Matchett family

[Mabus]

1901 N. Ireland census shows George A. Matchell (50, b in Co. Down), head, married, gen agent, living on Moyola St. Belfast, with wife Jane (40, b in Co. Armagh), mother-in-law Agnes Davidson (85), and children: May (20, b in Co. Armagh), single, sewing machine instructress; Samuel J. (19, b in Co. Armagh), single, pattern maker; Bessie (17, b in Co. Armagh), single, house keeping; Edlie (12), George J. (10, b in Co. Armagh), scholar; Robert A. (6, b in Co. Armagh); Alice (3, b in Co. Armagh); Norman H. (0, b in Co. Antrim);

Someone I'm talking too on the Matchett side but connected further out provided me the link last night. I was near a wits end trying to find them using various spellings of Matchett. Turns out that whoever the website transcriber was misread the census form for it clearly shows T's. I sent a correction request, so hopefully it'll be amended.

May's parents must have decided to rename her for some reason. Maybe a relation had died not long after she was born and they thought they would remember them that way? If so, if it was possible to identify them it might help find more connections or even Elizabeth's maiden name.

I was able to expand the May side to her children Adelaide, William and Phylis, along with Adelaide's son Brian Carter. Which line does your wife descend?

[Ian Sumpter]

Mabus: interestingly i have on May (Mary) Matchett is: born at Madden Bridge, Tangragee, Co Armagh, N. Ireland 7 Jun 1880 (baptised at Tullylish, Co Down 8 Aug 1880), died (age 85) at Victoria, BC, Canada, 26 May 1965 [buried at Royal Oak Burial Park, Victoria, BC]. May's birth date appears to be the same as Elizabeth's? - thus making them possible twins?. 

May (mary) Matchett married William Braithwaite Press  at Shankill, Belfast, N. Ireland 19 June 1901. They had 3 children:
1) Adelaide May Press, born at County Antrim, N. Ireland, 13 Mar 1902 ; died (age 73) at Victoria, B.C. 19 Aug 1973; married Henry (Harry) Carter (b at Bristol, Glouncestershire 1874, died at Toronto, Canada 28 June 1940; son of James and Mary Carter) at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 17 Sept 1926;
2) William Sydney Press  born at South Africa, Oct 1905; died at Victoria, B.C. 1997; married to: 1) Kathleen Theresa Eby (born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, 20 April 1907, died  (age 67) at Victoria, BC. 21 Oct 1974; daughter of Wellington Eby and Theresa Jane Trimble) at Winnipeg 8 Aug 1936; 2) Geraldine Myrtle Bewley (born at Wolsely, Saskatchewan, 9 Mar 1915, died (age 72) at Victoria, B.C. 26 Oct 1987; daughter of John A. Bewley and Adella Mitchell) at Dallas, Texas USA 23 Dec 1975 (age 60); and 3) Mary Brown.
3) Kathleen Phyllis Press , born Belfast, N. Ireland, 08 May 1907, died (age 64) at Victoria, BC, 30 Dec 1971 ; marriage to: 1) George Edward Wheeler (died 1936) at Winnipeg 9 Nov 1929; and 2) Mark Robert Knisley  (b at Little Rock, Arkansas, USA 6 Jan 1912, died at Victoria, BC, 8 June 1991 ; son of Robert R. Knisley and Jeanette Steeden) at Steuben, Indiana, USA 14 June 1943

My wife is a Carter. Her father Brian Desmond Carter is the son (and only child) of Adelaide May Press and Harry Carter.

[Mabus]

Call me Lyle.

Madden Bridge would be in the townland of Tullyhugh. I had thought of a possible twin however the documentary evidence suggests otherwise. There are only 11 birth registration civil records for children of George and Jane, and in the 1911 census Jane states that she had had 11 children of which 10 where alive. So far I can find information on all children up to 1911 bar the first Elizabeth and Margaret Jane who was born on 1 Aug 1886. May fits Elizabeth perfectly so Margaret Jane must have been the one who died before 1911.

Looking into George's wife, Jane Davison's side I came across this http://history.davison.ca/ website and it would appear that our Davisons were involved in the production of linen from the early 1700s. A J. Davis (a by-name for Davison) in 1805 introduced damask linen production. Jane's father was Joseph Davison of Tullyhugh and this site mentions Joseph. They also provide a map based on the valuations from 1864 http://history.davison.ca/Images/DavisonLeasedLand1864.jpg which clearly shows Joseph's plot of land along with the Tandragee railway station and a hotel, the "Madden Inn Hotel" (it lay by the Madden River).

In Jane's parents marriage record Joseph is listed as a hotel keeper, so it is definitely one and the same. According to the valuation books held at PRONI, George Alexander Matchett took on the tenancy of the land and hotel in 1884 before a Joseph Gilpin took it on in 1891. This matches the time frame where the first half of George's children were born in Tullyhugh.

In Joseph's marriage record his father Robert is recorded as being a manufacturer tying it directly into the Davison's of the linen trade as referenced in that website. The site says Joseph rented out his house in Tullyhugh and the only applicable record I can find for a death of a Joseph Davison (under various alt spellings) is in Drumaran townland, the same townland Samuel Matchett's family lived, though through valuations it would appear he had land there from as early as the 1860s.

[Ian Sumpter]

Hi Lyle: many thanx for that info on Jane Davison's family. I have only the following data on Jane (as probably you do too): born at Co. Armagh 1862, died at Belfast 4 Apr 1922; daughter of Joseph and Agnes Davison). She married George Alexander Matchett at Belfast 18 Mar 1880.

It certainly would be nice to have more information on George's parents: Samuel (born in Co. Armagh 1812, died [age 89] at Tullylish, Dromarrin, Co. Down, N. Ireland 25 June 1902; and Elizabeth _ , born ~1812, died [age 71] at Drumaran, Tullylish, Down 23 Jul 1883.

Thanx again for all the helpful information, it certainly filled in some blanks.
cheers
ian

[Ian Sumpter]

Lyle, i have birth register of Elizabeth Matchett, b at Tullyhue 7 June 1880, and Baptism register of Mary Matchett born 7 June 1880. Give me your email address and i will forward copies. It's a mystery: same person or twins? Was the child originally named Elizabeth at birth (june 7 1880) and renamed Mary on date of Baptism Aug 8th 1880? 
cheers
ian

[Mabus]

Hi Ian, i sent a DM. Interestingly I found a newspaper article that shows George Alexander Matchett applying for a spirit license for the Madden In in 1883. In another newspaper article, this time from 1889, a William Matchett is listed as licensee. George's son William was only born that year, so I may have found another brother (maybe cousin) of George.

This is quite fortunate as the other person I am talking too has evidence that suggests Samuel's father was a William Matchett. Parents and grandparents names were often carried on and of the six known children of Samuel I have, none were called William. This suggests there was indeed a sibling of that name. I will note that George had a son named William Joseph Matchett. Joseph is his wife's fathers name. William I am assuming is that of his grandfather. The only reason I can assume a name was given before the wife's father is if it was a direct descendant of the father. His eldest son Samuel James, would appear to be named straight after his father (I'm assuming he may have had James as middle name).

[Jon_ni]

I sent a correction request, so hopefully it'll be amended.

FYI I still submit them but I don't think anyone actually does anything since John Grenham's contract ended. If they get round to them any corrections to NAI don't automatically update on Ancestry and Findmypast's index, those are frozen in time.

John's observations:
https://www.johngrenham.com/blog/2019/03/25/my-census-correcting-comes-to-an-end/
https://www.johngrenham.com/blog/2017/11/20/census-correcting/
https://www.johngrenham.com/blog/2017/09/24/correcting-the-1901-and-1911/
https://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2017/09/john-grenham-starts-work-on-nais-irish.html