Original Rootsweb Co. Tyrone Community Site
Mitchell Surname Research For Co. Londonderry
Contents:
DAVID JAMES MITCHELL - Ancestry Table
DAVID JAMES MITCHELL - Ancestry Table
Submitted by Dave Mitchell of Cape Town, South Africa
Contact Me if you'd like to contact him
James MITCHELL, b ca. 1803, d. 17 Dec 1881 (aged 78), farmer, townland of Killymallaght, Glendermott parish, co. Londonderry, Ireland, bur. at Old Glendermott Cemetery, co. Londonderry, Ireland, m. Isabella HENRY (1805 - 1892).
Thomas MITCHELL, b. ca. 1837 at Killymallaght, Glendermott parish, co. Londonderry, (Northern) Ireland, farmer at Little Drumenny, Donagheady parish, co. Tyrone, d. 19 May 1909 (aged 71), bur. at Omagh, co Tyrone, Ireland, m. Mary KERR of Drumenny (1847 - 1906).
James Alexander MITCHELL, b. 1 April 1876 at Little Drumenny, Donagheady parish, co. Tyrone, Ireland, d. 12 June 1933 at Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa, bur. Muizenberg, Cape Town, medical doctor, m. Eileen Mary THOMPSON (1888 - 1976).
Francis Kerr MITCHELL, b. 3 Aug 1918, at Pretoria, South Africa, d. 14 July 1991 at Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa, medical doctor, m. Betty St.Clair Sinclair (b. 13 Jan 1920).
David James MITCHELL, b. 17 Apr 1953, at Cape Town, South Africa, m. Veronica Ann SIMON (b. 1953).
*Notes:
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Death certificates of all deceased persons and photographs of all tombstones held. Details of first known ancestor, James Mitchell, supported by death certificate of his eldest son, Robert Mitchell, d. 1903, New Bedford, Mass., U.S.A., and also confirmed by Dr James Alexander Mitchell, in his personal handwritten family tree, dd. ca. 1903 (original held).
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Origins of Mitchell family set out by Mary Kerr, wife of Thomas Mitchell, in a letter written on 11 October 1905 (original held). "Now for Mitchell. Three brothers came from Scotland over 200 years ago settled in Glendermott & a good part of Donagheady, men strong of body & fleet of limb, tall & stalwart like the oldtime Highlanders, men who feared God & Honored the King, men who had the principle of right so grounded in their nature living by it, & more, prepared to die for it if necessary XXXX "
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James Mitchell's residence at Killymallaght confirmed against the Griffiths Valuation of Ireland, 1858 - details per the 1858 valuation maps confirmed against existing buildings, current landowners, and successive deeds registry transfers, from the 1850's to the present day.
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Listed in the 1831 Census for co. Londonderry, and described as "S", meaning of "Scottish" descent -- confirmed against LDS microfilm copy of original census. (This census has survived for co. Londonderry, a rare treasure for Ireland!)
*Tip from Ulster Ancestry: "A note to David Mitchell I think the "S" on the 1831 census return indicates "seceder"/seceeder" as in Presbyterian, rather than "of Scottish descent"."
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The 1831 Census lists 9 out of 33 homes in Killymallaght as "Mitchell", with a further 6 in the immediately adjacent townlands. Thought to be all related. Now seeking out male line descendants of several of these other Mitchell lines for further DNA testing (emigrations to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
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Earliest recorded Mitchell's at Killymallaght were: David Mitchell (1716) and David Mitchell (1740), according to Protestant Householders Lists (confirmed by Ulster Historical Foundation Report).
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Mitchell's of Killymallaght described in the 1850's as primarily Covenanters and Presbyterian/Reformed Presbyterian.
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Also described as holding lands in Glendermott and Donagheady parish since the earliest times of the Protestant Plantation (17th century), and in Donegal in the Inishowen peninsula ("the Laggan"). May be linked to several Mitchell's listed on the 1630 Muster Rolls for Inishowen, Londonderry, and Strabane (co. Tyrone). May also be linked to three Mitchell's listed amongst the Protestant Garrison at the Siege of Londonderry, 1689.
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Killymallaght is a townland of 571 acres that derives its name from Killymallaght Hill, which is virtually on the border of co. Londonderry and co. Tyrone (and hence, the border between the parishes of Glendermott and Donagheady). It was part of the lands allocated to the Goldsmiths Company in the Plantation of King James I. Glendermott and Donagheady were Presbyterian/Covenanter "strongholds", with their ministers playing key roles in the Siege of Londonderry 1689.
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Possibility of connection to Covenanters at Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, during the so-called "killing times" not discounted. Two martyrs of this family were: Rev. James Mitchell (hanged at Edinburgh on 18 Jan 1676 (or 1678) for the assassination of Archbishop Sharp) and his nephew, Robert Mitchell of Cumnock (who was murdered at Glencairn on 28 April 1685), while Rev. Richard Cameron spent his last night - 21 July 1680 - at the farm of his friend William Mitchell of Meadowhead, at the Water of Ayr. We know of a Rev. John Mitchell, M.A. Glasgow, "a minister in co. Tyrone", who fled Ireland in 1689 and died in Ochiltree, Ayrshire, Scotland on 26 April 1690.
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An earlier Covenanter cleric, David Mitchell, minister of the Old Kirk, Edinburgh, who was later appointed as (Episcopalian) Bishop of Aberdeen, was at Raphoe, co. Tyrone, ca. 1638 - 1642, where he was associated with John Leslie, the "fighting Bishop" who resisted Oliver Cromwell. On 16 November 1642, the English House of Lords voted that a compensation amount of £20 should be paid to Mr. Mitchell, "a Minister well deserving, lately come out of Ireland, being undone, and deprived of all his Means there by the Rebels".
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Investigating the possibility of links to other Mitchell families who emigrated to Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania, and to Philadelphia from Londonderry/Donegal (especially the Inishowen peninsula and the Laggan). Also to the family of Mitchell of Glenarm, co. Antrim, and Mitchelsfort, co. Cork, who were merchants in Philadelphia - Quakers with known Londonderry connections and with links to William Penn.
