Hugh MILLIGAN - County Down?

Catherine,

For the benefit of others looking at this board, here’s Hugh’s second marriage:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1851/09414/5410534.pdf

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church so it looks as though Margaret Clarke was Church of Ireland.

The 1840 tribute is for Hugh Milligan of Ballynahatty, which is in the parish of Drumbo. Hugh was evidently Presbyterian. One of the speakers was the Rev Montgomery of Ballycairn Presbyterian church. I would guess therefore that it was the Milligan family church. That church only opened in 1830. Unfortunately it has no baptism records before 1860 so if that’s where any of the children to the first marriage were baptised, the records don’t exist. (It has marriage records from 1845. It looks as though the baptism records from 1830 onwards to 1859, and marriages 1830 to 1844 have been lost, or were never kept). Prior to 1830 I suspect the Milligan family will have attended Drumbo Presbyterian church. It has records from 1699 onwards (with a few gaps). There’s a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. I don’t know if they are on-line anywhere. Possibly not.

But obviously if you check the Drumbo records you might find a Hugh Milligan, son of Hugh, baptised c 1812. That would tell you if you have the right Hugh MIlligan.

There would be no harm in checking Drumbo Church of Ireland records too in case the Gray family were of that denomination. The marriage might have taken place there. Their records start in 1791.

Death registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864, so there’s no death certificate for her. Prior to that very few churches kept burial records, and the Presbyterian church rarely did. The first wife seems likely to have been buried in the Killygarvan area. Rathmullan looks to be the nearest Presbyterian church. I am not sure that it has a graveyard. In which case Presbyterians would normally use the Church of Ireland graveyard.

http://donegalgenealogy.com/killygarvanproj.htm

Rathmullan Presbyterian church opened in 1830 but has no baptism records before 1854, so again if that’s where some of the children to the first marriage were baptised, no records exist.

Londonderry Sentinel of 24th Jan 1851 contains this information about the 1851 marriage which tells you she came from Co Down.:

At Kilmacrenan, on Monday, the 20th inst., by the Rev. Henry C. Cochran, Mr. H. Milligan, of Killygarvan, to Margaret Hood Clarke, fifth daughter of the late Mr. John Clarke, of Ballymacreely, county Down.

Ballymacreely is in the parish of Killinchy in Co Down. John Clarke was listed as farming there in the 1833 tithe applotment records:

https://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/killinchy-parish.php

RosDavies has Hugh Milligan of Ballynahatty dying on 9th August 1856 aged 68 and buried in Drumbo Church of Ireland, along with one of his sons. So that would fit with him being Hugh senior.

https://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/killinchy-parish.php

Hugh Gray of Milltown (mentioned in the 1840 article) died in 1866. His children are listed  on the Rosdavies site but there’s no mention of a Letitia or an Elizabeth:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/G/Gra.htm

From PRONI’s e-catalogue D1954/6/15

1824 Map of Ballynahatty and Ballynavally surveyed by Thos. Prynalt. Gives names of tenants and acreage of land that each holds. Scale "240 Irish perches". This map was copied from an original map surveyed by Hugh Jackson in 1748. There is also a note attached re the survey. Ballynahatty and Ballynavally.

D1954/6/17

1827 Map of Ballynahatty and Ballynavally showing divisions of land and acreage of each part. Name of surveyor and reference and scale not given. Coloured. Pencil annotations re acreage of land etc. This map is badly torn. Ballynatty and Ballynavally.

D3670/A/4 (Note the mention of Letitia Gray).

Last will and testament of William Gray of Ballynahatty, parish of Drumbo, Co. Down in which the main benefactors are his wife Jane, son William and daughters Letitia and Eleanor.

 

Catherine if you can't get to PRONI yourself, you could employ a professional researcher. Try the Society of Genealogists:   

http://sgni.net/

Catherine

Pleased to view updates from Elwyn. For the Batt family, while I knew that they moved to Rathmullen in 1800s, I did not have a date. I have found that they purchased estate in 1837 which is close to the time of Hugh Milligan's move. 

The link below relates to this family who had extensive interests

https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2021/05/457-batt-of-purdysburn-house-and.html?m=1

Marion - IrelandXO - Ireland Reaching Out Volunteer

Marion,

 

Excellent additional information. Thank you.

Is this a reference to the Thomas Batt you are interested in? I think he was a Director of the Belfast Banking company (nowadays the Danske Bank!).

Robert Thompson] on board the [schooner] "Magician". Journal of his tour to Constantinople - describing the various ports and towns visited. "The Magician" left the Princes Dock this day at 3 o'clock ....." Arrived at Cadiz 2nd April where he was confined on board to fulfil quarantine regulations until 6th April when "we have taken our tickets by steamer to Seville" he returned to Cadiz on 10th and left the following day for Gibraltar where he stayed from 12th-14th then to Algiers 19th-22nd and Malta 25th-28th where he left the Magician and booked "a passage to Constantinople ......" after some difficulty got berths on "the Erskine" landing at Gallipoli on 2nd May" on our landing never could imagined anything so very bad, the shops, houses, shops and people are the worst I could have imagined we went as far as the French Camp where they appeared much cleaner and better than those in the town ......" Arrived at Constantinople 3rd May, "many large English steamers here, the Golden Fleece, Kangaroo, Emeu .... when we landed ..... we went to Missiries Hotel, which we were told was the only one English people could go to, only one room to be had and I went to a room provided by the hotel in a private lodging house ..... well furnished and clean ......" Describes the town of Constantinople "we ordered three horses and started with our guide to ride round the Ancient Wall of the City ....." on the 11th May "went over to Scutari to visit some of our friends in the camp ..... called on Col. Packanham ..... and Price ....." Expected Thomas Batt to arrive, and on settling the bill, met Batt before leaving on the 16th. Arrived at Smyrna 17th, Syra on 18th where he booked a passage on the "Sinla". Left Syra for Malta and Gibraltar 31st May, arriving Gibraltar 4th June, where he re-joined the "Magician" for the journey along the Portuguese coast, sighting Lands End and the English on 25th June "..... Tuesday, 27th June 2 o'cl. this morning made the South Stack light ..... at 10 made the Copelands and was very glad to see them once more.”

Diary of Robert Thompson March - June 1854. D1559/8 at PRONI. South stack is near the port of Holyhead in Wales and the Copelands are islands at the entrance to Belfast Lough so this was Thompson returning to Ireland.

PRONI also has this:

T956/152 dated 23rd May 1857.

 

Commrs. for sale of Incumbered Estates in Ireland to Thomas Greg Batt, Stranmillis, Co. Antrim.

Copy conveyance of 33ac. 1r. 16per. I.P.M.

Considn.: £596. 5s. 4d.

The Course, Malone, Co. Antrim.

This is to do with classic sub-prime mortgaging on overvalued property. The Incumbered Estates Commissioners were set up in the 1850s to deal with hundreds, if not thousands,  of big Irish estates that were effectively bankrupt.  The big estates had frequently mortgaged themselves up to the hilt, and the security for that debt was their income from their tenants. During the 1840s and during the famine in particular many tenants were unable to pay their rent, or at best only a proportion of it. As a result huge arrears built up. The landlords frequently couldn’t service their mortgages and faced bankruptcy. However bankruptcies at that volume would have brought the banks down too, creating a massive national financial crisis.  No-one was interested in buying most of these estates because, without the mortgages cleared, they would inherit them. (A mortgage is secured on a property, not a person, so goes with the property if it’s sold and the mortgage not paid off). Not a good buy at all. So the Incumbered Estates Commissioners, later the Encumbered Estates Court, was authorised to auction these properties and get the best price it could, repay what that money allowed, and then the rest of the debt was written off by statute. So making the estates potentially viable again.

It looks to me as though in 1857 Thomas Greg Batt was in deep financial difficulties and had to sell his estates. If it’s the same Thomas Batt as had land in Killygarvan, and Hugh Milligan was employed by him,  then this might be behind the decision to emigrate. Perhaps he had lost his job?