Hello,
Yes, I do know Jane Buchanan who married Robert Sherrard! She is my GGG Aunt. She used the name was Jane and was baptised on 24 January 1836 in Cumber Lower as Jane. Her parents were William Buchanan and Mary Norris. Jane was not a tall lady and she was very fair. She had two older brothers, James and William Buchanan. James was born in 1827 and William was born in 1832 at Highmoor Road, Cumber Lower. I think she also had an older brother Robert. Jane also had a younger sister Elizabeth.
Jane was born on a farm at Highmoor (Highmoor Road) in Cumber Lower, not too far from the Sherrard family. Her parents had a farm at Highmoor, or were labourers on the farm. William Buchanan was also listed with the occupation of a Weaver. In the early 1850s, Jane's older brothers James and William (and perhaps Robert) left Londonderry for Liverpool where they caught another ship and came to Australia. William became the Blacksmith at Beaufort in Victoria, and James also worked as a Blacksmith and farmer at Waterloo near Beaufort. Beaufort is near Ballarat. Jane's sister Elizabeth, as far as I know, went to America and settled in Mingo, Jefferson County. She married someone named Mr Brown. I don't know much about her as yet.
Jane was about 14 when her brothers and sister left and stayed in Lower Cumber where she married Robert Sherrard who was a farmer on Slaghtmanus Road, Cumber Lower. It was Jane and Robert Sherrard's daughter who was Mary Jane. I did know that Jane lived to quite a good age. Most of the Buchanans lived to well in their 80s back in the 1800s. Jane's father William was born in Landaire, which I understand to be another word for Londonderry. I was told this by an Irishman.
I am not surprised that Jane died on Glendermott Road. Her brother James had married Catherine Cairns (although the surname Kane is used on their marriage certificate). Catherine's family had a farm at Listress and Catherine had relatives at Glendermott. Jane and Robert Sherrard's daughter Mary Jane Sherrard, who was born in 1865, married into the Cairns family. She married James Cairns who had a farm at the time in Highmoor Road, Cumber Lower. Mary Jane was living at Waterside at the time of her marriage, with her brother Robert Sherrard jnr. Robert jnr. also married into a Cumber Local family. He married Elizabeth Torrens whose family lived on Slaghtmanus Road.
I understand that the Buchanans originally came from around the Loch Lomond area of Scotland. Unfortunately, I have no idea when they came to Londonderry. I wish I did. I'm just waiting on a letter from the Victorian Archives (Australia) which is allegedly written by Jane's sister Elizabeth. Someone may know a lot more about the Buchanans than I know. I also have lots of photos of Jane's brothers James and William and their families.
Jane and Robert Sherrard's daughter Elizabeth also married a Cumber Lower man. Elizabeth married John Donnell of Slaghtmanus Road in 1889. I know they had at least two children, because the children lived with Jane and Robert when the children were older.
I hope all of this helps. Maybe one day someone from the Buchanan side of the family will be able to give me some more information. I know that James, William and Elizabeth Buchanan could read and write, so it is very likely that Jane could read and write as well.
