Henrys of Derry County - Pre 1800

[maureenms]

THx This is St Mary's Ballerin, where my grandparents are buried:
http://www.northcoastni.com/filestore/downloads/garvagh-booka.pdf

[aghadowey]

THx This is St Mary's Ballerin, where my grandparents are buried:
http://www.northcoastni.com/filestore/downloads/garvagh-booka.pdf

Here's some pictures of St. Mary's (on Boleran Road)-
www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/C8019

[Birdenia]

Ireland is beautiful and her people are so kind and gracious!

We found the Henry family farm called Flower Hill, thanks to several helpful folks.  The current owner was not home.  I took a few photos, but because the old buildings are gone it is hard to visualize the farm as it was when the Henrys lived there.  We also found the Old Aghanloo Cemetery where the Henry stone is.  My photo of the whole stone is not readable because the light was not good or in the wrong direction.  I did take close-ups of various parts from different angles and some of those are readable.  I'm going to ask my son to help me improve them.  We walked around the cemetery, but did not find any other Henrys.  Some of the stones are impossible to read.  We did find a stone for "David Long, Lisnagrib, who died 12 June 1901, and his wife Esther, who died 19 Feb 1881.  Also their son David who died Apr 1882, Robert who died 12 Oct 1904."  I found this significant for two reasons:  Matthew Henry b circa 1745 married Jennie LONG; and David LONG leased the farm next to Flower Hill according to Griffith's Valuation.  Does anyone in the Limavady region know anything about David LONG or his ancestors?

I also found the newer (old) cemetery along the Aghanloo Road surrounding the Church of Ireland.  I didn't find any Henrys there but did find a stone for Rev. George and Mary Catherine Craig.  I wonder if they were related to John Craig who came to the US in 1836 with his wife and Matthew Henry b 1817 (first of John and Rachel McMillan Henry's 12 children).

More in next message.

Birdenia

[Birdenia]

A reprint of The History of the Henry Family of "Flower Hill" Ireland and their Descendants may be ordered from Higginson Book Company.  The web address is http://www.higginsonbooks.com/genhe043h.html.

I found two items at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.  I obtained a copy of William Henry's will (1891) from the microfilm.  He was the 8th child of John and Rachel McMillan Henry, who remained on the farm "Flower Hill" with his parents.  There were several bequests to the Limavady Church and the rest went to his brothers and sisters or their descendants.  I suspected he never married or had children, and his will supported that assumption as neither wife nor children were mentioned.  If anyone wants details, let me know.

I also found the 1871 sale catalog which Aghadowey mentioned.  The title is Landed Estates, Court Rental, sale particulars and maps relating to the estate of John Henry de-la-Poer (Marquis of Waterford) and of John Leslie and the Honorable Edward Kenyon and his trustees in the Baronies of Coleraine and Keenaght, County Londonderry and the town of Coleraine.  D2096/3/2.  I ordered photocopies of the relevant pages.  There were other items listed under the Marquis of Waterford, but we didn't have time to go through them.

Birdenia

[Birdenia]

The McCausland estate is a new name to me. 

My dad did remember the original sale documents from the McCausland estate to William Henry's father being in his possession at one time and it was very few pounds from his recollection. 

I thought the farm Flower Hill had belonged to the Marquis of Waterford before William Henry "bought" it in 1871.  I know there were several men who had the title Marquis of Waterford, but I don't remember this name.  It might be helpful to find out more about the McCausland estate.

Birdenia

[terrydoo73]

My father always "assumed" that McCauslands owned the land around Limavady - they still live near the town of Limavady and have been selling land recently which was believed to me in the original land ownership from way back in the 1800's.  Is it possible someone could shed light on this? 

I think my dad would really love to know the details of William Henry's will.

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
    If you Google DRENAGH there is some information on the McCausland family who lived in this estate. An older house on the estate was known as FRUITHILL.

Regards

[DrHenry]

The evidence appears convincing that Rachel Henry (b. abt 1767) came from Flower Hill (Newton Limavady) in Derry County; her parents were Matthew Henry and Jennie Long; and she (Rachel) married (in 1787) John Henry (b. 20 Mar 1763), bore his children, and in due course emigrated to the U.S.

And the family lore I'm familiar with says that John Henry came from somewhere in Derry County - presumably within 'courting' distance of Flower Hill - and that his parents were Robert Henry and Mary Woodburn.

In trying to gain more specific info about the origins of John, I looked at the family trees in Ancestry.com which include John, AND show his parents as Robert Henry and Mary Woodburn.  (There are a number of contemporary John Henrys, so I narrowed the search to specifically include Robert and Mary as his parents.)  There are on the order of 20 family trees recording 'our' John Henry - and the variances in his reported locations of origin are worth noting.  You can't weight them according to the number of times used because many are presumably just copies of the others - and I suspect there is no proof for any of them.  While about half said John was from Derry County, the others either said he was from Antrim, or Derry, Cavan.

As I understand it, both Antrim and Cavan are other counties in Ulster.  Does this suggest that perhaps we should be looking in those two counties, in addition to Derry, for 'our' John Henry?  Or I wonder if 'Derry, Cavan' means something else - such as perhaps he was born in Cavan County but later moved to Derry County.  Have any of you heard of Antrim or Cavan Counties somehow associated with John Henry or his parents, Robert Henry and Mary Woodburn?

[kingskerswell]

Dr. Henry,
               There are three townlands in the County of Cavan called DERRY and one called Derry More and another called Derry Beg.

Regards