Family Tree

Armed with the testimony from James McLoughlin, we now had dates, places, names and concrete leads to follow and it didn't take long before we were able to start building the Liggett Family Tree with confidence.

Paternal Liggett Bloodline (Male)

William Liggett (1887-1956) - Grandfather

Our grandfather was born in Dergany outside the village of Dromore in Co Tyrone on 29th October 1897 and Christened William (John) in the Church of Ireland, Dromore.

His mother was called Maggie McGee (nee O’Donnell). Maggie had a child in a previous marriage called Sarah Jane to John McGee. Maggie died of tuberculosis in 1899. William’s father was called Robert John Liggett and after William's mother’s untimely death he first went to stay at his grandmother Sarah Liggett’s house in Galbally, Co Tyrone, where they were recorded in the 1901 census.

By 1903 he was living with his uncle George O’Donnell at Crossan, Co Tyrone where he attended school at Maralough, before being sent to live with his aunt Ellen McLoughlin nee O’Donnell (mother of James) in the village of Newtownbutler in Co Fermanagh.

During the week he went to the Newtownbutler Boy’s National School and to the Church of Ireland Sunday School in Dromore where he received extra tuition in reading and arithmetic.

By 1913 he had joined the Clogher Valley Railway which ran through Newtownbutler for the next few years until he met Mary Ellen Jordan in Adavoyle near Newry in Co Down. They married on 22nd November 1922 and lived at 57 Ormeau Road in Belfast. They moved to Middlepath Street and also Bridge End were they had six children (Kevin, Danny, Pat, Francie, Mary & Margaret). Mary Ellen died aged 32 of tuberculosis on 16th July 1934.

Mary McGurk (1900-1954) - Grandmother

William met and married Mary McGurk in 1937. She was born in Dublin in 1900. Her mother was called Bridget Watters and was full first cousin of the famous Irish Trade Unionist James Connolly. Mary lived in the Ballymacarrett area of east Belfast.

She worked in a clothing Factory in Kent Street during the 1930s. They had five children (Paul, Anne, Rosaleen, Bridget and Philomena) and settled in the new housing development of Glenard (Ardoyne) in north Belfast. One child (Rosaleen) died of convulsions a year and a half after the blitz of 1941.

During WW2 the children were sent to stay with their aunt Rose O'Hare in Scotch Street, Downpatrick. Rose was the sister of their father's first wife Mary Jordan. Years later, Pat Liggett met Sarah (Sally) Mageean from Seaforde, Co Down and they settled in nearby Downpatrick were they had two daughters (Rose & May). Pat served in the Army during the war and went on to work for the ambulance service in Downpatrick.

His father William worked in England as a labourer and later as a red leader in Belfast shipyard. In 1951 he was lucky to survive when a gangplank broke on the Juan Peron ship they were painting. Sixteen of his workmates died. In 1954 his wife Mary died of a heart attack at home in Brompton Park, Ardoyne aged 54, leaving four children. Sadly, due to failing health he too passed away aged 61 in March 1958.

He was buried in Milltown Cemetery on the Falls Road and it wasn't until 35 years later we located his grave and erected a proper headstone.

Robert John Liggett (1869-1903) - Great Grandfather

Robert John was the eldest of three children born to Robert and Sarah Liggett in Knockaraven, Dromore Co Tyrone on 9th September 1869. He had two sisters Mary Jane (b. 1872) and Margaret (b. 1874). Robert John was listed on the Esker School Rolls in 1879 as being aged 10 and belonging to the Church of Ireland. His address is given as Magheragart and his father’s occupation ‘farmer’.

He met Maggie McGee (nee O’Donnell) and in October 1897 they had a son called William John Liggett. Maggie died on 10th July 1899 of Phthisis Pulmonalis (12 months certified). According to the 1901Census both Robert John, his mother Sarah and Robert’s son William were living in a private dwelling in Galbally, Co Tyrone owned by William and George Neville in one of eight houses with a total of 42 residents (No. 10 to be exact). They lived a few doors away from the Methodist Meeting House and they had one outbuilding, lived in two rooms (probably ground floor) and had the luxury of two windows - theirs being a third class house.

Robert John’s age is given as 27 - and this is probably due to the time elapsed to conduct such a survey and put it into print. His mother Sarah had been widowed in 1896, was 58 and head of house when the 1901 census was taken. Nothing more is known about Robert John except that he enlisted in the army around 1900 and may have either died in the Boer War or went back to relatives in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. We will never know.

Robert Liggett (1825-1896) - Great, Great, Grandfather

Robert was born on 25th July 1825 at Dunaree, Drumscraw in the parish of West Longfield near the town of Drumquin in Co Tyrone. He had three younger brothers - William, Francis and Alexander. They made regular trips back to Paisley in Scotland to their family. Francis is recorded as living at 8 Queen Street in the town, married to Ann Morrow with their first three children being listed as ‘born in Ireland’. Both Robert and William joined the army.

Robert enlisted with the Queen’s 69th Foot regiment at Omagh, Co Tyrone on 28th June 1843 (pt 2102) having worked as a farm labourer and also on the family lime quarry at Drumscraw.

He was billeted in Fermoy, Co Cork and in Chatham, England. At the end of November 1847 Robert and his brother William sailed on the ‘Blenheim’ from Portsmouth to Malta in the Mediterranean. We know from Robert’s army discharge papers that he had a lengthy and chequered career of 20 years and 81 days.

During that time he had seen plenty of service including almost 9½ years abroad in the Mediterranean and the West and East Indies between 1848 and 1860.

His name was spelled “Ligote” on all his official documents. However, the papers reveal that he had been entered in the defaulters book no less than 57 times and 4 times tried by Courts Martial. Sentences included hard labour, forfeit of salary and imprisonment - mainly due to absence and habitual drunkenness. His medical report states that he had a fracture and loss of vision in his left eye and opthalmia in his right caused by a significant blow to his face by a fellow soldier whilst on leave.

Being unable to earn a livelihood, Robert Liggett was discharged at Fermoy on 4th February 1864, aged around 40, and pensioned off. His intended place of residence was with the Liggett’s in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. By 14th June 1864 he married Elizabeth Graham (b. 1826) in the Church of Ireland in Dromore, Co Tyrone and they settled in Knockaraven nor far away. Unfortunately Elizabeth died aged 40 of Epilepsy on 18th March 1866 and no less than eight weeks later Robert married 24 year old Sarah Gilmore on 11th June 1866 in the same church.

Two years later Robert’s younger brother William died at home in Scotland of tuberculosis aged 42. Three years later his other brother Francis died died of a heart attack at his home in Paisley in 1871. Robert and Sarah had three children - Robert John, Mary Jane and Margaret. Robert died an army pensioner on 27th September 1896 in Kilskeery, Crossan of Bronchitis aged 74.

His wife Sarah went on to rear their grandson William John (our grandfather) in Galbally before he went to stay with the O’Donnell’s around 1900. Sarah was also a staunch Ulster Loyalist and signed the “Ulster Covenant” organised by Sir James Carson in Belfast in 1912. She died as a soldier’s widow of bronchitis aged 73 in Galbally on 20th November 1915. Both Sarah and Robert were buried in the Church of Ireland in Dromore, Co Tyrone.

William Liggett (1796-1850) - Great, Great, Great Grandfather

William was born around 1796 in Paisley, Scotland and it is likely he came to the Omagh area of Co Tyrone with his parents around 1800 with his brothers Alexander and Robert as there is no record of his birth in Ireland. William Liggett married Margaret Smith around 1824 and had at least four sons; one of which was Robert (1825-1896 - our great great grandfather). The other sons were William (1826-1868), Francis (1827-1871) and Alexander (1831-1871).

It is assumed that all three brothers worked on their father’s lime quarry outside Omagh at Dunaree, Drumscraw near Drumquin. It is very likely that some of the Liggett family at Drumscraw, including his brothers and perhaps cousins, had to flee from the area during the Ulster Rebellion of 1798. Many fled to Europe and America but others, including William’s parents, stayed.

Curious to know more, and armed with Liggett numbers from the local telephone directory, my father and I travelled to the area on 27th November 1999 in the hope that we might meet some descendants of William Liggett. We first called with Mrs Liggett in Drumquin, outside Omagh in Co Tyrone. Her husband’s great grandfather was also called Robert Liggett and all his descendants worked on the lime quarry nearby.

Not being a Liggett from birth, she advised us to search for clues in the village graveyard.

On her advice went in search of some old Liggett graves at the nearby ‘Lysky’ burial ground at Old Langfield Church where graves dated back to the 17th century. Undoubtedly this was where the original Liggett settlers to the Drumscraw, Drumquin area in the mid 17th century were buried. Lysky burying ground and the ruined church dates back to the plantation. The Earl of Castlehaven was granted the land and was buried here in 1610. Of no less equal importance was Ferdaragh O’Neill buried here in 1758 aged 99 years old.

Before heading home we called with another Liggett family in the village who showed us a photograph of their grandfather called Robert Liggett taken around 1901. My father explained that his grandfather was also called Robert Liggett. However, he was listed in the 1901 census as living over thirty miles away in Galbally, Co Tyrone. Curiously, he allegedly joined the army around the same time and was never heard of again. Could he have gone back to where his own grandfather lived in Drumquin?

Scotland - Tyrone - America

Alexander Liggett was born in 1775 in Scotland, came to Ireland and then immigrated to America in 1799. He married Nancy Neal and it is known that they had a daughter called Rachel in 1803.

Thomas Andrew Liggett was born in Co Tyrone in 1790. He and his wife had eight children, all of whom immigrated to America by 1830. One son called William Liggett was born in 1819 in Co Tyrone and then went to Staffordshire, England and married Elizabeth Parkes before immigrating to America. They had two children Elizabeth and Thomas (b. 1842). Thomas enlisted in the Illinois infantry.