I am interested in the above family as my ancestors were tenant farmers in the townland of Ballyrattan from at least the mid 18th century through most of the 20th century.
The landlord in 1890 was a William J. Foster, unsure when he became landlord, Thomas Ferguson was their landlord at the time of the Griffith Valuation in 1858. A letter in Proni from 1847 states that the land was in possession of Mr Thomas Ferguson for some debt of Sir A. Chichester, so he may have sold the land to the Foster family sometime after the 1850's.
The Irish Land Commission record below shows that William J Foster was landlord for almost the entire townland in 1890(Although my McCorkell ancestors do not appear on this list for some reason?)
http://www.dippam.ac.uk/eppi/documents/18490/page/491404One of my McCorkell forebears was renting his farm at Ballyrattan from a Mrs EA Foster in 1917, it appears that the land was still being rented by my family from the same landlords up until the 1980's, as I have seen a purchase of 3 acres from the Foster family recorded in the revision books as late as 1980.
I believe the William J Foster was William John Foster of Londonderry who owned 2400 acres of land in Donegal in 1876, he died in 1891 at Portrush, county Antrim.
I was wondering if anyone had information on the Foster family and if any estate records exist for their Donegal estate?
Also wondering was it unusual not to buy out the lease at the time of the Land Purchase Acts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
Thanks for reading
Joe