BARBOUR/BARBER of Cappagh 1718 to British colonies Boston harbor

Jim,

I think you might struggle with this one. There are very few records for the 1700s in Ireland generally and for Cappagh parish, no denomination has any records earlier than 1753 (Church of Ireland). All other denominations records start in the 1800s.

I had a look at the 1901 census for Tyrone (the oldest complete census). There are 60 people named Barbour or Barber. All were Church of Ireland or Presbyterian. So they are all pretty clearly descended from settlers from England or Scotland. They will have settled in Ireland in the 1600s, either as a part of the Plantation or possibly in the 1690s, when large numbers of Scots came due to famine in Scotland. (The Presbyterian denomination is part of the clues as to their Scottish origins).

So your Mathew who was born c 1698, may well have been 1st generation. His parents (and perhaps their parents) may only have resided in Ireland for something between 10 – 80 years. Not very long and probably without leaving any documentary trace of their presence.

DNA testing might be the only way to trace any living descendants today, but you may obviously expect to get matches in Scotland and perhaps England too.

Thank you Elwyn for your welcome reply.  You are indeed correct.  My ancestors went from Scotland (presbyterian) to No. Ire around 1625's, putting them in Tyrone area for about 75-80 yrs, give or take. They were both young when they headed for the colonies on one of the original 5 ships.  Thus making me believe they left behind siblings and/or parents.  Records here describe Robert Barbour ( in his marriage announcement in 1725) as "a scotchman of Weston", Massachusetts.  Bible records indicate Robert was born in Koppra (Cappagh), Tyrone, he died at 69yr in 1769, so the birth year of 1700 (+/- 1).  And, as you pointed out DNA would be crucial........I thought so also, so I did a full YDNA.  The results came back 92% Scotch/Irish, some 5 % scandinavian prob Viking, an 2% other.  So I believe I am on their (Barbour) trail.  All my DNA info would be available should a Barbour in No. Ireland thinks we may have a link. Thank you for taking the time to check the census, nice to know Barbours are still there. I cross my fingers something mght pop-up, but you're right, not many clues left.   Jim Barbour in California

Hi Jim, Not sure if the Barber in my McCollum tree is connected but there is a Mathew Barber marrying Elizabeth McCollum 2.4.1850. Born 1822 in Newtownstewart, Tyrone. Also I have a copies of two articles about Mathew (son of John Barber and Sarah Jane Vaughn), and Eliza McCollum and their life in Geelong, Victoria Australia.

Regards,

Lynette

Hi Jim Barbour,

Your North American family tree appears to be detailed here.

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barberfamily/genealogy/

The Irish branches of our families had a name change during the time they were in Ireland.

My Barbour family tree is documented as farmers back from the mid 1500s continuously to mid last century in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland. During the same period there is evidence of a close association of the Barbours with Northern Ireland since many of the women that married into the family have Irish names.

A second Barbour family among others in the 1500s was located nearby in Kilbarchan,Renfrewshire, Scotland.

A further Barbour family was located between Dumfries and Lochwinnoch, Scotland.

Robert, James, William, Thomas and Steven are common names in our families.

There are also branches of the Barbours/Barbers in England from around the time of William's 1066 conquering activities. There was a steady but small Protestant migration into Aberdeen then to Renfrewshire from Flanders from the 1100s that included farmers and other occupational groups with variants in the spelling of Barbour.

There is an interesting historical line of Huguenot Barbours originating in Felcourt Commune, France and settling in either Felcourt UK or Fressingfield Southern UK.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think your Robert may, together with the descendant of Samuel, share YDNA markers (from FTDNA YDNA).

Robert Barbour, b. 1700 Cappagh, Tyrone d. 1769 MA

Samuel Barber c.1775 Ireland -Westmoreland Co., Pa

Our public family records are available on-line from Scotlands people. You may find a search there useful in Births, Deaths and Marriages together with Wills and Testaments at: https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

We would be interested in the family names recorded in your family Bible.

 Happy to help in any way I can.

Best Regards,

Bob Barbour

New Zealand