Earl of Tyrone estates (Ballykelly area, etc.)

[pkincaid]

Does anyone know what estates the Earl of Tyrone (Beresfords) held at the beginning of the 19th century?  I am aware that they held estates about Ballykelly (Walworth, etc.) of the Fishmongers until the death of King George III at the end of January 1820.  An agent from the Fishmongers then came in and brought a number of changes to the holdings in the area.  My thinking is that some of the tenants holding of the Beresfords likely relocated to other estates of the Earl at this time.  I'm hoping to try to determine where they could have went.

Peter

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
    Beresford was the family name of the Marquises of Waterford and they had estates on the Eastern side of the River Roe north of Dungiven and in the Valley of the River Bann. The estates around Ballykelly were held by various families, Sampsons, Gage, etc, from the Fishmongers until they were reclaimed by the Fishmongers as you stated.

Regards

[aghadowey]

Earl of Tyrone (from Wikipedia): "It was created a final time in 1746 for Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone Marcus Beresford, son-in-law of the last Power earl. His son was created Marquess of Waterford in 1789, and the title has since been a subsidiary title of the Waterford title."
The sale of the estate of the Marquis of Waterford (John H. De La Poer) was held c1870 and a large catalogue with maps was printed listing all the porttions.

Peter- have you tried searching for information on PRONI's online ecatalogue which just became available online recently?
www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/ecatalogue.htm

If you have a particular townland(s) in mind post the details here and someone might be able to help or suggest where to look next.

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   Aghadowey is correct. In 1704 General Frederick Hamilton leased the Fishmongers estates and married Jane Beresford but had no family. General Hamilton assigned his lease to his nephew , the Earl of Tyrone and it was granted to trustees, along with the Haberdasher's estate which the Earl owned, in trust for his younger children. The Haberdashers estate was on the east bank of the River Roe. My apologies for my earlier mistake.

Regards

[pkincaid]

Walworth and some other lands around Ballykelly were held by the Earls of Tyrone (Beresford) of which the Marquis of Waterford sprung.  Check Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837, under Tamlaght Finlagan and Ballykelly for comments.  It appears that the Walworth estate was the abode of one of the younger sons - Henry Barré Beresford at the turn of the 19th century.  The Beresfords helped pay for the building of the parish church.

I have reviewed the rental rolls and visitation records by the Fishmonger agents.  There was simply a entry money received by the Earl up until 1820 (ie. without a breakdown of sub tenants).  I am currently trying to find notes in the Fishmonger records on the reallocation of the Walworth estate after 1820.  There are references to the Beresfords in the Fishmongers' vistation records but there were then in Learmont.

[pkincaid]

aghadowey:  Forgot to note that I did recently become aware that PRONIs catalogue is now online.  I have found it to be a fantastic resource.  I suspect I will be mining it for some time.

kingskerswell: Sorry I overlooked your last post.

Thank you both!

[Gortinanima]

The records for both the Fishmongers and
Lord Waterford estates in PRONI are very piecemeal.

I have some bits and pieces - are you interested
in the Kinkeads in Roe valley area?

[pkincaid]

Gortinanima:  I certainly do have an interest in the Kinkeads of the Roe valley!

My ancestor, David Kincaid, was a native of County Londonderry and came to Canada in May 1822.  His reputed brother George came a few years later.  Both followed and settled next to one John Kincaid who came in the summer of 1819.

At the time that he emigrated, there were only a couple of Kincaid families recorded in County Londonderry.  The Tithe Composition Applottement Books taken in 1826 has:

James Kincaid in Lisnick Townland, Ballyrashane Parish; [7 May 2009 note: This name was supplied to me by the Derry Genealogy Center in 1993.  I just recently looked at a microfilm copy of the Tithe record for Lisnick and there is no James Kincaid there.  It appears the Jas Kinnaird who appears in the Lisnick Tithe record was misread as James Kincaid].

John Kinkaid in Elaghmore Townland, Templemore Parish;
James Kinkead, in Ballykelly Townland, Tamlaght Finlagan Parish; and
James Kinkead in Walworth Townland, Tamlaght Finlagan Parish.

Now I got a great nugget this week from the new online catalogue which shows that the John Kinkaid in Elaghmore was from Greenhills, County Donegal (almost certainly Stranolar Parish).  I can now show that he must have been of the Baronscourt, County Tyrone Kinkeads which family DNA testing has shown myself to be fairly distant to.

So the odds seem to favor my family being tied to the Kinkeads of the Ballykelly area.  This is strengthened by a neighbor of my David Kincaids being from Newtown Limavady.  He was Edward Hamilton (bc 1806) who married Mary Miller.  It is also remotely of interest that apparently one of the prized things my David brought with him was a horn fashioned from a conch sea shell - something more appropriate to coastal Ballykelly/Walworth.  John Kinkead of Broharris used to gather and sell sea shells for fertilizer.

I've been trying to link my David back to Londonderry for 19 years now.

[Gortinanima]

I suppose you already have this from British History Online site:

Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, 14 & 15 Vict., cap. 93. (Form Ad.) Solemn Declaration.
I, John Kinkead, of Broharris, do solemnly and sincerely declare, that I remember my father holding about 18 acres in Ballykelly, 10 of which were under lease from the Beresfords, "middlemen holding under " the Company of Fishmongers." In 1820 the Fishmongers came into possession of the estate and compelled my father to relinquish his lease. The boundaries of the farms were then straightened, and, as a consequence, my father lost his holding, but got instead a few years after a farm in Ballyking townland, which was previously held by a man named Wright, who had to leave not being able to pay the rent.
I succeeded to my present holding through my uncle not being able to pay the rackrent imposed by the Company after they came into possession. The rent was raised from 10s. to 2l. 2s. per plantation acre. I never could have paid this rent from the resources of the farm, but did so from moneys earned at road making and boating shells for sale as manure. I reclaimed three acres of bog land on this farm without any aid from the Company. I believe all the land in this part was raised in the same rate as this farm. Of a number of tenants I remember Jack Creswell, Hamilton, Irwin, Andrew Grey, and Robert Cowan having to quit their farms owing to excessive rents, they being industrious men. Distraints for rent were very frequent.
And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, chapter sixty-two, for the Abolition of unnecessary Oaths.
(Signed) John Kinkead.
Made and subscribed before me this eighth day of July in the year eighteen hundred and eighty.
(Signed) Theobald M. Bryson, J.P.,
Justice of said county of Londonderry.
Stamp.)

From: 'Appendix: The Ulster estates', City of London Livery Companies Commission. Report; Volume 1 (1884), pp. 235-246. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=69408  Date accessed: 25 January 2009.