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Ancestry Brick wall McNeight/ McClement

DownNewtownards (Down)

My Great Great Grandfather was George McNeight, Died 19th March 1884 at Ravarnette, Hillsborough, Co Down.
Married to Ann McClement, (date unknown) 1st Child Andrew was born Newtownards 16 Dec 1831..

They had a total of 9 children; Andrew 1831, Margaret Jane 1833, Mary 1834, James 1836, John 1839, William 1841, Hannah 1845, Martha 1846 and George 1849.

George senior was a widower when he died. Death date/ location for wife Ann not known. (There is an Ann McNeight died 1868 in Dunmurry, registered in Lisburn Area, however on checking this on irieishgenealogy.ie & GRONI, she was a widow).

All their children, (with exception of Margaret Jane 1833) are recorded at 1st Newtownards Presbyterian church.

Paul

6 replies

I see that George was a weaver when he died. Weavers were often too poor to afford a gravestone and so his place of burial may not be marked.

I see George was born c 1808. You say you are looking for his wife Ann’s death. There was an Ann McKnight who died 1871 aged 65 and another in 1868 aged 58, in the Lisburn registration area (which is where George died). Both would be of about the right age. Have you looked at either of them? Neither of those deaths is available on-line free yet and so you would need to view the original certificates 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.

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Elwyn

 

Thanks for the reply.

I have a GRONI account and have seen those death certs.

Ann McNeght ,d  04/12/1868, Tobercross, Dunmurry area, a farmers widow. 

Ann McNeight, d 10/08/1871 Ballycarrickmaddy, Magheragall,   a farmers wife.

My Mcneight/McKneight family were residing at Ravarnette.

Paul

 

Paul

Paul,

Possibly Ann died before the start of statutory death registration in 1864. In which case she may be hard to trace.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Elwyn 

Apologies for not coming back here for a while.  Further to your reply of 22 Feb 2019.

I would concur with your assesment that weavers were too poor to afford a headstone. MY Great Grandmother, Margaret Jane McNeight, her husband Hugh Simpson, Along with ther daughter Annie, Granddaughters Winifred and Hannah are all buried in the Old Protestand Ground, Section C, Plot # 139, Lisburn Cemetery, Hillsborough Road, Lisburn.  NO Headstone.

It is even more dissapointing, that despite the fact I have her father, George's death certificate, 19th March 1884 at Ravarnette, Blaris, Lisburn, Lisburn Council have been unable to provide a burial site for him,within the council area.  The daughter and her husband Hugh, were living in Ravarnette at that time, as I have the Revised Valuation Records to show this.  As Hugh was present at death, I am "presuming" George as a widower, was living with them, ( No seperate George McNeight on the local Revised Valuation Books).   

 

Paul. 
 

Paul

Paul,

Some countries have arrangements for recording where someone is buried. It’s often on the death certificate. Neither Ireland nor the UK have any such requirement, and so it can often be very difficult to find where someone was buried. (It’s not always where you might expect. Lots of families had plots miles away. Perhaps near somewhere they used to live). Others were just buried in common ground. Few graveyards kept records of where someone was buried, probably I think because the gravediggers were mostly illiterate and written records weren’t much use to them.

Occasionally you get a clue from a death notice in a local paper, which often says where the burial is to take place. (Normally the notice is placed 1 or 2 days after the death as we generally bury on the 3rd day in Ireland). However most weavers families wouldn’t go to the expense of a newspaper notice.

75% of the population couldn’t afford a gravestone in the 1800s, so not having a gravestone was the norm then.

I’d go along with your analysis of George, daughter & son in law all living together, if there’s no McNight plot in the townland. Presumably he was frail and on his own. Consequently it would not be unusual if his daughter moved him in to look after him.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Elwyn

Again, Apologies for delayed response.  Thank you for all your help. 

Paul Simpson

 

Paul

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