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James Boardman (c1820-1870)

Can anyone add to my knowledge of my Irish ancestors?

James Boardman was born c1820. He served in the Royal Irish Constabulary between 1844-1868 in Limerick and later Cork and is recorded as a Native of Londonderry.

In Loghill, Limerick on 26 July 1856, he married Bridget Madigan (b. 1831-1867) Bridget was the daughter of Thomas Madigan and Bridget (nee Fitzgerald) of Rathkeale, Limerick.

Their children were MaryJane (b. 1858-1944), Bridget (b. 1859), Thomas Robert (b. 1862-1939), Harriet Allice (b. 1864) and Matilda Ann (b. 1865-1945) all born in Cork.

Bridget died 2 January 1867 and her husbandJames Boardman died 24 January 1870 in Mallow, Cork leaving a young family to be brought up by relatives.

Mary Jane Boardman was my great grandmother.

InFebruary1876, she sailed from Londonemigrating toNew Zealand aboard 'Bebington'. She traveled with her maternal aunt Ann (nee Madigan) and Thomas McKenna Healy and their children; Maurice, Thomas and Maria Theresa.

Mary Jane married James Richard Stanley (1857-1913) in Piako, New Zealand on 23 May 1878. They had eleven children, ten daughters and one son.

Mary Anne Boardman's siblings Thomas Robert and Matilda Ann also emigrated to New Zealand in the late 1890s. Matilda married her cousin Maurice Healy.

Harriet Allice emigrated to Canada and then on to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, USA.where she married Samuel Beattie.

Sheryl P

9 replies

In the 1831 irish census, the only Boardman families in Co. Londonderry were 3 in the same townland, Lismacarol. So perhaps that’s where your James originated:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1831/Londonderry/Tirkeeran/Glendermot/Lissmacarell/28/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1831/Londonderry/Tirkeeran/Glendermot/Lissmacarell/59/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1831/Londonderry/Tirkeeran/Glendermot/Lissmacarell/61/

You will see that John’s household consisted of 1 male and 2 females, Charity lived on her own. Alexander had 4 males and 3 females. So Alexander’s appears to be the only one with enough males, one of whom might have been your ancestor.

The families were all Presbyterian. Lismacarol is in the parish of Glendermot more commonly called Clondermot. There are 4 Presbyterian churches in that parish – Clondermot 1st, 2nd ,  Gortnessy & Waterside. Unfortunately none has any baptism records for the 1820s. The earliest records are for Gortnessy and they don’t start till 1839.

Looking at the tithe applotment records for 1834, there was just 1 Boardman farm in Lismacarol. That was held by John Boardman. So that suggests that Alexander and Charity in the 1831 census were not farmers, and lived in agricultural labourers cottages.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/derry/tithe-applotments/clondermot-par…

Going forward to Griffiths Valuation in 1858, there was 1 Boardman household in the townland. That was a David Boardman who had a labourer’s cottage (plot 1c) on the Thompson farm. Today that farm is on the Glenshane Rd, near the junction with the Tirbracken Rd. That’s a couple of miles south of the city of Londonderry, on the road to Belfast.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

The Valuation Revision books show David’s name deleted between 1860 and 1863, possibly indicating he had died. No Boardmans living in Lismacarol in the 1901 census. There are about 4 Boardman families in the Londonderry city area then who could be related:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Findmypast.ie has a lot of Irish Petty Sessions court cases on its site. If you search under Boardman, you may find court cases in which your ancestor was a witness or arresting officer.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

I’ll just add that I can see a marriage for a Robert Boardman aged 20, on 26.4.1858. He was a labourer, son of James Baardm,an. Both were labourers. Robert was living in “Parish of Glendermott” at the time of his marriage (so the Lisnacarroll area). He married Mary Walker and they had at least 1 child Mary born 10.10.1866 at Colpy, in the same area. Don’t know what happened to them after that. Might be the same family as John & Sarah.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks Elwyn and Betsy for taking the time to help research my possible Boardman ancestors. 

I have just returned home from a month away and was keen to get back to my research notes, hoping the information you have offered may match up or at least fit in with what I already know.  So far I can not see any definite leads.

The basics of what I know about James Boardman (c1822-1870) so far are:

The Royal Irish Constabulary Records state he was a Native of Londonderry. This is my only clue to his birthplace.   He seved in the Constabulary from 1844-1868, initialy in Limerick and then from 1857, in Cork.

The Marrigae Records for James Boardman, (aged 35) who married Bridget Madigan in Loughill, Limerick in 1856, state his father was Robert Boardman, farmer.  They were married by licence in the Church of Ireland Parish Church.

In 1856 he resided in Glin, Limerick,  in 1867 in Ballincollig, Cork and at the time of his death in 1870 he was living in Carrig, Mallow, Cork.  His wife had died 3 years earlier leaving him with 6 children under the age of 10. The youngest two (at least)  were brought up by their aunts.

If he and Bridget had followed the usual Irish 'naming patterns' for their children,  I had hoped this may have provided some useful leads.

Any further hints about this family would be much appreciated.

-Sheryl

 

 

Sheryl P

The tithe applotment records were compiled in the 1820s and 1830s and listed most farmers in Ireland.  I don’t see any Robert Boardman listed for Co. Derry/Londonderry. The only Boardman farming in the county was John in Lismacarrol. So either Robert was dead by 1834 (replaced by John perhaps?) or he wasn’t a farmer in that county at that time. Here is a list of all the Boardman farmers, at that time, in the 6 counties of what is now Northern Ireland:

Boardman, Danl., Jr.-Townland: Tamlaght Year: 1834-Rasharkin-Antrim

Boardman, Danl., Sr.-Townland: Tamlaght Year: 1834-Rasharkin-Antrim

Boardman, James-- Townland : Crewbeg Year : 1830-Ballymore-Armagh

Boardman, John-- Townland : Crewbeg Year : 1830-Ballymore-Armagh

Boardman, John-Townland: Lismacarrol Year: 1834-Clondermot-Derry

Boardman, Peggy-Townland: Tamlaght Year: 1834-Rasharkin-Antrim

Boardman, Robert-Townland: Ballintaggart Year: 1828-Aghaderg-Down

Boardman, Thos. T: Moygashel Y: 1833--Clonfeacle-Armagh

Boardman, Thos. T: Stangmore (Knox) Y: 1833--Clonfeacle-Armagh

There’s no Robert Boardman anywhere in the county in the 1831 census, so I suspect he was dead by that year. Presbyterians (which the Lismacarol families were) didn’t kept burial records at that time. Tracing Robert may be challenging.

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

My 3rd great grandfather was Robert Boardman/Borman. His father was Robert and his mother was Jean Rankin?He married Susan Mosson and moved to Scotland between 1853 and 1855 with his family. The Scottish census said he was born around 1822 in Londonderry and was an iron furnace keeper. At some point I think because the accent was difficult to understand the surname at some point was written down as Bowman and has been used ever since. I would be grateful if anyone knows of other family members of Robert that I can add to my family tree.

Maggie

Maggie,

There was a Robert Bordman in Drumahoe (just on the outskirts of the City of Derry) in the 1831 census. The whole family were Presbyterian and there were 6 males & 4 females:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1831/Londonderry/Tirkeeran/Glendermot/Drumahoe/24/

I couldn’t see any other families whose head had that name. I looked for Robert & Susan’s marriage. Statutory records start in April 1845. I didn’t find their marriage which suggests it was before that date. You would need to search church records in PRONI to look for it. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church. If she was Presbyterian and came from the Drumahoe area, I don’t see many churches in that area with records pre 1845. So there may not be a record to find.

If Robert & Susan had any children born in Scotland in 1855 or 1861 onwards, their birth certificates should give you the date and place the parents married. That might help you.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks for your help. This has given me at least somewhere to start. My DNA test linked me to a Jane Bordman but wasn't sure if this was the original surname. Does that mean Boardman and Bordman were different families in Londonderry or could this still be a variation of the surname?

Maggie

Maggie

Boardman and Bordman is the same surname. The idea of a single or correct spelling for a surname or a place name in Ireland is very much a recent phenomenon designed to meet the needs of modern officialdom. Before that there was no consistency. Names were spelled phonetically and each variation was down to the whim of the particular person recording the information. You will often see the spelling change as the records go back. This rarely indicates a deliberate decision to alter the name, nor even a mistake. Not everyone was literate, but even when they were, exact and consistent spelling simply wasn’t something they bothered about.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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