Hamilton

Dear Brendan

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

As you can see from the link below, Killanummery is a Civil Parish in Co. Leitrim:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/townlands/index.cfm?fuseaction…

Church of Ireland records for that parish begin in 1884 while records for the corresponding Roman Catholic Parish of Killanummery begin in 1828 for baptisms and 1827 for marriages. There are some missing dates though, between 1846 and 1848 for baptisms and 1846 and 1848 for marriages. While William?s birth is just on the cusps of those dates, it is a good idea to check the sites suggested below anyway, as often times people did not know their actual date of birth and sometimes the true date can be many years different from the assumed one. 

There are some places where you can search online, however these websites do not have complete collections and many do not cover the period after 1900:

www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.

www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.

Other important sources include the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith?s Valuation. Even though these sources only record the head of the household, the information is very important and can be valuable:

Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837): http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp

Griffith?s Valuation (1847-1864): http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

The National Archives of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/  you can search the 1901/1911 Census on the National Archives page too, for instances of the family name at that time

Remember to post any new information that you find here. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Best of luck with your search

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support  

Hi Clare,

Thanks for your help. Griffith's Valuation and the 1901 Census helped me zero in on Rathbaun and Drumrane. Griffith's valuation shows a Robert Hamilton in Rathbaun at that time:

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/leitrim/killanummery.htm

There's also a Robert Hamilton in Sracummer, but I know from research done by one of his descendant's that he's not my William's father. There's also a Mary Hamilton in Drumrane, but what really got me interested in that townland is this 1901 Census record another Hamilton researcher pointed out to me:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Leitrim/Killanummery/D…

There's a Thomas and Anne Hamilton there, both RC, and their children have the same given names that William chose for his first three children. I don't know how much stock to put it in that, but the researcher I communicated with said this could be a significant clue that I'm looking in the right place. I don't have a subscription to rootsireland.ie, but another person I've been swapping emails with does, but she searched their records and said she didn't find anything of interest.

I should mention that "1827" is likely a rough guess for William's birth date, which I took from his 1894 death certificate, obituary, and tombstone. In the US and NY Census records, his year of birth ranges anywhere from 1810-1836!

I'm also interested in a possible connection to the Curran family of Killanummery. A John "Curan" or "Caran" was the witness who signed William's naturalization petition. Some Currans do appear in Drumrane in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Leitrim/Killanummery/D…

I also have some DNA matches with people with Wynne/Wynn ancestors, so the Wynnes of Killanummery are on my radar at this point too.

I realize I have very little to go by at this point, but I'm hoping some of this might jump out at someone who has further info on some of these families.

Morning

You could take the step of looking through the online phone book and contacting any living Currans to see if they have further information. This might be a way of filling in the gaps in the meantime.

Best wishes

Clare

Genealogy Support

I have a distant connection to Hamiltons and Wynnes of this parish. My GGGrandmother was Ismena Jane White, her husband was Edward Wynne Frazer. Some early marriage settlements mention a Hamilton; Samuel Hamilton of Dromore, Leitrim (1829 ). My White family was associated with the Dromahair Parish, Sligo townlands of Garvagh, Tullycooly and Beagh. My Frazer family was associated with COI, Killanummery, Leitrim. They crisscossed Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon borders at differnet times.

Have you see this webpage regarding Hamiltons from the area : http://www.larigan.com/parish/killanummery.htm

I have a cousin who is doing more extension reseach about the Wynnes and their connection to another local family Mostyn. I also copnnected to anotehr early family Phibbs. They all married each other!

There is a fanatastic book that details the area "Woodbrook" by David Thompson (ISBN 978-0099359913) it desctribes the area in fantastic detail around Hazelwood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodbrook_House 

Kathy

Dear Kathy:

Thanks for this very helpful information.  Hopefully Brendan will see this. 

Kind regards,

Jane.