THE REID FAMILY

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At the end of the 18th century, between 1780 and 1800 approx, James Reid was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire in Scotland. As yet, I know nothing of James' early years or whether or not he had brothers and sisters. His parents' names are also unknown at this time. My Aunt Lizzie McKeown (nee Reid: born 1897) said that the family owned a threadmill in the Paisley area and I do know that she and her husband George McKeown went over once and saw it. George was a very well-known local photographer whose photos have been used in many books about the Ballyclare district including Jack McKinney's book, Where The Six Mile Water Flows. Surely George must have taken photos of the mill, but where are they? When George and Lizzie's son Jim died in the 1970s, Jim's widow Nell and their son Trevor went to live in England and probably many photos went with them.

James Reid from Paisley joined the army and some time after this his regiment was sent to a region about 12 miles from Brussels, where on June 1815 the Battle of Waterloo was fought. I do not know what rank James held but maybe some day, time permitting, I will get around to checking military records which may give his date of birth and with any luck, the names of his parents. That would make it possible to trace the line back further on the Scottish side. Our James was not the first James Reid to be a Scottish soldier. Some seventy years earlier another James Reid marched with Bonnie Prince Charlie when he was defeated by the government forces at Culloden. He was one of a hundred Jacobite pipers who always played for the Prince when he went into battle. Remember the old song, A hundred pipers in a' in a', we'll go up and gie them a bla' and bla'. When the battle was over, James was put on trial and his defence was that he was a musician and not a soldier. However, the Judge argued that as a Highland regiment had never fought without pipers, then the bagpipe was an instrument of war. James Reid was summarily hanged, drawn and quartered. In 1996, a Londoner called Dave Brooks was caught contravening a local by-law by playing the bagpipes on Hamstead Heath. He cited the Reid case in his defence and said that the bagpipe was not a musical instrument but a weapon of war. He was consequently charged with bearing arms which was a far more serious case than he was originally to be charged with. As for James Reid, the Judge said that it was obviously a grave miscarriage of justice. A pardon of sorts but 250 years too late. I wonder if this unfortunate man was an ancestor of ours? I hear you say that it is unlikely. It seems even more unlikely when I tell you that my research in Scotland revealed that between 1780 and 1800, there were 19 males born in the Paisley area with the name James Reid. Unlikely indeed! But don't you believe it! According to Andrew Todd's book, Basic Sources For Family History, a man alive in 1700 with 2 children should have 4 grandchildren by 1733, 8 great grandchildren by 1766 and so on until the present day when there would be some 1,000 distant cousins who would be able to claim descent from this one 1700s progenitor. This is a very conservative estimate as you will find before the widespread use of contraception in the 20th century, families were much bigger. Eight children were as common as 2.4 are today and most survived after the mid19th century to have families of their own. You will see in our own tree that families of 7, 9 and 10 are not uncommon. So, we cannot rule out the James Reid who marched with the Bonnie Prince as he might just be a distant cousin. (Author's note: The Jacobite cause was for the restoration of the Stuarts back to the Scottish throne. Although it was a Catholic cause, many Scots who were not Jacobite supporters joined the rebellions mainly to hit back at the government. It is possible, but very unlikely that our Reid ancestors were Jacobite supporters or Catholic in their religion especially in the light of our uncles and grandfather being in the Orange Order in Ulster.)(Northern Ireland)

Anyhow, back to 'our' James. He returned safely home from the war and remained in the Army. He was drafted to the North of Ireland (Northern Ireland) and was stationed at Carrickfergus Castle where he became a recruiting officer. Sometime after this he met a young girl from Glenwherry called Branyon, Brennan or Bryson. I tend to believe it is Bryson as a grandson was called David~Bryson Reid. Again, this is just conjecture. After they married, they settled in the small village of Ballyeaston (Bleaston) about 1.5 miles north of the market town of Ballyclare. Their little home still stands on the pathway to 1st Ballyeaston Presbyterian Church and until recent times it was occupied by the Millar family and also Davy Hill. (Note: This house has been completely rebuilt in 2008). I spent many happy days as a young boy and as a teenager in that very same area of Bleaston, never realising that many of my forbears grew up and spent their youth in the same place. It is only now that I wish I had taken more interest in my family history when I was younger and when Aunt Lizzie and her sister Rosanna (Ronie) were alive to answer all the questions that I now can't find an answer to. It is thanks to Lizzie and Ronie that I have this much information on my family tree and thankfully both of them had the good sense to always write names on the backs of photographs.

James Reid from Paisley and his wife had 4 children. Alexander, John, Jean and James whom I only assume was the eldest. These were the first of our ancesters to be born In Ulster. James provides us with our first date of birth. He was born in 1820. This James was my great great grandfather and nothing much is known about him. His bride was called Elizabeth McCleery who came from Houston's Corners on the Doagh / Mossley road. Her parents were farmers and the land was on the Doagh side of the roundabout at Corr's corners. Unfortunatley it was a runaway marriage as Elizabeth's parents didn't think that James had enough to offer their daughter and so they were married by special licence in the parlour of Hollybush House on the Ballynure road by a clergyman friend of the family who lived there. Afterwards they moved to Whitepark on the Ballycorr road to live and that was the beginning of a long association with the area. James worked for a time in the Bleaching and Finishing Industry, better known as Whitepark Works and later on in life he was the Land Steward for the Whitepark estate. As Land Steward he had the right to cut down any tree on the plantation (plantain). However, most of the trees were cut down by Ballyclare people during the first world war when there was a shortage of coal and other fuels. James was also responsible for guarding the cloth that was bleached in the field at the back of the Works. He had a gun and was supposed to shoot if anyone ever tried to steal it but this was something he never did. When he was retiring, the manager asked him how it came about that in all the years he looked after the cloth, none was ever stolen. He replied that the reason was that nobody ever knew where he was but that most nights he was in his bed. Whitepark Plantain where my Uncle Sam (1904) and Aunt Ruby lived and Rose Cottage (173 Ballycorr Road) where I was reared, were James' rewards in later life. They in turn came to my grandfather, another James (1876) in the 1930s

As a matter of interest, the cloth that James looked after was sprinkled with spring water (what a pity they didn't think about bottling it) from a dam that was fed from a well in Gault's Bog up the Black Bogs Lane towards Bleaston. It was piped in what were know as fairy pipes. (Hollowed out trees). Aunt Lizzie recalled having once seen some of these pipes. Like Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Ronie, I remember many times getting a refreshing drink from the spring especially in the summer when we in the fields bringing in hay. The Black Bog's pathway was kept up and cindered by Whitepark Works for their Ballyeaston workers. Until recently, many parts of the pathway could still be seen and up until the late sixties, the children from Whitepark used it to attend Ballyeaston Primary School. My own father, Matt, as well as having used the path to go to school as a boy also used it to attend Church even as late as the 1970s.

Hill Reid.    

   

 Early generations that are now lost  

 

 From Generation 1, nothing is known of what became of Alexander, John or Jean but we know that James 1820 married Elizabeth McCleery.

Generation 2.

Of James and Elizabeth's children we have a little information.

Nancy was the eldest and she married a James Graham.

Robert married a Scottish woman and they had two sons who joined the army and a daughter called Isabel who married a James Neill.

David~Bryson married Agnes Martin. They had one daughter but she died as a child. They lived at Ballycor.

Samuel & William went to live near Dunmurry.

James 1842 married Rachel Erdis. Theirs is the oldest photo I possess. See Below.

Alexander~Gardiner married Margaret Hollinger.

I believe that one of the above offspring had a daughter called Mary Reid. I have photos and some information but I cannot match her with her parents. I can however match her with her husband, Robert (Bob) Hunter from Connor and I have the names of her daughters, grandchildren and so on until almost the present day. Part of the family is in New Zealand and the rest are in Whitehorse, Yukon. More info can be read on the Hunter page. Lots of photos also, (Not active yet)

Generation 3.

Alexander~Gardiner & Margaret Hollinger.

Margaret Hollinger came from Carnlea on the Collin road, Ballyclare. There are still Hollingers there today. Wilbert Hollinger who teaches in Ballyclare High School is one.

Alexander G. and Margaret had 7 children.

Alexander died age 2

Alexander died age 19. Apparently if a child died young, it was not unusual to call another by the same name.

Louisa (Weedie) was to marry Malcolm McConkey. He went to Canada and she was to follow 6 months later. She never went. 30 years later he returned and they had no contact for months but then they married when they were both in their sixties. I remember them living at the 'cutt' at Whitepark on the Ballycorr road. They had no offspring.

Rosanna married a Mr Boyd. On their honeymoon, she received a foundering and she died a few months later. No offspring.

Elizabeth married Matthew Bell from Ballyclare. He owned land on the Doagh road. My father Matt was named after him. Matthew Bell Reid.

Minnie married Robert (Bob) Girvan who owned a pub where the Sportsmans bar now is. They had one son William and one daughter, Margaret.

  William married Maisie Moffatt from Larne. They had one son

  Wilby. Wilby married Ruby McConnachie. No offspring.

  Margaret married William McMeekin. They had one son Ivan and

  one daughter Minnie (Min)

  Min married Davy Bell from Larne.

James 1876 married Margaret Graham Beattie. They had 9 children. See Link.

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