Ballyferis is a rural townland (similar to a township in Iowa) of 434 acres. 184 people lived there in 1841, and 124 in 1851. The large drop is population is typical of places all across Ireland during those years owing to the potato famine and emigration resulting from the famine. As you can see by the acreage and population, each family's farm had to have been pretty small. The nearest town, about 1.5 miles south, was Ballywalter, a town of roughly 700-800 people around 1841-1851. Ballyferis and Ballywalter are along the east coast of the Ards peninsula in the northeast of Ireland (in what is Northern Ireland nowadays). Ballywalter has a harbor.
While the parish registers always give William's occupation as farmer, his granddaughter Sadie remembered him being described as a ``hostler'' (a person who takes care of customers' horses for a business).
Another early record where we can definitely identify our William Morrison is the tithe applotment book of 1833. Our William is tenant of a farm of 27 and one-fourth acres. His is the only Morrison property listed for Ballyferis. The small size of the farm holdings made it necessary for most of the children of a large family to emigrate, as so little land could never support many families.
Another mention of William Morrison of Ballyferis is found in the 1863 Griffith's Valuation of Tenements (sort of a listing of every one leasing any land). In this listing, William is leasing his 17 acres of land from Lord Dufferine and Claneboye and it includes house, offices, a flax-mill and land and is valued at 25 pounds. The other half (16 acres)\footnote{ I realize 16 plus 17 does not equal 27. According to the Ulster Historical Foundation, ``the acreages between the tithe applotment books and the valuation books seldom agree as not all land was tithable and Statute Acres are larger than Irish acres.''} belongs to Margaret Morrison, who is the widow of a Hugh Morrison. Also there are separate listings under William Morrison for a Jane Reid and an Agnes Stewart each leasing a house from William Morrison.
Besides the new information that our Morrisons also ran a flax mill, the link between the Hugh and Margaret Morrison family is very interesting. Hugh and Margaret were the parents of four children, three of whom went to Australia to work in the gold fields of Bendigo in the mid-1800s. These three sons later made their way to New Zealand to settle. The fourth child, a daughter, came to America. Since the two Morrison families share the farm, they are undoubtedly closely related. Hugh was probably a brother, or perhaps a cousin of William, but it hasn't been possible to prove exactly what the relationship is. These New Zealand Morrisons have put together a very interesting history of their family.
The parents of this Hugh Morrison are definitely John Morrison, who died December 30, 1840 age 87, and Agnes Patterson, who died 5 February 1833 age 70. They are both buried in the Whitechurch Graveyard at Ballywalter.
Our Iowa Morrisons (William) and the New Zealand Morrisons (John) are also linked at an earlier date. In a Freeholders Registry (1813-1821) for the area, when both Protestants and Catholics with freeholds (farms) valued at 40 pounds or more had votes, there is a freehold of Wm. Morrison in Balleyferis valued at 40 pounds. Living on this freehold at the July 1, 1817 registration date are Wm. Morrison, John Morrison, and Jane Morrison.
Beyond these records, there isn't much which can be concretely linked to our Morrison family. There are a several possible links. The Whitechurch cemetery records mention three other Morrisons in Ballyferis:
Some of the obvious conjectures are that James (1793-1822), Edward (1796-1824), Hugh (1799-1857), and this, our William (1805-1879) were all children of John Morrison and Agnes Patterson. But it also seems possible that at least this, our William (1805-1879) was the son of William Morrison (1762-1819) and Mary Baird (1777-1843). The William who died in 1809 may have this been this, our William's grandfather or great-grandfather.
I think the Freeholder's registry is a very important clue because it shows the Ballyferis Morrison farm is already being shared in 1817. On that registry, William must be the William who died in 1819 since this William was only born about 1805. The John must be the John who died in 1840 (progenitor of the New Zealand branch).
The tithe applotment book of 1833 might also provide an important clue for the relationship between the two branches. John is still alive at that date and this (b. 1805) William is listed as the primary tenant. It is unlikely that William would be listed as the primary tenant if his father were still alive. This, therefore, seems to support the theory that John was this William's uncle and therefore that this William was the son of the William who died in 1819. (Of course, the exact relationship between this (b. 1805) William's father and John is unknown.)
There are several other Morrison families of communities very near to Ballyferis, such as Ballywalter, Tullycavy, Kilbright, etc. Another William Morrison of Ballywalter was a publican and grocer. There were no Morrisons listed in the Whitechurch/Ballyferis area in a 1720 estate map. However, there was a Wm. Morrison of Balleyferis in the Deputy Court Book of 1790 (a type of voters roll). The Morrisons of this vicinity were prominent in the United Irishmen who rebelled in 1798, when Presbyterians and Catholics united against the English. There is a letter naming John Morrison of Balleywalter among those killed in a local skirmish. A Wm. Morrison of Donaghadee was named in the Black Book of Rebellion, a list of known or suspected rebels, with details of their activities.
When investigating this, I did hear of descendents of two other Morrison families of the same general vicinity. There is one set of Morrisons who trace their line back to 1770 (with no known link to ours) and were concentrated around Kilbright (north of Ballyferis). The other set is from the Greyabbey (west of Ballyferis across the peninsula) area and trace their ancestors back to Dumfriesshire, Scotland. The latter are said to have arrived in Ireland in 1689 on the ship Phoenix. But written records of this branch also only begin in 1787. The family includes a William Morrison of Greyabbey, b. 1787, a blacksmith who married Mary McKeag. They had children Henry (b. 1817), James, William, John, Jane, Hugh, Alex, and Robert. That father William emigrated about 1845 to Elizabethtown, NY and died in 1858. Again, there is no known link to our Morrisons, but that might give you an idea of where in Scotland our Morrisons could have come from. Most of the inhabitants of the Ards peninsula were of Scottish ancestry. The peak period for emigration to the Ards peninsula was in the 1690s when a combination of low rents in Ireland and famine in Scotland encouraged a great wave of settlers.
The New Zealand Morrisons pointed out that there was a National School in Ballyferis, so that their family, at least, (and probably ours) was educated.
The official registration of William's and Mary Jane's deaths were found. They gives the following information:
In his will, William leaves his leased farm in Ballyferis and household and implements to his son John.
Since two different families contacted the Ulster Historical Foundation for help in researching these Morrisons, there isn't a lot of hope that it will be possible to find much more ever, but one never knows.
Sources for this individual: @S53@ @S54@ @S28@ @S55@ @S30@ @S56@ @S57@ @S58@ @S59@ @S60@ @S61@ @S18@ @S62@ @S63@ @S1738@
