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Antrim Refugee from Kircubbin

AntrimAntrim (Antrim)

Hi and good day,

I am searching for any information onJohn Shaw, He arrived in New Orleans Louisiana in Jan 1822 abourd the British ship Edward Downes, He was 24 years old upon arrival and would have been born in 1798. The ship manifest shows him as an Antrim refugee from the village of Kircubbin and he was a farmer. Also on the Edward Downes was Sophia Porter, her sister Elisabeth, and brother James Porter from Grey Abbey, James was an Attorney and also listed as a Gentleman.

John married Sophia Porter in New Orleans before Jan1834 (exact date unknown) had a son Named William Thomas Shaw, Born 16 Jan 1834 and then died in 1838. He is burried at Cypress Grove Cemetery #1,(The Old Firemans Cemetery) New Orleans La. It is believed that he died of Yellow Fever from work on the New Basin Canal, But that cannot be 100% confirmed due to poor record keeping.

As a Direct decendant of William Thomas Shaw, I havecomplete Family Records starting from 1850 onward and would share with any family members, if any, whom are or may be interested.We are proud of our Irish heritage, and would deeply appreciate any help you could provide in our search.

V/R

Mark Spencer Shaw

North Pole, Alaska

IrelandXO member

5 replies

Dear Mark

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out! I have passed this to our Antrim volunteer. I hope you will hear from her soon

Best wishes
Clare Doyle
Genealogy Support

IrelandXO member

You have described John Shaw as an Antrim refugee from the village of  Kircubbin. I wonder if there is some confusion there? Kircubbin (and nearby Greyabbey) is actually in Co. Down, not Antrim.  

 

Kircubbin is in the parish of Inishargy and Greyabbey in the parish of the same name.

 

You don?t say what denomination the Shaw & Porter families were. Do you know? If James Porter was an attorney and qualified in Ireland then I would expect him to have probably been Church of Ireland at that time. However I don?t see him listed as having qualified in Kings Inn?s where he ought to be listed. However perhaps he qualified outside Ireland. The term ?gentleman? meant he was of independent means.

Inishargy Church of Ireland records start in 1783 (with some gaps).  They don?t appear to be on-line anywhere. There?s a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast, but a personal visit would be required to search them.

Greyabbey Church of Ireland records start in 1807. The earliest Presbyterian records for the area start in 1835.

According to the PRONI e-catalogue, they hold some papers under ref D2908/3/1 which include an undated bundle of genealogical notes from the 17th to 19th century relating to families in Greyabbey. There is also a June 1909 pedigree of the Porter family. (Cannot say whether it is your family). There was a Rev James Porter of Greyabbey who was a Presbyterian Minister connected to the United Irishmen, and so that name appears in PRONI?s indexes several times.

http://applications.proni.gov.uk/LL_DCAL_PRONI_ECATNI/ResultDetails.aspx

The records in PRONI are not on-line and a personal visit would usually be required ot access them.

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello,

   Thank you for responding so quickly, You are absolutely right about County Down, Kircubbin, and Grey Abbey. On the Edward Downes manifest for Jan 1822 John Shaw was listed as an Antrim Refugee, But also listed was the village of Kircubbin, Possibly as a last residence?  Or Perhaps Antrim was a presumption on the Captians part? I do know that the Downes departed Belfast in Nov of that year and sailed directly to New Orleans, Capt Arthur Rufell, her master. There are some Shaw's listed on Roz Davis's web site for Kircubbin but  no mention of John Shaw B 1798 and no way of knowing which of those families may be related, Neither is the Edward Downes listed as departing in 1822 for New Orleans, but it Did Arrive, went through  US Customs and all passengers recorded.

 I do not know what denomination John was, His Son William Thomas was of the Methodist Faith. Having been to New Orleans,  I checked with the Archdioces. St Patricks Church and St, Marys and no Catholic records could be found there,  I tend to believe Church of Ireland but that's an educated guess on my part.  As to the Porters, again all my information comes from the Ship Manifest and US Customs records. Sophia Porter Shaw was no longer listed in any of the city directories (New Orleans) after 1840 and was listed as widow in the 1838 directory. William  moved to Lafayete Indiana in 1850 at age 16 and no mention of John or Sophia has been found since. Not alot to go on i,m afraid but i do appreciate your help in this, maybe we.ll get lucky! I do look forward to visiting Your area in the near future it looks beautifull from the pictures.    

                                                                                                    V/R

                                                                                                                     Mark Shaw

 

IrelandXO member

Methodism is an offshoot of the Church of Emgland (and Irerland), so that suggests the Shaws may have been Church of Ireland. I'd probably start my research with those records, if you are able to visit PRONI.

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

 

Mark,

This question has nothing to do with your query here but rather postings on Ancestry.com. A mutual researcher pointed out to me that you have posted numerous pictures of my father and brothers on Ancestry. Are you somehow related to my family? The photos are of Harley Bowles, my father and my brothers, Jack, Don and Bob. As I work on my family, I have yet to find a reference to Shaw. Can you clear this up for me?

Dan Bowles

IrelandXO member

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