Henrys of Derry County - Pre 1800

[DrHenry]

I wonder if there are any Henrys (or others) currently in the Limavady-Coleraine area who may have traced their ancestry back to (and/or beyond) any of the following:

John Henry, Sr., b. 1654 - reportedly held lands in Coleraine in 1681.
    his wife (her second husband) was Elizabeth Erox
     (This couple may or may not be ancestors of the following)

Robert Henry, born abt 1730/35. 
     his wife was Mary Woodburn, b. 7 Apr 1734
         And her parents were John Woodburn and Mary Boyd

Matthew Henry, born about 1745
      his wife was Jennie Long. born abt 1745
           And their children -
                Rachel, abt 1767 -1809     
                Elizabeth, abt 1769-
                John, abt 1771-1851
                Sally, abt 1773-
This family is associated with Flower Hill, a farm just outside of
Dirtagh, and Aghanloo Parish.

John Henry, 20 Mar 1763-17 Feb 1854
      John was the son of Robert Henry and Mary Woodburn, above
       His wife was Rachel Henry, daughter of Matthew Henry and Jennie Long, above
       They were married in Ireland in 1787
       John emigrated to the US in 1788; Rachel followed in 1793

                                    Oversimplification of the above

                                 John Woodburn
              ?                  & Mary Boyd                   ?                      ?
              I                          I                            I                      I
    Robert Henry   &   Mary Woodburn       Matthew Henry & Jennie Long
                           I                                                         I
                    John Henry                     &                  Rachel Henry

John and Rachel were my GG Grandparents - and I have extensive data on them
         and their descendants following their settlement in the USA.

Any leads would be appreciated.  All the above are believed to have been
Scots-Irish, Presbyterians, and probably descended from lowlanders who
emigrated to Ulster from the vicinity of Ayre in the 1600s.

Dr. William H. Henry, Jr.
Oxnard, CA, USA

 

[aghadowey]

I came across this bit about Henrys:
www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/topics/your_questions/henry_derry.shtml

Have you gotten any new information from the book mentioned? 'The history of the Henry family of 'Flower Hill', Ireland by Margaret Birdenia Henry (main author) and Mattie Miller (added author).

[Gortinanima]

HENRY is a common surname in County Derry:

The will of James Henry of Coleraine probated in 1685 [Connor admon bond extract PRONI T/808/14882]

Dirtagh is in the parish of Aghanloo, which formed part of the Haberdashers' estate, which was
farmed by Sir Robert McClelland [Lord Kirkcudbright] from about 1616.

An Andrew Hendry is listed in the 1663 Hearth returns for the parish of Aghanloo:

Part of McClelland's estate was inherited by his son-in-law Sir Robert Maxwell:.
There were Henrys in Artikelly in 1695 as the following estate extract shows:

National Archives of Scotland, RH.15/91/49’
Including: 1695, May 1: Rent roll of lands possessed by deceased Sir Robert Maxwell, in Ireland in 1684. 1620, August: Information for the laird of Bombie, on estate and financial affiars. and: Ane rent roll of the proportion of Haberdashers payable yearly.
Andrew Henry, Hugh Henry, Robert Henry


1740 Protestant Householders' returns [no Dirtagh: some of Aghanloo townlands appear
to be missing from the 1740 returns]
But in the townland of Largan Tea in 1740:
Rob’t Hendry, Richard Hendry, John Hendry

John & Matthew Henry recorded in Aghanloo parish Flax Premium List, 1796

In my notebook I had the following:
HENRY OF FLOWER-HILL, AGHANLOO
Rachel Henry, daughter of Matthew Henry and Jennie Long - married her cousin John Henry (1763-1854) who first came to the U.S. in 1788. Rachel was apparently raised in 'Flower Hill' - presumably a farm or other included section of Dirtagh. She reportedly joined John in the U.S.A in 1793.


John Henry was a £10 freeholder in Dirtagh [Aghanloo] around 1832 [PRONI D/834/1].
John Henry was the only Henry in Dirtagh Aghanloo in the 1831 census:

This may be his headstone in Old Aghanloo
Erected to the memory of John Henry, Dirtagh, who died 4 June 1864 aged 84 years. Also his wife Rachel who died 17 July 1862 aged 70 years. Also their son William Henry who died March 20 1891 aged 61 years [executor of William Henry's will was James Henry MD]

[kingskerswell]

In the Griffith's valuation for Dirtagh John Henry held House Offices (barns etc) and almost 44 acres of land from the Marquis of Waterford.
 Unsure of Valuation dates but believe it was 1858/59

Regards

[aghadowey]

Griffith's Valuation can be searched by place or name and you can look at the scanned images of the printed pages and there are maps for some areas.
http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_family_search_form.php

[DrHenry]

Thanks to the several responders thus far.  While new (to me) sources have been cited, the information only confirms what I already have.  What I'd really like to do is to get further details on my ggg gf Robert Henry (b. abt 1730-35) - the one married to Mary Woodburn - in the hope of further tracking my DNA.  I have direct father to son to son to son - back to John Henry 1763-1854 - FDTNA Kit 42373, 64 markers, Haplogroup I2b, etc. 

[DrHenry]

More.  Since we have a pretty good fix on Rachel coming from Dirtagh, husband John must have come from fairly close by - at least within 'courting' range - hence the focus on the Limavady-Coleraine corridor.

[Gortinanima]

Irish genealogical research is far from easy and for the period that you are interested
in (18th century) the lack of source material is a real difficulty. There are no surviving
church records for the parish of Aghanloo where your ancestors resided.
Estate records are sparce - few records appear to have survived for the main landlord
[the Marquis of Waterford].

I assume that you have exhausted all of the available sources on the American side?

One possiblity of course is to undetake a search of the Registry of Deeds [there are
two indexes - by surname and placename], but this would require a lengthy search.
Some details from wills have been extracted and are available at PRONI and the NAI
but again coverage is patchy at best.

[DrHenry]

Thanks.  To my knowledge I've exhausted US sources - at least those known to me or to those wiser souls who have advised and/or helped.  I suspect I'll only get the info I seek if I happen on someone who has already somehow come into possession of lineage data - possibly other Henrys - either in the US or Derry County.