Change in Bellair 1860s to 1900s

In Bellair townland there were fourteen heads of household occupying property in 1860. These were three families of Hamills, three families of Pettigrews, three familes of McKays and families of Bryan McAllister, John Murphy, David McCambridge, John Kelly and Daniel Black. 

The population figures for the townland show that the numbers of houses in the clachan decreased to eight houses by 1901. The population of the clachan had been 87 in 1861 and by 1901 it had halved to 42. Some of the changes that took place in the families from the 1860s to the 1900s are outlined below.
Hamills

John and Jas. Hamill held a house, offices and land in the clachan in 1860. Shortly after this Arthur Hamill succeeded to the property and in 1876 it was taken over by John Pettigrew. John died some time around 1892 and in 1898 the occupier was recorded as another John Pettigrew. This man and his brothers and sisters were listed in the 1901 Census Returns – see below.

Henry Hamill held a house, office and garden in Bellair in 1860. By 1885 John McNeill held this property – by 1893 it had passed to a James McNeill – and in 1896 to a George McNeill. By 1904 the land appears to have been taken over by a Charles McAuley. The 1901 census shows that George McNeill, a 46 year old farm labourer lived in the house with his wife Bridget, aged 51 and their son John aged 11, which suggests that George McNeill was now renting the house from Charles McAuley.
Isabella Hamill held a house, an office and land in Bellair at the time of the Griffith’s valuation circa 1860. By 1876 the property was held by a Henry Hamill. We have not as yet been able to ascertain if this was the same Henry Hamill as listed above. By 1903 John Hamill was in possession of the property and by 1912 it was held by Anne Hamill.  
This Henry Hamill was not listed in the 1901 census, however a widow Nancy Hamill, aged 56, does feature. Nancy lived with her sons John and Henry aged 37 and 22 respectively and daughters Annie, Mary and Susan aged 35, 33 and 24 respectively.  It is possible that Nancy was the wife of this Henry Hamill. If this is the case then he is a different Henry Hamill from the one listed above.

McCambridges, Murphys and McAllisters
Around 1860 a David McCambridge held a house, office and land in the clachan. David died some time around 1878 and by 1888 the property was held by a Patrick McCambridge who is listed in the 1901 Census Returns aged 44 living with his wife Annie, aged 41 and their sons Joseph, David and John aged 18, 7 and 6 years old respectively, daughters Rose, Alice and Lizzie aged 18, 14 and 12 respectively and Bernard Mulvenna, a 47 year old farm labourer, who was his brother-in-law. By 1912 the property was held by a Joseph McCambridge.
David McCambridge also sublet a cottier house to a John Murphy in 1860 and as we shall see below Murphy appears to have moved to the house originally occupied by Bryan McAllister in 1860.
Bryan McAllister held a cottier house in Bellair circa 1860 which he leased from John and Jasper Hamill (see above). McAllister disappeared from this house and it reverted back to Arthur and Jasper Hamill. By 1880 it had become the property of Alexander McKay and by 1882 the property of Patrick McCambridge. John Murphy is listed as the occupier of this house in 1885 but, as he or his family are not listed in the 1901 Census Returns.  A revision made in 1902 indicates that the house had reverted back to its owner Patrick McCambridge but was vacant. Given that the dates which appear in the Griffith’s Revisions are approximate, and Murphy was not listed in the 1901 Returns, it is likely that he left the clachan some time before 1901.

Pettigrews
As we saw above, a John Pettigrew took over the holding of John and Jas. Hamill (no. 1 in Griffith’s Valuation) in 1876. This same John Pettigrew held a house, offices and land in Bellair circa 1860 (no. 2 in Griffith’s Valuation). A revision made in 1892 indicates that John had died by this time and in 1898 the Griffith’s valuation was amended to show a John Pettigrew as the occupier, probably his son. The 1901 census shows that John Pettigrew, an unmarried farmer, aged 53, lived with his brother Henry a 50 year old  widower and unmarried sisters Grace and Margaret aged 60 and 58. The Pettigrews also lived with James Craig a 70 year old farm servant.
Margaret Pettigrew is listed as the occupier of a house, office and land in the 1860 Griffith’s valuation. She also sublet a house to a James Pettigrew who could have been her brother – we are not sure.
By 1885 the house belonged to Alexander McKay and was occupied by an Eliza Pettigrew. A revision made in 1895 indicates that the house was ‘down’.

Margaret, James and Eliza Pettigrew do not appear in the 1901 Census Returns, so presumably they were either dead or had left the clcahan by that time.

McKays
Two Alexander McKays held houses, offices and land in Bellair circa 1860, one is nicknamed ‘Big’ and the other ‘Wee’ on the valuation in order to differentiate them.
Big Alex McKay’s holding had passed to Henry McKay by 1870 and then on to Alice McKay by 1909. The 1901 census for the townland shows that Henry was an 81 year old widower living with his 79 year old brother Charlie, his 40 year old son David and his 37 year old daughter Alice. A 19 year old domestic servant, Maggie Duffin, also resided with the McKays.
Meanwhile, by 1882 ‘Wee’ Alex McKay’s holding was occupied by a Patrick McKay and by 1897 by Alex’s representatives, indicating Alex’s death. The 1901 census for Bellair has an Annie McKay, a 39 year old widow living with children Patrick (17), Alexander (14), Mary (13) and Nelly (10). This is probably the late Patrick McKay’s family.
Arthur McKay held a house only, which like John Kelly (see below) he leased from ‘Wee’ Alex McKay. The house was held by Arthur until 1914 when Mary McKay, presumably Alex’s daughter, became the listed occupier. In the 1901 census Arthur is described as a farmer. As he did not seem to hold land in Bellair it is possible he leased land in a neighbouring townland. In 1901 Arthur was 74 as was his wife Ann while their children Mary and Henry were 29 and 27 respectively. When the enumerator called at Arthur’s house a Mrs Margaret McRandle was visiting the house.
John Kelly
A John Kelly held a house only at the time of the original Griffith’s valuation from ‘Wee’ Alex McKay. There is no further indication of a tenant residing in this house and by 1882 the house had reverted back to Alex McKay’s successor Patrick but was probably vacant.
Blacks 
Circa 1860 a Daniel Black held a house, office and land in Bellair clachan. By 1878 the land had been divided between Anne Black and Henry Hamill with Anne occupying a house and garden and Henry occupying a house and land. It is likely that this Henry Hamill, is the same individual as mentioned above the widow of whom, Nancy, features in the 1901 census. Annie Black also appears in the 1901 census for Bellair. Annie was aged 76, described as a widow and living with her son Alexander an unmarried limestone quarryman aged 44 and Daniel her 20 year old grandson, also a limestone quarryman.

Conclusions

By 1901, as in 1860, there were still three families of McKay in the clachan. By 1901 there was only one family of Hamills where there had been three in 1860. Likewise with the Pettigrews. There was still a family of McCambridge and a family of Black and a new family of McNeill. The families of Murphy, McAllister and Kelly had disappeared by 1901. The disappearance of all of these families, plus probable emigration within the other families coupled with the fact that the male members of the Pettigrew family had not married, helps to explain the drop in houses from 14 in the 1860s to 8 in 1901 and the decline in population from 87 persons in 1861 to 42 persons in 1901. Interestingly, there seems to have been a revival of population in the clachan between 1901 and 1911 (the number of occupied houses increased from 8 to 10 and the population rose from 42 to 61). However, this was short-lived. By 1926 the population had tumbled to 30 and the number of houses to 7.