Stirling family of Walworth, Ballykelly

 The Reverend John Stirling, whom I mentioned in a previous blog was the minister of Ballykelly Presbyerian Church from 1699 to 1752. He was the grandson of Alexander Stirling, a farmer from Stewarton in Scotland.


The following family details largely come from the work of T.H Mullin (Limavady & the Roe valley p. 128) and his wife J.E Mullin (The Presbytery of Limavady ps. 17-21). 

The Stirling family lineage begins with Alexander Stirling, a farmer who resided at Clerkland in Stewarton, Scotland. He was the father to four sons, three of whom became Presbyterian Ministers.
One of these sons was Rev. Robert Stirling (b. 1635  d.1699), who moved to Ireland to become the minister at Dervock, Co. Antrim. Two of his sons became ministers. 
Hus  first son Thomas was also minister in Dervock. 
His second son, Rev. John Stirling (d. 1752), served as a Presbyterian Minister in Ballykelly, Ireland from 1699-1752. He was the patriarch of the Walworth and Aghadowey Stirling families.
John's son, James Stirling  married Hanna McCausland in 1739. James resided at Walworth in Ballykelly, where he served as an agent for the influential Beresford family and became actively involved in the emigration trade.
James's son, John Stirling, married Jane Blair in 1767. This marriage connected the family to Aghadowey, as Jane was the sole heir to the Blair property in that area. They had 5 known sons.
The five Stirling Brothers -  four of the brothers; Robert Gage, Henry, Connolly, and William served as Captains in the army in India; the fifth brother, Rev. John Blair Stirling, continued the family tradition in the ministry. 
The latter minister's son, James Blair Stirling(d. 1895) was as a solicitor residing at Oatlands in Aghadowey parish. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Siege of Derry 1688-1689

Image
The Siege of Derry/Londonderry The walls of Derry were completed by 1619, eight metres high and nine metres wide and 1.5 km in circumference. By the time of the siege the population inside the walls was estimated as 2500. Four gates allowed access to traffic going in and out of the city. The river Foyle came up close to the walls on the waterside an effective barrier from attack. he Siege of Derry was the first major event of the Williamite Wars in Ireland. The Gates of Derry were initially closed in December 1688 by 13 apprentice boys who seized the keys and locked the gates upon the approach of the Earl of Antrim's forces. The real action did not begin until April 1869 when the Jacobite forces arrived in substantial numbers. It is estimated that during the siege the population inside the walls swelled to over 30,000 people. Over 7000 of these were troops and the rest civilians who had fled to the safety of the walled city. The Jacobite force was estimated at some 15,000 and...
Read more

Hearth Money Rolls 1660s

Image
The hearth tax was the first of a new wave of taxes brought in shortly after the restoration of King Charles II in 1662 and continued for 27 years until 1689. Collected twice yearly at Michelmas (29th September) and Ladys Day (25th March) copies of the returns of payments were sent to the exchequer and to the local Quarter Sessions.   The first Hearth Money Act was passed in the Irish Parliament in 1662. It provided that 2 shillings should be paid on every hearth or ‘other place used for firing’.  Arranged by county, parish and, usually, townland, the Hearth Money Rolls list the names of householders who were liable to pay tax at the rate of two shillings on every hearth or fireplace they had. Some people were exempt from the tax and, of course, others managed to evade paying it.T he lists are not a complete record of every householder in a townland. Those exempt included p ersons living on alms, or persons not able to work, or persons who had a house or lands worth less than ...
Read more

Wolf-hunters and the last wolf in Ulster

Image
The last wolf in Ulster Wolves were numerous in Ireland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. So numerous indeed that they posed a threat to the livelihood of farmers. A letter from Gabriel Whistler, agent of the Salters’ company 11 April 1699 speaking of the devastation brought about by the 1641 rebellion in the region stated 'your lands and most of the others continued in this condition without inhabitants (but wolves and wild beasts) until the year 1656 ’ (D4108/1/12A) At various times generous bounties were given for the destruction of wolves, particularly during the Cromwellian period. In 1652 the Commissioners of the Revenue of Cromwell's Irish Government set substantial bounties on wolves, £6 for a female, £5 for a male, £2 for a sub-adult and 10 shillings for a cub. In 1677 a proclamation by Gabriel Whistler at the manor court on the Salters’ estate, ‘ ordered that the summe of one shilling bee raysed and payed by the tenants of every towne lan...
Read more