Gormley / Grimes / Bloomer

1 Gormley farm in Cranlome in the tithes for 1829:

https://cotyroneireland.com/tithe/killeeshil.html

Griffiths Valuation of c 1860 lists a Michael & Charles Gormly in Cranlome. I do not see the other 2 surnames there.

There were still 2 Gormley farms there in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Aghnahoe/Cranlome/1734672/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Aghnahoe/Cranlome/1734673/

Probate abstract:

Gormley, Michael of Cranlome Cappagh Dungannon county Tyrone farmer died 16 September 1960 Administration Londonderry 26 April to Ellen Gormley the widow. Effects £259 15s.

I found a slight Bloomer connection. This lady was living in Eskra but her executor was from Cranlome.

Letters of Administration of the personal estate of Rose Bloomer late of Eskra County Tyrone Widow deceased who died 14 November 1871 at same place were granted at Armagh to John Donaghy of Cranlome (Ballygawley) in said County Farmer the Brother and only next of kin of said deceased.

Elwyn
Thank you for the prompt reply, i really appreciate you taking the time. Michael Gormley who died in 1960 was my grandfather, and those in the 1901/1911 census are my relations, the Michael Gormley registered in Griffiths valuation 1860 is my great great grandfather, however there is no further mention of his brothers Peter or Hugh and their families anywhere later on, we are not sure if they emigrated to America/Australia or did some move to Scotland ? There are other Gormley names registered in church marriages in the early 1800's Richard, Paul Patrick etc however there is no further mention of them in later records. Of the children of Michael ( 1829) we know some of the females married local, however several sons appear to have disappeared. One daughter Bridget who died 25yrs is listed on the old headstone in Aughnagar, a son Patrick moved to America and became a Monk (brother Leonard) There were other brothers and sisters too which we have not been able to locate. The generation before who are listed in the Tithes 1829 Roger Gormley is my direct line (Rumour has it that he had come originally from France, possibly via Lancashire in England, married a woman Gormley and lived/worked on the Crossley estate before moving to Cranlome, again rumour suggests he had 9 children, mostly male, the Edward Gormley listed in 1829 Tithe for the townland of Bockets ( close to Cranlome) was likely either his brother or son but there is no further mention of Edward Gormley or that name in Bockets in later records. My grandfather and his siblings were all registered on their birth certificate as Grimes however they always used the name Gormley and Gormley was the name on their death certificate. It was only recently that I became aware of Bloomer being another possible name for Gormley hense that suggestion. Apologies for the long explanation, however if this helps jog a memory for anyone else I would be very grateful
Thank you
Marie

Marie,

John Grenham’s site does confirm that Bloomer is a variant of Gormley. (I would not have known that either).

https://www.johngrenham.com/surnamescode/1901_deds_full.php?surname=Bloomer&search_type=full

If you think that some of the family went to Scotland – and that wouldn’t be at all surprising as hundreds of thousands of people from Ulster did go there for work in the 1800s – have you searched for them on Scotlandspeople? It has the Scottish censuses from 1841 to 1911 plus statutory births, deaths and marriages from 1855 onwards. Scottish marriage & death certificates are better than our Irish ones because they contain both parents names, and say whether the parent was alive or dead at that date. Plus married women/widows are indexed under maiden and married names making them quite easy to find.

Elwyn
Thank you again, I had looked at some American records, but not the ones from Scotland, I will definitely follow up that angle, also it is interesting re Bloomer, quite a few in this area of Tyrone at that time but not so many now that I know of , unless they changed name back again, I know our branch of Gormley changed to Grimes and then back to Gormley again , I really appreciate you taking the time to forward this information
Marie

I just found this forum. If this is at all still active, Marie, I believe you are related to my husband through the Gormley side of his family (his mother's maiden name). His great-grandfather was Peter F Gormley from Drumlester, Six Mile Cross, Tyrone, Ireland...his great-grandmother was Sarah Gormley. If you are on ancestry, I'd love to see if we can connect the family trees! Or you can email me at catherinercolgan @ gmail.com (remove the spaces). 

Hello Marie

Have only just found the posts re Bloomer/Gormley/Grimes. You mention a Hugh Gormley listed in Griffiths Valuation 1860 as being a brother of your gr gr grandfather Michael Gormley - My gr gr grandfather was a Patrick Hugh Bloomer baptised Tullyallen Chapel in 1816 , shown in Griffiths Valuation 1860 (in Eskragh)  as "Hugh Bloomer" married Margaret Fox and died in Eskragh in 1861. (I believe his father was a Francis (Franko) Bloomer( b ? and married to Eleanor Rogers) died 1861 in Killeeshill .

I wonder if my Hugh Bloomer could be the "Hugh" brother of your gr gr grandfather?

Patrick Hugh's (b 1816) had a son also named Patrick Hugh (my gr grandfather baptised 18/03/1838 in Tullyallen Killeeshill Chapel and also known as Hugh). This Hugh married a Winifred Byrne in 1864 in Co Wicklow) and they emigrated same year to Queensland Australia (where I live).  Hugh and Winifred had only 2 sons , one my grandfather James and another Hugh. James had 2 sons, James my father and another son Patrick and 2 daughters.

It seems your family has always used "GORMLEY" and mine "BLOOMER" but I would love to know just why this was so and if indeed we are actually from the same bloodlines. Perhaps the names were recorded as either of the 3 according to the whim of the recorder?

I would love to hear from you and pls feel free to contact me on margannm@gmail.com

Margaret Muller (nee Bloomer)

The concept of a single “correct” version of a name is not one our ancestors would have recognised or been bothered about. There are many interchangeable names in Ireland and you can expect to see either version feature in the same family. So it’s wise to search Irish records using all versions.

Examples of interchangeable surnames are: McDowell & Madole, Robertson & Robinson, Kilpatrick and Kirkpatrick, Nogher & Connor, Patterson & Pattison, Faulkner & Falconer, McConnell & McDonnell, Kerr & Carr, Stewart & Stuart, Stevenson & Steenson, Logue & Molloy.  Bloomer etc seem to be further examples. Sometimes it was down to spelling eg Robertson & Robinson, with others it was how a gaelic version had been anglicised eg Nogher & Connor.

 Many forenames are also interchangeable eg Jean & Jane, Jenny & Janet, Nancy, Agnes & Ann are all interchangeable, Sally & Sarah, Sheila & Julia, Mary & May, Peggy & Margaret, Peter & Patrick, Sean & John, John & Jack, Edward & Edmund, Henry & Harry, Robin & Robert, Roy & Robert, Kathleen & Catherine. (The famous Scottish poet Robert Burns was never known as Robert to his friends. He was always Robin to them). It’s just something that needs to be taken into account when searching Irish and sometimes Scottish records.