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Henderson in Down and Tyrone

Tyrone

My Hendersons are descended from Joseph Henderson and Martha Hamilton who married before 1810.  Very frustratingly we haven’t been able to establish whether the family were from County Down or County Tyrone, (and am seeking to establish which is correct),  as the records that we have been able to access for their children, both in Australia and the USA, are conflicting.  Their son Robert gives his place of birth as County Tyrone, whilst son Hugh cites County Down (after crossing out Tyrone) as his place of birth on their US naturalisation records.  Son Joseph, who migrated to Australia, gives conflicting places of birth on his own sons' birth certificates citing County Down on one and County Tyrone on another, but County Tyrone is given as his native place on the ships passenger list at the time of Joseph's immigration to Australia.  (It may be that Joseph and Martha are both from County Down and moved to County Tyrone when their children were young.)

 

The Griffiths Valuations list a Joseph Henderson (or two of them) with properties in Glaskerberg East and Glaskerberg West, Aghaderg, and a Joseph Henderson with a property in Shore St. Holywood, Holywood in County Down.  A Joseph Henderson is listed in Drummond, Clonfeacle, and another in Gortinagin, Drumragh, in Tyrone.

 

The Tithe Applotment Books for Ireland have 2 listings for a Joseph Henderson having a joint share with a James Dougherty in farmland in the townland of Glentown, in the parish of Urnesy, Donegal, Tyrone.   Both listings give them a joint share in half of a 56 acre 3 rood and 28 perch/pole piece of arable land in   The other half of the land was shared by John Gwynn, Robert Anderson and Joseph Love.  This is the only listing for a Joseph Henderson in the Tithe Applotments for either of the counties of Tyrone or Down.

 

Joseph and Martha’s children were:

  • John Henderson,  born 2nd May 1810; married a Melrose.
  • Joseph Henderson, born July 1812; married Mary Jane Rennie 15 Jul 1840 Tyrone, Ireland; migrated to Australia 1841; died 11 Apr 1904, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  • James Henderson, born C1815; migrated to Pennsylvania, USA 1833-1834; married Sissan Hayes; died 1851 – 1855 Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Hugh Henderson, born C1817-18; married Sarah C 1840, Ireland; migrated to Pennsylvania, USA 1845; died 5th Nov 1890  Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Elizabeth Henderson born Jun 1822; migrated to Pennsylvania, USA 1850; married Joseph Anderton Jun 1868 Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA; died 22nd Oct 1901 Rochester, Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Robert Henderson, born 5th April 1825; migrated to Pennsylvania, USA 1st Aug 1842; married Sarah McCollough in 1844; died 23rd Aug 1900 Holt, Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • William Henry Henderson born 28th May 1830; migrated to Pennsylvania, USA 15th Nov 1846; married Isabella McMaster on 18 Nov 1850 Pennsylvania, USA; died 1914 Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Mary Martha Henderson; married David McNamima  before 1839 in Ireland; migrated to Pennsylvania after 1841; died probably before 1850, Pennsylvania, USA.

 

Joseph and Martha migrated to the USA with some of their family, so between 1833 and 1846.  As their younger son William Henry and daughter Elizabeth migrated in 1846 I imagine that they did not come earlier than that.  Apparently Martha died within a few days of arriving in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and Joseph died a few years later of Erysipilas in Beaver, Pennsylvania.  Unfortunately we have been unable to find a record of their migration to the USA or either Martha or Joseph's deaths.

 

I am descended from Joseph Henderson and Mary Jane Rennie/Renney/Rayney so I am interested in learning any information about who Mary Jane's Rennie family were as well.  At present all I know about her is that she was born 1814 – 1816 in County Tyrone and that her father was probably a farmer (the informant on her death registration didn’t know her parent’s names but gave her father’s occupation).  As stated above, she and Joseph were married 15th July 1840 in Tyrone. 

 

I am most interested in finding baptisms for both Joseph and Martha, as well as a marriage for them.  If anyone can help with baptisms for their children, or details of their marriages,  I’d greatly appreciate this as well.  I’d also love to hear from anyone else who is interested in/related to this family.

 

Thanks,

Andrea Fitzgerald

 

Andrea Fitzgerald

1 reply

Andrea,

You don’t say what denomination the family were, though I suspect they may have been Presbyterian. You may struggle a bit to find any records on Joseph or Martha as very few churches have records that cover the time of their births and marriage. If they were Presbyterian, I don’t know of any churches in Co Tyrone with records for 1810. There are some in Co. Down.

You might make a little more progress with the marriage between Joseph Henderson and Mary Jane Rennie in 1840 as there are many churches with records for that period. Incidentally, Mary Jane’s surname could well be spelled Rainey in Ireland. (Rennie tends to be the Scottish version. You don’t find many Rennies in Ireland but plenty of Raineys. For example there’s only 1 Rennie household in Co. Tyrone in the 1901 census but 70 people named Rainey). Rennie & Rainey are pronounced much the same. The spelling has evidently changed over the passage of time since the first Scots settlers came to Tyrone and Down in the 1600s).

You could search all the surviving Presbyterian records for Co Tyrone to see if you can find this marriage. Some of the records are on the rootsireland site (subscription) but they don’t have them all. The most complete sets of Presbyterian records for Co Tyrone are held by PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast and by the Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast. Neither body will search for you and a personal visit is required to access the records. (You might need to employ a researcher if you can’t go yourself). There are probably 30 Presbyterian churches in Co Tyrone so there’s a fair bit of work in searching those records. You could start by focussing on the areas where you have found Hendersons in Griffiths, but bear in mind Griffiths isn't a census. Not everyone was listed in it.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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