Researching my Irish heritage

[shankdee]

I think that is what they said about my Great Grandmother's name, NANCY HUNTER....that the English settled in Ireland esp on the Eastern side, and so some of the names are from England...do you know anything, Maggie, about the name Hunter?

thanks   Shankdee

[Jeanine]

I wish American families would keep accurate records, with copies of certificates - births, marriages, deaths.
It would be a great project for parents and children to do together, and store on a database.
Each generation could add to it.

I so agree with this Maggie.  Especially with the struggle I'm having with my Dad's (Reid) side of the family.  It would be so helpful had my relatives kept that kind of information for the rest of us, but . . .

[Anderpaw]

I agree as well. My dad's side (Jones and Anderson) of the family claim only Kentucky roots. Apparently no one has taken on the challenge of researching just where all those country boys came! There is ''circumstantial'' evidence that our branch of the Anderson family originated from Scotland. All I have been told is that we have been in Kentucky for over 200 years. This would be a very worthwhile research project for my son and me to tackle. Once he learns to read and write - he is 4 years old.

[zankoku]

I would suggest you start now by checking out the census records in Kaintuck. Start with the LDS Library , if you have one where you live. They can get more from Utah. Once you get those, you can also check out the Military records around teh Civil War times to see if there are any (10-1 if the family was in the US during the Civil War, someone served on one side or the other. You never know where that will lead you.

Good luck.

Jim

[zankoku]

I just found that the 1911 census is now on line. I found my great grandfather, my great grandmother an 4 of my grandfather's brotehr and sisters that resided in the house at the time.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

Jim

[kathleen]

Maggie....its been very interesting and fun researching my heritage

Funny thing about record keeping...seems that my relatives kept records that started with coming here!


latest......

my Dad's family.....direct decedant of William Wolley of Riber...its english...but I thought I'd put it here!   They have an estate and everything. Maybe when I visit England...I can visit.

http://www.riber-hall.com

[Gail]

kathleen - I've been doing some family researching for a few years (can't do exhaustive research - too expensve).

My dad's mother was a Cunningham, and found out that that clan apparently had some land in Ayreshire, with even an estate involved somewhere. I wouldn't ever think of "dumping" someone out of the home (IF it still exists), but it would be fun to visit that area.

I intend, sometime, TO go over there - there's a number of places I'd see, especially since I've read that the Cunnimghams were part of the ancient Celts that first settled Dal Riada in Scotland. My mouth literally dropped on that one.

[Jeanine]

That's really cool, Gail!  I found out that the Reids are primarily associated with the Robertson Clan of (I believe) Perthshire Scotland (the Highlands), I haven't determined specific connections yet, but still . . . That is also a very ancient clan which I found really neat. 

[Gail]

My youngest cousin is married to a Robertson.

I dream of mine is to own a "smallish" home somewhere in Ireland, in the nearest town to one of its beautiful valleys. I see photos in pictorial books of the gorgeous U-shaped valleys with rock-fenced meadows in 70 shades of green. I want to be able to drive through & see that kind of nature coloring whenever I'm going somewhere over there.

[Maggie]

my Dad's family.....direct decedant of William Wolley of Riber...its english...but I thought I'd put it here!   They have an estate and everything. Maybe when I visit England...I can visit.
http://www.riber-hall.com  

Sadly the last of the Wolleys was Adam, who died unmarried in 1668.
Riber Hall Estate was sold to Thomas Statham in 1668.
So you can certainly visit Riber Hall....but it will cost you around $140 per night!
William Wolley's children died young......it was the time of the plague. His wife Susan died in childbirth in 1642.
Most of the Wolleys were buried in the family tomb in St Giles Church, Matlock:


By coincidence.....I drove through Matlock in April, on my way up to Yorkshire from London.
I got off the Motorway (equivalent to an Interstate) at Sherwood Forest, and took the A6.

Here's the Wolley Pedigree:
http://www.pd65.dial.pipex.com/matlock/ped/wolley_riber.htm

The Wolley Manuscripts (enough links here to keep you busy for years!)
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/pd65/dby/wolley/index.htm
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/pd65/matlock/wolley/67w.htm

The Coat of Arms was awarded to Rafe De Woley, the Patriarch of the Wolleys.
He was the son of Ralph De Wolegh, whose name suggests Norman ancestry.
The family motto on the Coat of Arms is "Honeste Audax" which means "Honourably Bold"....
...a good one for you, Kathleen - and those sons of yours!

I'm planning to do a seperate post about Coats of Arms, crests etc.
Heraldry always fascinated me, so I studied it quite a bit.
The colours and symbols on the Wolley Coat of Arms, signify that Rafe De Woley was noble, and generous.
His qualities were Military fortitude and chivalry.
The scallop shells signify he travelled a great distance on pilgrimages, which in his day
usually means he was engaged in the Crusades in the Holy Land.
The Crest, which is the device over the Coat of Arms, shows a soldier in chain mail, which also indicates the Crusades.

[kathleen]

Thats them! 

another pedigree shows the  Wolley's of Allen Hill. Who are decendants of the Wolley's of Riber. That is my line.

http://www.pd65.dial.pipex.com/matlock/ped/wolley_allenhill.htm

We are decended from Edward Wolley Vicar of Crich. His son Emmanuel Randall  born 1625 was orphaned at age 3. I have documentation of a Christening on 4/22/ 1625 of the Church of England, Parish Church of Crich.  He sailed to the Colonies very young as a servant. Showed up in New Jersey! 

I guess my question.... with all those relatives and a pretty good name.....why would he leave?   Not sure when he got here....rumor was very young about the age of 13.  Trying to figure that out!  Could it have been the plague?

[zankoku]

Why would he leave? Could be why my ANscestor Hugh Fulton left Ayershire in the early 1600's. He went to Ireland.

His sons left later on for the Americas. Hugh's grandson was Robert Fulton.

Jim

[Maggie]

I guess my question.... with all those relatives and a pretty good name.....why would he leave?   Not sure when he got here....rumor was very young about the age of 13.  Trying to figure that out!  Could it have been the plague?  

First of all, his pedigree:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/af/individual_record.asp?recid=2343193&lds=0&frompage=0

As with many emigrants, the surname went through a couple of transitions....from Wolley to Woolley, and Wooley.

I doubt it was the plague that made Emmanuel leave.
During his childhood, the Nations of Europe were engaged in Border Wars and Religious conflict.
England was in turmoil, and young men were being forced to join the Military by "Press Gangs".
King Charles I was married to a French Catholic Princess, and was at odds with his Government for
both Economic and Religious reasons. (Same old story!)
The King also had to deal with rebellious Scots, Welsh and Irishmen. (Nothing new there either)
When the Scots were threatening to invade England, Charles amassed an Army to march North to the Border.
On the way through the Midlands and the North (including Derbyshire where Emmanuel lived) the Army gathered recruits,
 not all of them willing.
Add to this bubonic plague, smallpox, cholera and typhus, which were cropping up in heavily-populated areas.
The King also found that without the cooperation of Parliament he could not raise enough Revenue.
Within Parliament there were several players positioning themselves for power, including.....Oliver Cromwell.
All of this led to Civil War. In 1649, King Charles I was convicted of high treason and beheaded.
Oliver Cromwell became "Lord Protector" of England.

So you can understand why a young man would prefer to sail to the "New World".

Records show that Emmanuel married Elizabeth (who waas born in R.I.) in 1652, and they had 9 children who survived infancy.
Their daughter Mary married into the Allen Family:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/af/family_group_record.asp?familyid=369501&frompage=0

Here is an interesting snippet about another Emmanuel Wolley who became Mayor of Dartmouth, which is a Port not far from Plymouth, Devon......it's a beautiful part of SW England.
Dartmouth Museum
6 The Butterwalk Duke Street Dartmouth TQ6 9PZ England
Building Information:
The museum is housed on the first floor of a grade I listed building, The Butterwalk, a fine merchant's house built in 1640. It is thought to be one of the finest examples of 17th century domestic architecture in Devon. Damage caused by bombing during the Second World War lead to a major restoration programme to restore the building to its original condition.
There is original panelling in the King's Room, with a plaster ceiling and fireplace with a carved royal coat of arms commemorating a royal visit by Charles II in 1671, when the king was entertained by the owner, Mayor Emmanuel Wolley. The king has been sailing on his new yacht, the 'Cleveland' when poor weather had driven him to shelter in Dartmouth. The museum staircase is a fine pole staircase, with a pole more than 12metres tall, possibly a former ship's mast, of North American or Baltic pine. The steps of the staircase are deliberately irregular, a feature designed to trip up intruders.

Here is the Museum, still in use, and the King's Room: (The house belonged to Emmanuel Wolley in 1671)
 

[Maggie]

Why would he leave? Could be why my ANscestor Hugh Fulton left Ayershire in the early 1600's. He went to Ireland.
His sons left later on for the Americas. Hugh's grandson was Robert Fulton.Jim

Being from a rebellious family, your lad Hugh probably had to run from King Charles I.
Alternatively, he could have been part of the plantation of Ulster.  
Quote:
"
In the 1640s, the Ulster Plantation was thrown into turmoil by civil wars that raged in Ireland, England and Scotland. The wars saw Irish rebellion against the planters, twelve years of bloody war, and ultimately the re-conquest of the province by the English parliamentary New Model Army that confirmed English and Protestant dominance in the province
After 1630, Scottish migration to Ireland waned for a decade. In the 1630s, Presbyterians in Scotland staged a rebellion against Charles I for trying to impose Anglicanism. The same was attempted in Ireland, where most Scots colonists were Presbyterian. A large number of them returned to Scotland as a result. Charles I subsequently raised an army largely composed of Irish Catholics, and sent them to Ulster in preparation to invade Scotland." (little bit of a payback)

From records in Northern Ireland:
Carnmoney Parish - Carnmoney is north of Belfast on the shore of Belfast Lough. It is convenient to Carrickfergus and its Norman castle, which in the 17th century was the main town and port for the area.

    Hugh Fulton 1666
    Henry Fulton 1669
    Robert Fulton 1669
    James Fulton 1669

[zankoku]

Being from a rebellious family, your lad Hugh probably had to run from King Charles I.
Alternatively, he could have been part of the plantation of Ulster

A Rebellious family?  the Rebels were from the Irish side 

Hugh Fulton 1666
 Henry Fulton 1669
 Robert Fulton 1669
 James Fulton 1669

Thanks for that bit of info. Too bad it doesn't say how old they were or who their childred were.That appears to be the family. Have to check my records to see the name of the two grandsons or sons of Hugh came to the came to the US. (2 did) One was the father of the inventor Robert Fulton who was born in 1765.

Jim