The Wasson Family of Tannybrake Townland, Connor Parish, Co. Antrim

The Wasson Family of Tannybrake Townland, Connor Parish, Co. AntrimAuthor(s): Paul RichmondSource: North Irish Roots, Vol. 16, No. 1 (2005), pp. 35-40Published by: North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27697606 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 15:28

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to North Irish Roots.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.72.154 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:28:55 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=nifhs

http://www.jstor.org/stable/27697606?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


THE WASSON FAMILY OF TANNYBRAKE TOWNLAND, CONNOR PARISH, CO. ANTRIM.

Paul Richmond A 2495

My Wasson ancestors farmed land in Tannybrake townland on the banks of the

Kellswater, outside Ballymena, for at least 150 years; a century and a half during which - like any other lineage

- the Wassons encountered hardship, death, joy and

disappointment.

The founding father of the family was one William Wasson, who was born circa. 1800-1810. The earliest document which refers to the Wassons' connections with

Tannybrake appears in the tithe records for the area which were compiled in 1835. At this time William is recorded as the tenant of just over 24 acres, and he was the only

Wasson in the townland. William would have been a young (and as yet unmarried) man in 1835, suggesting that he had probably inherited the Tannybrake holding from his father; I can think of no other reason to explain how a modest farmer like William could have been so well established at such a young age. My theory that William inherited the farm also leads to the logical assumption that he was very probably born

at Tannybrake too.

With his fields tilled and his small thatched cottage in order it seems that William's mind turned to starting a young family. This he swiftly did upon marrying a local girl called Jane Dalrymple (1811-1885) about the year 1837. Jane claimed throughout her life to have been descended from the Earls of Stair, a noble Scottish family of the surname

Dalrymple. A relative described to me a family story regarding this couple: it seems that Jane and William had different religious leanings, one adhered to the Reformed

Presbyterian doctrines, whilst the other was a fervent Presbyterian. William and Jane would apparently walk together on a Sunday to a certain point in the road and then

go their separate directions to their respective churches! My view of family legends and stories is that where there is smoke there is fire, and sure enough upon trawling through Connor Presbyterian's baptismal records at PRONI I found baptismal entries for three of the Wasson children, and yet I know there were two more children born to

the couple (both of whom reached maturity). This seems to suggest that the young couple reached a compromise and had their children baptised variously at Connor

Presbyterian and Kellswater Reformed Presbyterian. Unfortunately the records of the latter do not start early enough to help me substantiate this. William and Jane

Wasson's 5 children are as follows:

(1) "Samuel Wason, born 19 November 1838, bapt. 10 January 1839, son of Wm. Wason and Jane Dalrumple [sic] of Tannybreak." Baptised at Connor Presbyterian.

(2) James Wasson, born 1841/42, probably baptised at Kellswater Reformed

Presbyterian as he is not mentioned in the records of Connor Presbyterian.

(3) Parker Wasson, born 1842/43, probably baptised at Kellswater Reformed

Presbyterian as he is not mentioned in the records of Connor Presbyterian.

35



(4) "Margaret Jane Wason, daughter of William Wason and Jane Dalrymple, of Lower

Tannybreak, born on 21 August 1845". Baptised at Connor Presbyterian. (5) 'William Wasson, born on 17 February 1848, son of William Wasson and Jane

Dalrymple of Lower Tannybrake". Baptised at Connor Presbyterian.

James Wasson was the second eldest son and my g,g,g grandfather. His brother, Samuel Wasson, must have died at a young age since no further trace of him can be found, and his mother's will of 1877 does not mention him. I suspect that Parker Wasson was so named in honour of one of his

grandmothers' maiden names.

William Wasson died between the years of 1847 and 1859. The former is the year before his last child's birth and the latter is the

year in which the Griffith's Valuation of Tannybrake was compiled which lists his wife as the occupier of the farm. He therefore must have died relatively young, leaving his wife and young

children to look after the expanding farm. The Griffith's Valuation records the widowed Jane Wasson as the occupier of 33 acres

in Tannybrake, with a total annual valuation of ?27.15s. The stipend lists of Kellswater Reformed Presbyterian from 1864 also record 'Mrs. Wasson', suggesting that it was Jane's family, the Dalrymples, who were traditionally Reformed Presbyterians, whilst the Wassons had been Presbyterians. This is backed up by the fact that there are indeed other Dalrymples recorded in the stipend lists, namely James and Thomas.

Religion evidently played an important part in the Wasson family, and indeed one young member of the family, James Wasson, has gone down in history as having played a

small, but significant, part in the religious revival which swept across Ulster in 1859. 'A Short History' of the Kellswater church by Robert Buchanan mentions that 'the records of the Revival show that the four young men who had been meeting for prayer at Connor had been much encouraged when a member of Kellswater, a young man called Wasson, joined with them. He belonged to the family that has served the R.P. church at Kellswater, Trinity Street and Cregagh Road, (both Belfast)'. Not one of the

scholarly historians of the Revival seem aware of young Wasson's first name; if any are reading this, then take note, it was James Wasson.

James married Jane Walker at the Kellswater Church on 25 April 1867. Jane was the daughter of William Walker and Jane Craig of Tullynamullan townland, Connor, and she had been born there on 7 February 1836. Jane and her many siblings were

baptised at Connor Presbyterian. Her father died a few months after she had married James Wasson, and so the newlyweds set up home at Tullynamullan for a period to

help assist Jane's family in smoothly running the farm after William Walker's demise. It was during this period that Jane gave birth to her first child. Little Jane Wasson

was born at Tullynamullan on 4 February 1868, but did not live very long as she died from 'scarlatina' (scarlet fever) on 12 November of the same year. This child's death seems to have never been forgotten by her distraught mother who cherished a little

pair of the baby's leather 'bootees' until her dying day.

36



James and Jane had three other children who survived into adulthood:

(1 ) Agnes Wasson, born on 10 October 1869 at Tannybrake. Agnes, throughout her life was always known by the name "Nannie".

(2) Samuel Wasson, born on 6 December 1871 at Tannybrake. Samuel is my g,g grandfather. (3) Finally, Jane Wasson gave birth to another son, James Craig

Wasson, on 23 October 1879, at Tannybrake. The middle-name

'Craig' was in honour of the child's maternal grandmother's maiden name.

James Craig Wasson was a mathematical genius from an early age and his ability for this subject must have been

recognised whilst he was a student at the Lower Tannybrake National School, which he entered in early 1887, aged 7.

Craig left the little National School in March 1893 after

having obtained a place at Londonderry's Academical Institution (Magee College); it is probable that Craig won

a scholarship to attend the college. It was during his

schooldays in Londonderry that Craig really excelled in his

studies, for which he was awarded numerous gold medals

including one for coming first in all Ireland in the 'Middle

Grade, Intermediate examinations' of 1895. He also came first in the mathematics examinations three times, in the

years 1893, 1894 and 1896, for which he was awarded a J. Craig Wasson beautifully bound three-volume set of J. H. Frere's works,

c. 1905 and numerous gold medals.

Craig's academic ability was really beginning to open doors for him, and his family were no doubt vastly proud of his achievements. Imagine the pride in the hearts of his family when they discovered that young Craig, the son of a modest farmer, had

won a scholarship to Trinity College, Dublin, to study mathematics.

The records of T.C.D. show that Craig entered the university aged just 17 in October 1898. He once again excelled in his studies and his dedication was obviously noted

by the lecturers as he was awarded a scholarship in science in 1899 and later obtained his BA in the Winter of 1901 and an MA in the Winter of 1904. He was awarded a large gold medal in maths at the BA examination and received the Bishop Law Prizeman Award for maths in 1902.

Craig's glittering academic career seemed to know no limits, and he looked set to

become a wealthy and respected man after having been offered a high-powered position in the Indian Civil Service during the height of the Raj. But his intense studying appears to have worn him out and Craig developed serious mental problems, which I have been told arose after a series of great crushing blows which were dealt to him.

Firstly, he had been working on a mathematical problem for a long time and had finally

Agnes Wasson

37



managed to solve it only to discover from the publisher whom he took his work to that another rival mathematician had just published his own solution to the same problem. Craig was devastated. He later applied for the position of Professor of Mathematics in the Marlborough Street Training College, Dublin, only to be beaten by an applicant who was less qualified but better connected than Craig. Once again

poor Craig was crushed and reputedly suffered a mental breakdown. He returned home to the comfort and solitude

Agnes & JC Wasson ofth? thatched cottage at Tannybrake where he had grown up, and was looked after by his elder sister Agnes ('Nannie')

until he died, unmarried, on 13 July 1942; Agnes followed just four months later.

Aspiration and determination seem to have been common traits which ran thick in the Wassons' blood. Parker Wasson, the brother of my g,g,g grandfather married

Mary Strahan in 1871 at Kellswater Reformed Presbyterian. They had five children

together: (1) William Wasson, born 7 June 1878 in Kells townland.

(2) Jane Wasson, born 31 October 1875 in Connor townland.

(3) Elizabeth Margaret ('Lizzie') Wasson.

(4) Minnie Wasson.

(5) Ann ('Annie') Wasson, born 24 April 1872 in Connor townland.

Parker and his young family lived in Connor for a number of years where he had set

up a grocery store. This must have given him a sound knowledge of the world of business as he left Tannybrake about the year 1888 and joined the deluge of migrants flooding into the great metropolis that Belfast was swiftly becoming, and set up his own butcher's shop on the Shankill Road. Parker is described as a 'flesher' in the Belfast

directories, and from lowly beginnings he slowly built up his business into a flourishing concern. The 1901 directory lists Parker as being of 422 Shankill Road, 424 Shankill

Road, and 71 Donegall Pass. By 1908 Parker and his family had purchased a large, semi-detached, three-storied house called 'Danescroft' on the corner of Glastonbury Avenue and Somerton Road in north Belfast. It was in this house that Parker's daughter, Jane Wasson, set up a small, genteel, finishing school for young ladies called the Lansdowne Ladies' School. Jane later obtained larger premises for her flourishing school on the Antrim Road, and changed the name to Lansdowne Collegiate School. The school was located here until 1924 when the Wassons either bought or rented Parkmount House which had just become available after the death of Lady Anderson who had inhabited the old

Georgian mansion for many years. Lady Anderson was the widow of Sir Robert Anderson, co-founder of Belfast's famous department store, Anderson &

McAuley. The Wassons loved entertaining and often had their 'country cousins' from Tannybrake to stay. Parker had begun his days in a small, thatched cottage in the heart of the County Antrim countryside and he was

38



now living in one of Belfast's finest Georgian mansions with acres of land surrounding it (which his son William used to teach the girls of the school to ride horses on). A relative sent me an old photograph of a beautiful mahogany bed which was located in one of Parkmount's many bedrooms and which had reputedly been carved for the

impending visit of an Indian Maharajah (a visit which had occurred long before the Wassons lived there). Before the Andersons' occupancy of Parkmount the house had been owned by the Cairns and McNeile families, respectively.

A relative of mine actually attended the Parkmount School for a number of years before

going to Methodist College, Belfast, and she recalled that Parkmount was vacated after an intruder was discovered by the boarders in their dormitory late at night. The

Wasson sisters evidently decided that it was time to downsize and, accordingly, they moved, along with their school, in 1933, to 'Ashbank' in Ardenlee Avenue. The family

lived here until 1941 when the devastating Blitz scared the, by now, elderly ladies so much that they gave up the school and fled to the safety of Portrush. The Wasson

spinsters lived together in a large house called 'Monaville' in Bath Street, from which

they ran a well-respected boarding house for holidaymakers. The sisters' interest in education began to re-emerge and in 1954 Elizabeth Margaret ('Lizzie') appears to have founded Portrush's Preparatory Boarding and Day School. They all had long lives,

having presumably inherited the good health of their maternal grandfather, Thomas Strahan of Connor, who was almost 100-years-old when he died in 1912. None of Parker's children had issue.

Samuel Wasson, my great great grandfather, was a

fervently religious man and he was scrupulously honest in all his business dealings, he lived all his life in Tannybrake. He worked for many years as a clerk in the Oldgreen

Woollen Mills in Kells and also sold coal to the locals as well as farming his 30-acre plot. He married Catherine Kernohan of Connor, the daughter of William Kernohan and Agnes ('Nancy') McAfee, at Antrim 2nd Presbyterian bn the day of Samuel's 26th birthday, 6 December 1897. The wedding reception took place after the ceremony in Hall's Hotel, Antrim. Samuel and Catherine had several

children, only one of whom died in infancy. The children were raised in the old cottage in Tannybrake which

generations of their family had inhabited before them. One

interesting story which has been related to me about the Wassons' childhood concerns the passing of Halley's Comet

in 1910. The family gathered late at night on their land near Kellswater River and all stood dumbfounded at the spectacular comet passing through space. Once it got too cold they returned to the farmhouse and not one person spoke a word on the way back, so amazed and dumbfounded were they by what they had seen. This charming story is indicative of how society of less than 100 years ago was still so untouched

by the fast-paced, brightly-coloured world which we now inhabit that such raw, pure, heartfelt reactions to nature's wonders were still possible.

Samuel Wasson

c. 1890.

39



The Wassons have now all left Tannybrake and the cottage has been extensively renovated and modernised. Their descendants have undoubtedly inherited the drive

and determination which seems to have characterised the family for generations, as descendants of the Tannybrake Wassons can be found in Canada, Australia, California, Texas and Hawaii, as well as throughout the U.K., with many more undoubtedly waiting to be discovered.

I have found tracing my ancestry to be an immensely rewarding experience and one

that has lead to meeting many new people. As Edmund Burke once said 'People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors'; a knowledge of those who have gone before you is a great gift and it is one which can now - for my

family at least - be shared and fully enjoyed. I have also found that a knowledge of the

everyday stories of those who have loved, lived and died before us adds significance and depth to our own.

Lower Tannybrake National School pupils of 1912.

BACK ROW: William Wasson, Alex McNeilly, William Hurrell, Joe McKee, James Stevenson, Alex Thompson, Tom Wylie, Harry Thompson, Tom McBride, Harry McNeilly, James Hurrell.

THIRD ROW: Anne Wylie, Margaret Armstrong, Jeannie Wasson, Jane Hanna, Agnes Hurrell,

Robert Stevenson, Alfred Kane, Charlie McNeilly, Charlie Johnston, Alex Jamieson.

SECOND ROW: Lizzie Wylie, Winnie Mewha, Jeannie Thompson, Mary Jamieson, Martha

Stevenson, Mary Kernoghan, Kate Armstrong, John Kane, Sam McBride, Stewart Thompson,

Charlie Kernoghan, Jim Johnston.

FRONT ROW: Maggie Barr, Hessie Hurrell, Sarah Elder, Sarah Johnston, William Barr, Jane

McMaster, Sarah Thompson, Jim Wasson, Jim Barr, William Stevenson.

David Blair (Principal of school) and Agnes Murdock (Assistant).

40



Documents

The Wasson Family of Tannybrake Townland, Connor Parish, Co. Antrim