“Name Forgot” Church of Ireland Parish registers

by Marjorie Halligan

This may seem an odd, even, inappro- The registers in context rites. The 1750 register was segregated priate title for an article on the Parish with births being recorded at the be- Registers for the Church of Ireland Omission of personal details, was not ginning of the book, marriages in the parish of Armagh. These records are a prerogative of the Armagh Anglican middle and deaths at the back of the housed in St. Mark’s, Armagh, with cop- parish. Frank McCorry gives examples book, with the book turned upside down. ies in the Public Record Office, Northern of missing information from parish Here some samples from this register are Ireland (PRONI). At present they are be- records in his book, Parish Registers Histori- paraphrased: ing transcribed to a computer program cal Treasures in Manuscript. He cites entries Robert McCan, child of Thomas McCan by a team of three people under the from Magheralin parish records of 1695- and his wife was christened on February leadership of Uel Douglas. The other 1712, where six grooms and two brides 10, 1750 by the Reverend Richard May; members of the team are Elizabeth Jef- were left unnamed. He suggests that the George Taggart of Lurgaragh married fers and myself. The Select Vestry of St. actual recording of marriages took place Isabella Whaley of the same townland, Mark’s authorised this transcription in some time after the events and details married by the Rev. Jenney, by licence 2001, to clarify Graveyard records. The were forgotten (McCorry 36). McCor- on January 24, 1750; Alice Brawley project has the permission of Raymond ry’s work examines the registers of the buried at Armagh, a child, on January Refaussé, Archivist to the Church of Ire- parishes: Shankill Church of Ireland and 24, 1750. land. During the transcription it seemed Catholic; Seagoe Church of Ireland and For the christening no date of birth worthwhile to give an impression of this Catholic; Church of Ireland and is given, nor the father’s occupation. valuable source of information. Hence Catholic and the Presbyterian congrega- The townland which is a distinguishing this short article outlining the develop- tion; Magheralin Church of Ireland; feature in the marriage entry is absent ment of parish record keeping. The title Church of Ireland and from the baptismal entry. No marriage comes from an entry in the Burial Book & District Quaker Society. The earliest witnesses appear, nor godparents for (1820-1828) for May 20, 1823 which register in his study is of Quaker records the baptism. With the segregation into reads, “Name forgot”. Two similar beginning in 1634. These registers pre- separate registers for burials which entries appear in it for July, 1824. Entries date the registers in St. Mark’s collection began in 1804, for marriages in 1826 for February, 1827 record “a murdered by over a century, but they are by no and for births in 1829, there was scope infant” and “a poor man”. This book is means the earliest. McCorry quotes from for more information. The marriage held in PRONI. By the twentieth century Raymond Refaussé, editor of Register of register included entries for the groom’s record keeping had become much more the Church of St. Thomas, Lisnagarvey, Co. occupation and the names and occupa- informative for all rites. The records in Antrim. 1637-1646. Refaussé stated that tions of the fathers of the bride and the St. Mark’s collection for births begin the earliest extant register belonged to St. in 1750 and run until 1758. They resume John the Evangelist, again in 1775 and continue until 1805. Dublin, 1619 (Mc- Marriages are recorded from 1750 and Corry 2). follow almost the same pattern as births; the same pattern is evident in burial The Angli- records. From the beginning of the nine- can Parish of teenth century records are unbroken, in Armagh fact there is some duplication of them. An interesting inclusion in them are the Like the registers in lists of those confirmed; for example in McCorry’s study, the 1824, 318 were confirmed, 345 in 1828 parish of Armagh and 188 in 1833. It is evidence of a held to the tradition change in emphasis from the eighteenth of keeping all records century, where confirmation had almost in one book, though been abandoned in most Ulster dioceses not in chronological Uel Douglas and the author transfering records to the database (Acheson 74). order irrespective of 18 19 groom. Burial registers recorded the date longer appeared. The registers provide in the registers. Sometimes they were of burial and the age of the deceased. proof of changes in diocesan organisa- repeated within a generation due to the Baptism recorded the parent’s address tion, growth and change in the urban high rate of infant mortality. A summary and the father’s occupation. district of Armagh, and the cohesion of the burial entries for 1756, illustrates For each entry a more complete profile of the Church of Ireland community this high infant mortality. Of the three began to emerge. Occasionally such within it. hundred and twenty-eight entries, two progress was hampered by difficulties in hundred and thirty-seven were children. reading the entry due to the condition of Personal Names the register or the handwriting. Not un- Hardship in the community expectedly there are variables in spelling. On the more personal matter of names, Surnames such as McDowell appeared patterns are discernible. Surnames such As well as these individual tragedies, as Madole. Of the townlands as Rice, Sling and Maxwell which ap- there are entries marking community had many variables, one of which was peared frequently in the early registers tragedies. Outbreaks of disease such as Edenvese. These idiosyncrasies do not disappeared, whereas other early names typhus in 1817-1818 and cholera in 1832 detract from the registers as an archive such as Stewart and McCann continue to made their mark on the community. The of immense value. flourish. Unusual surnames tended to be- Burial Book 1821-1835, recorded the long to families with army connections. deaths of twenty-seven cholera victims Topography of the Parish Such connections reflect a garrison town. between July 19, and September 26, In 1756, Timothy Hinds of the Queen’s 1832. Indeed, they record the continuity and Regiment of Foot was one of the three The impact of the opening of Armagh change in the topography of the par- soldiers who married in the parish. In Workhouse on Tower Hill, in 1841, is ish. Addresses in the late eighteenth 1817 and 1850 respectively, again three clearly indicated in the registers. Burial century indicate the four churches with soldiers married here. The highest pro- entries for 1840, total twenty-four. Burial perpetual curates, which together with portion of soldiers marrying local girls in entries for 1842-1843, record one hun- the deanery made up the dred and five residents parish of Armagh. They from the Workhouse. were , Eglish, Proof of the underly- Grange and . In ing poverty endemic in the nineteenth century, the nineteenth century. addresses focus on urban Within a short time Armagh. This was due the history of this to the growth of Armagh workhouse became in- and to Archbishop Stu- extricably linked to the art’s (1800-1822) reforms mid-century tragedy in diocesan organisation of the Irish Famine. (Acheson 81,117). Between the Famine Street names such as years 1846 - 1849, the , Dobbin deaths of thirty-five Street, Linenhall Street Workhouse residents and Barrack Hill ap- were recorded. The peared. As the nineteenth total burials for these century progressed Callan Pages from the burial register for 1884 years was three hun- Street appeared very dred and ninety-five. the nineteenth century was recorded in frequently. Its predominance continued Given that five hundred and ninety-eight 1869, when there were twenty-three sol- well into the twentieth century, whereas, deaths were recorded in the Workhouse diers out of a total of thirty grooms. This Charter School Lane which had featured registers, from October 1846, until upswing in the post-Famine marriage in the early nineteenth century disap- March 1847, this seems relatively low. rate coincides with a rise in Armagh’s peared from the registers. From 1907, (McCourt 70). An entry in the burial population which rose to its pre-Famine it became known as Navan Street and register for May 20, 1843, by the sexton, level between 1870 and 1890. Thereafter as such barely features in them. After the James Albin, may explain this. After the there was a population decline which second World War, Callan Street became entry of a workhouse burial on that date continued until 1964 (Duffy 3. PRONI less prominent in the registers. Then, the he wrote, “after this date the (sic) bury in Ed. 3). new housing estates of Alexander, The their own ground and has 101 deaths”. At the most personal level of christian Folly and Orangefield featured strongly; Those with workhouse connections names William, John, Elizabeth, Ann by the late seventies Callan Street no buried in St. Mark’s graveyard during and Margaret are perennial favourites 18 19 the Famine were the Rev. Robert Haig, oped. Letter carriers became postmen. “Name Forgot”, as an entry has no place Chaplain and curate of St. Mark’s; Dr. Carters became lorry drivers. Coach- in modern registers. As a title for this Leslie, Medical Superintendent and men were replaced by chauffeurs and article it provides a useful benchmark to John Call, Master. The burial register drivers. All the different skills connected show the development in church record for 1889, records the last community with transport by train and bus are keeping. It has progressed from the mini- tragedy of the nineteenth century. Of represented. The lamp lighter vanished mal entries of the eighteenth century to the eighty-eight victims of the Armagh as electricity linesmen extended power the wealth of details of the twentieth Railway Disaster thirty-three are buried across the parish. Machinists and factory century. Eighteenth century churches, in St. Mark’s. The register pinpoints employees replaced linen tradesmen. On particularly the established church, had the popularity of the Methodist Sunday the domestic front “In service” disap- the monopoly of record keeping. This School Excursion with all denominations peared as a female occupation, as did the monopoly was lost with the introduction and that many of the victims came from position of butler as a male occupation. of civil registration to Ireland in 1864. The state, however, still recognised church registers as legal evidence of marriage and authorised that they be kept in the custody of the rector. The En- actment of Marriage (N.I.) Order 2003, which came into operation in January 2004, has changed this. An entry in the marriage register will no longer meet the legal requirements of the state as proof of marriage, instead this rests in the mar- riage schedule issued by the Registrar General through the local Registrar. This change is recorded in St. Mark’s register for 2004. The parish registers retain their original purpose, the affirmation of an individual’s place in the parish, and the Armagh Parish registers transcription should speed access to this.

Abbey Street and Railway Street. Nursing and teaching remained as oc- Acknowledgements: cupations for both men and women. The Acheson, Alan. A History of the Church entry of social services, financial services, Everyday Life of Ireland. 1691-1996. Dublin.1997. 74, and IT specialists, again, for both men 81,117 Major events like the wars and “Trou- and women marked the close of the Douglas, Uel. Leader of St. Mark’s bles” of the twentieth century all have twentieth century. Archive Team. their place in the registers. Perhaps, the Duffy, Seamus. Armagh (1770-1850). A real fascination of the registers is their Using the Registers Socio-Economic Sketch. 1988. 3 recording of everyday life. The basis PRONI. Burial Book 1820-1828, MIC for this is found in the “Abode” column As noted in relation to the Famine, the 5873112/13/14. which recorded townlands, streets, street registers both pose and answer questions. PRONI Education 3. The Great Famine. numbers, big houses and housing estates. Here, are some others that came to McCorry, Francis X., Parish Registers In the nineteenth century, it tells the mind. How good a living did the photog- Historical Treasures in Manuscript. Lurgan: story of those who resisted the lures of rapher, Frederick George Gould, mar- Inglewood Press, 2004. 2, 36 emigration, who, in fact lived and mar- ried in 1885, make? To which travelling McCourt, Eileen. The Poor Law and the ried very close to home. Not only that, company did the acrobat Henry Moxon Workhouse in Armagh. 1838-1948. Dungan- but father and son followed each other as married in 1912, belong? Researchers non: Multi-Purpose Centre, 1981. 70. farmers, labourers, shoe makers, joiners, in family history will be delighted with McKegney, John. Rector of St. Mark’s, plasterers, poultry dealers, hairdressers, the inclusion of date of birth of the for access to Parish Registers. merchants and the hacklers and tenters child and the names of godparents in of the linen industry. Very few entries twentieth century baptismal entries. Re- in the nineteenth century record female cent marriage entries are a researcher’s occupations. delight with the inclusion of the maiden The progression in occupations is very names and occupations of the mothers marked as the twentieth century devel- of the bridal couple.

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