Henry Brown : Short Biography

Henry Brown married Jane Armstrong 15 July 1825 -  Ardess, Magheraculmoney Parish, County Fermanagh; location close to the small village of Kesh; St. Marys (CI)-Magheraculmoney Parish; witnesses: Wm. Armstrong & Thos. Law .  Jane Armstrong was from the Magheraculmoney Parish, located by Ballinamallard & Henry Brown was from Kilskeery Parish in County Tyrone. 

2013 Research Report:  1. You asked me to look for Henry & Jane Brown, prior to their departure for Canada c 1832. As you may recall we know from the Magherculmoney parish records that there is a marriage which appears to fit your family in 1825 and that the church record tells us the husband Henry came from Kilskeery parish, County Tyrone (Makenny Townland).

2. The couple could have set up home in Magherculmoney or they might have gone back to Kilskeery (or they might have gone somewhere else altogether, as they clearly did eventually do). However I felt it was worth checking Kilskeery records for any children they might have had in Ireland prior to leaving for Canada. As you know now I found the baptism of a William Brown on 23rd October 1826, to Henry & Jane Brown of Makeny, Kilskeery . That fits pretty well timewise with the 1825 marriage.

3. The family had another child named William in Canada so we must assume this first William died before 1832. I searched the parish burial register but did not find any burial for that child (or any others to that couple) in the period 1825 - 1832.

4. I also searched for other baptisms 1825 - 1832 in Kilskeery, but found none.

5. I next looked at the tithe applotment records for Makeny, which in this case date to 1826 . 23 households are listed. They list a W. Brown senior on a small farm with 7 acres 3 roods 31 perches. Nearby was another W. Brown with a couple of extra words against his name which I cannot make out. They seem to say “for Gi…” but that doesn’t mean anything to me. That farm was 6 acres 0 roods 25 perches. These were the only 2 Brown households on the townland and we might assume that one of them was where Henry and Jane were living. Probably with Henry’s father or brother.

6. The next set of records available for that area is Griffiths Valuation which dates to 1860. This shows that there was just one Browne household listed at that time. James Browne had a farm, outbuildings and 14 acres (plot 3 in Griffiths). That size would suggest the two farms listed in the tithes may have been combined into one bigger farm. However I can’t say that for certain and I don’t know of any records that might confirm it. I did look to see if any estate papers exist for the landlord (James Lendrum) which might have a bit more information but no Lendrum papers have been deposited in PRONI.

7. You can then follow through from that initial Valuation in 1860 and see changes of tenant etc right up till the 1960s. The revaluation records for the period 1861 to 1930 have just been put on-line (today, by coincidence ), but I looked up the paper versions a week or two back and have attached copies from them. Plot 3 remains in the name James Browne until 1890, when it changes to “reps of James Browne” indicating he had died. In 1893 the tenant changes to Stewart Brien.

8. I looked for a death for James Brown(e) around 1890 and there is one in Irvinestown in Apr - Jun 1889 for a man whose estimated year of birth was 1805 (though that could easily be out by 10 years).

9. Plot 3 was the only Brown(e) household on the townland in the period 1860 - 1890. However plot 46 appears as William Brown around 1890 (the change is not dated but can be inferred from the start date of that particular volume). So it looks as though William Browne starting farming on plot 46 around the same time as James Browne died. Plot 46 consists of 6 acres 2 roods 11 perches. In 1907 two changes occur. The tenant changes from William Brown to Catherine Brown and the property is endorsed “In fee. LAP ” which means the tenant had bought the property by means of Wyndham’s Land Act . 

10. The next change in 1917 is an endorsement “down” meaning the house had been demolished. So evidently Catherine had gone to live elsewhere, and the rating now only applied to the land which she still owned, and so was reduced accordingly.

11. In 1926 the next change is that the owner is “reps of Catherine Browne” indicating she had died. 

12. Looking at the 1901 & 1911 censuses for Makeny, we see that in 1901 there was just one Brown property. That contained William Brown (widower), aged 65 and Catherine his unmarried daughter, aged 25.  In the 1911 there are no Browns listed. However there is a Catherine Brown (Church of Ireland born Tyrone, of roughly the right age) working as a servant nearby in Ballindullagh Inward . I suspect that might be her.

13. The picture that this information paints for me is that Henry Brown’s father was probably Wm Brown senior. He probably also had a brother named William. Henry & Jane lived on one of those two farms till they left for Canada. Neither farm was big enough to support more than one family, and the farm was usually passed to the eldest son, rather than being subdivided. (It wasn’t big enough to be subdivided). That would be a factor in Henry & Jane’s decision to emigrate. It looks as though William Brown junior had a son named James and that’s who was on the property in Griffiths and until 1890 when he died. Then William Brown appears on a different property on the same townland. Brown is a common name and I can’t be absolutely sure that it’s the same family.

14. I went through the Kilskeery Church of Ireland parish records looking for baptisms, marriages and burials for Brown families in Makenny.  In the marriage records I noted: 

i) 30th March 1855 John Irvin/Irwin 24, single, farmer Dernaragh, s/o Hugh Irvin/Irwin, farmer, to Elizabeth Brown 21, spinster, Makenny, d/o James Brown, farmer. This looks likely to be a daughter of the James Brown in Griffiths, by his first marriage. (His first wife had died by 1857).

ii) 16th Feb 1857 James Brown 40, widower, farmer Makenny s/o William Brown, farmer married Isabella Slacks, 24, spinster of Keenogue townland, d/o Henry Slack, farmer. Witnesses were Andrew Moffatt & Thomas Culyinn.

15. In the burials I noted: 

i) Martha Brown of Makenny buried 7th April 1867, aged 80 (ie born c 1787). This could be a single lady or it might be the widow of W. Brown senior who is listed in the tithes.

ii) Susan Brown of Makenny buried 23rd March 1877 aged 28 (ie born c 1849). This could be a daughter of James Brown’s first marriage.

16. I looked at the baptism records but only found 2 Brown baptisms listed. 

i) Isabella Brown to James & Isabella Brown of Makenny, baptised 1st April 1862

ii) Margaret Brown to James & Isabella Brown of Makenny, baptised 20th March 1864.

17. I was expecting to see several others including Elizabeth born c 1834, Susan 1849 and Catherine, the daughter of William Brown who is in the 1901 census but I didn’t find them which I found surprising given that the family clearly attended the church. 

18. I am not sure what became of Isabella. Margaret appears to have married in Irvinestown in 1891 to a John Armstrong. This is probably them in the 1901 census on a farm at Rahony, Tyrone . They had no children.

CONCLUSIONS: The family in Makenny in the tithes and Griffiths Valuation are surely the family of Henry Brown who married Jane Armstrong. However they seem to have died out with James’ death in 1889. He appears to have been in his 80s and evidently had no sons or family willing or able to take the farm on.