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William Wilson wife Esther Coote, his father John Wilson

Cavan

I am looking for information on William A. Wilson (noted as a Capt in some records) and especially his parents. I only have the name of potential father as John Wilson. Here's what I know: 

William married Esther Coote of County Cavan about 1826. They emigrated to Rossmount, Hope, Ontario, Canada in 1861, later ending up in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. William was born in County Armagh 5 Dec. 1790 County Armagh, Northern Ireland and died 9 July 1877 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. In the Canadian census William's religion is noted as C of Scotland (would that be Presbyterian?). 

the first Wilson in Ireland of our family came from Scotland about 1590 or so, in 1600 the Wilson in Ireland lost all three sons to drowning in the well on the farm in County Longford – just south of County Cavan. His first name is not known but a letter said that after those deaths, he moved north to County Cavan. 

The earliest documented Wilson was was John Wilson who was born about 1760 in County Cavan, Ireland. He had two sons - including William Wilson who was born in County Cavan, Ireland in 1790. He married Esther Coote (also from County Cavan) and they had 7 of their children born in Ireland. 

 

Grannie Fannie

2 replies

Hi Grannie,

I am not sure of the research that you yourself have done (looks like quite a lot!) but I have had a look at a few sites that I have found great for pursuing elusive ancestors.    Sorry if you have already been there, done that:

 

 

First of all, it is really important to try and identify where your ancestors lived - e.g. the parish and the townland as this helps to pin them down - even if in the end it is through their children, siblings, parents.

www.rootsireland.ie

Potential baptismal and marriage records for William Wilson, Co Cavan.

I don’t have a subscription at present, so can’t check them out. But if you haven’t already looked at this site it is possible to take out short subscriptions

 

https://irishdeedsindex.net/deeds_index/name_index.php

This is definitely worth a browse if you know a little about your ancestors -  I have found land transactions and a 1790s marriage settlement for my family.

 

www.findmypast.ie

I checked out the press for the relevant years and also Bethams and Crossle’s Genealogical abstracts - these can be very good for identifying pre-registration ancestors through wills. I didn’t find anything for William, but you may want to try the others

 

Re Esther:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cootehill

In parish of Drumgoon.  Formerly part of downland of Munnilly, both part of Tullygarvey

 

In 1835 there were only 438 houses in Cootehill and a range of Protestant religions in addition to RC.  It seems very likely that Esther would have been a member of the Coot(e) family who owned the townland.

 

https://cavantownlands.com/breifne-journal/

No.37 (2001) The Cootes of Cootehill – Patrick Cassidy 

Surely worth a look, as you will probably have to check out both Esther’s and William’s connections …. finding direct records at this date is a sometimes impossible task  

 

https://alison.com/course/an-introduction-to-irish-family-history?utm_medium=email&utm_source=emfluence&utm_campaign=Free%5Fonline%5Fcourse

This is a new course on researching family in Ireland.  It moves from the basic to the really localised info that can be vital.  I have been researching for many years, but found this excellent, so many new angles to attack :-)

 

Grannie, I haven’t found anything concrete for you, but you may find a few threads to pull at.

 

Best regards

Irene

tuimagrath@gmail.comIrelandXO Volunteer

Irene,

Thanks for your help. This is a great way for me to start. The history I do have was compiled by distant cousins Rick Hale and Patricia Wilson Monaghan. As they state: "First I’d like to express my profound thanks to Patricia Wilson Monaghan for her extensive genealogy on the Wilson family AND her wonderful collection of actual letters written by the Wilsons from both Ontario and the Oregon Territory that detail what life was like for the family in the mid-1950’s. Without Pat’s fine work, many of the details of the Wilson Family wouldn’t be available to me to write this more complete history of the Wilson Family" Of course, I don't have all the fine details, more's the pity, but at least they shared a little info with me. 

 

This is my paternal grandfather's family. 

Actually the first Wilson in Ireland of our family came from Scotland about 1590 or so. I have a letter from a relative who says that in 1600 the Wilson in Ireland lost all three sons to drowning in the well on the farm in County Longford – just south of County Cavan. His first name is not known but the letter said that after those deaths, he moved north to County Cavan. Clearly the family remained in County Cavan for over 200 years.

The earliest documented Wilson was John Wilson who was born about 1760 in County Cavan, Ireland. He had two sons - including William Wilson who was born in County Cavan, Ireland in 1790. He married Esther Coote (also from County Cavan) and they had 7 of their children born in Ireland. They emigrated to Canada (Ontario) in about 1840 (the entire family of 12)! 

 

Again, thanks for the information. I will continue my search.

Sally 

 

 

Grannie Fannie

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