Re Presbyterian Church Records in Downpatrick in 1700s

[Cathy_Aus]

Hi:)
Does anyone know please if Downpatrick Presbyterian Records are available on line?
Looking for the Birth of a John C Clendinnen born circa 1770 in Downpatrick(My ggggrandfather) He became a Wesleyan minister in Ireland, Aopparently Parents (Unknown at this Stage) were Presbyterian According to Wesleyan Archives
Name may be spelt different ways  ..Clendinnen, Clindenin, Clindinning , Glendinning Etc etc
Thanks
Cathy:)

[scotmum]

Downpatrick Presbyterian records, available at PRONI, are not that early, unfortunately:

https://www.johngrenham.com/records/church.php?civilparishid=819&civilparish=Down&search_type=full

[Cathy_Aus]

Hi Scot Mum:)
Thanks for that...So maybe if I look for possible Death Records circa late 1700s and Early 1800s For those With Similar Surname around Downpatrick Area  As no idea Also whether John had Siblings
Cathy:)

[Elwyn Soutter]

Hi Scot Mum:)
Thanks for that...So maybe if I look for possible Death Records circa late 1700s and Early 1800s For those With Similar Surname around Downpatrick Area  As no idea Also whether John had Siblings
Cathy:)

Statutory death registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864. So no death certificates prior to that. Presbyterians generally don’t keep burial records so no church records will exist either. Your only real hope would be if there was a gravestone or a mention in a local paper.

[aghadowey]

Birth announcements weren't posted in newspapers until much, much later and death/marriage notices were few and far between so you are unlikely to find much in the local papers.

Just to clarify John Grenham's chart where there are two listings for Presbyterian records- there was a Presbyterian Church and Non-Subscibing Presbyterian Church in Downpatrick but neither has baptisms   before 1800. PRONI's Guide to Church Records give more detail of what survives- page 172/333 for Downpatrick:
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/Guide_to_church_records.pdf

[scotmum]

Another researcher has checked various gravestone inscription books etc for Clendinnen/Glendinning, including Downpatrick area, where none of the name were found:

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~clendin/irish_memorials.htm

[Cathy_Aus]

Thanks For your Help Folks...So im guessing I maybe looking at the possibility too this family may have moved counties in Ireland ..Not the easiest Family line to research in Ireland as several Different spellings for the surname...

[Elwyn Soutter]

The absence of records doesn’t necessarily mean the family moved out of Co. Down. It just means there are no records for the 1700s. That’s not uncommon with Irish research. They might have been there, but if the church records are lost (or were never kept) and there’s no gravestones it doesn’t mean the family weren’t there. Only the wealthy could afford a gravestone in the 1700s, so just a small percentage of the population.

I note that John Clendinnen was born 1770 and was a Wesleyan Minister.  Methodism took a long time to get started in Ireland. In contrast to England and elsewhere, there was a great reluctance to break with the Church of Ireland. It was about 1818 before Methodists could conduct their own baptisms and I have never seen a Methodist marriage earlier than 1835. In the 1820s and 1830s there was only a handful of Methodist Ministers in Ireland, and I don't think there were any in the late 1700s when you might expect John to be beginning his career. Many Methodists carried on using the Church of Ireland for baptisms and especially marriages right up until the early 1870s.

If John was a Wesleyan Minister, where and when did he qualify? Was he originally a Church of Ireland Minister who changed to Methodism, and if so, does Crockfords clerical directory have a record of him? He might of course have been a lay preacher with no formal qualifications (Methodism has always relied heavily on lay preachers) but if an ordained Minister, he surely took a degree and was ordained somewhere. If it was in Ireland it would have been Trinity College Dublin, but he might have studied in England. University records sometimes give brief details of a student’s home address and of family. (That’s certainly the case for some Scottish universities).

You have obviously accessed some Methodist records. Have you contacted Edgehill Theological College in Belfast? Their historical section keeps records of Irish Methodist Ministers. They may have something on his career and background.

http://www.edgehillcollege.org

[Cathy_Aus]

Hi Elwyn:)
Thanks for your reply   There are several Articles ive Found re my ggggrandfather John C Clendinnen  On line Thru Googling etc
Here is One of them

Clendinnen, John C
Clendinnen, John C., an Irish Wesleyan minister, Was born in County Down in 1770 of Presbyterian parents. He entered the work in 1796 endured hardship during the rebellion of 1798 labored long and faithfully; became a supernumerary in 1831, residing first at Newtownbarry and then (1841) at Bideford, where he died, Feb. 6,1855. He was humble, long-suffering, gentle, and meek. See Minutes of the British Conference, 1855; Wesl. Meth. Magazine, 1855, p. 854; Stevenson, The Methodist Hymn-book and its Associations (Lond. 1870, 12mo), p. 268.

Im wondering where to go next with this lineage   As there is also a Book Written on the family  Called *House of Glendonwyn* According to that his Great Grandfather was a William Glendinning of QuarterLand in Co Down   Have access to Irish Newspaper Archives But have Yet to Find much on this William Glendinning Either...He and his Wife had several Children ..Wife was a Rose Nee Fisher  And there are People researching this line But theres Also a Fair bit of Contraversy re this lineage too
Cathy:)