Conway Family of Tamnagh, Banagher/Feeney

[Richard Conway]

My Great Grandfather, John Conway left Northern Ireland in the early 1900s. He married in 1907 but died of Acute Pneumonia in 1912 a few days after the birth of his son John, my Grandfather.

As he died suddenly, all contact was lost with his family in Ireland. Two addresses have been passed down. One in Plumbridge Co. Tyrone I have worked out to be his sister and another just over the border in Co. Derry near Feeney.

In the 1901 Census, the full family is living at House 23 in Tamnagh, Banagher, County Derry with the head of the house Patrick Conway his father. All the names of the family are the same as the names he gave his children so I am 100% confident that this is the right household.

I knew parents died before 1911 from his marriage and death records. In the last few days I have found these on NIDirect (again Tamnagh) and his sister getting married and moving to Plumbridge by 1911.

In the 1911 Census there is a Patrick Conway (same name as his elder brother and right age) living at House 19 Tamnagh, Banagher with his wife and young family.

The second address we were left has been badly transcribed (possibly several times) to the point that it does not resemble and of the nearby places. The address is this :

Patrick Conway
Fillialreen
Feeney

Does anyone recognise this ? At first I thought it might be Terrydreen but this is further west. Could it be ‘Nineteen’ ?

As a postal address would ‘Patrick Conway, Nineteen, Feeney’ get to House 19 Tamnagh  ?

Any ideas would be very welcome

Thanks

Richard

[Elwyn Soutter]

The house numbers in the 2 censuses are the enumerators private numbering system (which varied from census to census). House 23 in 1901 is the same property as 19 in 1911. (The revaluation records show Patrick Conway junior on plot 28a with Patk senior on 28b. Together they shared 23 acres. Next door were Brian & Thomas Conway who were presumably relatives).

In rural Ireland, there were no street names and no house numbers and your townland alone was enough to get your letter delivered. The postman and anyone else who mattered, knew where within the townland your home was.

So the letter to Patrick won’t be addressed to house 19 Feeny. No such address existed. Not sure what the address is though.

[Richard Conway]

Elwyn – Thanks for your fast response

Patricks junior and senior are not as straight forward as they look- possibly an error by the enumerator. Patrick senior was in House 22 in 1901 as his family members tally with House 18 in 1911

I knew that ‘My’ Patrick senior (my great, great Grandfather, House 23 1901) died between 1907 and 1912 due to the additional information on Scottish marriage and death certificates. I tied this down to 1909 once the GRONI BDMs went on line last month.

I am 100% certain that it’s my family in House 23 in 1901 due to the names (although it’s a fair bet that I will be related to all the Conways in Tamnagh somehow). But for 1911 it is tricky:
-   There is only 8 years difference in age between Patricks senior & junior
-   If Patrick junior was not ‘MY’ Patrick junior then he was not on the 1901 census in Tamnagh yet he was married there in 1903

Your response prompted me to compare Conway households between 1901 & 1911 rather than just the Heads of House. The result is fairly cut & dried as there is good continuity of people although some of the ages are questionable:
Year    1901      1911
House    20      22
              22      18
              23      19
              25      21
              26      20

I can only guess that when the enumerator used senior & junior he meant elder and younger, not father and son. I am now fairly confident that Patrick Conway of House 19 / 1911 is my Great Grandfather’s brother

Thanks for introducing me to the revaluation records. I had never heard of these and they look like a useful resource.

Thanks again

Richard

[Elwyn Soutter]

Thanks for introducing me to the revaluation records. I had never heard of these and they look like a useful resource.



Richard

Richard,

The revaluation records are on-line, so you can see who was the householder for each property. Obviously it also enables you to identify each household in the census, and say which plot number they were on. From that you can then go to the Griffiths maps and see exactly where it was (and where it is today).

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm

[Richard Conway]

Elwyn - that's brilliant !

I'll get on to this soon as I can.

The landlord is given as 'In Chancery'. Do you know what this means ? (I can't find an explanation in Google)

Thanks again

Richard

[Elwyn Soutter]

Richard,

I would say that in this context, Chancery means a civil court. The Court of Chancery dealt with land ownership issues, trusts, the guardianship of infants and others with no capacity to look after their own affairs. So I’d say it means there was a legal case running in the court at the time the Griffiths information was gathered, probably over ownership of the land. Possibly, whilst that was unresolved, any tenant/landlord issue might have to be referred to the Court for a decision, rather than to the person(s) who claimed ownership as would normally be the case.

[kintree]

The second address we were left has been badly transcribed (possibly several times) to the point that it does not resemble and of the nearby places. The address is this :

Patrick Conway
Fillialreen
Feeney

Richard

Perhaps this address started off as Kilcreen ?

[Richard Conway]

Hello - Thanks for that.

Aye, Kilcreen is definately a possibility. After Elwyn's help I tied it down to the right plot and noticed Kilcreen was nearby.

I'll now need to get over for a visit sometime

Thanks again
Richard