Workman Families of Larne

 

Deb,

Worth bearing in mind that many of the records you might want to search are not on-line.

I see that Thomas Rainey died 12.11.1895 at Ballyloran aged 76.  Probate wasn’t obtained until 20.3.1918 though:

Probate of the Will of Thomas Rainey late of Ballyloran, Larne, County Antrim, farmer, who died 12 November 1894 granted at Belfast to Rev. John Lyle Donaghy, The Manse, Larne, Presbyterian minister and Hugh George Younge, Cross Street, Larne, auctioneer and valuator, both County Antrim. Effects: £71 0s 0d.

The will may tell you what children he had in 1894. You can get a copy from PRONI.

This looks to be the family in the 1851 census, at which time they had 2 children (James & Agness) both aged 3:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Upper_Glenarm/Larne/Ballyloran/1/

Thomas & Isabella married in 1844 (according to the 1851 census). Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, after which she’d attend her husband’s. 1844 is before the start of statutory marriage registration in Ireland, so you probably won’t find the marriage on-line.

Statutory Birth registration didn’t start till 1864. I searched the records from 1864 onwards but did not see nay children born after 1864, so how ever many children they had, it was probably before that year. You would need to search church records for the baptisms. To do that you need to know which church they attended. However I’d start with the Presbyterian church in Larne as they evidently had a connection with it. I would also search the Non Subscribing church in Larne as they have many of the earlier Presbyterian records there. There are copies of those records in PRONI. If you can’t get there yourself, you would need to employ a researcher to do it for you. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Expect the spelling of the surname to vary. Rainey & Rennie are interchangeable. (It tends to be Rennie in Scotland and Rainey in Ireland but it can be either).

Deb,

Yes a researcher seems the best way forward. Many of the church records you need are not on-line and so there’s no real way round that.

You have 1 clue to work on from that 1851 census. James Workman aged 11 was the wife’s nephew. So if you find a baptism for a James Workman c 1840, then you probably have Isabella’s brother.

You are lucky to have that 1851 census. Most of the censuses from 1821 to 1851 were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin. However a chunk of the 1851 Co Antrim census survived somehow. Larne and some of the surrounding townlands are in that fragment. There’s only about 9 or 10 Workman families in the parish. And there’s a couple living in Ballyloran near the Rennie/Rainey household. I’d expect them all to be connected.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Upper_Glenarm/Larne/Ballyloran/14/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Upper_Glenarm/Larne/Ballyloran/7/

Just 1 Workman household there in the 1901 census.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Kilwaughter/Ballyloran/995271/

Probate abstract: Workman William of Ballyloran Larne county Antrim farmer died 30 January 1933 Probate Belfast 1 March to William Boyd and Matthew Gingles farmers. Effects £1415 0s. 11d.

I see they were Non Subscribing Presbyterians, so I’d repeat my comments about checking the Larne NSP baptism & marriage records as well as mainstream Presbyterian.

In case you are wondering what non subscribing Presbyterians are, they don’t subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith (hence their name). They also don’t believe in the Trinity. Their view is that the Father, Son & Holy Ghost is just one thing, a single unity called God.  And so they are also often called Unitarians. But their religious dogma is essentially Presbyterian in outlook. Your Workman and Rennie/Rainey families will both almost certainly be descended from Scots settlers who arrived in the 1600s.