Weir Acheson (1778-1854)
Contents
Weir Acheson (1778-1854)
Very little is known about our original Weir Acheson ancestor, our first known settler in County Tyrone. My first knowledge of him is in the Acheson book, "Who's That Sitting in our Family Tree?" [1] by aunt Gert. She identifies him as the patriarch of the Acheson line, but not his spouse, unfortunately.
The middle name of "Weir" is very unusual, as it is not common in that country. However, a traditional practice of the Irish was to use the mother's or the grandmother's maiden name for a second given name to a son. So there is the possibility of a relationship to Weir (or Wier) families in the area at that time.
The only other record of our g-g-g-grandfather is in the Northern Ireland tithe records.
Family
Spouse: unknown. The land records for Weir do not mention a spouse. The Griffith's Valuation survey and the census records of 1901 and 1911 for the sons do not mention either parent being in the house.
| Known Children | ||
| Name | Born | Died |
| Joseph Acheson | 1815 | 1901 |
| Alexander Acheson | 18xx | 1897 |
| Margaret Acheson | unknown | unknown |
There is a marriage record of a possible daughter. On February 16, 1855, Margaret Acheson, of full age of Lackagh, daughter of Weir Acheson, a farmer, is married to John Turner, of full age, of Drumquin, son of William Turner of Lackagh.[2] The original document is very faded.
References
| * Individual index: | A.1 |
| * Family tree: | Weir Acheson and his family tree |
| * Lineage: | Weir Acheson1 |
Life in West Longfield
Schooling
London Hibernian Society school, 1 mile to the west of Drumquin, established 1825; income: Reverend G. King give 3 guineas per annum and a dwelling house, from pupils 1 s a quarter, physical education: rod; intellectual education: Dublin Society books, testaments; moral education: a Sunday school held; number of pupils: 80 males, 40 females, 120 total pupils, 80 Protestants, 40 Roman Catholics; master John Rogers, Presbyterian.
Diet
The dress worn by the inhabitants differs in no respect from that of the surrounding parishes, and there are no remarkable peculiarities in it. Their diet consists principally of potatoes and porridge made of oatmeal, and sometimes their dinner is varied by the addition of a little bacon and greens, or oatmeal cake. Their manners are generally civil and obliging. They complain much of the short leases and high rents, and with justice, if we may judge from the squalid and poverty-stricken appearance of many of them. The farms average about 10 acres, the rent 1 pound an acre.
Farm Crops
Neither barley nor wheat are grown in this parish. Oats are sown in March and April and cut in September. Potatoes are put down in May and taken up in November. Hay is cut in August. Crops are rather worse than the surrounding parishes.
The Farm in Collow
The townland of Collow has also been spelled as 'Callow' and 'Cullow'. I will use the spelling on the posted sign on the access road. To locate Collow on an electronic map, it is near 54°36' north and 7°31' west. The Acheson farm is pinpointed at: 54o 36' north and 7o 32' west.
1826 - paid the taxes
In the Langfield Tithe Books, Ref Fin/5/a/22[3], we have a record of a Wm. (William) Weir Atcheson, in the county of Tyrone, the parish of Longfield West, the townland of Collow in the year 1826; paying tax on 14 acres of arable land, 50 acres of pasture, 37 acres of arable and 58 acres of pasture. His neighbours in Collow were: William Johnston and two Thompsons.
This was a good farm.
The farms in West Longfield at that time averaged about 10 acres, the rent 1 pound an acre.
1829 - Weir owns the farm
In 1829, three years after the above-mentioned property tax, Weir registered his freehold at Collow with the Clerk of the Peace at a Special Session held in the courthouse Strabane, on May 9, 1829, a declaration of ownership of the farm.[4]
Freeholders' records are lists of people entitled to vote, or of people who voted at elections. A freeholder was a man who owned his land outright (in fee) or who held it by lease, which could be for one or more lives. For example, his own life or for the lives of other people named in the lease. From 1727 to 1793, only Protestants with a freehold work at least 40 shilling a year were legally permitted to vote. Between 1793 and 1829, both Protestants and Catholics with 40 shilling freeholds could vote. But, in 1829, the franchise level was increased to ten pounds, so 40 shilling freeholders were no longer allowed to vote. This last measure increased the influence of landlords by effectively confining membership of Parliament to the propertied or monnied classes.
1845
The son Joseph Acheson marries Isabella McKennitt in December. By next year, they will be fleeing the Irish Famine to start a new family in North America.
1845-1852 The Great Famine
1850
Joseph and Isabella have returned to Ireland and settle in Lower Longfield. Their second son, Weir Acheson, is born in July 1850. The Great Famine in not yet finished with its misery.
1854
The father, Weir Acheson, passes away in May of 1854 at the age of 76 years. He has seen and lived through so much in his lifetime, and has started a dynasty of Acheson descendants.
1855
The daughter, Margaret, now marries John Turner from Drumquin. John's father was William Turner of Lackagh.
1859 - now tenant farmers
1860 Alexander marries Anne Eliza Acheson from Lackagh. She is daughter of Samuel Acheson; we do not know the relationship, if any.
1862
By 1859, some five years after Weir's death, the farm is listed as being leased by his two sons from a Thomas Auchinkleck.[5]
Sources
With a few exceptions, all the Northern Ireland pre-1901 census records were pulped for waste paper during the First World War. We rely on church records of birth and marriage. So, you start with the parish of interest.
The land is also a record. As noted below, the Tithe Applotment Books 1823-1837 are a source. The Tithe Applotment Survey was made in each civil parish for the whole of Ireland to determine the value of tithe payments by different landlords.
Griffiths Valuation, or the Primary Valuation of Ireland, was named after Sir Richard Griffith, the Valuation Office director at that time. This was a survey of property ownership in Ireland, with the first survey taken from 1848 to 1864. We use six valuation books for the Acheson Collow study: Book A (1860-1863); Book B (1864-1876); Book C (1877-1881); Book D (1882-1898); Book E (1899-1915); Book F (1915-1923) and 1930, when the Books end. This is a substitute for the years after the Great Famine.
The earliest OS (Ordinance Survey) maps were produced for Londonderry in 1831 and it was then and there that surveying began. Richard Griffith, the Valuation Commissioner, quickly saw that the plan to value everything was far too ambitious for the resources available. While continuing to value all land, a threshold of £3 annual value was adopted for buildings to be assessed, excluding the large majority of householders but still covering a significant number of dwellings and commercial premises, especially in towns. The valuation continued on this basis for the next seven years, covering eight of the northern counties. By 1836, however, it was clear that even with a £3 threshold the surveying would never be completed. In that year the threshold was raised to £5, covering only the most substantial buildings.
The surviving census records start in 1901 and then 1911.
Neighbours
In the nearby townland of Lackagh of parish Longfield West, only a mile from Weir, we have Cunningham Acheson on 26 acres of land and William John Acheson on 40 acres of pasture. About four or five miles furtheer, in the parish of Ardstraw, we also find two Robert's, Samuel and William Acheson.
Weir Acheson death
"Weir Acheson died May 29th 1854 - aged 76 years". This is recorded in the 1700's Acheson family bible (see left), whose whereabouts is currently unknown. Weir most likely passed away in the family cottage in Collow, but certainly in Lower Langfield, county Tyrone, Ireland.
From his age of 76, recorded in the bible, we can estimate his birth year as 1778.
Tithe Applotment Books 1823-1837[2]
Tithe was a tax on all agricultural land (originally a tenth of the produce) excepting only church lands and glebes and urban areas, and it was paid by leaseholders and occupiers of all religious denominations to the clergy of the Established Church of England. There was growing resentment against this tax, particularly in the period of distress after 1815 and the government was forced to give way and introduce a Tithe Composition Act 1823, which replaced payment in kind by payment in cash by landlords.
During the period 1823 to 1837, a Tithe Applotment Survey was made in each civil parish for the whole of Ireland, to determine the value of tithe payable by different landlords. The material was arranged by civil parish and townland in volumes known as TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOKS.
Sources
- ↑ Who's That Sitting in our Family Tree? Narrator: Gertrude [Webber] Lawrie; private pub. 1988; pp. 30, 165
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Original research booklet; by Robert J. Williams of Londonderry, N. Ireland; compiled October 2015, 32 pp., plus photocopies of original documents, in private collection.
- ↑ Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837). From the Langfield Tithe Books Ref. Fin/5/A/22
- ↑ The Strabane Morning News; a local newspaper; May 19, 1829
- ↑ Griffith Valuation for Collow PRONI VAL-12B/35/11A p. 13 (1860-1863)
