Ireland

The Townley Origins in Ireland

The Counties of Antrim, Cavan and Monaghan in Ulster Province

Samuel Townley was born about 1833 in Lisburn, Co Antrim, Ireland. No other information has yet been uncovered about Samuel's background ... his parents' names, any brothers or sisters, and the exact date of his birth are all still unknown.

There is a Townley Hall located in Tullyallen in nearby Co Louth, and very close to the site of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. While its ownership has changed hands over the centuries, Townley Hall was owned at one time by the family of a Blayney Townley. (Blayney apparently later changed his surname to Balfour, making tracing his descendants much more difficult.) It is unknown if Samuel Townley is associated in any way with these earlier Townleys, however it is only about 55 miles from Tullyallen to Lisburn.

Francis Brown was born about 1800 in the Town of Cootehill, in Co. Cavan. Cootehill is situated on the boundary between Counties Cavan and Monaghan. Francis' wife Elizabeth Riddell was born May 16, 1802 in Co. Monaghan. Her exact place of birth in that county so far remains unknown.

The Brown family emigrated to Canada likely in 1847 or 1849 according to later Canadian census records. It is unknown the year of Samuel's arrival in Canada, though it is thought that he and Mary Brown (daughter to Francis and Elizabeth Brown) married in 1855 in Toronto. As it was previously thought that the young Samuel had been born in Co Cavan, it was thought a possibility Samuel was known to the Browns before leaving Ireland for Canada. With the relatively recent discovery that he was in fact born in Lisburn, a prior connection is now unlikely. It does still remain a possibility he may have come to Canada at the same time as the Browns and so may have met them in transit.

The counties of Antrim, Cavan and Monaghan are all in the Province of Ulster. Cavan and Monaghan are not a part of Northern Ireland however, but rather are two of the three Ulster counties that lie within the Republic of Ireland.

Return to the original page here.