40 year mystery - Canada, British Army?

[Elwyn Soutter]

The tithe applotment records for 1834 list a William Owens (Ovens) farming in Corracloon:

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/fermanagh/tithe-applotment-books/parish-of-inishmacsaint.php

You’ll see that there were a number of Stinson families farming nearby.

By the time of Griffiths Valuation in 1863 William had been replaced by Arthur Ovens. He had plot 1 which was a 65 acre farm (on the modern Church Hill Rd). It’s still a farm today.

The family had gone by the time of the 1901 census. Only 2 farmers left in the townland then. The Valuation revision records show Arthur Ovens was replaced by Edward Rogers in 1890.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Fermanagh/Rahalton/Corracloon/

Arthur married in 1849. His father was John Ovens who was not a farmer:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1849/09362/5390425.pdf

Arthur died in 1890:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1890/06116/4745835.pdf

 I don’t know the relationship between William who was in Corracloon in the 1830s and Arthur. Arthur evidently inherited the farm so there must have been a family connection.  Nephew perhaps?

There are trees on Ancestry that record that he was buried in Benmore churchyard near Enniskillen, along with other family members. He had at least 8 children. This looks to be one:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Fermanagh/Rahalton/Derrygormelly/1363364/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Fermanagh/Rahalton/Derrygonnelly_Town/515052/

The Ancestry trees suggest there may be living descendants of the Arthur line around today. Might be worth comparing DNA if they were agreeable to establish whether you have the right family?

I can’t find anywhere in Fermanagh named South Walkins. Not sure what that might be.

[Lisa in California]

Elwyn, thank you VERY much for all of the details; they are very interesting.  Thank you also for taking the time to type everything.

Perhaps Church Hill Road is a major/long road in the area…I’ve run across the name in the past; I don’t remember the connection.

William Ovens, husband of Eliza. Stinson, quite possibly died in 1812 (in the same area).  It is possible that he was related to the folks you found.

Thankfully, my mum (and I) had her DNA tested so I will check her results again, looking for any connection to the individuals you found.

Alexander Ovens was another son of William and Eliza.  I will use your links to try to find out a bit more about him.  (I’ve looked around for him before but I think I only used one of the links that you provided.)

Thank you again. Lisa

[Elwyn Soutter]

Until comparatively recently we didn't use road names and house numbers in rural Ireland. Indeed in some places we still don’t. Your townland alone was sufficient to identify you.  The road past the Ovens farm will have acquired the name Church Hill Rd in the 1960s. Prior to that the address would just have been Arthur Ovens, Corracloon, probably with Derrygonnelly P.O. as well.  You won’t find Church Hill Rd in any old records. The name didn’t exist in the 1800s.

There were only 3 inhabited houses in Cooracloon in the 1860s, and only 2 in 1901.

[Lisa in California]

Elwyn, thank you for the additional information.  I am always interested in details provided by “locals”.

I don’t believe I’ve researched in the area post-1900.  I don’t know where I would have read Church Hill Road.  Strange.   

Thank you again. 

[Lisa in California]

Elwyn, if you are still around, would you know if the area was/is predominantly Methodist, please?

[UKgirl]

Re.
Birthplace: South Walkins, Fermanagh

I checked through this very long list:
https://www.townlands.ie/fermanagh/

It lists:
Baronies
Civil Parishes
Electoral Divisions
Townlands
Subtownlands

I was thinking that when someone joins up, they speak the name of their birthplace, and the officer taking notes has to then write down what he thinks he has heard. Therefore, he may just be guessing at the correct place name/spelling.

On the assumption that what he wrote will be something close to what he heard, I searched for "lkin" as part of Wilkin, and came up with this Townland:

Monawilkin, Inishmacsaint Civil Parish, Barony of Magheraboy, Co. Fermanagh 210 A, 2 R, 3 P

I think that this may be his place of birth?

I then Googled "Monawilkin" and found:

Monawilkin is in the Electoral Division of Church Hill, in Civil Parish of Inishmacsaint, in the Barony of Magheraboy, in the County of Fermanagh

https://www.townlands.ie/fermanagh/magheraboy/inishmacsaint/church-hill/monawilkin/

That seems to fit in with what you are looking for.

UKgirl

[Lisa in California]

UKgirl, thank you very much for all that you have found.  Tonight, I will record your findings and place them in my Ovens binder.  (Yes, I still have some paperwork rather than electronically saving everything.)

The typed details (on Anc*try) state birthplace of South Walkins, Fermanagh.  However, to me, the birthplace looks like Enish=MacSaint.  I will thoroughly look at the image to see where on the page South Walkins was mentioned (there are numerous men included on the image).

Your findings are very important to me.  For some reason, (for years) I thought Inishmacsaint was located near Lough Neagh.  I was very surprised to open your link to discover Enniskillen, etc. was so far from what I pictured. I think learning big and little details about my ancestors is very interesting so seeing the actual (correct) location is outstanding.

Your post also makes me wonder if there were several John Ovens in the area. Perhaps the John Ovens mentioned on the regimental rolls was from Inishmacsaint and did die in 1835.  Maybe he was from Monawilken or somewhere nearby.

I believe I’ve seen the townlands link before but never took the time to really explore the link.  It might be very helpful for some of my other Irish ancestors.

Thank you again.  Your findings have been tremendously helpful.  Lisa

Added: My Stuart ancestors (not in any way connected to Ovens) may have lived in Manorhamilton.  Again, I didn’t realize how close Inishmacsaint is to Manorhamilton.  Knowing this doesn’t help with research I just find it interesting.  (The littlest details entertain me.). 

[Elwyn Soutter]

Elwyn, if you are still around, would you know if the area was/is predominantly Methodist, please?

Lisa,

Yes there is a lot of Methodism in Fermanagh but you won’t find any Methodist records for the early 1800s. Quick history of Methodism in Ireland - Methodism is a denomination that broke away from the Church of England/Ireland.  In Ireland many followers were very reluctant to do that.  So they continued to use the Church of Ireland for baptisms and marriages for a long time. In some cases it was the 1870s before they started conducting their own baptisms and marriages. So where there are no Methodist records, you need to search Church of Ireland records instead.

In the case of Inishmacsaint parish, there were/are Methodists churches at Bundoran (baptisms from 1835, no marriages before 1890); Churchill (1877 for baptisms and 1879 for marriages) and Derrygonnelly (1871 for baptisms and nil marriages). Derrygonnelly or Churchhill are probably the ones any Corracloon Methodists would have attended.

Inishmacsaint Church of Ireland  has the following records:

Baptisms, 1813-85; marriages, 1813-1934; burials, 1813-87;
vestry minutes, 1765-1818 and 1837-70; confirmations, 1866, 1870, 1873, 1876, 1879 and 1882.

Extracts from baptisms, 1660-72 and 1800-15, marriages, 1663-72 and 1801-15, and burials, 1662-72 and 1802-15.

Extracts from baptisms, marriages and burials, 1660-
1814. Extracts from baptisms, marriages and burials, 1660-
1866, with gaps.

Copy in PRONI.

There was also a COI church at Finner in the parish. Records start 1815. Copy in PRONI.


I had a look at Monawilkin in Griffiths Valuation. In 1862 there was just 1 large farm in the townland held by John Ferguson. Gallagher family there in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Fermanagh/Churchill/Monawilkin/1360548/

No-one else lived in the townland. Monawilkin is about 3 miles west of Corracloon.

[Lisa in California]

Elwyn, thank you very much for the additional, thorough facts.  While I knew a little bit about the Irish religions, almost everything you explained is new to me.

When I asked about the Methodist religion in the area, I was wondering if one religion stood out as the predominant one - I was curious - I suppose wondering if all Ovens from the area were more than likely Methodist.  To my knowledge, my mum’s family and ancestors (once they settled in Canada) were Anglican (with a couple of Roman Catholic ancestors, too) and when I first found out that our John Ovens was Methodist, I was very surprised.

John’s possible father was buried in Derrygonelly Churchyard
1800-1814 Upper Inishmacsaint, Parish Extracts, Burials - Derrygonelly Churchyard
1812 16 February.   Ovens, Wm.   Age 29.  Townland: Corclune
https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/fermanagh/churches/upper-inishmacsaint-bur-ext.htm
   (Note: I do not know if the site is a safe site, so view with caution)

…Derrygonnelly or Churchhill are probably the ones any Corracloon Methodists would have attended…

You are spot on with the church.

From my notes, possibly my John and his possible siblings:
Upper Inishmacsaint Baptisms
Year and date    Father            Mother                     Child     Residence
1803 Sept 11    Ovens, Wm.    Stinson, Elizabeth    Alexr.     Corcloon
1807 May 3       Ovens, Wm.   Stinson, Elizabeth    Anne     Corcloon
1811 June 23    Ovens, Wm.   Ovens, Elizth.           John      Corclune

I believe the above is included in another RootsChat thread, I’m only mentioning it here for thoroughness, not for checking. 

I will look into the Inishmacsaint Church of Ireland records tomorrow.

Thank you again for explaining everything and for all of the wonderful information!  Lisa