FAMILY HISTORY

This map shows our known family connections to IRELAND. The Norwood family (Craig branch) came from towns in County Down, just south of Belfast (see detail map below), first moving to Liverpool around 1848, and then to Glasgow by 1853. I have also included some of the place names for my Strachan cousins, who have Irish connections through their father’s paternal line. Lizzie Brown (McKay branch) moved with her parents from Moneygore, Rathfriland, to South Ayrshire around 1864 and married Andrew McKay at Cumnock in 1889. Andrew’s grandmother, Mary Kirkpatrick, also came from Ireland (place unknown – see note [a] below), and married John [1] McKay around 1830 in Lanarkshire. Even earlier, around 1804, Peter Flynn and Mary McCulloch (McMeekin-McKay line) had moved to Wigtownshire from somewhere in Ireland (see note [b] below).

Notes: [a] the name “Kilpatrick” is synonymous with “Kirkpatrick”, and has strong ties to families of Scottish origin. It is historically associated with County Antrim, particularly the area around Ballymoney.  [b] The Irish name “Flynn” is historically identified with the counties Cork, Waterford, Roscommon and Antrim. In the latter, however, the name was more likely to have evolved over time to “Lynn” or “O’Lynn”.

Also shown in our map are the military postings for Walter [1] Ferguson. Walter’s wife, Anne Phillips, was born in Crosshaven, Cork, around 1778, but they seem to have married around 1798 in Cumnock, Ayrshire, where he enlisted in the Lord Elgin Fencibles. This regiment was sent to Newry, County Down in December 1799, but Walter soon transferred to the 72nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot, with Anne as an ‘on-service wife’. This regiment saw service throughout Ireland until 1805 and, during this time, the couple had and lost four children before they both sailed with the 72nd regiment for the Cape of Good Hope in July 1805. Anne’s father, Samuel Phillips, served as a Revenue Boatman in ports in County Cork in the period from about 1770–1800.