William Fee McKinney
The Society has been given a copy of William Fee McKinney’s “Family Register,” which is known locally as his “stud book”. W. F. McKinney lived at Sentry Hill, Ballycraigy, Co. Antrim (just outside Glengormley). He was interested in history and genealogy and compiled information on families, most of whom lived in the Parish of Carnmoney. Much of the information was gleaned from the baptism and marriage registers of churches in the locality.
The files which amount to 394 pages, have several families to a page. There are 1,069 entries in the index, and these are just heads of families. Although McKinney doesn’t record how the families are related, it can often be seen from dates of birth where the connections are.
The original index has been enhanced to include spouses’ names and emigration information that is noted in the Register. Also included are birth years when they are given, or an approximate year of birth based on a marriage year or census information. So, any years that have “abt.” are our additions and are a best guess purely to give the researcher some idea of century or decade. The page number is also recorded.
The records include birth years from the 17th century through to the early 20th century, and the last entry seems to be the death of David PAISLEY who died at the Somme on 1 April 1917, just a few weeks before William’s death on 25 April 1917.
The Index to the Family Register is now available.