RHEA-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Fwd: Co.Down ancestors? / Harshaw Diaries
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 09:37:26 -0400 (EDT)

Check this out!

Pat
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Forwarded message:
From:
Resent-from:
To:,
Date: 97-07-10 00:46:51 EDT

The following was sent to me in my Irish/Scot Newletter from AOL. I think
some of you may be interested.
Lisa Wilson

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Subj: Re: COUNTY DOWN
From: Suzballard

OK, here it is:

If you have an ancestor in the Southern part of Co. Down (South of
Banbridge) and they are from the time period 1830-1870, your ancestor
might be mentioned in the HARSHAW DIARIES. These important diaries were
recently found and returned to the Public Record Office in Northern
Ireland (PRONI) and a microfilm copy is in the New England Historic
Genealogical Society in Boston (HisGen). The transcriber of the diaries
(all 1400 pages, 7 volumes, of them!) has the only other copy of the
diaries outside of those two places. She is trying to get HisGen to
publish the transcription so that all of you can find your ancestors
mentioned in this diary easier than travelling to Ireland or Boston!
Write HisGen if you want it published--they need input now to determine
marketability (?) Jane Fiske is the Director of Publications. E-mail
address: .

This record has been declared by PRONI the "most important historical
record in all Ireland!" The author, James Harshaw (1797-1867) of
Ringbane, Co. Down, wrote down all the birfths, marriages, deaths,
workers who worked for him, people he came in contact with, people he
read about in the area, rumors he heard, baptisms he attended, people
who took the sacrament at confirmation, etc (PRESBYTERIAN) during his
lifetime of writing in his diaries. The diaries have been lost for over
100 years and were found a few years back, transcribed, microfilmed at
HisGen and then donated back to Ireland at a National Irish TV media
event in November 1996. Let's get them into the hands of people who can
look up their ancestors!

I found my ancestors in them, although I had to go to Belfast to do so.
I got my genealogy back two more generations on two lines! It's awesome
and more people should have access to it!

Some names I can remember seeing in the diaries include: Harshaw,
Martin, Boyd, McCrum, Glenny, Marshall, Douglass, Campbell (spelled
Camble in the diaries), Todd, Simpson, Megaw, Bradford, Fraser, Mitchel
(including John Mitchel and John Martin, the patriots, as well as other
Young Irelanders), Andrews, etc. (This is from memory--sorry it's not
complete.) He gives details of the potato famine, names people he knows
who leave Ireland for America, names the people who died due to the
famine, gives the daily weather report, details his tenants wages and
names their families, etc. It's a wonderful record of a part of Irish
History that is lost because of the 1922 records fire. That's why
Ireland was so delighted to have the record donated to them.

By the way, I receive NO monetary benefit from asking you to e-mail
HisGen to encourage publication--I just want people to have access to
this record like I was able to do when I was in Ireland in March for the
dedication of James Harshaw's gravestone. I got to meet his
descendants, I got to meet the transcriber, and I got to feel the actual
diaries. It was incredible! So--thanks ahead of time for e-mailing
HisGen!

Suzanne Ballard

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