Travelling to work on the railways? (19thC Northern Ireland)

[Maiden Stone]

A navvy might have lived in a camp near the construction site.  Families may have accompanied them or may have stayed home.
Group travel may have been arranged by a gang-master, like for modern groups of migrant workers. If they travelled as individuals or families or small groups of workers, there were ways of getting around before railways. People were used to tramping for miles and hitching lifts. There was a network of Bianchi coaches in Ireland in 19thC.
Are you assuming that Michael was present at baptisms of his children? He didn't need to be there. He might have been away for months before and after each birth. Who registered the births? My GGF was informant at the birth registration of a nephew of his wife in 1864, it's possible the baby's father was away working in England, as was the custom.

[M_ONeill]

Thank you all for the amazing info - I think I'm really starting to get a feel for the kind of life Michael McChrystal and his family would have been like.

Maiden Stone: The only birth I've seen that would fall under the civil registry is the previously linked one for Thomas Edmund in 1865 (I believe he may have been the youngest child of the family). The informant was a woman called Sarah Morgan, who I believe is likely the same woman shown in this 1879 death record, so you may well be right about Michael being away from home at the time.

It seems to me that the family movements seem to revolve around land - specifically the farm in Annagh. Michael's father (also Michael - all the eldest sons in this family seem to be named Michael) dies in 1875. As his eldest son Michael and his wife Susannah are seemingly still over in England at this time, he wills his interest to his daughter Mary who holds it until Michael returns and takes over. Michael's sons all marry in Ireland but only the eldest (named Michael, what else!) remains in Ireland. His other brothers return to England and seem to adopt their father's travelling manner of work until they finally settled in North West England.

I'd assume it's a case of the small farm only being able to support the one family, so one holds it while the others go and hit the roads for work. Maybe that's what initially brought Michael (the initial subject of this thread) to go working on the railroads.

[M_ONeill]

So while I haven't found a path from Annagh to Tempo (and likely never will) I have found one line that does come near-ish to Tempo around the right time for Michael and Susannah's first births.

The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway was incorporated in 1845 and the first stretch, from Derry to Strabane was completed in 1847, then a later extension reached Omagh in 1852.

In 1853, (the year of Michael and Susan's first recorded baptism) the line reached Fintona - only 10 miles away from Tempo. In 1854 the line reached both Trillick and then Ballinamallard (5 and 6 miles away respectively). The line reached Enniskillen with a station opening in August of that same year.

So while I'm not sure how my ancestor first came to be working on the line, I think it's a fairly good bet that he was labouring on this stretch of line at the time of his births and, if Susannah really *was* from Tempo, maybe even at the time of his marriage.

[aghadowey]

It seems to me that the family movements seem to revolve around land - specifically the farm in Annagh. Michael's father (also Michael - all the eldest sons in this family seem to be named Michael) dies in 1875. As his eldest son Michael and his wife Susannah are seemingly still over in England at this time, he wills his interest to his daughter Mary who holds it until Michael returns and takes over. Michael's sons all marry in Ireland but only the eldest (named Michael, what else!) remains in Ireland. His other brothers return to England and seem to adopt their father's travelling manner of work until they finally settled in North West England.

Have you seen the father's Will to confirm this actually happened or is this based on an entry in Will book?

[M_ONeill]

I've seen his father's 1875 will and he technically leaves the farm to his daughter Mary McChrystal and Michael only gets a sum of money. I'll never know for sure, but I suspect that this is because Michael was still away living in England at the time.

The Griffiths valuations then confirm the land passing from Michael to Mary by 1876, and then the land passing from Mary to a Michael by 1879. Michael the younger's children all get married in Ireland despite having been in England in 1871, so I'm fairly sure the basic timeline holds water.

I should clarify that I don't think Mary was willed the land specifically to hold it for her brother, it's just my suspicion that that's how it turned out.

[aghadowey]

I've seen his father's 1875 will and he technically leaves the farm to his daughter Mary McChrystal and Michael only gets a sum of money. I'll never know for sure, but I suspect that this is because Michael was still away living in England at the time.

The Griffiths valuations then confirm the land passing from Michael to Mary by 1876, and then the land passing from Mary to a Michael by 1879. Michael the younger's children all get married in Ireland despite having been in England in 1871, so I'm fairly sure the basic timeline holds water.

I should clarify that I don't think Mary was willed the land specifically to hold it for her brother, it's just my suspicion that that's how it turned out.

Still don't understand. How did Michael "technically leave" farm to his daughter? does is say something like "to my daughter Mary I leave my farm"?

[M_ONeill]

The specific phrasing is:

'I leave and bequeath to my daughter Mary McChrystal, my interest in this farm I possess by her paying all debts and bequests'.

The children in the will are all named in age order, with Michael coming first and receiving £5. His daughter Kate receives a shilling and his son Charles receives £1. Mary then comes last.

Checking the tree, it looks like Mary McChrystal married a Joseph Boyle in December of 1877. They were both listed as resident in Longfield, just to the west of Annagh. So it's possible that she had either already handed over the farm to her brother at this point or that this marriage was the impetus for the handover pre-1879.