CHAPTER 4: Tracing Drummard, The Follow Up
Before I get into the specific details of the exercise of tracking the “ownership” of the Drumard lands, first allow me to expound a little on how land rights were handled from the early 17th century. The reason all the land “transactions” conducted at that time were referred to as “leases” is that the British government had confiscated the lands of the native Irish in Northern Ireland around 1610 in an effort to control that strategic island in defense of England and prevent it’s use as a military base against attack, explained in great detail by Robert Stedall’s book, Men of Substance. Within a few years they had organized their plan and subdivided Ulster into twelve relatively equitable segments, assigned to the London Livery Companies. The area from which our Downing ancestors were concentrated was “owned” and managed by the Vintner’s Proportion, with its center located at Vintnerstown, now known as Bellaghy. The Livery Companies then appointed a “Chief Tenant” to manage their lands by leasing them back to English settlers and Irish farmers. Typically, large tracts would be leased to the English settlers, who they hoped would populate the province, eventually convert Northern Ireland into a more anglicized society, and the English settlers could then sublet smaller portions to the native Irish, who were not excluded from larger tracts if they had the means to execute the agreements. That’s just a generalization, with the purpose being to show that land was not “sold” as we customarily think about it today, until much later.
Before 1870, only about 3% of the land in Ireland was privately “owned” by “freeholders” and 97% was leaseholds. Between 1870 and 1923 there were a series of parliamentary Acts that were designed to transfer land rights from tenancy to land ownership, so that by 1929 that ratio had reversed and about 97% of the land was then freehold, and “sold” in the way we think of real estate transfers today.
Clotworthy Skeffington, 3rd Viscount Massereene, under whom Capt. Adam Downing served during the Siege of Derry and the Battle of the Boyne, officially took over as Chief Tenant in 1695, when his father, Sir John Skeffington died. When Clotworthy died in 1714, William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons (1715-1729), became Chief Tenant.
(an excerpt from Stedall’s book): “In 1729, he tried to negotiate the purchase of the estate for 6,000 BPS and a continuing rent of 200 BPS with 2 fat bucks, but he died before these terms could be agreed. . . Conolly’s nephew, also William (William James Conolly, or William Jr.), was obliged to increase the offer to 15,000 BPS. Although an agreement was signed, completion was delayed until 1737, at which time, Thomas Conolly, William Jr.’s son, obtained the proportion in perpetuity, and the Vintners and their associates ceased to be involved.”
After 1737, and for quite some time, Thomas Conolly continued to assign leases and along the way, many Lessees were “selling” their property rights.
As for tracking the Drumard lands, there could be two ways to approach this problem. We could try to trace the ownership of the descendant’s specific real estate in the traditional manner, by consulting a “Recorder of Deeds” and following the path of ownership as far back as possible. Or we could try to trace the unspecified Drumard lands held by Jackson and Williams as of 1764, by examining their Wills and those of their heirs, searching for transfers in the FamilySearch database, and other sources that may reveal when, and to whom, they transferred those lands. I have already started that process and can attest that it is not going to be easy. Perhaps a combination of those efforts will merge at some time, and we can “connect the dots”. Of course, the present homeowner on Drumard Road doesn’t own 545 acres, so, during the ensuing 254 years, that acreage was subdivided into many smaller tracts, piece by piece. I’m afraid I don’t have another “lifetime” to fully conclude THAT investigation, so I will terminate the exercise with the knowledge that Nicholas lived somewhere among 545 acres in Drummard, not necessarily on the exact spot occupied by the living descendant, but the living descendant has at LEAST a 55% chance of sitting on part of the original 545 acres, that just happen to be within 800 yards and clear sight of Col. Adam Downing’s “old castle”.
