Lyons of Coleraine Derry

Hello Elwyn,

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and suggestions for my research. I will follow up as soon as time permits, hopefully tomorrow. On my great  great grandfather John Lyons' 1854 marriage certificate   his father is listed as Alexander Lyons, shoemaker, but no information as to whether he was deceased. So, would one assume that he was still living if he was not listed as "deceased"? However, from the Coleraine Chronicle "Deaths" : Lyons, Alexander 31-Dec-59 At Coleraine on the 25th inst., Mr. Alexander Lyons , aged 76 years. (Agewise this could be the Alexander Lyons of the 1831 Church register and the 1831 Census you noted.)  I realize that unfortunately there is no way to obtain a death certficate for this event to see who is listed as informant, etc. Do you think that there would be a Church record for the 1859 death? So I will continue to search for the marriages of John's siblings, starting with your suggestions.

Thank you again,

Christine

Hello Christina!

I am intrigued by the list of names associated with your Lyons family!  Have you gotten any farther along in your search for Alexander's family?  I am looking for Alexander Lyons ( a saddler - but that isn't too far removed from a boot/shoemaker!). The Alexander Lyons I am looking for was the father of Joseph Lyons of Desert parish Newry, County Down.

27 November 1856 - Joseph LYONS, minor, bachelor, labourer, Desert, Parish of Newry, s/o Alexander LYONS, saddle maker; married Fanny NIBLOCK, full age, spinster, Desert, Parish of Newry, d/o Alexander NIBLOCK, farmer; witn: William NIBLOCK & Margaret Anne CARTMILL; at Newry Registrars Office.

Yes, wrong county - but I have come to the conclusion that our family may have been a bit mobile than we first assumed.  This Joseph (b 1837) and Fanny noted above moved to the US shortly after their marriage and then lived in Canada for 3 or 4 years before moving on to live in several other American states.  (They appear in the Canadian 1861 census) .While in Canada, Fanny and Joseph lived in the same township as my great great grandfather Joseph Lyons and right beside his daughter Sarah (and husband Noble Laurence). Gr-Gr-Grandfather Joseph and his wife Mary (nee Gibson) arrived in Pickering, Ontario about 1832. They then moved on to Scott Township sometime in the early 1840's. I'm speculating (without proof!) that Joseph senior (b about 1799) was Joseph Jr. uncle. That would make Joseph Sr.and Alexander (the saddler) brother's and Sarah Laurence and the younger Joseph Lyons cousins.

Many of the names you list are repeated with regularity among our Lyons branch - although the name Samuel is an outlier and the list would be complete only if it had a "William Thomas" which seems to have particular significance to our branch. Regardless though, it is enough to spark my curiosity and make me wonder if there is a connection here.

We know that the younger Fanny and Joseph left from Newry (Down), and that the elder Joseph, his wife Mary and children Joseph and Sarah were said to be from Armagh. Our branch seem to have been Church of England rather than Presbyterian, though this may have been a practical choice in the early days of Upper Canada.

I would welcome hearing from anyone who has run across this string of names in their Ulster Lyons branch, regardless of county  - William, (bonus points for William Thomas!) Joseph, Alexander, John, James, Mary, Sarah, Margaret,  - all hugely popular I know - if only they were a little more creative when it came to naming!

V Lyons

Hello V-

First of all, please accept my deepest apologies for not replying promptly to your message re our Lyons ancestors. With spring gardening and nicer Canadian weather, research does get put aside. And I do not want to be one of  "those people" who do not even reply to a message , as I find that most annoying in my own attempts to contact others. So, thank you for your detailed message re Lyons family members. Interesting to know that you had a Joseph Lyons come to Canada. Thank you for that information. I still have not been able to discover any firm sibling connections with my John Lyons b abt 1829, and son of Alexander Lyons. Still no connection with DNA  members either. Since your message I have joined UFH Society but have yet had the chance to check out information available there. It is John's siblings that I am looking for; he and his wife Margaret Dempsey had several children but sadly all but three died in their late teens and early 20s . Of the survivors Margaret remained unmarried, lived and died in Belfast; Alexander married Emmeline Scantlebury moved to Toronto Canada and died there; Joseph, my ggrandfather moved to Liverpool, married Annie McGill and had 11 children one of whom was my grandmother Isabella Lyons. Backtracking, John and Margaret moved from Coleraine to Derry to Belfast where they are both buried. I do have a tree on ANC if you can view it. I will use your information to try to sketch out a tree so that I can better figure out relationships . Re religious choices; I believe they changed over the years in my family. The "sadlery" connection is certainly intriguing. As for Samuel Rogers Lyons, last child born to John and Margaret , I have no idea where the Samuel came from but Rogers Dempsey  was Margaret's father. Yes, Rogers; I have two documents which record his name as that. Do you have a tree on ANC?

Regards,

Christine McFarland

Thank you for your response! I just keep flinging rocks at our brick wall in hopes that at some point we will get a small chink in it!

I don't belong to Ancestry at the moment - and although I did start a tree there, I hesitated to make it all public, especially since some of my early work was not well sourced and I don't want to share info that may not be correct.  However, if at any time you want to compare notes, let me know and I can share what I have on the Lyons family.  Unfortunately, not all that much since I have been stuck for a long time! Anyway, thank you for this.

Best of luck,

V