Rebecca Lamont

I am trying to find any informative in regards to my g grandmother Rebecca Lamont. She had a sister Ellen Lamont dob approx 1849? Dungannon, Tyrone? Ellen emigrated to Maryborough Queensland Australia on the ‘Polmaise’ 15th September 1872. Rebecca Lamont dob 16th April 1857? Dungannon, Tyrone? They were the daughters of William Lamont & Sarah. Rebecca emigrated to Maryborough Queensland Australia 1875 on the ‘Star Queen’, her passage was paid by her brother in law John Westray who had married Ellen in Maryborough. Rebecca was accompanied on the trip by a 7 year old Sarah Lamont who was an assisted passenger. We cannot find any info on this Sarah either but we think she was the illegitimate daughter of Ellen as she went into the Westray household & her surname became Westray. The family were Presbyterian & we think the father William Lamont was a flax farmer. The family story is that William died just before the birth of Rebecca & Sarah her mother died when Rebecca was still very young. This is our major brick wall as we cannot find any information in regard to any of the family prior to their emigration to Queensland. We have plenty of info after their arrival. Any help at all will be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance. Susanne Weston.

Hi Susanne, 

Thanks for sharing this information here, and hopefully it will lead you to more information about Rebecca and her family! 

I've had a browse through the available Church records but could not find an exact match for these Lamont family members. If we look at the households by this name during Griffith's Valuation, there are some in County Tyrone. 

Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records, and all the remaining records have been sorted into county based genealogical centres. The records for County Tyrone for this time period can be found at The Irish World Family History Services. Have you by any chance been in touch with them yet? 

I hope the centre in Tyrone, as well as some of our expert members will be able to help you find out more! :)

Hi Susanne

You will have to rely on church baptismal registers to confirm birth details of Rebecca and Ellen Lamont, possibly in Dungannon, County Tyrone.

If you wish to identify all available church registers in Dungannon, i.e. the parish of Drumglass, County Tyrone, microfilm copies of which are held in our national archives in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast you should explore their Guide To Church Records, which can be accessed on their website at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records   as it lists, in alphabetical order by civil parish, church registers of all denominations for most parishes in Ulster and their commencement dates, together with their microfilm reference details. You can examine any church registers held in PRONI, at no charge, if you visit this office. If you require a researcher to examine these registers on your behalf you would have to pay for their services.

Thank you for your replies & suggestions. As I live in Queensland Australia it is impossible for me to visit your records office, however, I will look at Irish World & see if I can find any relevant records there. Thank you for your help. Susanne

We hope Brian's tips lead to more helpful information and discoveries, Susanne! :) 

Keep us posted on your findings, and please don't hesitate to reach out if there is anything else you need. 

Hi Susanne,  

As far as I can see on www.rootsireland.ie the registers for Drumglass parish (which as Brian says includes Dungannon town) have not yet been added except for those for Drumglass Roman Catholic Church. However as Melin has said, I would recommend you contact Irish World Centre to see if they hold any records not yet online. 

We offer a range of research services and would be delighted to visit PRONI and examine the church registers for you. You can find out more about our services here: www.ancestryireland.com/research-services/

Best wishes,

Gillian Hunt
Research Officer
Ulster Historical Foundation

Thank you for your suggestions, I have been into Irish World & still cannot find anything that is remotely related to this family. I thought I may have had some joy with the birth of Sarah Lamont the 7 year old who accompanied Rebecca Lamont on the trip to Maryborough Queensland on the Star Queen 1875. The age would have been about right as I have her winning an award at the Central School Maryborough although her surname was Westray. I also have a photo of Ellen Westray née Lamont standing outside a house in Maryborough with a baby & I am assuming Sarah standing beside her, so am hoping that something may have been found about her that would enable us to tie her in with the rest of the family. Thanks again for all your help Susanne.

Thanks so much for getting back to us, Susanne! It's a shame there wasn't any more information to be found at the Irish World Centre. Could they tell you anything about the records that aren't posted online yet? 

No

That is a shame, Susanne.

Sometimes when the records fail you It is possible to find what you are looking for by going local in your research. 
What I mean by this, is reaching out to organizations in the area.

Most churches will have kept records of ceremonies performed there and these records sometimes hold as much information as the certificate would. You already know the were Presbyterian so that would cut down your task load by quite a bit. 
These links may or may not contain the records you seek, however, what they do highlight is which Presbyterian churches were in operation at the time.

Another avenue would be local Historical Societies, You can find Tyrone Historical Society here.

I hope this gives you a little more scope.
Regards,
Gordee