acton appeared twice, under Apothecaries and under Physicians & surgeons, both with the address Market Street.  That fits with the "Widow of Dr. Acton" whom I noted in my first reply,  assessed in the Tithe Applotment Book for properties in Town Park townland in Aglish parish.  Town Park was later known as the Mall and is in the centre of Castlebar.

There is a brief history of Castlebar in the "Towns & villages" section of Discover Mayo website   www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/welcome.html ;

I can't say how likely it was 200 years ago that a doctor's grandson would have become a carpenter, shoemaker or stonemason. Dr. John Acton may have no connection to your family. There were no people with surnames Beckett or Brew listed for Castlebar.

A few other towns in Connaught, some of them in Mayo,  were included in Pigot's Directory 1824. 

There were later directories. Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland 1846;  Thom's Directories. There may have been others inbetween.

There is a website called Irish Graveyards. https://www.irishgraveyards.ie   It's searchable by person's name or by name of graveyard or both. Those graveyards which have been added to the website have a marker on a map. 

Elmhall graveyard has several Acton burials from early 19th-century, including 2 who were named Robert.  Elmhall graveyard is in Belcarra village (previously known as Ballycarra).  Belcarra, 4 miles S. of Castlebar, is in Drum parish, Carra barony.  Elmhall graveyard was mixed Protestant and Catholic.  According to the description of the parish of Drum  in  "Topographical Survey of Ireland" by Lewis, published 1837, "limestone is quarried for both building and turning into lime".  A house mentioned by Lewis was Bridgemount, "the residence of Joseph Acton Esq."  Information about Belcarra is under the tab "Towns & villages" on website "Discover Mayo" www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/welcome.html

Leave the box for graveyard name blank to see results for Acton graves in other graveyards. 

Turlough has Beckett graves. Look closely at a photograph of one Beckett tombstone to see a newer tombstone beside it for Potter. (A Mr Potter married a Miss Beckett late 19thC.) Again, to find other graveyards where Becket graves might be, leave graveyard name box blank. 

Another list of graveyard transcriptions for Mayo is on Irish Ancestors website.

https://www.johngrenham.com/records/county_graveyards.php?search_type=f…

Lisa. there is an interesting family tree on Geni.  William Joseph Acton, born 1791, Castlebar, died Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1847. He was a shoemaker.  Names of his parents on the tree are Robert and Mary.  10 children are listed for William Joseph Acton. Birthplace, where stated, is Castlebar. Birth years c.1815- c.1837.  2 sons were also shoemakers. Joseph, b. 1817, Castlebar, became a master military bootmaker. He died in Jamaica.  John b. 1826, Castlebar, was another shoemaker. He died Toronto 1900.  3 younger sons, Richard (1828), William (1834) and James (1837) all birthplace Castlebar.  A daughter, Mary Ann b. 1815, married a man with an uncommon set of names - Rochford Dillon Coristine, b. Ballinrobe 1810.  Other daughters include Frances and Rebecca.  The combination of Acton, Castlebar, shoemaking and Canada may be coincidence.  I was actually trying to find out more about Joseph Acton, Esquire, of Bridgemount, Drum, when the shoemaker family turned up instead.

The Acton family of Bridgemount in the parish of Drum owned an estateof 1000 acres. (National University of Ireland, Galway, Landed Esates Database). George Rozia Acton of that family, may have been the George R. Acton and George Rose Acton who held several properties in Griffiths' Valuation. 

Jacob Beckett gets a mention in University of Galway's Landed Estate Database because he bought a property called Newcastle around 1900. It had previously been owned by an O'Malley. I think Jacob was a son of Isaac, the miller. 

Thank you, again, Maggie!  Lots of helpful information and intriguing possibilities to be sure.  I have spent some time trolling on the Irish Genealogy.ie site searching their databases and did (surprise, surprise!) find a marriage record for another of my Irish ancestral branches.

Not sure just how well off my Actons were, although I imagine they would have had to have been fairly flush to transport their entire family of eight children across the Atlantic.  Never really thought they were much more than tennant farmers, which sounds silly now that I think about it.

Anywho, hoping the church records some day surface which dot all the i's and dot all the t's...  again, thanks for your efforts.

Irish Genealogy.ie is a great free resource.  Civil registration of Protestant marriages began in 1845, 2 decades before Catholic marriages. Did you find Brew marriages in Castlebar 1840s-1860s?  Unfortunately images of the Brew marriages aren't yet available to see. Brew is an uncommon name in Mayo. 

Census returns are on the National Archives site   www.census.nationalarchives.ie   Complete census returns exist only for 1901 and 1911. Most census returns from 19th century were destroyed.  A 79 year-old widowed cook called Ann Acton was lodging in the townland where my great-grandfather was living, a few miles S. of Castlebar, on 1901 census.  I doubt she came from moneyed people if she worked as a cook. 

I looked at a website "Emigration from County Mayo, Ireland  to Canada and the U.S.A. 1818 to 1855" with which I'm sure you're familiar.  www.bytown.net/mayotocanada.htm ;

I saw that Robert's parents, John & Mary (Beckett) also emigrated in 1836.  They must have been ancient !  Robert was no spring-chicken either.

There seems to be discrepancy about when the younger John Acton arrived.  His obituary mentioned his building work, including the Rideau Canal. The canal was apparently constructed 1826-1832, so if John was involved in the construction, he must have been there by 1832. Unless he repaired it later. Have you found him on a ship?  John going there first, as a fit young man, building the canal, saving money and then sending for other members of the family was a pattern of emigration known as chain migration. There is reference to a book about the canal and the men who built it, "The McCabe List" by Dr. Bruce Elliott. 

Obituary for Elizabeth Greer (Acton) said she was born "near Castlebar".  Among children listed for her are 3 born in Ireland. Jane was said to have been baptised in Turlough parish on 28th Nov. 1830; James, born 1833, Castlebar and John born about 1835, Ireland.  Elizabeth's obit said she travelled to Canada with her husband, 3 children and her parents and that they stayed at Beckett's Landings for a few years. Would it have been named for Michael Beckett and his wife, Mary (Acton) or an earlier Beckett? 

According to a source on PRONI website which I've not seen myself, standard fare to Canada was £1 10 shillings in 1831. (PRONI = Public Records Office Northern Ireland) 

Irish Toolkit https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com has a section about emigration under the tab Genealogy. The British Government  established a trial emigration scheme for Irish paupers to Upper Canada in 1822.  Two waves of Irish arrived in 1823 and 1825 under an assisted emigrant scheme.  (Peter Robinson ships and the new settlement of Peterborough.)  34,000 Irish arrived in Quebec in 1831. 

There were other assisted emigration schemes from Ireland and Britain. Qualification for participants varied.  Information in these sources: 

Ask about Ireland  www.askaboutireland.ie   Emigration  -  the Landlords' Solution  

Timeline Genealogy in Ireland website:  Assisted Emigration from Ireland   https://timeline.ie/assisted-emigration-from-ireland ;

Book "Sending out Ireland's poor  - assisted emigration to North American the nineteenth century" by G. Moran , published Dublin 2004 

The Colonial Land and Emigration Commission  (CLEC) was set up in 1830s to manage the programme of emigration to the British colonies.  Some emigrants qualified for free passage. Assisted passages were available for some others.

The population of Ireland had increased by 14% between 1821 and 1831.  A Royal Commission was set up in 1833 to enquire into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland.  It found that a huge proportion of the population were without means of earning an income for half the year.  A recommendation of the Commission was to encourage emigration. 

 

 

 

Greetings Lisa

My name is Lyle Acton and I am related to the Smith Falls Actons. One of my Great Aunts, Margaret Acton, married into your Acton Line about 1870 in Kemptville Ontario. I have done extensive research in Ireland on the Mayo Actons.

I suspected that my line originated there. Will be happy to share including DNA results. Be in touch directly at plasact@shaw.ca

look forward to hearing from you

Lyle A

 

Hello Ann;

My Ancestral Quest 16 program has -  "Elisabeth (1809 - 26 Jun 1900), who married (William) Henry Greer (b 1792, d 2 Mar 1876) 17 Aug 1829 at Castlebar" in my data base. There is a link within my "Beckett" family tree,in North Grenville, Oxford-on-the-Rideau.in the Village of Oxford Mills, SW of Kempotville Ontario.

Donm Beckett

Sorry;

     Don  Beckett

Hi Don, not sure who the Ann you're addressing is, but this thread is one I initially posted.

Would "your" Beckett line be connected to John Beckett & Mary Jane Maley, whose daughter Margaret Estella married Henry Kenneth Greer?

Liisa Carbone

 

Hi Lisa; Yes, John Beckett & Mary Jane Maley are my grandparents. They had seven children between 1879 and 1892. My father was Noel Clifford Becket b 1882 (Oxford Mills Ont.) - d 1959.(Ottawa Ont.)

I am new using this IrelandXO thus, just plugging away with it. I hope it relays and receives information.

. My brick wall is to locate a birth and death document for Nathanile Beckett. Family folklore suggest he was born in County Mayo, Castlebar area Ireland. I have done a very crude estimate of his potential birth -( 1777 ), and, unfortunately, it seems to appear as gospel . Nathaniel Beckett signed his Last Will and Testament at Beckett's Landing, Oxford Township,19 July, 1846.  A death or  burial record of  Nathaniel Beckett, has eluded my years of searches. Hearsay family information suggests he died in Kemptville, Ontario, Upper Canada in 1866 . Family information also suggests he was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland, around the 1780's and immigrated to  Upper Canada about 1817, Cumberland Twp, on the Grand (Ottawa) River, or 1819.  It is possible he returned to Ireland  in 1817 and back to Upper Canada in 1819/1820 settling at Beckett's Landing on the Rideau River, Twp. Oxford-on-the-Rideau, North Grenville. The  Anglican Diocese, Kingston , Ontario records a  Mary Beckett, age 82,wife of Nathan Beckett, Oxford Yeoman,  died June 8, buried June 19th 1846 in the Anglican Church Yard at Kemptville Ontario. If Nathaniel  was her husband, Nathaniel may have returned to Ireland where he later died.. 

All the best to you and yours,

Don Beckett
 

 

Hi Don.  Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Can I assume that Nathaniel Beckett would be your great-great grandfather?  My records only get to John Beckett & Ann Percival through the marriage records for their children John and Eliza. 

My family ties in to the Greers (Henry Kenneth Greer being my second cousin twice removed).  If  you're interested in the Greer line I'd be happy to send along what I've got.  I also have two other Becketts connected in to my family.  Do either of these sound familiar?  

• John Acton m. Marie Beckett, son Robert Acton b. 1771 Castlebar
• Michael Beckett (b @ 1802 Ireland) m. Mary Acton (b @ 1805 Ireland), Mary being the granddaughter of John Acton & Marie Beckett

Sadly, I too have been able to track very little information on my Irish ancestors prior to their coming to Canada.  It's a tough one, for sure.

Liisa

Hi Lisa; 

My guess,  the 1920 fire which burned many Irish documents which were collected, from various sources, and catalogued during  previous years.

 

The Acton and Greer families in the North Grenville area have connections to the Beckett family. It would take some sorting time to identify the connections.

 

Below is a copy and paste from my “notes” which may be of interest to you.  If so, I may have more information.

DCB researcher 11 March 2020; check this web site

        http://www.bytown.net/actonbeckett.htm

+3     i.     John ACTON, born on 24 Jun 1807, Castlebar, County Mayo Ireland1,4,10; married Sarah NEELIN, on 6 Feb 1840, Goulbourn Township, Carleton County, ON12,13; died on 20 Jul 1891,

            Kemptville, Grenville ON

    +4     ii.     Elisabeth ACTON, born in 1809, Castlebar, Co Mayo Ireland3,10; married (William)Henry GREER, on 17 Aug 1829, Castlebar, Co Mayo Ireland 4,10; died on 26 Jun

            1900, Kemptville, Grenville ON10.

    +5     iii.     Mary ACTON, married Michael BECKETT, Ireland.

    +6     iv.     Ann ACTON, died Dundas.

    +7     v.     Abraham ACTON, born about 1814, Ireland 2,3,10; married Margaret SIMPSON,

            about 1846, Goulbourn, Carleton ON; died on 12 Mar 1869 10, 15.

    +8     vi.     Catherine ACTON, born in 1820 10; died on 24 Mar 1852 10.

    +9     vii.     Susan ACTON, died USA.

    10     viii.     Jennie ACTON (details unknown)

************

DCB researcher 29 March 2020; during clean up, found a hand written letter from Jackie Dixon, a descendent of Greer's and Beckett's. Jackie's mother is Doris Sterling. Jackie also states "I'm a decent of John Acton and Sara Neelin. address 3471 Bayou Sound Longboat Key Fl. 34228, USA (forgot to put in the date of the letter but I think, about1995)

 

Don Beckett

P.S.  I am in the midst of attempting to get my second vaccination shot. This exercise is giving me a challenge at the moment.

 

 

 

Hello, my Acton family from Castlebar, Ireland looks like it may connect to yours. I also am stuck on my 5th great grandfather, William Acton, who married Mary Fair/Phair in 1798. William had children, Abraham, William, Mary Jane, Diana, Robert John, John. I heard a story handed down from a distant relative that 5 brothers immigrated to Canada each had their own trade skills. My Acton family are from Reach/Uxbridge area in Ontario. Pam Acton