News from England

October 1, 2010:

Hi. I’m Kathie Canfield. I'm an 8th generation descendant of William (who came to America from what is now Northern Ireland about 1736) via his son Samuel, a couple of James', another William, then my great-grandfather, Elisha David McBrayer.

Elisha was born in North Carolina (Cherokee or thereabouts) on 12 March 1869 and went across the mountains to Tennessee. I think he worked for the railroad, though my great-aunt Etza McBrayer Quarles (his daughter & my grandmother, Frances Marie McBrayer McNeil’s, sister) always said he was a schoolteacher.

I was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but spent a lot of my time in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee, where my maternal grandparents, Frances Marie McBrayer and her husband Hubert McNeil, lived. I came to England with the US Air Force in 1989, married my English husband and have been here ever since. I currently live in Norwich, the “capital” city of Norfolk in Eastern England and am a Social Worker employed by Norfolk County Council Adult Social Services in Norwich.

I became interested in family history when I had a bit of ill health a few years ago and had to be off work for about a year. As I started to feel a bit better (but not well enough for work yet), I started playing around on the computer and somehow came upon Ancestry.com.

I was always fascinated by the stories my parents & grandparents used to tell me about family. Tales of intrigue, secret organizations, witches, mysteries and adventures allured me. I started searching for the facts and got bitten by the “bug.”

It's great I was able to find the Irish connection to William. I wasn't 100% sure they were the same family when I found them in the church records in Belfast, but I wrote down everything I could about the McBrear's (as they are called in the Irish records) and sent them to our cousin, Carl McBrayer. Carl, the utmost authority on all things McBrayer, seems convinced the McBrear’s are, indeed, our ancestors.

I got the idea to look at the 1st Presbyterian Church records from a course I did on researching family trees here in Norfolk, England. I was successful in finding some of my partner's family in microfilmed English church records & thought I'd have a stab at the Irish ones.

I bought a book called "Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors, The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800" by William J Roulston, which lists all the available microfilmed church (and other) records in Northern Ireland. The book indicated the 1st Presbyterian Church records at Killyleagh were available in the Public Record office, so I thought I'd have a look and there the McBrear's were!!

Unfortunately, the microfilm records aren't online yet, so I actually had to go to Belfast to look at them. I didn't mind, though, because I like the idea of walking down the same streets my ancestors did. Killyleagh (pronounced KILLY LAY by the locals) is a beautiful place! There's a castle on the top of the hill (still owned and lived in by the descendants of the Hamilton family) with the high street leading from the castle down to the lake (Strangford Lough) at the bottom of the hill.

The photos I took (Carl put them on the McBrayer website) don't really do Killyleagh justice, though. The village recently won an award for it's beauty. Most of the houses & businesses are painted in beautiful bright colors. If you ever get the chance to go, I'm sure you'll love the place. I did.

The book I mentioned above also says there are other records relating to Killyleagh, such as estate records for the Clanbrassil  & Hamilton estates. These records may also have some info about the McBrear's. There doesn't seem to be any death or burial records, though, but I'll keep looking.

Next, I want to find the McBrayers in Scotland! Whatever I find, I am happy to share with all of you.