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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Down => Topic started by: Erato on Sunday 06 February 05 23:07 GMT (UK)
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I am looking for information on my ggg grandfather, William Ennis of Kircubbin. He must have been born about 1780 as his son, John Ennis, was born in 1805 (in Kircubbin). John married Mary McGee and emigrated to Canada. Family lore says that William was known as "Big Willy" and that he was "champion wrestler of Co. Down."
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Hello Erato,
What denomination were your Ennis ancestors of Kircubbin?
You'll have to rely on Church records as civil registration in Ireland was not introduced until 1864. Non Catholic marriages were registered from 1845 onwards. When registration for BDMS started in 1864 some people didn't bother with the registration for a few years after that date. Keep your fingers crossed that church records still exist.
Christopher
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The Ennises were Presbyterians. One family story has it that the McGees were Catholics. In this version of the family history, the 10 Ennis-McGee children [2 born in Ireland, 2 in Canada and 6 in Wisconsin] were alternately raised as Catholic or Protestant. However, all the burials I have been able to find were in Protestant cemeteries, including Mary McGee herself, so there is little to support this theory.
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A wrestler wearing tights called Big Willie.....that's a lot of pressure. ;D
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Wow, what luck hat I'd run into this forum! I'm doing heritage research and I believe that I am related to you. I have several documents that form a family tree of sorts...
John Ennis and Mary McGee left Ulster Ireland for Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 1839. They had ten children: Thomas (born 1835 in Ireland), William (born 1838 in Ireland), Eliza (born 1839 in Canada), Mary (born 1841 in Canada), John (born 1843 in Canada), Hugh (born 1844 in Canada), George (born 1846 in Canada), James (born 1848 in Canada), Samuel (born 1850 in Wisconsin), and Daniel (born 1852 in Wisconsin).
I am descended from John and Mary's fifth son John Ennis. His daughter Eliza (named after his sister) married John McGoorty and had nine children, one of which was named Norma Cecelia. She married Joseph R. Smith in 1914 I believe. My name is Alex Smith, and I live in San Diego, CA, USA. Nice to meet you. :D
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Nice to meet you, too. Yes, we are related. I am descended from Hugh Ennis. I have quite a lot of information on the Ennis family. If you write a couple more posts, we will then be able to communicate by personal message.
Meanwhile, here’s some Ennis family history, as related by my grandfather:
http://www.wiroots.org/wimarquette/ennisdiary.html
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That diary is extraordinary! I was stunned when I read the bit about them living on John Muir's farm.
I don't have a lot of information about Hugh Ennis so this was a pretty cool way to learn about him.
Here are some of the documents I have:
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/PallidValiance/1001.jpg
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/PallidValiance/2001.jpg
I also have some military discharge papers for John Ennis (Hugh's brother, not his father) from the 32 Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, Co. G and a scanned copy of the Union Defenders Certificate he received for fighting for the Union.
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It’s late here so I can’t start looking for documents now. I’ll have a look at yours tomorrow. Thanks. I have a copy of old John Ennis’s naturalization application.
You have to post three times before you have access to the personal message system so, if you answer this message, we will be able to communicate further by PM.
Just two quick questions, though. Do you know what became of William Ennis [brother of John and Hugh]? And, secondly, do you know if the family story of alternating Catholic and Protestant children is true? [Hugh was a Protestant].
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I have no knowledge of their religious backgrounds, sorry.
As for William, it looks like he had no children (either that or the number of children is unknown) and married no one. The documents I have do not mention a wife.
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I sent you a PM.
About the Muir farm. John Ennis settled at the west end of what is now known as Ennis Lake. It is now part of the John Muir - Ennis Lake County Park. There is quite a lot of information about the lake [actually a smallish pond] and some nice pictures on the web. The actual spot where the Muir cabin had stood wound up with Howard McGuinn and I think it was the McGuinns and the descendants of Sam Ennis who sold the land to the county to establish the park. I think this caused some friction with some of Hugh's descendants.
My grandfather's comment on the Muirs was, "a bunch of shiftless Scots who ruined the land and then moved on."
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Do you know why they emigrated from Ireland? The famine didn't really become a point of concern until the late 1840's...so maybe they just needed a new start?
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I don’t know specifically why they left, but there was a significant migration from the Ards Peninsula of County Down to Amherst Island, Ontario starting in the 1830s. Many people went from Kircubbin and from other nearby communities. Probably the Ennises had friends or even other family members who went. These people went as farmers to work land in Ontario owned by a major County Down land owner whose name I don’t recall off hand. There is a book about this migration but, unfortunately, it does not mention any Ennises or McGees. Still, it has a lot of interesting background information.
Wilson, Catherine Anne, A New Lease on Life: Landlords, Tenants, and Immigrants in Ireland and Canada, McGill-Queens University Press, Montreal.
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By the way, if you want to know what an early Ennis looked like, there is a picture of my grandfather with his college football team taken in about 1900 posted at:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,391077.0.html
He is the short one with black hair in the middle of the back row.
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Hello Kate, My grandfather, too. I just joined RootsChat today as I was alerted to Grampy's picture by the great granddaughter of Emma Childs who is also here. We have been in discussion since she found my family tree on Ancestry.com (http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/20298609/family?cfpid=926966394) I should have some other pictures to share.
I'll look around and we can chat.
Janet
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Hi, Janet. I'll get back to you in a few days. I'm out in the field without good internet access.
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Hi Janet -
I'm back in Quito now, with regular access to the internet. If you post a couple more times, we'll be able to communicate by PM. Thanks for the great photo; it's one I hadn't seen before. When was it taken? I'm guessing when he graduated from divinity school.
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Hi Kate,
I'll attach one partial diary that has been transcribed. You may have it. I inherited various papers and diaries from both Granny and Grampy from my mother. Some are hand written and while I transcribed Granny's long diary starting when she arrived in Africa I'm not sure what to do with her small daily hand written ones.
Anyway, here's one just to share and get established so we can chat. (And now I know a document has to be RTF)
Janet
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And here is another photo, taken in 1960 of Merlin and Elisabeth. I assume you probably have it, but just in case you don't.
I'm not familiar with this website yet, though it looks very interesting. I have been adding to Ancestry.com.
Janet
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Joan wrote me Mary's death on the 21st. I'm very sad to hear this. We were last together at my mother's memorial service. Clara was planning to visit her this summer, but I haven't heard a report of her trip yet.
I have this picture in my Ancestry.com family tree. I'm sure I have others as I just inherited my mother's old photo albums. I'll look for others.
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I sent you a PM.
About the Muir farm. John Ennis settled at the west end of what is now known as Ennis Lake. It is now part of the John Muir - Ennis Lake County Park. There is quite a lot of information about the lake [actually a smallish pond] and some nice pictures on the web. The actual spot where the Muir cabin had stood wound up with Howard McGuinn and I think it was the McGuinns and the descendants of Sam Ennis who sold the land to the county to establish the park. I think this caused some friction with some of Hugh's descendants.
My grandfather's comment on the Muirs was, "a bunch of shiftless Scots who ruined the land and then moved on."
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I have pictures of my Great grandfather s and Great Grandmother s Farm The Ennis farm and a few old photos of the Ennis s back in the day
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Kircubbin is in the civil parish of inishargy see Ros davies Co Down website
with 11 townlands see townlandsin https://www.townlands.ie/down/inishargy/
Baile Oibicín (see Ballyobegan (Baile Oibicín) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Baile Rodanaí (see Roddans (Baile Rodanaí) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Baile Uí Gharbhagain (see Ballygarvan (Baile Uí Gharbhagain) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Baile Uí Uiginn (see Balliggan (Baile Uí Uiginn) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Balliggan (Baile Uí Uiginn) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 318 A, 1 R, 35 P
Ballygarvan (Baile Uí Gharbhagain) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 561 A, 2 R, 39 P
Ballylimp, Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 364 A, 2 R, 9 P
Ballyobegan (Baile Oibicín) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 577 A, 0 R, 10 P
Ceathrú an Iascaire (see Fish Quarter (Ceathrú an Iascaire) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Ceathrú na gCailleach (see Nunsquarter (Ceathrú na gCailleach) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Cill Ghobáin (see Kircubbin (Cill Ghobáin) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Echlinville, Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 482 A, 3 R, 2 P
Fish Quarter (Ceathrú an Iascaire) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 271 A, 3 R, 12 P
Inis Mhic Cairrge (see Inishargy (Inis Mhic Cairrge) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
Inishargy (Inis Mhic Cairrge) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 1029 A, 2 R, 31 P
Kircubbin (Cill Ghobáin) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 573 A, 0 R, 17 P
Nunsquarter (Ceathrú na gCailleach) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 182 A, 2 R, 37 P
Roddans (Baile Rodanaí) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 402 A, 2 R, 29 P
Rowreagh (An Rubha Riabhach) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down 648 A, 1 R, 18 P
An Rubha Riabhach (see Rowreagh (An Rubha Riabhach) , Inishargy Civil Parish, Barony of Upper Ards, Co. Down)
the earliest ards peninsuls record is not in Inishargie but just south in Ardkeen civil parish
tried https://www.ancestryireland.com/family-records/death-burial-records-county-antrim-down/?search1=&search2=ennis&condition=begins&submit=Search death
Ennis Robert 1762 Ardkeen CI Down ancestryireland is the website of the Ulster Historical Foundation note ancestryireland is the website of the Ulster Historical Foundation who site includes offers of research etc
www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/ardkeen-parish.php has Ennis no innes/innis
Ennis, Henry Townland : Ardkeen Year: 1834
Ennis, Henry Townland : Ballygealeagh Year: 1834
Ennis, Henry Townland : Kirkistown Year: 1834
Ennis, James Townland : Ballycranmore Year: 1834
Ennis, James Townland : Kirkistown Year: 1834
Ennis, John Townland : Ballycranmore Year: 1834
Ennis, John Townland : Kirkistown Year: 1834
Ennis, Thomas Townland : Kirkistown Year: 1834
Ennis, Thomas, Jr. Townland : Kirkistown Year: 1834
Ennis, Thomas, Sr. Townland : Kirkistown Year: 1834
Ennis, William Townland : Ballycranmore Year: 1834
Ennis, William Townland : Kirkistown Year: 1834
this demonstrates the family name focus in the Ards P’.
tried http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/inishargy-parish.php
no ennis or innis etc foundin 1834
ros davies has over 35 entries for Ennis in Co down see http://www.rosdavies.com/SURNAMES/E/EnEy.htm
ros davies has over 70 entries for Innes/Innis in Co down see http://www.rosdavies.com/SURNAMES/I/I.htm
griffiths valuation has an entry in askaboutireland website for 1863 with a Jihn Ennis living in kircubbin townland with map ref 75 83 renting from Anne Johnston, Ho off yardand small garden valued at £7 pa which is well above the average of £1-£2 pa the ref 83 isnt shown on the map but the boundaries of each village premise is running both sides of main st kircubbin
that’s as far as I can manage over to others good luck