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Ross Family - Mullaghboy

AntrimIsland Magee (Antrim)

I am researching the Ross Family from Mullaghboy...  Specifically John Ross, born Feb 1803, md1 Mary Todd, md2 Jenny Gray (b.1815).  Children included Ellen (md. Thomas McKee), William J. (b. 1835), Andrew (b.1838 d. 1912 - may have remained in Ireland), Robert (b.1840), Margaret, Mathew, Thomas, Jane, Alex and Matilda.

Most of this family emigrated to the United States in the 1860s and I have been able to find most, but am running into a dead end trying to find the parents of John Ross and Jenny Gray.  Additionally, I have found an Andrew Ross listed in both the 1901 and 1911 Ireland census.  I believe that this is the son of John and Jenny, but have nothing proving the link.

I am hoping that someone may have access to church records etc... on islandmagee to help tie some of this together.  Thanks!

Bryan

 

IrelandXO member

9 replies

Bryan,

Andrew Ross in Mullaghboy in the 2 censuses, married Jane McCammon in 1863. (Registered Larne Volume 6, page 489). His father?s name was John. If you order a copy of that marriage cert, you may be able to get more information about whether it?s the correct John (eg townland, father?s occupation etc).

You can order a photocopy from GRO Roscommon for ?4 per certificate. Put the place, year, quarter (where there is one), volume & page number on the application form (anywhere). Don?t worry about leaving some boxes blank. You don?t need to fill them all in if you have the reference details. http://www.groireland.ie/ You have to post or fax the form to them but they will e-mail the copy certificate to you if you wish. Tick the relevant box on the form.

Incidentally, you may have noticed that Andrew remarried c 1903. His second wife?s name was also Ross, so a cousin perhaps?

The Ross family in the census were Presbyterian. There are 2 churches that they are likely to have attended. Islandmagee 1st Presbyterian Church?s records start in 1829, and the 2nd in 1848 for marriages and 1854 for baptisms. Copies of both sets of records are held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. They are not on-line anywhere so far as I am aware. However you will see from the dates that they are unlikely to contain John Ross?s first marriage and won?t have details of his baptism and parents. You might get the information from some other source eg a gravestone or will but probably not from church records.

Here?s the abstracts (summaries) of 2 wills that may relate to your family. Both died intestate, but their probate files will be in PRONI.

Full Abstract :

Ross John of Mullaghboy Islandmagee county Antrim farmer died 5 May 1931 Administration Belfast 5 June to Jennie Ross spinster. Effects ?1092 4s. 6d.

Full Abstract :

Ross Mary of Mullaghboy Islandmagee county Antrim widow died 12 February 1939 Administration Belfast 26 July to Adam Alexander Ross cashier. Effects ?407 15s.

5 people named Ross from Mullaghboy signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912. If you want to see their signatures etc, follow this link:

http://applications.proni.gov.uk/UlsterCovenant/SearchResults.aspx

Griffiths Valuation in 1861 has two Ross households in Mullaghboy. One was John Ross with a house on plot 17c; the other Samuel Ross with a farmhouse, outbuildings and 11 acres of land on plot 6.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

You can follow through and see when they died or left and who replaced them using the revaluation books which go up to 1929.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm

 

Elwyn

Ahoghill AntrimIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks for your help - working all of this now.

 

Bryan

IrelandXO member

I think I may be able to help a little with the Ross family that you are interested in.

 

I have not seen the date of 1803 for the birth year of John until your message, but his father, also named John, was born in 1765 in Islandmagee.  There is a possibility that he may have been lost on a journey by ship, perhaps in the period between 1815 and 1840 since a John Ross senior is given by the Ordnance Survey in a list of over fifty Islandmagee men lost at sea between those years.  If this is indeed him, he may have been on business since the marriage of Andrew Ross to Jane McCammond on 6 August 1863 shows Andrew's father John to have been a stonemason in Mullaghboy, although this might have been a part-time profession when not at sea.  Is there any tradition in the American branch of the family that someone was lost at sea?

 

John born 1765 also had  a number of brothers, including Andrew born 1770 and Thomas born 1773.  It is from Thomas that I am descended.  Both of these lines had numerous descendants, some of whom also moved 'across the pond', including to New Jersey, and to Vancouver and New Westminster in British Columbia.

 

Finally, we can go back further.  The father of John, Andrew and Thomas was yet another John Ross, born in 1740 in Islandmagee.  He appears in a list of tenants in 1770.  You will find that the initial Ross farms were close together around the townlands of Ballymoney (NOT the town of that name), Bally down and Mullaghboy.  All are close together.

 

Finally, one of your (1803) John's brothers was Samuel born 1810 died 1898 (from headstone in Islandmagee), wife Mary Hoy, has Alexander 1841 Samuel 1845 died 1891 Jane 1851 James 1853 Mary 1858.  Second wife Jane Niblock, had child Mary Jane 1862 to second marriage.

 

You can see the same names repeated over and over, generation after generation, and this makes it difficult to separate the different lines.  However, this should be a start for you.

 

L G Biglow. 

 

         

dankane@talktalk.net

 

Thank you very much for the information.  I'd like to communicate with you further on e-mail if possible.  Please contact me at bryanwoodcock@hotmail.com when able.  Thanks again!

 

 

IrelandXO member

Brian

 

I have sent you an e-mail which should allow you to coontact me.  Let me know if you do not receive it.

 

Regards

 

L G Biglow

dankane@talktalk.net

I'm happy to join in on this discussion.  I believe you (Brian) and I have already connected through Ancestry, and I'm hoping that this great website will help both of us fill some of the missing information in our Ross family.  My connection is through Jane Ross, one of the many children of John Ross and Jenny Gray.  Jane is my maternal great grandmother.

IrelandXO member

Okay, folks, my flight reservation is made, and I am headed to England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with one of my main goals to visit Island Magee and hopefully find something proving the connection of my great grandmother, Jane Ross, daughter of John Ross, to the area.  I also hope to find some information about her husband (my great grandfather, John Boyd), who was born in Ireland but I'm trying to determine the exact location before my trip in September.  I don't know if my John and Jane knew each other before they immigrated to the United States or not.  John's obituary states that he was born in County Dare, Northern Ireland, but I don't think there is such a place and it perhaps should have said either County Derry.  My dream, of course, would be to find a relative, with the best scenario being the offspring of one of Jane's brothers who stayed behind in Northern Ireland--Andrew and Robert.  Does anyone have any leads for me?  Sally Tiffany, Naples, FL

IrelandXO member

Andrew Ross’s wife Jane died on 9.4.1902. He got remarried on 12.12.1902 to Mary Ross, also of Mullaghboy. Her father was Samuel Ross, farmer. They married at the bride’s house. (Quite common with Presbyterian marriages). Andrew’s father is given as John Ross, stonemason. Andrew’s occupation was given as retired merchant.

The Minister who married them was David Steen of Islandmagee 1st Pres church, so that’s presumably the church Mary attended. It may also have been Andrew’s.

Islandmagee 1st baptism start in 1829. The 2nds start in 1854, so you have to hope he attended the 1st. There’s copies of both sets of those church records in PRONI in Belfast.

I can confirm there’s no County Dare in Ireland. Derry/Londonderry seems the most likely correct version. There’s only 32 counties on the island so there’s not a huge choice.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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