This post is the beginnings of the family tree of the descendants of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy, Moneyreagh, Co. Down. I'll add more to it later....
More details here though: http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/p/index-to-stewartmadine-family-posts.html
The Hearts of Steel Memorials:
The Stewarts of Moneyreagh first appear in the Hearts of Steel Memorials of 1771 - 1772. The Hearts of Steel was a Protestant Agrarian protest movement set up to fight against the re-letting of farms in Antrim; the agrarian unrest later spread to other counties. Those who abhorred the subsequent violence signed lists of protest known as the Memorials, which were published in the Belfast Telegraph. These were the Stewarts who signed the petition:
Neven Stewart
John Stewart x 4
Simon Stewart
Alex. Stewart x 2
Arch. Stewart
Sam. Stewart
And. Stewart
Freeholders' Records:
The 40-shilling freeholders either owned or leased land worth more than 40 shillings; this entitled them to vote. They held the lease for either the length of their own life or for the length of three other lives which are named in the lease. I accessed these records for free on the PRONI website.
1769: James Stewart, John Stewart,William Stewart, all of Crossnacreevy. All three of these men appear on headstones in the Moneyreagh graveyard.
In the same Freeholders lists, we find the name Robert Stewart of Crossnacreevy mentioned in 1813, 1814 and 1824.
From Moneyreagh Graveyard:
'Here lieth the body of John Stewart of Crossnacreevy who departed this life 27th of August 1795 aged 72 years. Here resteth the remains of the late William Stewart of Crossnacreevy who departed this life the 19th of June 1813 aged 83 years. Also the remains of his wife Elizabeth Stewart alias ALLEN who departed this life the 17th of February 1814 in the 73rd year of her age. Here lieth the body of Ann Hill alias Stewart who departed this life the 27th of June.'
'Underneath is interred the remains of the late James Stewart of Crossnacreevy who departed this life the 7th day of May MDCCCIII, aged 83 years. Also his wife Margaret Anderson who died April 3rd aged 87 years (undated).'
Dates for the above Stewarts:
John Stewart (1723 - 1795)
William Stewart (1730 - 1813) + his wife, Elizabeth Allen (1741 - 1814).
Ann Stewart, née Hill (age unknown.)
James Stewart (1720 - 1803) and his wife, Margaret Anderson (age unknown.)
Joseph and Ann Stewart, our great-great-great grandparents:
The online searchable catalogue for PRONI in Belfast notes the existence of a document about several Stewarts in Crossnacreevy, dated 1821. The document title mentions the following residents of Crossnacreevy:
William and Ann Stewart.
Robert and Agnes Stewart.
Joseph and Ann Stewart. (These were are immediate ancestors.)
The Tithe Applotment Books for The Parish of Comber, 1835:
Lisleen - Samuel Stewart, 11 acres
Ballymaglaff - Alexander Stewart, 18 acres
Moneyreagh - No Stewarts
Ballykeel - Joseph Stewart and William Madole (McDowell) together, 31 acres
Gransha - Joseph Stewart 14 + 6 + 15 acres
Francis Stewart, 7 acres
Clontonakelly - Andrew Stewart, 22 acres
The Misses Stewart - 33 acres
Crossnacreevy - Joseph Stewart, 6 acres
William Stewart, 15 acres
Robert Stewart, 23 acres
Joseph and Ann Stewart were our great-great-great grandparents. They were already married by 1821.
The 1821 Census noted a Joseph Stewart of Comber, aged 26, and also a second Joseph Stewart (we know there were two of them, one in Crossnacreevy, the other next door in Gransha, both probably related) of Newtownards whose age wasn't recorded.
Our great-great-great grandfather, Joseph Stewart, was also recorded in the Tithe Books for 1835, farming alongside William and Robert Stewart in Crossnacreevy. According to his death registration document, he lived from 1793 until April 10th 1876, dying in Crossnacreevy with his son John Stewart present at his death. His wife was still alive at this point.
Griffiths Valuation of 1863 showed Joseph Stewart leasing a house, shop, outhouses and 7 acres of land in Crossnacreevy, Moneyreagh. Closeby his property William McDowell, who had been farming in partnership with him in 1835, was leasing 8 acres. Both men can both be found in the neighbouring townland of Ballykeel - Joseph was leasing 16 acres of land but no house which seems to suggest that this is the same Joseph Stewart of neighbouring Crossnacreevy. William McDowell was here again in Ballykeel, leasing a caretaker's house and 16 acres of land.
A Francis Stewart of Crossnacreevy was leasing 27 acres, a house and outbuildings, and subletting two houses to James Floyd and William Anderson - Francis was most likely a relation of Joseph Stewart, but I can find little information about him.
The known children of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy, Moneyreagh, Co. Down, were:
- William A. Stewart (1826 - 1881) - The middle name is unknown, and is most likely the family name of his mother's family, possibly Anderson, Abernethy or Allen, but I'm just guessing.
- Joseph Stewart, our great-great grandfather (1841 - 1908).
- John Stewart (1839 - 1892).
- Robert Stewart (born circa 1840, death unknown.)
- Mary Stewart
Our great-great grandparents, Joseph Stewart (1841 - 1908) and Elizabeth Madine (March 3rd 1835 - 1901):
Joseph Stewart was born in about 1841 to Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy.
At some stage in the 1850s, Joseph Stewart Junior moved north to live and work in Belfast city, where he married Elizabeth Madine in St. Anne's Church of Ireland church, Shankill, Belfast, on 14th May 1859. This church was just south of Donegall Square and was demolished in 1903 to make way for Belfast Cathedral. Joseph seems to have converted to the Church of Ireland upon his marriage to Elizabeth, since the Stewart family seems to have been Unitarian/Prebyterian, while the Madines of Downpatrick/Killyleagh were primarily Church of Ireland.
Joseph gave his profession as a writing clerk, but would later work primarily as an ironmonger. Although she was born in 1835, Elizabeth Madine gave her birth year as 1838 - presumably she was embarrassed by the age difference. Her father was Robert Madine, a butcher of Killyleagh. The witnesses to the marriage were Elizabeth's siblings, John and Margaret Madine.
The children of Joseph Stewart and Elizabeth Madine were:
- Emily Jane Stewart, born circa 1862, died unmarried in 1924 in Dublin.
- Louisa Helen Stewart, born circa 1863/1864 in Killyleagh, Co. Down, died unmarried in 1951 in Dublin.
- Mary Ann Stewart born 12th February 1865 - this child died in infancy.
- Robert Stewart (our great-grandfather), born 26th May 1866 at 11 Arnon Street, Shankill, Belfast. The previous year, Joseph Stewart's sister, Mary Stewart, married Hugh Morrow in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church closeby, and Joseph acted as witness. Robert Stewart, the eldest son of Joseph Stewart and Elizabeth Madine, married Rebecca Cuthbert on 18th August 1896 in the Church of Ireland church of St. George on Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin. Their first child, Louisa Helen, named after Robert's sister, was born 15th March 1899, and married John Thomas Sibbald in Dublin in 1925 - their children were Hazel Sibbald and Leslie Sibbald. Robert and Rebecca Stewart had a daughter, Vera Maud Stewart, in 1906; Vera Maud Stewart married the tenor, Robert Irwin 1905 - 1983. Robert and Rebecca Stewart also had a son, Cuthbert/Bertie Stewart, our paternal grandfather, in Dublin in 1909; he died in Galway in 1976; he was married to our grandmother, Agnes/Nessie Keating Wilson of Belfast, 23rd November 1905 - 26th March 1965. The two sons of Bertie and Nessie Stewart were our father, Paul Stewart, born 18th June 1935, and Anthony Stewart, born 19th March 1937.
- Joseph Stewart, born 9th February 1868 at 88 Ann Street - this child died; the brother of Joseph Stewart, William A. Stewart, ran a hostelry at this time at 92 Ann Street.
- Mary Elizabeth Stewart was born on 26th August 1870 in Killyleagh where her father, Joseph Stewart, was working as a shop assitant; his brother, Robert Stewart, had married Joseph's sister-in-law, Jane Madine, and may have been working in Killyleagh also at this time. Mary Elizabeth Stewart died unmarried in 1945 in Dublin.
- John Stewart was born on 12th April 1872 at 8 Roundhill Street, East Belfast, where Joseph Stewart was working as an inspector of building works. (An Agnes Stewart, 1844 - 1889, died at this address, 8 Roundhill St., on 27th November 1889, aged 45; she may be a relation.) John Stewart (12th April 1872 - Feb. 27 1954)married Mabel McKenzie (21st January 1878 - March 6 1946) on August 2nd 1905 in Monkstown Church. The couple had Eileen Gladys Stewart on Sept. 17th 1906; Norman Hampton Stewart, was born 26th June 1916; Donald MacKenzie Stewart was born in Rathdown, Dublin, in the latter part of 1912. Norman Stewart (26th June 1916 - June 7th 2001) married, firstly, Olive May Siggins of Sligo on May 9th 1942, and, secondly, Margaret Glynne Bowen (9th March 1921 - 23rd November 2008).
- Catherine Stewart was born on 13th March 1874 in Downpatrick, Co. Down, just south of Killyleagh; Joseph was working as an ironmonger's assistant. Catherine Stewart died unmarried in 1957 in Dublin.
- Joseph Stewart (22nd December 1876 in Saul Street, Downpatrick - 1956). Joseph Stewart married Sarah Kate Barton ( 9th August 1878 -February 9th 1974) in Inishtioge, Co. Kilkenny, on August 5th 1903. They had Lilian Kathleen Emily Stewart in Dublin on May 13th 1906 - she married John Frederick Leahy in Dublin on Sept. 9th 1930. A second daughter was Joyce Audrey Wheeler Stewart, born August 18th 1919; she married Ernest Walter Hall on 25th January 1940.
Joseph Stewart, ironmonger, may have been in London for the night of the UK 1881 Census - a Joseph Stewart, ironmonger's assistant, was lodging in Hanover Square; he was Irish-born, married, and gave a date of birth of 1841.
Joseph and Elizabeth moved south to Dublin; they appear in the Dublin street directories for the first time in 1887 living at 22 Fontenoy Street in Phibsboro, North Dublin. Living next door was a Thomas Stewart, but I doubt he was related - this Thomas Stewart only appears in the directories in 1887.
Joseph Stewart, ironmonger, stayed at 22 Fontenoy Street for two years before taking up permanent residence down the road at 18 Goldsmith Street. He would live there until his death in 1908. At the time of his death, he was working as a commercial traveller.
Joseph Stewart died in North Dublin in 1908, his wife Elizabeth in 1901.
William A. Stewart (1826 - 1881), son of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
One of the most prominent farming families in the Moneyreagh/Crossnacreevy area were the Huddlestons. In 1844 Robert Huddleston, a poet, published a volume of his works, 'A Collection of Poems and Songs on Rural Subjects.' Included at the end of the collection was a list of subscribers, and these include Joseph Stewart of Gransha, a neighbour of our ancestor, Joseph Stewart, and William A. Stewart of Crossnacreevy.
William A. Stewart married Margaret Burke in Downpatrick Registry Office on 27th December 1851. William, the son of the farmer, Joseph Stewart, was a hosteler living at 29 Prince's Street, Belfast, while Margaret was the daughter of a labourer, John Burke, with an address at the time of her marriage in Downpatrick. The witnesses were William Lascelles, a merchant of Downpatrick, and Agnes Crothers.
William Stewart can be traced through the Belfast street directories. Up until 1865 he was at 29 Prince's Street - 'William A. Stewart - eating-house and stabling yard.' In 1870 and 1877 he was noted as a spirit-dealer of 92 Ann Street (Ann St and Prince's St. intersect each other) and, finally, in 1880 he made his last appearance as William A. Stewart at 50 New Lodge Road, which is where his daughter, Jane, was living when she married James M. Orr in 1875; Ann Street must have been the business address, while New Lodge Road was the family home.
In the 1884 street directory, a publican named Ellen Stewart was listed at 92 Ann Street, so I presume this was one of his daughters or some other member of the same Stewart family; she disappears after this - she either married and changed her name, emigrated, or died.
On 26th October 1871, William A. Stewart witnessed the second wedding of his brother, John Stewart of Crossnacreevy, when John married Elizabeth McGowan of Ballystockart in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, the same church where the brothers' sister, Mary Stewart, had married Hugh Morrow in 1865.
The children of William and Margaret were born prior to official registration, but Jane was born circa 1855 in Belfast, and her sister, Margaret was born circa 1859. There was also a possible sister, Agnes Stewart, who witnessed Jane's wedding to James M. Orr, and also a Joseph Stewart, born in 1877. William's daughter, Jane Stewart, married the Ballymena watchmaker, James Malcolm Orr, and emigrated to Philadelphia - Jane Orr would later be visited by the four daughters of Joseph Stewart and Elizabeth Madine in 1914.
William A. Stewart died under tragic circumstances on 3rd December 1881 at 50 New Lodge Road; the newspapers recorded that he died from a head wound inflicted with a hammer. An inquest concluded that he'd committed suicide by fracturing his skull while in a state of unsound mind.
From 'The Belfast Telegraph' of Dec.5th 1881: 'An inquest was held on Saturday on the body of Wm. Stewart, who was found dead with his head broken, in the yard of his house in New Lodge Road that morning. Evidence was given that, for the past two months, the deceased talked foolishly. The Coroner described the case as a most extraordinary one. The jury returned a verdict of suicide, while in an unsound state of mind.'
The widowed Margaret Stewart, née Burke, may be the Margaret Stewart, aged 65, who appears on the 1901 census at 30 Pernan/Pernau Street in Shankill, Belfast, living with her 24-yr-old son, Joseph Stewart, and his wife Maria.
John Stewart (1839 - 1892), son of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
John Stewart was a farmer, who spent his life in Crossnacreevy, Moneyreagh. He married Mary Mills in Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church, Dundonald, north of Crossnacreevy on July 9th 1859. Mary Mills was the daughter of a farmer, Robert Mills, who lived in Lisleen townland adjacent to Crossnacreevy. The witnesses were a friend, Jane Shannon, and Robert Mills who was either Mary's father or her brother.
The couple had a daughter, Esther Jane Stewart, in 1861. She married James Vincent, an engineer of Belfast in Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church on September 24th 1881. She gave her residence as Mountpottinger in south Belfast. Esther Jane Stewart Vincent died in Jan - March 1897. Esther Jane Stewart and James Vincent had two children - Charles Vincent was born in Belfast in about 1882, and Henry/Harry Vincent in about 1895. Following Esther Jane's death, James Vincent married a woman named Margaret J.
A daughter, Elizabeth Stewart, was born in 1864 to John Stewart and Mary Mills, but neither Elizabeth or her mother, Mary, appear in any records after this.
John Stewart later remarried. His second wife was Eliza Magowan or Elizabeth McGowan. The couple married on 26th October 1871 in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Belfast city centre; Elizabeth was the daughter of John McGowan, a labourer of Ballystockart, Comber, Co. Down. The witnesses were John Stewart's older brother, William A. Stewart, and a Martha Cummings.
The births of three of their children are recorded:
Their first child was born on April 1st 1871. Although he was christened Robert Samuel Stewart, on the census and in his father's will, he is referred to as Robert John Stewart. Robert John Stewart took over the Crossnacreevy farm following his father's death; I doubt he ever married.
A daughter, Mariah Lamont Stewart, was born to the couple on Dec. 6th 1873.
A daughter, Mary Annie Stewart - later known simply as Annie - was born in Crossncreevy on June 4th 1880.
Mary Stewart, daughter of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
Mary Stewart, the daughter of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy, married Hugh Morrow, a labourer, the son of a sailor John Morrow, deceased, on 13th Sept. 1865 in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church (Unitarian) in the centre of Belfast. The marriage certificate states that both bride and groom were resident in Crossnacreevy at the time of the wedding.
The witnesses to the wedding were Joseph Stewart and Margaret McCullough. This Joseph was either her father or her brother: Joseph Stewart, Mary's brother, and his wife, Elizabeth Madine, were living at the time around the corner from York Street Church at 11 Arnon Street, but their father, also Joseph, may well have travelled north into the city for the wedding.
Mary Stewart and Hugh Morrow had two recorded sons: Joseph John Morrow was born on 25th Oct. 1866 in Lisleen, one of the Moneyreagh townlands adjacent to Crossnacreevy.
Their second son, Hugh, was born 20th Feb. 1868 in Comber but the registration doesn't mention the exact place of birth.
The records for the family are few and far between, and I can find nothing further on Hugh and Mary, but both of their sons crop up on the census for both 1901 and 1911.
Hugh Morrow Junior and his wife, Agnes, are living on Dufferin Avenue in nearby Bangor and Hugh gives his profession as 'Factory Establishment.' Hugh Morrow and Agnes (possibly née Harvey) had a daughter, Alice Morrow, born circa 1897. The second son of Hugh Morrow and Mary Stewart, Joseph John Morrow, a postman, married Minnie J. Allen of Tyrone in 1891 but had no children.
Robert Stewart, son of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
Robert Stewart, the brother of Joseph Stewart, married his sister-in-law, Jane Madine, the younger sister of Elizabeth Madine, in Killinchy Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church on July 9th 1860. Both bride and groom were living in the Madine's hometown of Killyleagh at the time of the marriage and Robert Stewart gave his profession as a mechanic.
There are two Killyleagh Street Directories - for 1877 and for 1880 - and a Robert Stewart appears in both of them as a grocer/engineer on Front Street, the same street where Robert's father-in-law, Robert Madine, worked as a butcher. Same guy?
The Griffiths Valuation revision books for Killyleagh 1879 - 1884 show Robert Stewart of 41 Front Street crossed out and replaced by Thomas Calvert; the only death registration in this era for a Killyleagh Robert Stewart is for a much older man - our Robert Stewart may well have emigrated, or may have been working or farming elsewhere.
There was also a Robert Stewart mentioned in the lists of Past Masters for the Killyeagh Masonic Lodge. In 1873 he appears alongside another Killyleagh mechanic, Arthur Gordon of Back Street. In 1874, Robert Stewart appears beside John Davidson who was a teacher in the Killyleagh Second Presbyterian school.
Following this, there are no further records relating to Robert or Jane Stewart. Nor could I find any records relating to children born to the couple.