Airlie (Early)

Were James and Esther alive in 1863? The Scottish marriage certificate should tell you. If dead it normally says "dcd" after their names. Death registration started in Ireland in 1864 and knowig whether they were alive or dead at that point may make searching for them a little easier.

The name Esther Early isn't very common in Ireland. I searched the death records on the irish genealogy site 1864 to 1901 and only found the one adult. She died in 1891 aged 97. (Ages then were often just guesses and that could easily be out by 10 years or more). She died at Skenarget townland near Cookstown, Tyrone. She was a widow and the wife of a farmer. The informant was daughter Mary of the same townland. You can view that death certificate free on the irishgenealogy site.

There's a possible death for James Early on 30.4.1888 aged 86 also registered in Cookstown. That certificate is not on the irishgenealogy site. There's a fault and the link takes you to some records relating to Co. Derry. However it should be viewable on the GRONI site instead for £2.50.

Griffiths Valuation for 1859 lists a James Early in Skenarget. He had plot 2 which was 1 acre of land. Statutory birth registration didn;t start in Ireland till 1864 so you won't get a birth certificate for son Thomas in 1842. However you may get his baptism (and that of any siblings)  from church records. The parish is Desertcreat. Do you know what denomination the fmaily was?

Yes a couple would normally have started a family straight away in the 1800s. There was almost no contraception and providing there were no health issues most couples would have a child every year or so. But generally only till the woman was in her 40s. Few women in their 50s had children then.  You have a family that spans 43 years (1842 to 1885). That’s not very likely in my opinion, unless there was a second wife.

I have found a Robert and Mary in the family so it does seem to tie in with some of your information. The family were Presbyterian (ie Church of Scotland), not RC though (at least in 1911 they were).

I can add a little more information about the family I have found. I had a look at the Valuation Revision records (on the PRONI website) for the Skenarget farm.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/searching-valuation-revision-books

They show it being in James Early’s name till 1889 (when it was 16 acres), then going to Robert Early until 1906 when the tenant was a Samuel Potter. There are no Early families in Skenarget in either the 1901 or 1911 census but there was clearly one farming there in 1938. I found this probate abstract on the PRONI wills site:

Early Richard of Skenarget Sandholes Dungannon county Tyrone farmer died 17 August 1938 Administration W/A (d.b.n.) Londonderry 17 November to James Early farmer. Unadministered effects £79 5s. Former Grant Probate Londonderry D.R. 3 May 1939. Probate granted. 17 November 1947

The term “d.b.n” means the executor wasn’t able to deal with the estate when the person died (often due to being abroad or incapacitated) and so a fresh grant of probate was made in 1947. So there may have still been Earlys farming there in the 1940s.

Richard Early was 97 when he died in 1938, so would have been a contemporary of your Thomas. A brother perhaps, assuming it’s the right family. You can view the original certificate 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.

Here’s Robert & sister Mary in 1911, living in Cross Glebe (close to Skenarget (it’s the next townland to Skenarget). A mile or two south of Cookstown:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tyrone/The_Sandholes/Cross_Glebe/859604/

I don't know where they were living in 1901.  Their ages in 1911 would have them born in 1844 (Robert) and 1836 (Mary). So if the ages are accurate – and they may not be - their parents married in the 1830s. So they were probably born around 1805 – 1810. They are therefore likely to have had children born in the period 1835 to 1860.

The family in the 1911 census were Presbyterian. The nearest Presbyterian church to where they lived is Sandholes. Unfortunately it doesn’t have any baptism records earlier than 1863.  The RC records for Desertcreat start in 1827 and are on-line free on the National Library site:

https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The Mid Ulster Mail of 12th Feb 1916 contains a notice from James Farley (but I am pretty sure it should be Early) stating he was retiring from farming and selling his 16 acre farm in Skenarget, by public auction on 23rd Feb 1916.