Site update

Righteo, I've got a few updates to mention here so far:

• I've added some records to the Emigration from County Londonderry section.
• Created a new section called Ulster for records that span the province in general.
• Added a new page to the Ulster section detailing records of Richardsons who enlisted in the Royal Irish Constabulary.
• Also created the County Donegal section and added the Emigration from County Donegal page to it.

I am also trying to standardise each page to have the same layout, however with the confines of this blog, I'm restricted to a degree by what I can do, so there will still be some inconsistency most notably in regards to the tables used to display information, as I try to accommodate the information better. Maybe I could just put them all into Excel sheets and link to them.

Royal Irish Constabulary

This section will list records of all Richardsons who enlisted in the Royal Irish Constabulary, the police force of the island of Ireland from 1836 to 1922. After the partition of Ireland in 1921, the RIC was replaced in what became Northern Ireland, by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. For the three Ulster counties that became part of the Irish Free State, the RIC was replaced by the an Garda Síochána (the guardian of the peace).

Name	Born	Age	County	Enlisted	Ref
William Richardson	1833	21	Londonderry	1833
Thos. L. Richardson	1898	-	Londonderry	1921
Alex. Richardson	c1873	25	Londonderry	1898
Robt. Richardson	c1869	-	Armagh	-	Ellis Island

New Year, New Start

Just realised it has been a very long time since I accessed this blog, and over the past few years I have come across more information that would be of use, so as a New Years Resolution, I will focus more on updating this site, so stay tuned! !

Richardsons of Bessbrook

The Richardsons of Bessbrook are most famous as being magnates of the Ulster linen trade in 19th century Ireland, and the founders of the model linen village, Bessbrook. They are also regarded as one of the main Quaker families of Ulster.

Origins

The following is from The Richardsons of Bessbrook, A Quaker Linen Family, a small book released by John Bradley to detail the story of the Richardsons of Bessbrook. It was created in response to the launch on 4th April 2009, of a scholarly business study into the Richardsons of Bessbrook, by Richard S. Harrison.

The only official written record on these Richardsons is titled Bessbrook. It was published in 1945 by the family itself to mark the 100th anniversity of them in Bessbrook.

The beginnings of these Richardsons in Ireland are sketchy, however it is claimed that members of a Richardson family from Warwickshire, England, settled in the Loughgall area of County Armagh.

From these Richardsons it is claimed a Zachary Richardson, settled in the townland of Eagerlougher, near to the village of Loughgall itself, and that the Richardsons of Bessbrook descend from him.

What is known for definate is that Jonathan Richardson, Zachary's son, converted from the Established Church to Quakerism in 1660.

Family Tree

This is only a start on the Richardsons of Bessbrook family tree, and will be expanded upon.

• John Richardson (1719-1759) (m. 1753) Ruth Hogg (1719-1817)
• Jonathan Richardson (1756-1817)
• James Nicholson Richardson I
  (1781-1847)
• John Grubb Richardson (2nd son of ten)
  (13 November 1813 - 1890)
• James Nicholson Richardson III
  (7 February 1846 - 11 October 1921)
• Thomas Richardson (born after 1813)
• Jonathan Richardson

My Family Tree

It only makes sense to provide details of my own family tree first before any other Richardsons. The following is the result of a lot of research into church records, scouring online sites for clues, and following them up wherever I can.

As it appears to be common practice amongst family trees on the Internet, any relatives still living are marked as such rather than their details being giving out. Some names given without a birth or death date may still be alive.

So far I can trace my tree as far as back as James Richardson, my great-great-great grandfather (6 generations back). He lived in the townland of Fallalea in the civil parish of Killelagh. His son, William, would move to the townland of Crew in the neighbouring civil parish of Maghera, and most descendants would remain in that civil parish or the neighbouring civil parish of Kilcronaghan.

This family tree can be taken as concrete and backed up by sources, with no speculation or flaws in it, other than at the very start where I state who James's wife may possibly be.

If anyone can trace their own ancestry into the following or have relevant information then please by all means get in contact.

Click here to download the Microsoft Excel file.