Mary Sims born 1813

Very few parishes have records for 1813 so I wouldn’t assume the baptism you have found is your ancestor. It may just be another person of the same name from a parish that does have early records. There were about 40 people named Mary Sim/Simm (and variants) in the 1901 census. It’s a common enough name and so you need to be aware of the strong possibility that you may not have the right family.

Did people get baptised when they were 7? Yes they did. You do see group baptisms where parents bring in 3 or 4 children and baptise them all at once. However that wasn’t the norm. Most Protestant families tended to baptise within 3 to 6 months of the birth, and RC would normally baptise within a few days.

You really need Mary's parents’ names from say a death certificate, plus her denomination in order to have much chance of tracing her. If you think that she was of Scottish descent, then that tends to point to Presbyterianism, though not every Scottish settler in Ireland was of that denomination. There were Episcopalian and RC Scots who settled here too.

I searched rootsireland to see if there is any sign of the marriage to Andrew Lawrence or the childrens births but without success. Chances are that the events are in either a church whose records are lost or which are not on-line.

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society are running an Ulster DNA project and can offer FTDNA testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Joan you're in luck!

Her marriage record is on www.rootsireland.ie/ and has both her parents' names:

Date of Marriage:14-Oct-1835
Parish / District:FIRST KILREA
County:Co. Derry
Husband Alexander Laurence Address:Portglenone Congregation
Wife Name:MarySimms Dromlane Denomination:Presbyterian
Husband's Father John Laurence
Wife's Father Hugh Simms
Husband's Mother :ElizabethHuston
Wife's mother: Molly Simms

Witness 1JohnLaurence
Witness 2 MrsSimms
Notes:

GROOM'S PARENTS OF DROMOOLISH. BRIDE'S PARENTS RECORDED AS MOLLY SIMMS
WIDOW OF HUGH SIMMS.

Disappointingly I couldn't find the birth/baptism record however.

Better luck in the 1831 Irish Census (free at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/) as there is a William Sims in Drumlane - which is Mary's address in the marriage record:

Surname Forename Townland/Street House Number Barony Parish County

Sims Wm Drumlain 37 LoughinshollinTamlaght O Crilly Londonderry

Surname Forename Number of house Number of families in each Number of males in family Number of females in family Number of other Protestants

                                                                       1                         2                                         4                                                  7

Given that the notes on the marriage record say John was deceased and that 1831 is before the 1835 marriage I'm wondering whether this could have been where Mary was living before her marriage.

Col

Well done to Colcaff for finding the marriage.

Looking at Griffiths Valuation for Drumlane in 1858, there were 2 Sims farms there. Probably father & son. William Sims junior had plot 1 which was a 44 acre farm and William senior had plots 2 & 3 which totaled 167 acres (so very big by Irish standards). Those properties today are up a lane off the modern Drumlane Rd, about 4 miles south of Kilrea. I think they may have been combined into 1 farm.

There are no Laurence properties listed in Drumoolish in Griffiths so they may have moved away from the area.

Some Probate abstracts from the PRONI wills site:

The Will of William Simms late of Drumlane County Londonderry Farmer deceased who died 2 January 1877 at same place was proved at Londonderry by the oath of John Falkiner of Craigs County Antrim Farmer one of the Executors.

The above will is on-line and mentions his wife Nancy Graham, but no children, so possibly they didn’t have any. The date of death may be incorrect. It appears on the GRONI website as 2 January 1876, aged 58.

Administration of the estate of James Simms late of Drumlane Kilrea County Londonderry Farmer who died 3 January 1897 granted at Londonderry to Jane Simms the Widow

The James listed above died intestate and his probate file was destroyed in the 1921 fire in Dublin. No papers survive other than this abstract. The date of death also seems to be incorrect with it appearing on the GRONI site as 3 January 1896, aged 54. The informant was James’ daughter Annie Simms:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1896/05909/4677173.pdf

Annie married James G. Kirkpatrick of Tyrgarvil on 9th April 1898.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_re…

1901 census. Just 1 Simms household in Drumlane. Note that the family are Reformed Presbyterians (also known as Covenanters). The nearest RP church is probably Drumbolg, so their records may be worth looking at, if you can’t find them elsewhere. Their records are held at PRONI, as follows: Baptisms, 1895-1956; marriages, 1864-1925; session book with discipline cases, 1809-59; committee minutes, 1887-1919.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Tamlaght/Drumlane/1521301/

By 1911 the family has changed to Presbyterian:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Londonderry/Tamlaght/Drumlane/592343/

Simms William Alexander of Drumlane Upperlands county Londonderry farmer died 29 December 1940 Probate Belfast 9 April to Thomas Lytle and Robert McIlfatrick farmers. Effects £1007 15s.

The will for the above William Simms should be in PRONI, in paper format.

Annie Kirkpatrick (nee Simms) in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Swatragh/Tergarvil/1545808/

1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Londonderry/Swatragh/Tirgarvil/611900/

By way of explanation, the surnames Kirkpatrick and Kilpatrick are interchangeable (a bit like Henry & Harry or Nancy & Agnes) and you will note they have used Kirkpatrick in the 1901 and Kilpatrick in 1911.  There were many interchangeable surnames in those days. Other examples are Robertson & Robinson, Connor & Nogher, Faulkner & Falconer. Having a single “correct” spelling of your name was not a concept our ancestors would have recognised. All designed to make research a bit more challenging).

This is unbelievable! Thank you so much for finding this information for me. I don't think I ever would have been able to do it myself. These are the first members of my family on the Irish side that I've actually been able to trace back to a specific place. I'm so thrilled! 

By the way,you note that Mary was Presbyterian. Was Alexander Catholic? Also, what does "Dromoolish" refer to? Is that a town? I get no results when I do a Google search for it. 

Again - thanks so much for your efforts on my family's behalf. It is so thrilling to get this information. 

Amelia,

Dromoolish today is generally spelled Drumoolish. (Drum is the Gaelic for a small hill). Spelling of place names varies a lot in Ireland as well as surnames. It’s what’s called a townland. That’s a uniquely Irish system of land division. Drumoolish consists of 487 acres of agricultural land, and in 1901 there were 36 houses there with a total of 125 inhabitants. 124 of them were Protestant (mostly Presbyterian, so of Scottish origins) and 1 Roman Catholic (a 1 year old child). Everyone living there was a farmer or a farm labourer. The reason you are not finding anything on it on Google is probably because it’s not really big enough to figure.

Alexander appears to have been Presbyterian too. The clue is from the marriage record which says he was a member of Portglenone Congregation. In fact Portglenone has 3 Presbyterian churches (being another area heavily settled by Scots). Portglenone 1st Presbyterian has baptism records from 1826 and Portglenone 2nd from 1821. The 3rds start in 1869 but I think it only opened then, being an overflow church from one of the first two. So none of the churches appears to have records early enough for Alexander’s baptism. That family may be hard to trace.

Thank you for these clarifications, Elwyn. It's interesting that my grandmother tried to prohibit my mother from socializing with the Protestants in her small town in Iowa (it didn't work) - and here her ancestors were Protestant. I wonder if she knew that? It seems odd that that fact would have been so quickly lost from the family history. This is really fascinating. 

My name is James Kirkpatrick and I know the area you are talking about. My grandmother was simms and her brother William farmed outside the village of tamlaght. I was born in tergarvil upperlands but now live outside Templepatrick near the international airport. I know some of the family history but my ancestors were recultant to talk about it if you want to contact me on Facebook and we can exchange details