A true Centenarian

 The Belfast Morning News of 10 February 1871 contained a headline, 'A centenarian' reporting that 'a man named George McCaughey died last week near Dungiven aged 105 years. As an extract from his family Bible shows, he was born on the 14th June 1766'.

His civil death was registered by Anne McCaughey of Owenbeg (no relationship given), as follows: 24 Jan 1871 at Owenbeg, George McCaughey, widower, aged 104 years, weaver, died of decay of nature, uncertified, no medical attendance.

The 1831 census for Co. Derry reveals only one George McCaughey as head of household. A George McCaughy, Presbyerian resided in Bovevagh in the parish of Bovevagh head of a household of 2 males and 4 females all 6 were Presbyerian. There is a record of a baptism in Bovevagh Presbyterian Church of Anne McCaughey born 9 Nov 1836 baptised 15 Dec 1836 daughter of George McCaughey & Isabella Pherson but I cannot be certain that these records refers to our centenarian. 

Cases of longevity were often reported in newspapers but in the age before civil registration many of the claims were spurious and unverifiable lacking documentary proof.

However, in the case of George McCaughey, the Presbyterian tradition of recording vital records in the family Bible provides a degree of certitude that he was indeed a true centenarian. 

George McCaughy was born in 1766 the year that a major population survey was authorized by the Irish House of Lords, to track the number of Protestant and Catholic households across the country (also known as the 1766 religious census). 

In 1766, we find three McCaughey households recorded in Dungiven parish headed by two people named John and also a Joseph McCaughey. Another Joseph McCaughy was listed in Leek, Bovevagh in 1766. 

It cannot be ascertained which of these families George McCaughey belonged to. The answer may have been found in the family Bible, which was known to have existed in 1871 according to the Belfast Morning News. 




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