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Messages - sallyharding

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Antrim / Re: Neill family - British Columbia and No. Ireland
« on: Tuesday 13 February 18 22:36 GMT (UK)  »
I hadn't gotten an email that you had replied!  Email was Removed.  No spaces between  the first 3 parts of course, I'm just trying to trick the system into not deleting it.

I found the article about David R.'s motorcycle crash.  Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to write down the date and can't find the site where I found it right now, but I believe it happened in the 1920's.  Unfortunately it won't let me attach it....

What I have in my tree (and this is all from Ancestry, I haven't done the extra research to verify) is that James (1874-1926) was the son of Thomas Neill (1834-?) and Margaret Lyons (1846-1908).  Thomas was the son of Samuel Neill and Sarah Martin.  Ellen (1864-1936) was Ellen Eliza Shields.  Two of their sons were Alexander (1903-1978) and Hugh (1905-1958).

And I've been too lazy to download my picture of Hugh, but one of these days....

I've just shared my family tree on Ancestry with you.  If you need help navigating, just let me know!  I don't know where it will open for you, so if you see a bunch of names you don't recognize, there's a search option in the upper right and search for one of the Neill's you know.  The tree has my Neill's, my mom's family and my husband's family, so there's a lot of bodies in it.  ;)  For James from the tombstone, there's his obit and WWI service record.  There's also a picture of Ellen Shields.

Thank you again so much for all of this!  And I look forward to hopefully meeting you next year!
Sally


2
Antrim / Re: Neill family - British Columbia and No. Ireland
« on: Monday 15 January 18 21:32 GMT (UK)  »
Happy New Year!   I hope 2018 is good to you and yours!

Thank you so much for all of this information! I wish I had as much to share with you.  I don't think I'll ever forget seeing the 1901 Irish census with my grandfather's family because so many of the names were familiar, it was like looking at a list of my aunts and uncles.

I would love a copy of the article!  My email is Removed  Let me know if you need my address.  I do have a picture of my grandfather Hugh if you'd like it.  It's the only one I've ever seen of him.  I think it was taken in the early 1900's - like 1910-1920, but it's only a guess from the style of his collar.

Hugh and Rosa had a total of 12 kids.  Samuel (Sept 23, 1908 Ireland-May 13, 1984 Rhode Island US), Henrietta (Jan 28, 1910 Comber Ireland - Nov 8, 1993 California US), Rosanna Evelyn (Feb 1, 1912 Vancouver BC - July 12, 1999 California US), Susannah (1914 Vancouver BC- Nov 6, 1927 Vancouver BC), David (Jan 12, 1916 Ballyskeah Ireland- June 7, 1985 Washington state US), Hugh (Jan 12, 1916 - Nov 28, 1916 Ballyskeagh Ireland), Hugh (Feb 21, 1918 Ballyskeagh Ireland - Sept 17, 2000 California US), Thomas William (Feb 21, 1918 Ballyskeagh Ireland - Aug 13, 1954 California US), Albert (July 27, 1919 Vancouver BC - Nov 28, 1946 Brittania Beach BC), Irene (June 22, 1922 Vancouver BC - August 24, 1997 California US), Lorna Agnes (Feb 16, 1925 Vancouver BC - Nov 4, 2002 California US), Joseph Azar (Sept 14, 1923 Vancouver BC - Dec 17, 2004 California US).  Joe was my dad.  He came about his not so Irish name from a man his dad worked with in Vancouver.

Have you come across the last name Fitzsimons in looking at the Neills?  That was my grandmother's maiden name.  She was born in West Derby, near Liverpool England, but her parents and other siblings I've found were born in Northern Ireland.  Haven't a clue why they trekked over to England to have her.  I ask because I found a tiny news article about David Rathmore Neill where he crashed a motorcycle and with him were the "Fitzsimons kids".  That's all the article says about them.  I think the article was from the 1920's.  David was knocked unconscious, but taken home and recovered.  I haven't found any kids from Rosa's siblings that would have fit the description of "the Fitzsimons kids".

Hugh (my grandfather) died in 1932 from a farming accident.  They had a farm in central California (town named Reedly) and he was trying to get a bull to mate a cow and the bull gored him.  His son Hugh and I think Hugh's twin Tommy were there and pulled him out of the pen and got him home.  My aunt Renee (Irene) told me that she remembered hearing him groaning in pain for several days before (in her words) someone came and took him to the hospital, where he died.  That left Rosa with a lot of kids to raise!  Samuel and Etta (Henrietta) had already gone out on their own.  Lynn (Rosanna Evelyn) dropped out of school to help Rosa.  David was always a wanderer and not home much (my dad told me once that the kids would be walking to school and they would turn left, while David just kept walking straight and they wouldn't see him again for months).  Hugh, Tommy and Albert helped out a lot, but Albert I think got into a lot of trouble.  He did serve time in prison for theft and robbery in the 1940's before being killed in a mining accident in BC.  Renee, Lorna and my dad were the youngest.  Surprisingly few kids from all of those Neill's.  I have two brothers (David and Michael) and a sister (Valerie) from my dad's first marriage.  Renee had a son and daughter.  Hugh had a son and daughter.  Sam had one son.  Lorna had one son.

My brother Dave and I are hoping to make a trip to Ireland next year.  It's something I've always wanted to do and now finding all this family really makes me want to go.

Do you use Ancestry.com?  If you do, my tree is called "Neill - Harding family tree".  I'm slowly putting the documents I'm finding on individual records and linking to what others have put up.  I found the image of James Neill's headstone that I've attached.  It was taken in 2001 in Crossgar.

Take care!
Sally

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3
Antrim / Re: Neill family - British Columbia and No. Ireland
« on: Thursday 21 December 17 21:11 GMT (UK)  »
All I can keep thinking is "WOW"! 

Hello cousin George!  it's wonderful to meet you!

I had made an educated guess that James was Samuel's brother, so it's great to have that confirmed.  I had figured out that Samuel and Sarah were their parents.  I also have a Thomas Neill (1845-?) and a Grace Neill (1857-?) as brother and sister to James and Samuel, but they are only guesses.  Do you know of any other siblings?

I recognized George Robert's name as a witness at Ellen Jane's marriage!  I have Mary Agnes marrying George Magee Alexander and them having Ann Elizabeth Grace, Edward and Georgie.  If any of that is correct, was your mom Ann?

What I've learned about Edwin was that he and Maggie (Margaret) went to Vancouver BC Canada with my grandparents Hugh and Rosa about 1910.  At that time, Hugh and Rosa (they were married at the Strand Presbyterian Church in Belfast in 1907) had Samuel and Henrietta, and Edwin and Maggie had Christina.  Edwin and Maggie returned to Ireland about 1915 and Hugh and Rosa in 1916.  Edwin and Maggie had a son Edwin Jr in Canada.  Edwin was a tailor and Hugh was a shoemaker.  I think Edwin worked with/apprenticed with Maggie's dad. Hugh and Rosa stuck around to have several more children (12 in total), then returned to Vancouver BC around 1919.  That's where my dad was born in 1923.  In 1929, they moved down to California.  Hugh was killed in a farming accident in 1932.

Is the Glen Farm near the Ballymorran Cottages?  From the 1901 and 1911 censuses, I figured out Samuel and Susannah were living at/near there.  It looks like it's at the intersection of Ballymorran Rd and Quaterland Rd?  I love Google maps!  In looking at the Google street views, I can easily imagine what it must have looked like back in the early 1900's.

1702!  Wow!  I've suspected for a long time that our Neill's originally came from Scotland, but doubt there would ever be a way to prove or disprove it.

I didn't come to have this much interest in family history until after my dad and his brothers and sisters had passed away, but other than the occasional mention of Grandma Rosa's sister Agnes, no other family members were ever talked about.  I guess Grandpa Hugh dying so young must have severed a lot of contacts to those left in Ireland.  It's so frustrating to see cousins who have died in the last 30 years or so that I've only just now learned about!

And I've always wondered why they trekked all the way to Vancouver BC!  Especially with young children!  I can't imagine doing it today on an airplane, much less by boat and how did they get from the east coast of Canada to the west coast?  When Hugh and Rosa came to California, one of the forms they filled out had to be signed by a friend or family member and it was signed by "Cousin - John Neill".  I found a John Neill, son of Thomas Neill (maybe brother to James and Samuel) who did pass away in a suburb of Vancouver and he would be a cousin and I've found a John Neill from Northern Ireland in the Canadian census, but haven't been able to confirm they are the same person.

I guess I've rambled enough.  Thank you so so much for finding this post and reaching out!  I had hoped to find far flung cousins still living, but didn't expect it would really happen.  I'm trying to put together what info I've gathered into a family tree on Ancestry and if you're interested in seeing it, let me know.  I'm happy to share!


4
Antrim / Re: Neill family - British Columbia and No. Ireland
« on: Wednesday 26 July 17 16:42 BST (UK)  »
Wow!  I've barely had time to digest the first round of info!  You are incredible!  The little bit that I read about Isabella, I don't think she's mine.  A lot of names in common, but the dates aren't matching up with my names.

I can't wait to look thru the new info!  Thank you so so much for all of this!!!

5
Antrim / Re: Neill family - British Columbia and No. Ireland
« on: Tuesday 25 July 17 00:11 BST (UK)  »
Wow!  Thank you so much!  I never expected to learn this much so fast!  For years I've been too afraid to tackle the Irish bit, with so many records having been destroyed, and until I found Edwin in the Canadian census, the only name I had was Hugh, not exactly an uncommon name in Ireland...  This is incredible!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!!

6
Antrim / Neill family - British Columbia and No. Ireland
« on: Monday 24 July 17 19:32 BST (UK)  »
I'm looking for my Neill's.  Recently found some of my clan in the 1901 Irish census.  Samuel (b 1842, d 1909 around Downpatrick)  and Susannah (b 1851) Neill and their children Ellen Jane (b 1876), Robert James (b 1878), David (b 1880), Alexander (b 1883), Hugh (b 1885 - my grandfather), and Edwin (b 1887).  Also found Susannah, Ellen and David still together in the 1911 census.  I know Hugh and Edwin married (Hugh married Rosannah Fitzsimons at the Strand Church in Belfast) between 1906 and 1909 and Hugh and Edwin moved to British Columbia by 1910-1911, both having had kids in Ireland.  They both disappear from British Columbia around World War I, but then Hugh and Rosa return with a few more kids.  Eventually they ended up in California. 

They were always in Northern Ireland.  I've seen the town names of Ballymoran, Ballyskeagh, Lisburn and Belfast associated with my family.  Hugh was a boot/shoe maker and Edwin was a tailor.  David was listed as a carpenter in 1901 and 1911.

I'm looking for any info about Hugh's other brothers and sisters and what happened to Edwin and his family.  It would be beyond incredible to find some long lost cousins still kicking around in Ireland.  Thanks for any help you can provide!
Sally

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