Family of Robert and Sarah Byers, Gallon


The family of Robert and Sarah Byers (possibly née Hogg) of Gallon, Co. Cavan.

Joyce Drennan kindly shared some of her genealogical researches with me in February 1997.

I’m now listing the Byers part of that information here.

It’s a pity that after the first generation there are no details of dates, places, churches or sources, but perhaps others will be able to supply some of those details.

Joyce’s documentation began with what I’ve labelled here as Generation 1. 

She gives Robert Byers’s wife as Sarah Hogg, though the church register (Ballyjamesduff Presbyterian) clearly states a different ‘alias’, namely Byars.

If Hogg is correct, perhaps the young Sarah Hogg had first of all married another Byers – maybe a brother of Robert. She might then have been widowed, and married Robert as ‘Sarah Byers’ - which tallies with the register! Just a suggestion.

Another website also suggests ‘Hogg’ – See here.

Generation 1
Robert Byers (b.?? – d.12.05.1878) m. Sarah Byers (b.?? – d.14.10.1891) of Gallon, Co Cavan.
The dates given above derive from my assumption that this is likely the Robert and Sarah Byers of Gallon, Co Cavan, listed in the section of Byers wills and probate.

The church register has Robert and Sarah Byars alias Sarah Byars of Gallon. No alias is given for the first birth, but it is consistently so thereafter.
Children:
Italicised entries are the additional ones from Joyce Drennan (shortened to JD hereafter), i.e. additional to those listed in my church records gather-up for Ballyjamesduff Presbyterian (JD lists her source as Bellasis Presbyterian).
James, born June 1846, baptised 26.08.1846
*John, born 11.07.1848; baptised 07.12.1848? – ‘not in church register’,
          but JD has a copy of his marriage certificate
          (so how come she has these birth and baptism dates?).
William, born 11.07.1848, baptised 07.12.1848
William, born 14.02.[1850], baptised 03.07.1850
          [presumably the first William had died] .
          JD states that this William became a medical doctor.
Robert, born 18.02.1852, baptised 21.03.1852
Joseph (“Jos”), born 17.12.1853, baptised 22.02.1854 (“of Gallon, Killinkere”)
Sarah, aged 10 weeks, baptised 23.02.1856 [born December 1855]
Mary, born 02.10.1858, baptised 19.02.1859
Samuel, born 04.10.1860, baptised 12.03.1861.
          JD thinks he was also a doctor.
Esther, born 10.06.1862, baptised 28.02.1863 (mother’s name spelt Byers)
         [written as “born 10th June last” but could be “born 10th Jan last”?]
Eliza, born 26.09.1867, baptised 06.10.1867
JD doesn’t have Esther, but adds James and John.
John was JD’s great grandfather.
She had hoped to find a Thomas in her family – the father of the Moderator Rev. Thomas Byers. But that link seems more like wishful thinking – my family had a similar aspiration!
JD suggests that Rev. Thomas Byers was a brother of John James Byers.
 * Have I wrongly transcribed my first William instead of a John (though JD states that John is not in the register!)?
I’ll double-check this soonest.
 Generation 2
James Byers m. Martha Hartley

             Children:
Margaret Byers m. James Faulkner
Martha Jane Byers m. Frederick Bertram
Robert Byers
William Byers
Sarah Anne Byers
Olivia Isabella Byers
Mary Byers
Jemima Ester Byers
Elizabeth Adelaide Byers
Harriett Byers
John Byers m. Frances Anne McElwaine

           Children:
Sarah Byers m. James Bennett
Elizabeth Byers m. Richardson Cardwell (no children)
Robert Byers m. Mary McKee
Samuel Byers (single)
John James Byers (single)
George Byers m. Lily Ethel Rogers
Joseph Byers m. Ester McElwaine
William Byers
Thomas Byers m.Jeannie Byers
Mary Ann Byers (single)
Sarah Byers m. Charles Roundtree

           Children:
Richard Roundtree m. Martha McQuade
William Roundtree m. Helen (surname ??)
Charles Roundtree m. Jemima Gordon
Lily Roundtree m. George Holmes
Sarah Roundtree m. (??) Clarke
Jane Roundtree m. (??) Nelson
Mary Byers m. Edward Booker Williamson 15.06.1887 at Bellasis Presbyterian.
                                    Information from here.
                                    Mary died c.1898

          Children:
Sarah Williamson (b.22.05.1888 – d.25.11.1961, Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania)
William David Williamson m. Charlotte Kinkade
May Williamson m. Robert Lundy
Isabelle (Lily) Williamson m. Thomas Walker
Edward Booker Williamson (b.20.04.1892 – d.18.10.1945, Vancouver)
              m. Mary Brown
Esther Williamson (died during World War I)
Ester Byers m. John McElwaine

           Children:
Samuel McElwaine m. Ina Rogers
Robert McElwaine (single)
James McElwaine (died when an infant)
William McElwaine (single)
Joseph McElwaine (single)
Ester McElwaine m. Joseph Byers
Elizabeth McElwaine m. (??) McCleary
Generation 3
Sarah Byers m. James Bennett
        (Sarah being the daughter of John Byers and Frances Anne McElwaine)

            Children:
Elizabeth Bennett m. James Saunders
George Bennett m. Barbara Cleland
Frances Bennett m. William McFarlane Drennan (parents of Joyce Drennan)
Jane Bennett m. William Saunders
James Bennett m. Rebecca Jackson
Robert Byers m. Mary McKee
        (Robert being the son of John Byers and Frances Anne McElwaine)

           Children:
William Byers
Joseph or John Byers
George Byers m. Lily Ethel Rogers
       (George being the son of John Byers and Frances Anne McElwaine)

           Children:

Ina Byers m. Thomas Byers
Phyllis Byers
Lil Byers m. Robert Clarke
Sarah Byers m. Desmond Perry
John Byers m. Doris Gleeson
        (of Laurelmount, Cargagh [or Carriga], Virginia)
    Children: Derek and Iris
Ivan Byers m. Valerie Richardson