James Johnston (c.1812–1889) and Elizabeth McGoldrick (c.1813–?) County Fermanagh

Hello everyone,

I’m hoping to extend the reach of my Johnston research and would be very interested to hear from anyone working on Johnston/Johnstone families connected with County Fermanagh, Cumberland/Cumbria, or migration between Ireland, northern England and Australia.

My documented paternal line reaches my 2nd great-grandfather William Johnston (1843–1916), who was born in County Fermanagh and later served in the New South Wales police in Australia. His 1916 death certificate names his parents as James Johnston (c.1812–1889) and Elizabeth McGoldrick (c.1813–?), with James Johnston (c.1812–1889) described as a farmer.

William Johnston (1843–1916) had two brothers I am still investigating, John Johnston (c.1834–1886) and James Johnston (c.1836–1864), and both were also associated with the police force. I am deliberately keeping the details of those relationships under review while I continue to verify the documentary evidence.

For some time I have had a working hypothesis that James Johnston (c.1812–1889) and Elizabeth McGoldrick (c.1813–?) may eventually have left County Fermanagh and crossed the Irish Sea to Cumberland. One particularly interesting lead is an England and Wales civil death registration for a James Johnston (c.1812–1889), aged 77, whose death was registered in the Cockermouth district of Cumberland in the final quarter of 1889. The age fits remarkably well with the James Johnston (c.1812–1889) I am researching, but I have not yet proved that they were the same man, nor have I established that Elizabeth McGoldrick (c.1813–?) was living with him in Cumberland.

I would therefore be very interested to hear from anyone researching Irish Johnston families who moved into Cockermouth, Workington, Maryport or elsewhere in Cumberland during the nineteenth century, particularly families originating in Fermanagh.

There is also an older inherited family tradition which takes James Johnston (1812–1889) back to John L. Johnston (1769–1827) and Ann Martin (1773–1806). According to the old family chart, John L. Johnston (1769–1827) served with the Inniskilling Dragoons, enlisted around 1800, fought at Waterloo in 1815 and was discharged in 1818. The chart then extends the line another generation to Walter Johnston (1733–1803) and Eleanor McGee (b.1745).

I am treating that earlier pedigree very cautiously. There are obvious chronological problems — for example, Ann Martin (1773–1806) could not have been the mother of James Johnston (1812–1889) if both dates are correct. The stated age of John L. Johnston (1769–1827) at enlistment also appears inconsistent with his supposed birth year. My suspicion is that the old chart may preserve genuine family memories while also containing one or more incorrect dates or merged identities.

I also have Ancestry DNA matches whose family trees contain Johnston ancestors with very similar, and sometimes apparently identical, names, dates and locations. However, I am reluctant to accept those trees without supporting documents or an independent paternal DNA connection. With so many Johnston families repeatedly using names such as John, James and William, there is a real danger that several researchers may unknowingly be copying the same original error until it begins to look like independent confirmation.

For that reason I have deliberately paused attempts to extend the paternal line beyond James Johnston (c.1812–1889) and Elizabeth McGoldrick (c.1813–?) while I await the results of my FamilyTreeDNA Big Y-700 test. I am hoping those results will provide a stronger paternal genetic framework against which the documentary and family-tree hypotheses can eventually be tested.

So at present the possibility that James Johnston (c.1812–1889) and Elizabeth McGoldrick (c.1813–?) moved from Fermanagh to Cumberland, together with the older Waterloo ancestry beyond them, remains a hypothesis and nothing more.

I would be very pleased to hear from anyone who recognises these names, dates, locations, migration patterns or military traditions, or who has Johnston/Johnstone Y-DNA results connected with Fermanagh or Cumberland.

GEDmatch DNA kits:

KW2952230 – James David Peters

XA8012909 – James Peters

Ancestry family tree: James Peters Public Family Tree

Many thanks,

James David Johnston-Peters

Australia