CF 202
McMurtrys of
Co Antrim
and Co
and
December 2007
William McMurtry
1780-1855 came to Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
about 1821/1822 from Co Carlow, Ireland, bringing
with him a written recommendation from his employer attesting to his
proficiency as a miller of corn. This
document was passed down from generation to generation in his family and
provided us the clues to search for his origins in
Recent research has shown a common ancestor of three different McMurtry families.. This research shows William McMurtry 1780-1855 (CF 202) to connected to the following families:
So we have now traced these three families of
Much of William’s family remain in
Background
In the 1970s, Samuel McMurtry, a descendant of an unrelated
Co Antrim family, discovered on a trip to Ireland a family tree compiled by an
English genealogy firm on behalf of the wife of a cousin of the Bowmanville McMurtrys living in New York state. This tree mentioned a William McMurtry who
was “born 20 June 1780, emigrated to Canada at a very early date, returned to
Comber near Belfast on a visit in 1845”, an Alexander McMurtry (no additional
information) and a
In the 1990s, Andrew McMurtry, a descendant of an unrelated Ontario McMurtry family, discovered in the Bowmanville museum two letters written in the 1836 and 1841 to the Bowmanville McMurtrys from William’s nephew Samuel McMurtry in Co Carlow that revealed the family had relatives in Co Antrim, confirming the connection of the various branches of the Co Carlow McM to each other and to Co Antrim.
A typewritten manuscript sent to the genealogy firm included a family tree that gave the lineage of William and Thomas back 5 generations to a Robert Mure whose son Alexander was identified as Alexander McMure, alias Mure, alias McMurtry. This Alexander McMurtry and his descendants are reportedly mentioned in land and inheritance records in the 1690s and 1720s and 1740s in Cardross, Dunbartonshire. However, no record of these documents has been found by the genealogy firm or by current researchers in 2007 and 2008.
William’s father was a
William went to Co Carlow to work
in the flour and corn mills of John Alexander; William’s brother Thomas went to work
in the flour mills of Co Tipperary before returning
to Co Down. The fate of William’s brother
Alexander is unknown though it appears that he is assumed to be the father of
the several children who came later than William to
***
**
Here are abstracts of the letters sent from Samuel McM in Co
Carlow to John McMurtry, his first cousin in
Letter from Samuel McMurtry of Co
Dear John,
I write these few lines to inform you that we are all well at present hoping that this letter may find you and your family uncle Aunts & all my cousins and their families all the same and well doing. I thank God for all His spearing mercies towards us.
Dear John I would have wrote to you before this but I could not get mother to consent to go out or to let any of the family go. If she had consented I intend to send John, Lizzy & Ellen this spring and to start this time twelve months myself and mother and Martha But mothers not consenting puts an end to all my expectations of going out while She is on the lands of the living there is nothing in this world would give the greater pleasure than to see you once more and to be living with each of you. But we must be content with his devine will.
I got an advance on my salary this year to ?0 £ a year and 20 £ a year for John. So we must be content with this until better will offer for its hard to make anything in Milford there is not much luck with us … we have lost a great deal of cows since you left this I lost a very find one just the Sunday after Christmas. She died with an infection of the kidneys. She was worth 16 £ and 3 or 4 £ lost with cow doctors.
But we must be satisfied with all these crosses and
losses. Lizzy
is in
She is going on minding well Ellen wents to
stop with her last month. I had a letter
from Lizzy this week she said there was a sister of
your mother going out this month to
This
Mr. James Bryne that was clerk in the Carlow Store for Mr. Alexander is dead he died a bout a month a go.
I remain dear John your ever affectionate cousin until death.
Sam McMurtry
Dear John, mothers, sisters and brother sends their kind love to you and uncle Aunt & cousins.
All your families then did a son f Paddy Sleaver come home this winter. I have not seen him yet I herd that he said his father wrote to uncle twice and reced answers to them from you.
***
Abstract of letter from Samuel McMurtry, 28, July 1836 from
(Envelope)
Mr John McMurtry (handwriting makes it look like McMurthry)
District of New Castle
(elsewhere on the envelope it reads)
Bowmanville Mills
(Text)
This goes by post
Dear John,
I received your letter the 14th of July 1836 which gave us great pleasure in hearing you were All doing well and in good health Which this Laves us all in the Same except my father he has got his health very poorley this time back, but he is getting better. Thanks be to god for all his spearing mercies Dear John we have not sent less then 12 letters to you since you left us and never got An answer but except one we got from a man of the name of Mr. Robert Darlington he said you Mother requested of him to write a few lines to us to let us know you were all well and that William got maried that summer. It was dated Feb 28th 1834 and we sent an answer by him to My uncle we also had a letter from John Sterns mentioning the same dated June 15th 1835 and this one you sent which I now answer. Far be it from us not to Answer you letters for we are all continually speaking of you and My father often wonders you did not write when my uncle did not think worth His while to write but we cannot so much blame you when you did not get our letters but I hope this one will go safe. If that man does not come we will send it by post I have it written expecting he may call this way he would have no delay
Dear John there is but two of our family maried yet Anne is maried to the otenmeal Miller that’s here. Anne has but one son yet and Mary is maried to John Burrows and she has 2 sons he is working the Belfast Mills in place of my Uncle Thomas he has his brother William in the mill..him lerning to be a Miller and Phillip is (gantoner?) in the Asylum In Belfast and poor Edward is dead and old billy is quite alone
My uncle Thomas is working a Mill for a brother of Mrs. _eancy's In the County of tipreri
in a place called (Curris'acan…) he is doing very well and all his
family is well we are going on the same
as you left us only its harder to live here now then when you were here All the old people are alemost
gone from this place. Mrs. Chattein is dead & Mr. Keshler(sp?)is dead. Martin
Murphy is dead Betty Cod was discharged because she was not able to work &
Davy Williams is dead and Covey and Mary is married and William is listed and
Mrs. Williams is living all alone Dear
John we have a Coatm(??) living with Mr. Alexander
that was a soldier in a Mories? He was living in the
same
Butter is from 7s__ so far but flour seconds 30 sp Bay ___25 S thirds 16s wheat 25 per Barrl also __12 sp Oatmeal 13__per Cwt Beef from 5 to 12 lbs Mutton 5-12/ per __Beacon from 4-1/2 to 5 per __ the markets are very ___ at present this year's crop looks very poorley in this country
Dear John let me make it known that ….in Belfast last summer and he went to see Aunt Sally and Aunt Martha the are both maried and live in the countery Aunt Sally was maried to a Man the name of Murphy he died since my fater was there and __ all with her. She is verry comfortable She has a farm Its well stocked She has no children living. Aunt Martha's husband is a hackler his name is McCluskey Uncle Sa.. was married to a young woman from the county of Down He set up a a Bakers shop in Belfast & she broke up __ in half a year he went and is now beaking in Montreal at 12 s per & his Board Lois(? or His) w___ married since to another man James McD_on is a __ are living on side of L____ They are doing very well..This country is ….. Election .. the priest has all Influence over the people he made ole Mr Alexander's freeholders vote against his wishes Mr. Alexander and family are well Wil ___ and family are well & sends their love to you All the old neighbors are well and send their love to you ole James Flemming & family are well and send their love to you father and mother sisters and brothers join us in love to you all …. From your loving and
Affectionate cousin until death Saml McMurthry
Mr Dear John this goes with My sincere Love to you and all the families and __ happy in hearing you were all doing well Dear John we had a letter from John Sterns who requested us to let him know in your letter if Eliza was married and if not he expressed a sincere Love and affection for her if her father would consent to send her with ___ he would weat for her as there is no one he would wish to spend his life with before her you May tell him we are glad to __ of his welfare and Eliza sends her Love to him but could not think of going as far She has been in Belfast and she went on the steemer and she says she was got a Nuff of the sea forever so there is no use in our saying any more about it She is doing very well at her ____ She was in Belfast 12 months She brought Mary's eldest son with her a fine child 2 years and 4 months old the youngest is 6 months ole you may tell John Sterns I sent the Nuse paper to thomas Kepple and he has got married to Miss Eliza Little 12 months ago he is going to a notary since he was married has no child yet Dear John I Glad to here you have my Namesake married to you I wish you all joy and long life in comfort in this life and Heaven when you Die Your Poor uncle ..Not incon… I… .. has Early age and when his (recon…) ……and How your father was the wise man and often he regrets he did not …but sorr.. to Late Give My sincere love to your wife and family and father & Mother and all the families. No more at present from your ever affectionate ..Sam's McMurthrey
Miscellaneous notes about the Muirs
NOTE: Getting a DNA sample from the Muir descendants would enable us to confirm or refute the reported connection between the McMurtrys and the Muirs. The John Muir b 1736 who emigrated to America in 1762 and settled in Schenectady, Albany Co NY appears to have left descendants, including James Muir b 1783/1787 and James’ grandson James b 1843 Albany, Albany Co., NY. This family is reported on rootsweb.com. The other Albany Muirs may be kin to this family also.
***
Girvan Family
It lists the family of James McMurtrie, an innkeeper,
married in Girvan and Margaret Muir. Their children are - John b 1753, Thomas b
1755, James b 1756, Margaret b 1758, David b 1760, Sarah b 1768, Janet b 1769
and Boyd b 1772.
New Kilpatrick Family
Under this heading is listed the family of Thomas McMurtry of CF24 and Elizabeth
Gardiner. He is b ca 1754, married 1781 and she b ca
1754 also. Their children are - James b 1784, Thomas b 1787, Mary b 1789, David
b 1792, Margaret b 1794, David b 1797,
On the right you have a note 'Note the similarity in children between the
Girvan family and the New Kilpatrick family. Could Mgt Muir have been the
sister of Sarah Muir? Need to look up the Muirs in Ayrshire.
The 'Muir Connection' heading is at the bottom of the page and underneath is
John Muir &
Sarah Muir b 1717, Nov 20
m. 1716
Sarah Ferguson
d. 1729
Beside this is the note - The marriage of Sarah Muir
might give a clue as to how this is connected to CF24. I presume that Sarah
Muir was the mother of Elizabeth Gardner who married Thomas McM but maybe Mgt
Muir was Sarah's sister or cousin.
In this file there is also the Death Cert of Elizabeth McM nee Gardiner, died
17 Dec 1855 aged 102 years, saying the she is the daughter of John Gardiner and
Mary Mucklethrist.
***
Dear Richard,
I have come across a letter in my files that will confirm some information and presumptions you have on the Port Hope / Bomanville McMurtry family.
I obtained the letter many years ago from Bowmanville McMurtrys but the significance of some finer points were lost to me when I was young and reckless a decade ago.
It is a letter written
Samuel McMurtry of Millford Mills,
to
Mr. John McMurtry
Durham District
"Concession of Hope"
Here's a few key sentences
".. hoping this letter may find you and your family, Uncle, Aunts & all my cousins and their families all the same and well doing."
".. I would have wrote to you before but I could not get mother to consent."
"I intend to send John, Lizzy & Ellen this spring and to start this time twelve months myself and mother and Martha. But mother's not consenting puts an end to all my expectations of going out while she is in the lands of the living."
"Mr. James Byrne who was clerk in the Carlow Store for Mr. Alexander is dead. He died about a month ago."
"I remain dear John your ever affectionate cousin until death, Sam McMurtry"
in a post script "Dear John, mother, sister and brother sends their kind love to you and Uncle, Aunt & cousins."
I think we can assume this was written to John McMurtry (b.
I quote from the McMurtry website with the assumptions underlined.
Another Co Carlow family settled
in Cobourg 21 miles east of Bowmanville.
According to one of Williams' descendants, three sisters, nieces of William -
Lizzie, Ellen, and Martha - came to Cobourg and
Lizzie married Thomas McMurtry, son of William. The gravestone of Martha who
married a Thomas Harper says she was born in 1815 in
Another point of interest to me is John McMurtry's (b. 1804) political & religious leanings (i.e., pro-British & Protestant). Some might think that being from Carlow he would have been otherwise inclined, but this evidence would show the Carlow family to share the sentiments of the Northern-Irish - as we have speculated in the past.
I obtained this information from his obituary. He married an Englishwoman, Elizabeth Frank,
whose family came from
He was "so impressed with the great want of a church of his faith, and largely at his own expense, he secured he erection of the Anglican Church of St. John's."
"In politics, Mr. McMurtry belonged to the old
Thanks for keeping up the records,
Andrew McMurtry
CF 202-203
3/25/91
There are three clusters of this branch of the family.
(1) William
McMurtry, b 1778, who left Co. Carlow in Southern
Ireland, sometime after 1822 with his wife Helen Whiteside and 7 to 10
children, born 1808-1824, and came to settle in Bowmanville,
Co Durham, in southern Ontario.
(2) At least four
McMurtrys, James (b. 1794), John (b. 1810), Sarah (b. 1805-15) and Jane (b.
1805) who came to March Township, near Ottawa, Ontario. All but Jane are assumed to have come over
together prior to 1827. Jane did not
come over until 1846, having
married Campbell Keenan (b. 1805) of Co. Antrim around 1830. The others are assumed to have come between
1823 and 1827. They did not appear in
the 1823 census and James' son George is documented to have been born in 1827
in March Twp.
(3) "Three
sisters, nieces of William," namely, Eliza (b. 1809), Ellen and Martha who
"came to Cobourg," Co. . Eliza married Thomas McMurtry, son of William
of Bowmanville.
These may have been sisters of of James and
John.
(Note: Later
research by Andrew McM show these to be siblings of Samuel McMurtry of Co Carlow and that all are indeed nephew and nieces of
William, possibly by Alexander McMurtry.
John McMurtry (b. 1810) married Mary Morgan of Co. Tipperary, Ireland and had several children in March Twp.
and then moved west to McGillivray Twp, near
Sarah McMurtry married in 1835 to Edward Kennedy.
Since John and Sarah would have been fairly young in
1825, it seems likely that they came with James, who may have been their older
brother. Or they all could have come
over with William (b. 1778) and went their separate ways after arrival.
There was a note in the McMurtry records that James'
father was George, d. 5 Sept 1809 aged 42 and buried in
William was a miller who ran a mill in
As far as where in
(1) The tradition
in John (b. 1810) family was that he was from Co. Tyrone. (2) The Wilson who was father of Nancy
Wilson, James' wife, reportedly was from Coche, Co.
According to Don Whiteside, (1-613-829-4180 4 Newgale St,
Leads:
l) Book: Brian Mitchell, ca 1985, Parish Registers in
2) Ian Forsythe,
3) Bruce Elliott,
4) Book: Richard
Hayes, Manuscript Sources for History of Irish Civilization
5) Book: Article on Irish emigration from So.
6) 1871 census
will be indexed and available by 1992
7) Ontario Provincial library has book on indexes of
censuses,
8) Should check Bowmanville and
**
Andrew’s Muir Discussion
MURE, MCMURE, MCMURTY, MCMURTRY
The following are my observations the family tree that is assumed to have been prepared for the family of George Gibson McMurtry (CF-115) and discovered by Sam McMurtry. Some points have been made by Richard McMurtry already but are worth repeating here.
It should be pointed out that the unidentified person who prepared the tree initially spelled the name “McMurty”, which may have been in error, or may have been the way it was being used at the time.
The name Mure has been found
throughout
The
International Genealogical Index has multiple listings for Robert Mure / Muir (b. 1673 in Kilmarnock or
IGI records show the following children (which correspond to the tree):
1. Alexander Muir born 27 Aug 1695 died 1722
2. George Muir born 3 Apr 1701 Catrine, Ayrshire died 4 Apr 1756
3. Robert Muir born 12 Jul 1703 Catrine, Ayrshire, died 1790
4. William Muir born 1704
Our person in question was born Alexander Muir / Mure (b. 1695) and was the first son of Robert and Margaret Muire / Mure. Therefore, we know that “alias Mure” refers to Alexander’s family name, and “McMure” is the term that he was given by his father as “son of” Mure.
Since the land leases are taking place in 1694, 1695 and 1698, we should conclude that land leases and transactions were being done on behalf of Alexander by his father. That would explain why “McMure” was used on the land records - to indicate Alexander’s legal status as a minor or “child of” the grantor and unable to sign the documents in his own right.
Since Alexander was born in 1695, we can assume the record for Janet McFadden on 31 June 1694 with the notation “to be his wife” is her birth record with a notation of betrothal arranged by the Mures and the McFaddens.
As such, the 1698 record indicating lands were leased in Ardochbeg and Killochy in Cardross to “Alexander McMurty alias McMure and ___ McFadden” occurred at a time when Alexander McMure was three years old. A joint possession of leased lands set aside for the future couple would have also solidified the Mure / McFadden family relationship.
The decision to modify Alexander’s name from McMure to McMurty would have be made by the father, Robert Mure. We can only speculate about the reasons.
The difference in pronunciation with Scottish dialect between McMure and McMurty would not have been large. Also, both names appear to be anglicized versions of the same “muir = sea”.
The leases in 1694, 1695 and 1698 are in Ardochbeg
and Killochy in Cardross
(the small, seven mile long parish).
These are lands that stayed with McMurty /
McMurtrys up to the birth of
It appears there was an evolution in the lifetime of Alexander Mure (1695-1722) who became started as Alexander Mure, became known as Alexander McMure (a legal term while a child) and shortly thereafter, Alexander McMurty.
The next generation’s records (VIII) pick immediately following the death of Alexander McMurty in 1722. On 3 Nov. 1723, Robert McMurty (presumably the oldest son and heir) mortgaged Killochy lands (presumably inherited from Alexander McM) to Robert McMurty - possibly a younger brother.
Robert McM’s 1740 Power of Attorney mentions his son Alexander McMurty who receives lands in Killochy in 1741 (probably on the death of his father who had a power of attorney drawn up just a year earlier). This Alexander McMurty marries Katherine Rowan 14 July 17___? The two children listed on the tree from this marriage are:
1. Alexander McMurtry (b. 2 June 1763) who married Eliza Lyndon about 1804 in Carrickfegus
2.
o
o Jane McMurtry
o Mary McMurtry
o Alexander McMurtry
o William
McMurtry (20 June 1780) who emigrated to
Background
In 1700, "the last acknowledged laird of the clan dies
without a male heir, leaving clan without a leader. Clan fragments and seeks
the protection of larger clans by being absorbed as a sept. Muirs immigrate to
1730's immigration of the Mures to
Mure was a well-known name in
http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/common/sitepages/page13b-may.asp
Questions, comments, please contact me at:
Andrew McMurtry, CF 203
**