Abstract
With the publication of numerous online genealogical databases replete with sources dating from the nineteenth century to the present, research on family history has become more accessible and addictive. Who has successfully resisted the urge to search for family surnames mentioned in the National Archives of Ireland’s online censuses, or the records of births, marriages and deaths on irishgenealogy.ie, or Griffith’s valuation on askaboutireland.ie? Although search engine result pages may offer clues at great convenience, this information still needs to be interrogated and deciphered. To amateur historians and genealogists, this poses a significant challenge, as noted by William J. Roulston – the author of this magisterial work. Equally problematic is the fact that online resources tend to be orientated to sources from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. How, then, can the family historian dig deeper into the past and uncover the rich tapestry of local and familial history before 1800? Thankfully, Researching Ulster Ancestors provides a proverbial magnifying glass to help prospective family detectives grapple with evidence from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Building on Roulston’s 2005 book, Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors, this new edition is an important and extensive guide to undertaking genealogical research. In places, subtle changes have been made to its predecessor, as evidenced in Roulston’s revised sections on what information is available in church records, gravestone inscriptions and landed estate records, among numerous others. New archival acquisitions such as the R. J. Hunter papers in PRONI, as well as the availability of more online resources, necessitated some of Roulston’s updates. In a sign of the times, Roulston’s 2005 edition encouraged readers to use ‘a search engine such as Google (www.google.com) to look for specific items or names’ (p. 26), whereas this version records useful websites for specific archives and other genealogy-driven websites such as RootsIreland and FamilySearch. Thus, Researching Ulster Ancestors is more than a simple reprint of Roulston’s earlier work.
One of the key strengths of this volume is how Roulston provides a broader narrative of Ulster and Irish history that allows readers to contextualise what they find in the archives. A short chapter details the history of Ulster from c.1600 to c. 1800 and provides the reader with a succinct sequence of events that allows them to understand broader political, social and economic processes. Frequently, Roulston also traces the reasons behind the gathering of the archive in the first place. For example, chapter seven contains a discussion of the nature of the evidence contained in the Registry of Deeds, which was established by the Irish Parliament in 1707. The purpose of this new archive was to preserve ‘the privileged position of the Anglican elite by restricting the rights of Catholics’ (p. 150). Despite the rhetoric of the act, where deeds, conveyances and hereditaments were to be deposited at the registry, the reality is that not all land purchases were recorded. Thus, what is left represents only a portion of all land transactions. This is followed by a brief but detailed discussion of the registration process, which gives a sense of how the Registry of Deeds itself is organised. Roulston also comments on the legibility of the hand in the registers and warns his audience that not all transactions were registered immediately. This is practical advice and will undoubtedly help novice and amateur researchers to understand the nature of the archive. Such useful advice is repeated throughout this book and it is clear that Roulston knows his audience well as he is drawing on extensive personal experience. In a discussion of graveyards and gravestones, he remarks: ‘Today, few visitors to Ireland in search of their roots are satisfied until they have identified the last resting place of their ancestors. Even if no headstone has survived, there is still something poignant about visiting the ancestral burial ground’ (p. 73).
Another strength of this guide is that it provides an insight into the type of reward available to those who are willing to exploit these sources and archives thoroughly. For example, Roulston explains the plight of the Gordon family of Donagheady, Co. Tyrone through an investigation of the parish’s vestry records. Roger Gordon and his wife Sarah Hutcheson had two daughters and a blind son, James. The vestry minutes record the payment of 30 shillings towards his care. Another entry from 1704 suggests that the family was too poor to bury Sarah after her death and so the vestry gave 2s 6d to cover the costs (pp. 40–1). Contemporary newspapers from Dublin and London are also highlighted as potential sources for genealogical research. Another fascinating insight into real lives lived is a vignette taken from the London Gazette dated 24 April 1679. A Scottish minister called Lawry from Fermanagh was pardoned for killing three notorious ‘Tories’. Allegedly, Lawry was almost shot in the incident but avoided injury as one of his accomplices managed to chop the hand off of the person aiming at him (p. 200). Similarly, Roulston’s description of the annotations of election poll books indicates the rich spoils for those willing to engage in such detailed research. For example, in the 1753 Armagh poll book, Robert Jones was objected to for ‘being seen at mass and giving offerings to the priests’ (p. 180).
Perhaps the greatest addition to this updated version of Roulston’s guide is chapter thirteen, which explains how families can delve into records concerning emigration from Ulster. As Roulston admits, there is a significant dearth of evidence as, until 1890, no official attempt was made to record the names of those who left Ireland. Nonetheless, there are places where some information might be found. A section on background reading suggests useful avenues for readers to explore to understand the broader context. A further section details how contemporary newspapers like the Belfast News-Letter occasionally printed letters by passengers expressing their gratitude to various captains for bringing them to America safely. Roulston also suggests that some evidence may be contained in leases and petitions to landlords as often they contain references to tenants about to emigrate or name people that have already left the estate. While this may seem like an exercise in finding a needle in a haystack, the task appears much more manageable thanks to Roulston’s handy appendix that details the most prominent estate collections that concern Ulster landlords.
Any amateur genealogist or local historian of Ulster will find this book immensely valuable. It provides a key to unlock the treasure trove contained in the Irish archival record. If any criticism can be made of the book it is that it slightly undersells itself. Although Researching Ulster Ancestors is specifically tailored towards research about Ulster, any genealogist, undergraduate or new postgraduate student would find this book a useful introduction into many of Ireland’s key archives. Those seeking inspiration for potential final-year undergraduate or postgraduate dissertation topics could find some ideas perusing these pages indicating the breadth and depth of Roulston’s expertise and work. In short, this is an excellent work that will prove invaluable to future generations of family historians eager to understand their Ulster roots and budding historians about to embark on their research careers.