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Mary Larkin

Mary Larkin was born around 1814 possibly in Aughtenlaugh Londonderry Ireland. Her father is David Larkin. Mary married John Graham, son of Charles Graham. John was born around 1806 in Northern Ireland. Mary and John had two sons, David (born about 1832/3) and Charles (born about 1834/5) both in Northern Ireland.

John and Mary embarked on the "Mandarin" with their two sons - they were brought out by the government. John's age on embarkation was 32 years. The ship left Belfast on 10 June 1838 and arrived in Sydney Australia on 19 October 1838. Their religion was noted as Church of England. He was a native of Ahoghill County Antrim Ireland.

Accompanying them on the voyage were James and Mary Graham (nee Campbell) and their children Charles, Agnes, Mary Ann and Eliza. The children were born in Bellamaugh Antrim. James came from Ahoghill Antrim and Mary from Bellamaugh. It is thought that John and James were brothers. This family is Presbyterian.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Regards

June Blackburn

Blacky

10 replies

June,

I searched the 1825 tithe applotment records for Ahoghill. There were no Grahams or Campbells listed in the parish. That doesn’t mean your family didn’t live there, just that they weren’t farmers or didn’t have any land.

You say that John Graham’s denomination was Church of England. In Ireland, that’s Church of Ireland. Ahoghill Church of Ireland baptisms and marriages start in 1811. There’s a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. Free to view, but a personal visit is required to see them.

There’s nowhere in Co. Londonderry called Aughtenlaugh and I can’t think of anywhere that it might be. The 1831 census of Co. Londonderry has 28 households named Larkin. All were RC. None headed by anyone named David though.  So that looks like a mixed marriage which would account for John & Mary marrying in the Church of Ireland. (Neither the Presbyterian nor RC churches would allow mixed marriages in the early 1800s and so couples from mixed denominations would marry in the Church of Ireland which, being the state church, was open to all).

Bellamaugh is another place that’s giving me a problem. There’s nowhere of that name in Co. Antrim and again I can’t think what it might be. If it’s near Ahoghill and the family was Presbyterian, then none of the 3 Presbyterian churches in Ahoghill has any records before 1835, so if that’s where they went to church, we aren’t going to trace them from that source.

The 1766 census of Ahoghill has no-one named Graham in it. There was a William Campbell who was RC.

You might search the Ahoghill Church of Ireland records, but otherwise I can’t offer any other sources that might include these families.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks again Elwyn.  My Irish ancestors seem to be a tad invisible - most of my ancestors had this skill!!!  The place names you haven't heard of were taken from Digger Bounty Immigration - NSW 1828 to 1842.  I have seen a copy of the passenger list for the "Mandarin" and the writing is really hard to decipher.  In this same list John is noted as a Farm Servant and Mary as a Housemaid so they did not own any land.

Sadly I can't see a trip to Belfast to visit the PRONI anytime soon but maybe one day.  Living in Australia is a bit off putting when trying to find ancestors. 

You mention searching the Ahoghill Church of Ireland records.  Are they on Ireland's Reaching Out site or is there another place they may be looked at from downunder.

 

Thank you again for trying to help me.  I really appreciate it.

June

Blacky

June,

If you can get a copy of the Mandarin passenger list and post it here, I’ll gladly look at it to see if I can make anything of the place names. I live in the Ahoghill area and so am familiar with most hereabouts. But as I say, I am stumped. There is a town called Ballymena not too far from Ahoghill, but it’s a fair linguistic jump to get to Bellamaugh from that.

The Ahoghill Church of Ireland records aren’t on-line anywhere so far as I am aware. You would need to get a researcher to look them up for you in PRONI. The baptisms only start in 1811 which is a few years too late for John Graham but you might get the couples marriage or the baptism of the children here.

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Elwyn,

I have asked the National Library of Australia to see if they have a clean copy of the travel papers of My GGG Grandparents, John & Mary Graham.  In the meantime I will attach the paperwork I have and maybe you can recognise the place names.  I don't expect the Library to get back to me until May so if you can't decipher the names, if you don't mind, I will send you what the Library sends me when I receive it.

 

Thanking you once again.

June

Blacky

The immigration document is pretty clear that John Graham’s father was Charles Graham, a farmer, of Ahoghill. He might have been dead of course in 1838 but it’s odd there’s no Graham in the tithe applotment records around that time. You would normally find farmers listed there. The Graham family were clearly Church of Ireland, so I’d definitely suggest getting someone to search the Ahoghill COI records.

The gravestones for the Church of Ireland in Ahoghill are on-line, but there are no Grahams listed. (There are Grahams in the 3 Presbyterian churchyards, but no sign of a Charles).

http://thebraid.com/genealogy.aspx

I had a look through the Ordnance Survey memoirs for Ahoghill c 1835 & 36. They list lots of farmers and also people who had migrated from the parish in those 2 years. No Grahams listed at all.

Jane’s document I read as saying she was born in ….ten lough, Co Derry, daughter of David Larkin, Ballymanagh, Co Antrim. I think that’s going to be Ballymena (which is about 3 miles from Ahoghill). He was a tailor. I did look at the 1824 street directory for Ballymena but there’s no Larkin, tailor, listed.

The Derry place remains a mystery. There are no place names in the county that end in laugh. There are 3 that end in lough. Ardlough, Ballyclough and Gelnlough. None fits the place name you have. Some place names have disappeared over the years. That’s one explanation.

 

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi June,

would be interested in discussing the Law and Graham families. My wifes side of the family descend from James Law on the Mandarin 1838. 

Cheers 

Tony

tony@associati…

Hello Tony,

 

Great to hear from a fellow researcher.  From my research James and John Graham came out to Australia on board the Mandarin in 1838 along with their respective wives and family.  I am presuming they were brothers.  Both settled in the Kiami area in New South Wales.  I have not found out much information on my John and Mary Graham nor of their son Charles, my Great Great Grandfather except he married Rebecca Nichols, who was the grand-daughter of a First Fleet convict, John Nichols.

Are you living in Australia?  I am on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.  Would love to talk more so perhaps if you are in Australia, you could give me a ring on 0409 932 229.

 

Regards

June

 

Blacky

Hi June,

I am in Sydney, so will give you a call on monday. My email is tony@associationmedia.com.au I have found bits and pieces about James and Eliza Graham (m 1857 in Jamberoo) so happy to share. I agree with the thread above about Ballymena, but will have to dig further!

Cheers

Tony

 

tony@associati…

Hi June

Hello from Inverell, NSW!

I have a suspicion, based on DNA evidence that I am not yet 100% sure of, that the Charles Graham who married Rebecca Pugh Nichols (granddaughter of the First Fleet convict) was my 4th great grandfather.

My 3rd great grandfather was Thomas Douglas Thompson, born at Jamberoo on 20 March 1856 to Emma Inskip. Emma Inskip married John Thompson four days later but I have no DNA matches with any descendants of John's siblings, aunts, uncles etc, leading me to suspect that Thomas was not John's biological son.

Instead I have a number of matches with descendants of Charles Graham and Rebecca Pugh Nichols that I can't otherwise account for. Hence my suspicion that Charles was the father of my Thomas.

I only arrived at this suspicion today but would love to share info with you. I am particularly interested in trying to work out if I match any descendants of Charles' siblings.

Do you have a tree anywhere public by any chance?

Kind regards

Rhys

Rhys Grainger

Hello Rhys,

Charles Graham and Rebecca Nichols are my 2 x Great Grandparents.  I don't have any person by the name of Thomas Douglas Thompson, his father John Thompson or his mother Emma Inskip in my family tree.  Charles and Rebecca lived around the Kiama/Jamberoo area.  They married in 1859 in Jamberoo.  They had 11 children and the eldest was called John but he only lived 1 year.  My tree is on MyHeritage if you are a member of that site.  Otherwise if you are happy to give me your email address, I can send individual trees direct to you.

Kind Regards

June

Blacky

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