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Hi Isabel - You are right - Samuel Shanks, son of James and Margaret (Guy) Shanks, born in 1818 and married to Mary Jane Bryson (confirmed by records and the John Shanks diary) could not be your Samuel Shanks who married to a Margaret and had children starting in 1829.  The only thing I can think is that James Shanks had a brother or cousin by the name of Samuel who was likely born about 1800 or so.  I don't have my notes with me right now, which I took from the John Shanks diary in PRONI last fall, so I can't check if there was any mention of such an individual.  After Easter I can look into it.  I do remember that John mentioned a lot of people going to 'America', but I don't remember him mentioning any going to Australia.  It is very tricky trying to track family members when they used the same first names over and over again in each generation and at one time there were so many people with the same last (and first) name living in close proximity - we are having the same problem sorting our Moses Greers born about 1800 all living in or near Corlust!!!

Hi Isabel -  This is what I have on Samuel Shanks(es).  James Shanks (1787-1871) and Margaret Guy Shanks (from our Guy/Greer line) (1783-1870) had a son, Samuel (1818 -1905), who married Mary Jane Bryson in 1847.  They had sons Alexander, James, George, and Samuel (Sammy) (1834-1843) (as well as daughters Jane, Sarah, and Margaret).  George married Elizabeth Allen June 10, 1868 and they had sons Samuel (April 19, 1969), John (April 28, 1871), and George (1873).  Hope this helps!

And here is one more link - look for the gravestone inscription for James Shanks in the sixth paragraph:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donaghmore1/donaghmore/donbfourtownscem.html

Hi -
I have a fair bit of information about the James and Margaret (Guy) Shanks family you are looking for.

James Shanks b.1788, d. 1871-5-23 married Margaret (Peggy) Guy b. 1783, d. 1870-1-28.  They were married on 1809-7-14 and had the following Children:
Eliza Shanks b. 1810 (may have died as a child); Margaret Shanks b. 1812 d. 1856-2-25 or 1857-12-20; John Shanks b. 1814-10-15, d. 1898 (kept a diary that is now in the collect at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)); Samuel Shanks b. 1817, d. 1905 (we have a copy of a letter from him to our Greer ancestor in Ontario, Canada, dated April 1892); Alexander Shanks b. 1820-1-1, d. 1894; Eliza Shanks b. 1822-4, d. 1847-4-6; Sarah (Sally) Shanks b. 1824-6-9, d. 1850-3-28 (buried at Loughbrickland Church); and Mary Shanks b. 1827-2-1. 
James and Margaret Shanks farmed in an area called Loughadian, which is just east of Poyntzpass, which is on the bordare of Co. Armagh and Co. Down.

Margaret Shanks married John Graham and they had the following children:
Margaret Graham b. 1831-9-21, d. 1857-12-20; John Alexander Graham b. 1833-8-5 (had a son, John Shanks Graham b. 1877-4-28); Sarah Ann (Sally) Graham b. 1835-12-30 (married Wm. Bryson on 1859-6-16); Elizabeth Graham b. 1838-4-14 d. 1868-1-22 (married John Wittan on 1863-6-8); Louisa Graham b. 1841-10-14 d. 1865-9-12; Charlotte Graham b. 1844-2-23; Mary Graham b. 1846-5-20; James Graham b. 1848-10-15; Samuel Graham b. 1853-2-23 d. 1855-2-17.

John Shanks appears not to have married, but farmed the family plot at Lisnabrague until 1873 when he sold it to his brother Alexander.  He kept a diary which is available to read at PRONI - T2809 - I read the entire diary last week in Belfast at PRONI.

Samuel Shanks married Mary Jane Bryson on 1847-11-19 and their children were:  Sarah Shanks; Jane Shanks (married James Warwick on 1877-1-25); James Shanks (married Agnes Thomson on 1877-12-27); Margaret Shanks; and Alexander Shanks.

Alexander Shanks (son of James and Margaret Shanks) seems not to have married.  He bought the family farm from his brother John in 1873.

Eliza Shanks married Thomas Cunningham (d. 1844-11-29) of Killysavan (just south of where she grew up), Co. Down on 1841-1-26 and had the following children:  John Cunningham b. 1842-9-18 d. 1854-9-24 and James Cunningham b. ~1844.

Sarah (Sally) Shanks  married John Tuft on 1849-3-20.

Mary Shanks married James Andrew (Andy) McClelland of Tullysane on 1851-4-7.  He died on 1856-5-26.  They had one son, Robert James McClelland, who died 1858-7-14 at the age of 6 and was buried beside his grandparents, James and Margaret Shanks.  Then Mary married Samuel Gibson of Tullymore in October of 1860.  They had the following children:  Margaret Gibson, Robert Gibson, and Samuel Gibson (who left for America on 1880-2-28).  Mary and her three children (no mention of her husband, so he too may have died before this)left for America on 1883-8-4.

James and Margaret (Guy) Shanks were buried at the Four Towns Presbyterian Church on Black Bridge Road, just east of Poyntzpass, Co. Down.  This information is from a descendant currently living in Poyntzpass.  The original head stone for James and Margaret was removed about 35 years ago because it was toppling, but the marker for Robert James McClelland is still there.  The living descendant's parents are now buried next to Robert James McClelland.  When we visited last week, I took I pictures of the grave as it is today.

I hope this helps in your search!

M Greer

Thanks - it's a start!  MG