Back to Message Board

Harper Family from Templepatrick

AntrimTemplepatrick (Antrim)

Reseaching the parents of Andrew Harper born 1810 in Templepatrick to Paul Harper and Ann Weaver.  We believe Paul was born in 1775 in Templepatrick but may have been born in England or Scotland; he died in Kilnakee, Templepatrick on 19th January, 1837. They had 7 or more children.

Andrew married Maria Gleghorn on December 24th, 1834.  Maria's family were members of Millrow Presbyterian Church but they were not married in Maria's church which was unusual.

Any information regarding this family will be very much appreciated.

Cherrill

 

Ancestors

3 replies

Statutory birth, death and marriage registration (in some jurisdictions called Vital Records) only started in Ireland in 1864, save for non RC marriages which were recorded from 1845 onwards. So you probably won’t find statutory birth, death or marriage certificates in Ireland for this family. For earlier years you usually need to rely on church records, where they exist. You obviously need to know the precise denomination in order to search the correct records. Not all churches have records for that period and not all are on-line. 

RC records are mostly on-line on the nli site:   

https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

For other denominations, the churches usually hold the originals but there are also copies in PRONI, the public record office, in Belfast. A personal visit is required to access them. Access to the records there is free. This link explains what records exist, parish by parish:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records

If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

I checked the tithe applotment records for Templepartick for 1833. There were no Harpers listed, indicating they weren’t farmers.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/templepatrick-parish.php

Griffiths Valuation has a Samuel Harpur on plot 13c  in KIlmakee (a labourer’s cottage) in 1862. Perhaps he is a relation?

It feels as though your farmers were labourers/weavers and they can be very hard to trace in the 1700s and early 1800s. They don’t show up in many records.

The church with the oldest records in Templepatrick is the Non Subscribing Presbyterian church whose baptisms & marriages start in 1796. There’s a copy in PRONI.  You may struggle to find much on the family before 1800.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

With DNA recently found parents of Paul Harper born 1775 in Templepatrick, County Antrim.

Father - Andrew Harper born approx. 1750 in Belfast.  Sergeant discharge date May 17th, 1805 age 55.

Wife - Margaret Ireland born about 1756, died June 11th, 1835 in Killead.  They had 6 or 7 children.  Paul was the eldest born 1775.

Cherrill

 

Ancestors

Hi,

I came across your post while researching my own Blair family roots in the Templepatrick area and I noticed that you’re connected to the Harper surname. I am currently trying to trace the family of my 3rd great grandfather, Samuel Russell Blair (likely born 1805 to 1810), who lived in the Grange of Ballyrobert (Templepatrick) for several decades. He was married in 1833 to Margaret (Mary) Moore at the Non Subscribing Presbyterian Church by Rev. John Carson, and their children (John, Jennet, Samuel, Elizabeth and Robert) were all baptised there.

What really caught my attention is a note in the church census (1831 to 1835), which lists Samuel and Margaret Blair together with a “mother” named Elizabeth Harper. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any further records of her — no grave, baptism, marriage or clear indication of whether she was Samuel’s or Margaret’s mother.

Since you are researching Harpers in the same area, I wondered if you might know anything about Elizabeth Harper — or if she could possibly be connected to the Harper line you’re working on?

Any insight would be deeply appreciated!

Warm regards,

Ruben Blair

RubenBlair

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.