McNeill, Armstrong, Sloan, Irwin

[morewind]

Hello
I am new to this Board.  I hope someone can assist in breaking down a brick wall with my ancestor Abraham.  I believe he came from the area around Kilrea and was born around 1795.  He married Mary Armstrong and is buried in the Kilrea C of I Church, having died in either  1842 or 1847.
Many of his family emigrated to Australia.
Close by there is a grave of Thomas McNeill, whose descendants are also in Australia, but I cannot find out what their relationship was.
I am also seeking information on the Sloan family whose daughter Esther emigrated to Australia where she married Abraham's son John.  Her parents were Thomas Sloan and Margaret Irwin.

I would be most grateful for any information on any of these families.
Thank you
Rosie

[aghadowey]

Welcome to Rootschat.

Is this where you got the gravestone details from?:
www.torrens.org.uk/Genealogy/BannValley/church/KilreaCOI/Graves.html

Many Presbyterians were buried in Church of Ireland ground so the family might not have been Church of Ireland.

[morewind]

Thanks for your prompt reply!
Yes, I am aware of that - it is just so difficult to find anything else about this branch of the family!

I found one site but foolishly didn't record it that said there were two Abrahams, father and son, and that one was 6Ft 7 in tall!  Haven't been able to find it since!

Look forward to any small miracles!
All the best
Rosie

[aghadowey]

All the surnames you've listed are very common around Kilrea.

[morewind]

From what I have been able to discover so far, the McNeills were at Eden around 1845 and Mary (Armstrong) McNeill had moved to Moynock by the 1850s.
Their son James (b ca 1828) emigrated to Australia in 1849, Abraham had died and mary was living in Lislea.
John  (b ca 1829)and Thomas  (b ca 1834) emigrated in 1853 and Mary was then living at Moynock.  Eliza (b ca 1831) migrated the same year.
Joseph  (b ca 1834)went to Australia in 1854 with Archibald( b ca 1836)
Margaret (b ca 1827) came to Australia in 1855 with her cousins Esther and James Sloan.  They left Ireland soon after Mary (Armstrong) McNeill's death.
Esther and James parents Thomas Sloan and Margaret Irwin were married in 1826  Margaret was the daughter of robert Irwin and Martha (Macgregor)? of Lisnagrot.  Thomas, a farmer,  was noted on their marriage as a seceder and may have come from Moneygran.  I believe they had 4 children, Robert, Esther, James and THomas.

Robert Sloan married Ellen Irwin, daughter of Joseph Irwin and Rachel Burnside in 1852.  James married Briget Long in Sydney.

I haven't been able to identify the relationship between Thomas McNeill and Abraham, although I have been in touch with Thomas' descendants in Australia.

That's about all I have, although of course I have details ofnthe Australian connection in later generations.
Any assistance would be great.

I understand some of Thomas McNeill's relations still live in the area.
Regards
Rosie

[aghadowey]

You might already have these details-

Children of Robert Sloan ad Ellen Irwin:
1. Martha Jane c1857
2. Robert c1859
3. Ellen 1867 (IGI)
4. Elizabeth 1870 (IGI)
5. John 1871 (IGI)
6. Catherine STEWART 1874 (IGI)

The first 2 children are from 1st Kilrea records on Bann Valey site (not always accurate) and others from IGI. Last child is listed as Catherine Stewart (with Stewart as surname which I can't figure out).

[morewind]

Thank you so much for your help.  I understand that Robert and Ellen had in all 11 children, several of whom ended up at Charters Towers in Queensland - I obtained this information recently from family members on the Genes Reunited site.
It appears these families often intermarried with the Burnside and Snipe families from the same area, with "family" names running through them.
The inclusion of Stewart in Catherine's name is interesting - there are lots of Stewarts in the Boggs line, but I was not aware of any in this branch.
Another of life's little mysteries, just begging to be solved!
Kind regards
Rosie

[aghadowey]

Some Snipes became Knipes and then some of them became Knights so there's a few more surnames to keep an eye out for.

IGI lists Catherine as Catherine STEWART not Sloan but parents listed as Robert Sloan and Ellen Irwin but perhaps it is Catherine Stewart SLOAN.

[dinny]

Hello - My great great grandfather was Sloan Bolton.   His mother was Letitia (Peggy) nee Sloan.   Kilrea folk.  Are they in your tree?  Thanks and regards - Dinny.