The importance of parish histories - Cumber parish

 KINCULBRACK IN UPPER CUMBER PARISH

Kinculbrack in Upper Cumber parish is a townaland close to the village of Claudy containing 576 acres.

Kinculbrack borders the following other townlands: Ballymaclanigan to the north; Binn to the west; Claudy to the west; Dungorkin to the west; Gortilea to the north; Killycor to the south  and Mulderg to the east.

The Rev John Rutherford B.A  wrote a history, 'Cumber Presbyterian Church and Parish' published by James Calhoun, of the L'Derry Sentinel, 1939. He appears to have had access to primary source material that was subsequently destroyed in the explosive fire in Dublin, 1922. Included in the appendix are freeholders' registers 1761-1781 & 1796. I have used Kinculbrack as an example but the freehold registers' cover most of the townlands in Cumber parish.

Below are the freeholders' returns for Kinculbrack in chronological order by surname. It reveals the importance of locating published family and parish histories for the genealogist as they can contain material that was destroyed in 1922. In the 1663 hearth money rolls the occupants of Kinclubrack were entirely of Gaelic Irish origin, but by the end of the eighteenth century the freeholders' were primarily from planter stock.

KINCULBRACK 

Barr

  • David Barr (1761)
  • Hamilton Barr (1791)
  • John Barr (1761)
  • Robert Barr (1761)
  • Samuel Barr (1774)
  • William Barr (1775)

Blair

  • Robert Blair (1774)
  • Samuel Blair (1791)
  • William Blair (1796)

Gormley

  • Michael Gormley (1796)

Hamilton

  • Francis Hamilton (1762)
  • James Hamilton (1761, 1796)
  • Joseph Hamilton (1796)
  • Ralph Hamilton (1775, 1796)
  • Robert Hamilton (1761, 1762, 1796)
  • William Hamilton (1770, 1796)
  • William Hamilton Junr. (1796)

Hazlett

  • William Hazlett (1770)

Jameson

  • Robert Jameson (1791)
  • Robert Jameson (1796, Kinculmagrandal variant)

Long

  • Andrew Long (1774, 1796)
  • James Long (1761)
  • John Long (1796)

Miller

  • Hugh Miller (1796)
  • James Miller (1796)
  • Patrick Miller (1796)

O’Mullan

  • Thomas O’Mullan (1761)

Sherard / Sherer

  • David Sherard (1796)
  • James Sherard (1796)
  • James Sherer (1765)
  • James Sherar (1791)

Smith

  • Robert Smith (1761)
  • William Smith (1796)

 The records open a vista into the second half of the eighteenth century , a difficult period in Irish genealogical research. The freeholders' returns for Kinclubrack were dominated by a few persistent kin clusters in the period 1761-1796.

  1. Hamiltons — by far the strongest group (1761–1796), suggesting a substantial multi-household family network.
  2. Barrs — present continuously, with the unusual Hamilton Barr (1791) likely signalling intermarriage or kin alliance.
  3. Longs — another long-lived family presence.
  4. Sherard/Sherer, Blairs, and Millers — later recurring groups.
  5. Presence of Thomas O’Mullan (1761) hints at survival of older Gaelic surname elements alongside Ulster-Scots families.
Freeholders were those farmers who held stronger leases and they were able to vote. It is likely that some of these farming families used the Registry of Deeds that might provide further insight.



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