Samuel Todd

Do you know what denomination the Todd family were, or what Samuel's occupation was?

I don't know what denomination but his son John was definitely Protestant  (his grandson, my grandfather George Raymond Todd, was Presbyterian). John Todd, his son born 1843, was an iron ship wright who moved to NW England and eventually with his family to South Australia in 1912.  The 1911 census has John with a birth place of Ballyvoy, Antrim.  His death certificate gives his birth place as Kilbride.

There are a couple of places in Co. Antrim called Kilbride but both are miles away from Ballyvoy. Possibly Kilbride is used locally in Ballyvoy but if so I can’t find a reference to it in the usual official sources.

If the family was Church of Ireland then the bad news is that Culfeightrin’s early records were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin. They do have a burial register for the years 1805 – 1831 but otherwise no baptisms before 1878 and no marriages earlier than 1845.

If they were Presbyterian then the nearest churches are in Ballycastle and Ramoan. Ballycastle’s baptism and marriage records start in 1829 which should cover a birth in 1843. There’s a copy of those records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. A personal visit is required to view them, unless you pay PRONI to do a look up for you. Sadly Ramoan Presbyterian church has no baptism records prior to 1900. It has marriages from 1845. (They are in PRONI).

I looked at the tithe applotment records for Culfeightrin and surrounding parishes (c 1830). http://billmacafee.com

There’s a number of Todd families listed. No Samuel. That suggests that your Samuel didn’t have any land. So he was probably an agricultural labourer/weaver. (Ballyvoy is just rural farmland and so he will likely have rented a small cottage on one of the farms in the townland).

Likewise I searched the 1803 agricultural census. (Same website). No Samuel and no Todd households in Culfeightrin parish.

Apart from searching the Ballycastle baptism records, I’d say it’ll be tricky finding any reference to Samuel. I don’t see any Samuel Todd deaths in the Ballycastle registration area in the GRONI indexes, which suggests he died before 1864 when civil registration started. He might be buried in Culfeightrin Church of Ireland or in Ballycastle. If he were an agricultural labourer as I suspect, he’s unlikely to have had a gravestone. Presbyterians don’t keep burial records. Church of Ireland does, but the relevant records prior to 1864 were destroyed in the 1922 fire.

Thankyou for your research Elwyn.

Disappointing but...I shall persist!!

Janne (from Melbourne, Australia)

Hi there, I am a Todd from Ballycastle. Your Ballyvoy is a small village 2 miles East of Ballycastle on the Ballycastle to Cushendall road whereas my Todd  family came from 2-3 miles on the other side of Ballycastle heading South towards Armoy.  My family came from Ballenon which is a subtownland of the townland of Carneatly, which is in the Parish of Ramoan .They were all Protestants with connections to the Ramoan Pres Church. The only connection I can think of isthat in my faily history records I have an Elizabeth Todd, a granddaughter of  William Todd of Magherabuoy ( a townland near Ballintoy but who came originally from Magheramore another townland in the Parish of Ramoan).

In William's wife's Sarah's will - she died in 1885 -which can be seen online here http://apps.proni.gov.uk/DCAL_PRONI_WillsCalendar_IE/willsSearchResults… -

she mentions an Elizabeth who was a teacher ay Ballyvoy National School! I have tried looking in PRONI for more information on her but no joy so far!

I would be interested in any more detail you have on Samuel, to see if we can establish any links. I also have lots of information on good websites now available for researching your Irish ancestors, have done my DNA and have an family tree!

Hi Ballygal!.

I know very little about Samuel Todd other than he was my gt gt grandfather. His son, my gt grandfather John was born in 1843 in Ballvoy (according to 1911 Census - see attached).  He was a ship wright and moved over to England  in 1860s?  He married Emma Walker (a ship captain's daughter) in 1883 in Hemsley, Yorkshire.  I have been trying to trace his whereabouts through the censuses but no real luck. He came out to Adelaide, South Australia in 1912 with 3 of 5 children.  2 of his 3 sons were involved in ships (ones as a ship engineer). All the children emigrated to Australia.

I intend to look at the Belfast shipping companies. 

I certainly am interested in any Todds living in the area.  I also have done a DNA test but have no related male Todds as far as I am aware.  Think the whole line has died out!

Janne

Hi Have come across this post agian and realised i never let you know that I found there is another Ballyvoy -- near Doagh which would be in the Kilbride parish. There are also lots of Todds from around this Ballyclare Doagh area! So you might want to change the area where you are doing your reaearch! Good Luck!

Hi Ballygal,

The information that there is another Ballyvoy is interesting.  My gt grandfather John is listed on his death certificate as having a birth place as Kilbride. I was looking at the Griffiths Valuations for Samuel but there are quite a few.  Will have another look.

I met two ladies on a Family History course earleir this year who were also relatedand interested in Todd reasearch  and had done extensive work on the Ballyclare/Doagh/ Kilbride Todds --all the Mid Antrim Todds. I will ask them if i can give you their contact details. Do you have an email adddress i could send you as i wouldnt want to put it on a public forum such as this. Also have you looked at this http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mcmurtriecfr/richard/…. Thought you should now be looking for the Mid Antrim Todds and not the North Antrim ones!! As well did you know that Mary Todd Lincoln wife of the President Lincoln came from that part of the world? 

Thank you for the link to...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mcmurtriecfr/richard/todd/antrimtodds.htm

In response to the excerpt from this site below, can you provide any further information on the family of Daniel and Mary (-----) Todd? In particular, we are interested in any associations with the family of Daniel and Jane (White) Boyd because they sailed on the same ship and settled in close proximity to each other in Greenwood, Steuben County, New York, USA.

There is an Irish family in Steuben Co New York in Western NY that was from Ballycastle, Ramoan, Co Antrim,

From the 1850 census, we have the members of the family other than Daniel who died about 6 weeks after arriving in America.

Daniel Todd b 1798 Ballycastle died shortly after  1847 immigration to America

Mary Todd 48 Ireland (b 1802)

Nancy Todd 18

John Todd 15 Ireland (1835)

Alexander Todd 12  (1838)

Mary J Todd 10 (1840)

William Todd 7  Ireland 1843

Sorry I wish I could! My direct line goes to an Andrew Todd around 1800 of Ballenon a subtownland of the townland of Carneatly 3 miles outside Ballycastle but i also have Todds of Magheramore nearby. Also in theParish of Ramoan was a william Todd of Magheraboy near Ballintoy! I have spent, and still spend, many many hours hoping to find a link, evn by DNA with the same said Daniel!! Still need your email if you want contacts for the Mid Antrim Todds.

Ballygal:

Please email me so that I can add you to a email "conversation" with several others who are researching a potential Boyd-Todd connection in Ramoan.

Anyone:

Please feel free to share my email address, perry@streeter.com, with anyone who is actively researching any of the following families of Ramoan and surrounding parishes:

• Brown
• Boyd
• McHatton/McIlhatton
• McMullen/Mullen
• Thompson
• Stewart
• Todd
• White

For more information on some of these families, please see www.perrystreeter.com. However, many content updates are needed because of recent DNA-based research findings!

Y-DNA and Autsomal DNA samples are on file at GEDmatch.com for descendants of some of these families. Please contact me privately, via the email address provided, above for more information.