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John McClelland of Shankill Parish

ArmaghShankill (Armagh)

Looking for any information on my gg grandfather, John McClelland, born 1818 in County Armagh.I have no records for him, other than he was from County Armagh, and possibly Shankill Parish. He emigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1836 or 1837, accompanied by his younger sister Jane. In a biography by one of his sons, "John McClelland received a good public education in Ireland. His mother died when he was quite young". From this it can be assumed his mother died in about 1828. My gg grandfather John married Margaret Blackburn, born 1819 in County Wicklow, in 1837 in Ontario, Canada. They had children Samuel(1838), Jane(1840), John(1843), George (1847), William(1850), James and Thomas(1853), Joseph(1855) and Mary(1857). Early census records in Canada listJohn's religion as Church of Irealnd, but the family later is listed as Wesleyan Methodist. John's sons were members of the Orange Order or Orangemen in Canada.

There is one possiblity for a match at PRONI, Shanklll Parish C.of I. Registers for a John McClelland. There is a baptismal record 1796 John son of William & Eleanor McClelland/Legacorry/March 6th. There was no date of birth just when John was baptized. Although it says Legacorry it probably is meant to be spelt Leghaghory (Rural townland in Lurgan). This John 1796 may be the father of my gg grandfather, born 1818.

I realize this is not much to go on, but the fact his mother died when he was quite might help find the right family.

IrelandXO member

2 replies

The birth and death are long before the start of statutory registration (1864) and so you won’t find a birth or death certificate. However you might find the events in church records.

Methodism took a long time to get established as a separate denomination in Ireland. 1816 was the first year it was technically possible to baptised into that denomination but that authority was rescinded and it was another few years before it was renewed. The earliest Methodist baptism records for Shankill are from 1823 (Wesleyan Methodists) and I would say therefore that your family would still have used the Church of Ireland for John’s baptism in 1818. If his mother was buried in the Church of Ireland in the 1820s, then there are burial records for that period too. If she was buried in the Methodist faith, then they don’t keep burial records. However I would look for her grave in the Church of Ireland graveyard as few early Methodists churches had a separate graveyard.

Shankill Church of Ireland records start in 1681 so that looks encouraging. I don’t think they are on-line anywhere but there is a copy on microfilm in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast.  

If the family are from some other parish in Armagh then the bad news is that there are about 24 parishes in the county, so it would be a matter of working through them to search for him. Not all parishes have records for that period as some were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin.

In 1740, there was a Robert McLelland in Lurgan (ie Shankill parish) together with some more McClellands in Mullaghbrack. See:

http://lurgan-ancestry.co.uk/index.php/protestant-householder-returns-for-1740/

So if you don't find the family in Shankill, Mullaghbrack is worth checking too.

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

There is an Irish library here in Phoenix called the McClelland Library, named after its benifactor, Norman McClelland. There is a complete history of his family on file there. Maybe you could get in touch with them. They have a genealogy department too. Norman's family is from Newry and some other parts of Northern Ireland. They are also Protestant. The website is http://www.azirishlibrary.org/genealogy-centre/ I hope that might help you.

patriciasah

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