The Beattie & McCadden Family

Donegal to Londonderry!

Charlotte Elizabeth Beattie is my maternal great grandmother. Born in Jul 1869, she was the youngest of nine children born to James Beattie and Rebecca McCadden of Co. Donegal.

Charlotte Beattie
My Great Grandmother

Her father and my 2^nd great grandfather, James Beattie; was born in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. Unfortunately, I know very little about this particular “twisted limb” in my family tree prior to James. As I have been unable to find neither birth nor death records for him; and since he died prior to the 1901 census being taken; all I can do is make an educated guess regarding his age. So, for the moment I’m working with his birth year being about 1830.

Beautiful Co. Donegal!

On 2 Mar 1855 Rev. H. Ferguson officiated the wedding of James to Rebecca McCadden in the Rathmullan Church of Ireland. Their marriage record shows that both were residing in Rathmullan at the time. Robert Hance & Robert McCadden were witnesses to their wedding. The records also show that George Beattie was the father of James; and both were Coopers by trade. A Cooper is a maker or repairer of casks & barrel. The same source shows that Robert, who was a shoemaker; was Rebecca’s father.

My question at this point would be; was the witness named Robert McCadden Rebecca’s father OR was he a brother also named Robert? I do know that James had a brother named Samuel.

James Beattie & Rebecca McCadden – Marriage Record

James and Rebecca had nine children, comprised of five sons and four daughters. The baptism of their first son Robert on 7 Mar 1856 at St. Columb’s Cathedral confirms the family was living in Londonderry at the time. This might suggest that they moved to Londonderry shortly after their marriage.

St. Columb’s Cathedral
Londonderry

So, now I know that my 3^rd great grandfathers were George Beattie & Robert McCadden. Unfortunately, I do not know the names of my 3^rd great grandmothers in this particular “crooked branch” of my tree. As always, more information to search for; the never ending saga of my “Twisted Limbs & Crooked Branches”!

About CJ Murdoch

Looking For "Dead People"! My Journey Back In Time - Tracing my ancestors and researching the counties, cities and towns where they resided. Taking a “Glimpse” into their lives and stories and the times in which they lived; all in an effort to learn about their “Dash”! “I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of his friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning – to the end. He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the second with tears, but he said that what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.” I have always been interested in researching my family tree and “hanging out” in cemeteries. Like most of us... I didn't ask enough questions when elderly family were still living. Oh, what I would give for 24 hours and a camera with my ancestors… just to sit and listen! I'm researching many family lines, including: Murdoch, Wilson, Berry, Love, Scott, Beattie/Beatty, Hendren, Sweeney, Robinson and Elvin; just to name a few. My families are predominantly from counties Antrim, Donegal and Londonderry. However, it seems that many of them, both maternal and paternal lines, originally hailed from Co. Donegal. I was born and raised in Northern Ireland and now live in Ottawa, Canada, making frequent trips back home to visit with my family. Of course those visits also include treks to the many burial grounds of my ancestors. My most recent trip back home was during the summer of 2019! Looking forward to August of 2020 when I will return. If you are interested in help tracing your ancestors I’d love to hear from you!

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10 Responses to The Beattie & McCadden Family

Su Leslie says:

June 7, 2014 at 5:18 pm

I love the way you integrate such beautifully presented images into your stories. It makes them even more pleasureable to read.

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- cjmurdoch says:
  
  June 7, 2014 at 11:13 pm
  
  Thank you so much Su; hope all is well with you! Since writing the blog I’ve found the death records for my 3rd great grandparents! Yeah! Also the married name of my 3rd great grandmother; she was Rebecca McCadden too! 🙂
  
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  - Su Leslie says:
    
    June 8, 2014 at 4:28 am
    
    That’s fantastic; more leaves on your tree. I had a surprise email from someone quite unrelated to me about a 4x great grandfather who, it seems, was a British colonial administrator in Penang, Malaysia. All very exciting and I’m trying to make time to learn more about him. 🙂
    
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  - cjmurdoch says:
    
    June 8, 2014 at 6:58 am
    
    A 4x great!!! That’s brilliant; I’m lucky if I have a first name for my 4ths! 😦 That’s where “hanging out” in cemeteries is going to be beneficial to me! Hopefully that is! Have a great day!
    
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  - Su Leslie says:
    
    June 8, 2014 at 6:29 pm
    
    Thanks. I’ve got a few “old” ancestors sorted. I managed to track one branch back to about 1690, but this is the first one that had any sort of public profile, so there will be lots more information about him. Good luck in the cemeteries. I found them really useful when I was back in Scotland last year. 🙂
    
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  - cjmurdoch says:
    
    June 8, 2014 at 6:31 pm
    
    1690??? Now I’m devastated! With Irish records my chances of that are slim to none! I’m trying to convince my husband to retire in Ireland! 😀 So far, it’s not working; BUT my daughter wants to do a year of university at Queen’s in Belfast. Of course if that happens, her momma will HAVE to visit often! 😉
    
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  - Su Leslie says:
    
    June 8, 2014 at 8:28 pm
    
    Irish records are notoriously slim aren’t they? I have friends with Irish ancestry who get quite envious of their Scottish cousins. I’m really fortunate to have almost exclusively Scots forebears. Having said that, I’m not likely to get much further back because mostly my ancestors weren’t landed so the only records are Parish ones, and they only started in the 17th century and then only in some parishes.
    
    Oddly, the most difficult people I’ve found to research have been the most recent ones where records haven’t been released yet.
    
    And I hope your daughter does get to Queens; such a great opportunity for you (I mean her 🙂 )!!
    
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