I am interested in finding out about Joseph Hil born around 1797. I believe he was one of five brothers.
He was married in Donaghenry Parish church in 1819 to Ellinor Gordon. They ahd ten children most of whom ended up in Boston MA. A son Samuel stayed and farmed at Donaghy and another James came and went to and from Boston. Some of the Hills were bakers and are rumoured to have owned a bakery in Pomeroy.
Regards Cas
Tuesday 26th Mar 2013, 01:15PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi Cas,
Thanks for your message.
It may be difficult to find more information on Joseph given his birth date. he reality of finding documentation pertaining to births/baptisms/marriages/deaths in Ireland prior to 1800 ? particularly in rural areas ? is that they simply may not exist.
Catholic records only start for the area in 1822:
Church of Ireland records generally tend to have an earlier start date as it was the official church of the country at the time. And as you have a marriage record dating to 1819 I suspect that they may have followed this church.
Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
Other records may be hard to come by given the early date. I did however reference to some Hills in the Donaghenry area in the Flax Growers List. This was part of a government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax. The lists of those entitled to the awards, covering almost 60,000 individuals, were published in 1796, and record only the names of the individuals and the civil parish in which they lived.
http://www.failteromhat.com/flax/tyrone.htm
Some other websites that you may find helpful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/tyrone/index.html
It may also be an idea to contact the Irish World Heritage Centre in Tyrone for assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email address:
I hope some of this is helpful. Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Wednesday 15th May 2013, 12:15PM