My great grandfather Samuel McKie was married at Stoneykirk Wigtonshire Scotland 6/6/1856, he gave his place of birth as simply Ireland. He was born around 1835 . His father was David McKie a shoemaker. Somewhere along the way the surname became McKay, either intentionally or simply a mistake. It would great to connect up Samuel with an actual place in Ireland ort locate where his father was a shoemaker.
The 1856 Scottish marriage certificate should give you Samuel's mother's name as well as his father. The certificate should also tell you whether both were alive or dead at that date. If you let us have that information, I'll see if I cna find anything on the fmaily in Ireland.
Elwyn
Samuel's parents names are David McKie shoemaker deceased and Jane McKie maiden name Sloan. (I assume she was not deceased as not mentioned)
Ken
Ken,
Huge numbers of people came to work in the Galloway region from Co. Down. (The main crossing point from Ireland to Scotland was Donaghadee to Portpatrick until the 1850s at least), when it switched to Stranraer. I wouldn’t be surprised if your ancestors came from Co. Down.
Here’s a link to RosDavies Co Down site with a few McKees & Sloans etc on it. Both were very common surnames in the area:
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/Mc/McKeeAi.htm
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/Mc/McKey.htm
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/Mc/McKiMcKy.htm
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/S/SloanAJ.h…
The idea of a single or correct spelling for a surname or a place name is very much a recent phenomenon designed to meet the needs of modern officialdom. Before that, especially in Ireland, 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. In addition to varying the actual spelling, O’ or Mac prefixes were optional and were often omitted.
Statutory death registration began in Ireland in 1864. You could search the records for Co Down for Jane McKie/McKee/McKey to see if you can find Samuel’s mother (assuming she didn’t die before that). The death records from 1878 onwards are free to view on the irishgenealogy site.
https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/
For those from 1864 to 1877 you still have to pay to view them. You can view the original certificates on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:
You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate. Likely registration districts are Downpatrick, Newtownards, Kilkeel, Banbridge & Lisburn.
Finding a shoemaker who was deceased before 1856 may be hard going, but good luck anyway.
Thanks Elwyn
A couple more questions that you may be able to help me with. Did widows revert to their maiden name when they became widows?
Did people change their religious affiliation , for example my great grandparents were married in the Free Church of Scotland. Did the Free Church of Scotland exist in Northern Ireland.
Ken
Ken,
You ask whether widows reverted to their maiden names in Ireland. No they didn’t.
You also ask if the Free Church of Scotland existed in Ireland. The term Free Kirk wasn’t widely used, but in essence it existed in Ireland. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland went through more or less the same splits and reunifications as the Church of Scotland. So there were Burghers and Anti-Burghers, Auld Lichts and New Lichts, just as in Scotland. They weren’t quite as agitated about patronage as in Scotland because in general in Ireland the local landlord didn’t provide the Manse nor contribute to the Minister’s stipend in the Scottish fashion. But they took the other theological issues seriously and formed breakaway congregations just the same as in Scotland.
The breakaway churches were usually known as secession churches. Many eventually reunified with the mainstream Presbyterian church in Ireland (the equivalent of the Church of Scotland). Some became part of the United Presbyterian church with Ministers supplied from Scotland. Latterly the Free Kirk weren’t too keen on that arrangement (on cost grounds I think) and encouraged congreagtions in Ireland to merge with one of the local Presbyterian churches. There was a United Presbyterian church in Cullybackey, Co Antrim until the 1920s. It was known locally as the “Scots Kirk” to distinguish it from the Presbyterian and the Reformed Presbyterian churches in the town. When the Minister retired in the 1920 the Free Kirk declined to send another Minister and the whole congregation eventually switched lanes and became Methodist. Something I have not encountered before or since.
Here are some members of the United Free Church of Scotland in Co Antrim, in the 1911 census:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Dundesert/Kilcross/108550/
You might be puzzled about the strength of these continuing links with Scotland, given that though their ancestors originated in Scotland these folk had been living in Ireland for 200 years or more. Samuel Thomson, a weaver poet who lived near Ballymena wrote this poem in the early 1800s entitled: “To Captain MacDougall at Castle Upton.”
I love my native land no doubt
Attached to her thro’ thick and thin
But tho’ I’m Irish all without
I’m every item Scotch within.
Thomson was one of a group of weaver poets, mostly self employed men who worked from home. They had strong connections with SW Scotland where their ancestors had mostly lived. Thomson was heavily influenced by Robert Burns, the master poet-ploughman, whom he met in Scotland at least once, and wrote in his vernacular style.