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 WIDNEY (SURNAME) 

COLONEL WIDNEY AND THE WIDNEY FAMILY IN IRELAND

Contents

Background

Chronology

Notes on the Chronology

Summary

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Background

Between 1784 and 1788, two related families left Ulster, Ireland for Franklin County, Pennsylvania. They were the family of James Widney and Ann Erwin and the family of Sarah Widney and Hugh Linn. James and Sarah were brother and sister. In the mid to late 19th century, various bits of the history of these two families were dictated to Dr. George Wilds Linn by three of his elders: (1) his paternal grandfather, Hugh Linn II, who was three years old when he arrived in Pennsylvania with his parents; (2) his paternal grandmother, Ann (Widney) Linn, granddaughter of James and Ann (Erwin) Widney and wife of Hugh Linn II; and (3) his aunt Jane Widney, daughter of James and Ann. Based on the memories of these elders, the origin of the Widneys in Ireland was described by Dr. Linn as follows ...

''The Widneys were descended from a Colonel Widney, an officer in the army of William the Prince of Orange of Holland. He accompanied the Prince to England in the year 1688, and in the following year was with the army under the Duke of Schomberg in the campaign against King James II. He was at the battle of the Boyne, July 11th, 1690, and subsequently received from the crown for his services a considerable estate in County Tyrone, which was handed down to his descendants.''

At least two questions arise from the above account. First, did Dr. Linn's elders tell him specifically that Colonel Widney had come to Ireland from Holland [the Netherlands], or simply that he had fought for William of Orange at the Boyne, from which Dr. Linn then inferred the former? This question, unfortunately, cannot now be answered. We would be remiss, however, if we did not consider certain historical data of which Dr. Linn likely was not aware. Not least is the fact that the armies of William of Orange at the Boyne included not only his own Dutch Army but also regiments from Scotland, Ireland [i.e., Ulster Scots], England, France, and Denmark.

The second question presented by Dr. Linn's account is this: does there exist any documentation and confirmation of any of its parts? In order to discover the answer to this question, it is necessary to recognize other spellings of the family name. As well established, a general lack of consistency in the spelling of surnames existed throughout the English-speaking world, even into the nineteenth century. Thus, as recognized by Widney descendants, the family name is sometimes written Woodnay or Woodney. As will be seen, the interchangeability of Widney, Woodnay, and Woodney is borne out in Irish records.

However, the origin of the name Widney is even older and reveals an older spelling. One 1875 historical account describes the parish of Udny in Aberdeenshire, Scotland:

The name has been spelled Widney and Uldney, and it derives its name from the barony and family of Udny of Udny, who have possessed the estate for several generations ...

The earliest the family is found in extant records of Aberdeenshire is 1 October 1498, when William Udny was listed in grants of friars' lands of Kintore.

Widney in fact is the phonetic spelling of Udny. Native Scottish folk singer Jock Duncan has this to say in reference to a song about the Aberdeenshire town of Udny on his CD "Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!": ''I've heard many versions o it - an tunes an aa, fen I wis young. Widney wis the pronunciation. Never naebody heard o Udny: 'It's Widney boy - are ye gaun doun tae Widney the nicht?'''

Clearly, Widney is one of the variant forms of the Scottish name Udny. Is there anyone of the name Udny with connections to both Ireland and the Netherlands? As reported by Rev. George Hill in his 1877 history of the plantation of Ulster (and outlined below), one Scotsman named Udney acquired property in Ireland in the early seventeenth century, but in County Cavan rather than Tyrone. As will be seen, this man also supported the Dutch, although a generation or so earlier than the Battle of the Boyne. These facts, of course, do not preclude the existence of a Colonel Widney fighting at the Boyne.

Here, then, is a chronology, with sources, of the family of Widney/Woodney/Udny. It begins with a man from Scotland who fought for Holland and ended up in Ireland. _______________________________________________

Chronology

1593 : On 18 September, Oliver Udny was named in a complaint concerning a house in connection with Marischal College and University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

1596 : On 13 January, Oliver Udnie, Burgess of Aberdeen, Scotland, served on a jury of inquest, as recorded in the Sheriff Court Diet Books, Vol. V.

1607-1610 : Oliver Udny/Wodney served as Captain of a company in the Scots Brigade in the service of the United Netherlands, as follows: On 16 May 1607, Oliver Udny took oath as captain of the company previously commanded by Colonel Brog. In 1608, Oliver Wodney was paid £1,290 as captain of a company of 94 men. In 1609, Oliver Wodney was paid £1,059 as captain of a company of 70 men. In 1610, Oliver Wodney was again paid £1,059 as captain of a company of 70 men. On 23 October 1610, Captain Udny was succeeded by an officer named Ramsay. The Brigade account regrettably does not include any reassignment, discharge, or other record of any kind for Oliver Udny/Wodney. However, the editor of an 1899 history of the Scots Brigade in the service of Holland noted that Oliver was "[p]robably a member of the ancient family of Udny of Udny in Aberdeenshire". It is certain that he was Scottish and that he was in service to the Netherlands. It may be that he returned to Scotland ... for a time. However ...

1621 : On 1 April, Oliver Udny was leased part of the townland of Cran in the manor of Kilcloghan, County Cavan, Ireland. This was during the first plantation of Ulster, which included large numbers of Scots settlers, many of whom had served the Crown in the military. Kilcloghan had been granted to the Scotsman John Hamilton, Esq., whose lessees were described in Pynnar's 1619 survey of the plantation as "of Brittish birth and descent", a term that included Scottish, English, and Welsh. Cavan shares part of its northern border with County Monaghan, which Dr. Linn reported as the home of Mary Wilson, mother of James Widney and Sarah Widney. Cran itself is only 15 miles southwest of Newry, County Down and 38 miles southwest of Killymurry, County Monaghan. Widneys/Woodneys would later be found in both Newry and Killymurry.

1630 : Oliver Owdny and Nicholas Owdny both were listed on this year's Muster Roll as living in the barony of Tullyhunco, County Cavan, under Sir Francis Hamilton. Not coincidentally, perhaps, one Nicholas Widney died in 1731 possessed of property in County Monaghan - see 1731 below.

1653 : Lieutenant Woodney [first name not recorded] was among Scots Presbyterian landholders of Lecale, County Down who were proposed to be transplanted to Leinster and Munster in order to promote Protestantism in the south of Ireland. There is no indication as to whether the move actually occurred. County Down is on the eastern border of County Armagh and not far removed from Monaghan. Lecale is a barony in County Down, roughly 30 miles east-southeast of Glaslough, where in 60 years more James Widney would be found.

1711 : William Woodnay, son of Jamie [James] Woodnay, was baptized in Upper Massereene, Glenavy Parish, County Antrim. Glenavy is just inside County Antrim at the border with County Down. Upper Massereene lies roughly 58 miles northeast of Glaslough.

1713 : On 23 June, James Widney was one of four Commissioners for "a people in Trewgh [Trough], a part of the congregation of Kinaird, in the Prebry of Monaghan", who asked the General Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland that they be erected into a new congregation separate from Kinaird. The request was granted, and the new congregation was "... indiscriminately called Treugh or Searnagiroch", officially named Glennan, but "also known by the name of Glasslough". Trough is a barony which includes the townlands of Errigal Trough and Killymurry - see also, 1731 and 1796 below. The village of Glaslough reportedly was the home of the man who married Margaret Widney in 1779.

1726 : Hugh Woodney in Newry Parish, County Armagh applied to register a freehold in the townland of Lisdrumliska. Newry Parish is divided between Armagh and Down. Lisdrumliska is in County Armagh, 32 miles southeast of Glaslough and very near the border with County Down; see, 1778 below.

17__ : Alexander Woodney of Newry Parish married Elizabeth Carlile, who was born in 1704.

1731 : A will was recorded in Clogher Diocese for Nicholas Widney of Killymurry, County Monaghan. See also, 1779 below. Regrettably, Clogher and nearly all Northern Ireland wills were destroyed, and all that remains are indices. However, Killymurry is a townland in the parish of Errigal Trough, County Monaghan lying two miles north-northeast of Emyvale and four miles north-northwest of Glaslough. Killymurry is also just one mile from the western border of County Armagh and not much farther from the southern border of County Tyrone. See also, 1713 above and 1796 below.

1740 : A will was recorded in Clogher Diocese for James Woodney of Killymurry, County Monaghan.

1740 : James Wadney was a Protestant householder in Macosquin, Barony of Coleraine, County Londonderry. Macosquin is a village and townland in County Londonderry, lying 62 miles north of Glaslough.

1741 : A will was recorded in Derry Diocese for John Widney, yeoman, of Macosquin, County Londonderry, barony of Coleraine.

1744 : James Widney and his father, also named James, entered into a lease which recites that the younger James married Ann Carlile, niece of Thomas Donaldson.

1758 : On 21 December, John Widney, merchant in Blackwatertown, County Armagh, was party to a 14-year lease for land, with a clause for renewal, in Blackwatertown. Blackwatertown is 14 miles northeast of Killymurry.

1761 : Beginning 1 November of this year and for the term of three lives or 37 years, James Widney was leased 70 acres of Mallydermott [Mulladermot], part of the lands of Glasslough and Emy owned by the Estate of Charles Powell Lesle [Leslie] in County Monaghan. Mulladermot lies a half mile north-northwest of Killymurry.

1775 : Hugh Woodney of Newry Parish, Counties Armagh and Down, signed a Protestant Dissenters Petition.

1778 : On 30 October, Hugh Woodney of Newry Parish leased lands of Ballynacraig in County Down from Ross Moore of Carlingford, County Louth. Ballynacraig is a townland on the eastern bank of Newry River, roughly two miles northeast of Lisdrumliska; see, 1726 above.

1779 : Margaret Widney of Emyvale, County Monaghan, married William Williams in Glaslough. Emyvale is a town lying three and one-half miles northwest of Glaslough and two miles south-southwest of Killymurry.

1784 : James Widney sold his interest in a lease for lands of Killmurry, County Monaghan containing 39 acres, 3 rods, and 15 perches; witnessed by John Wilson, gentleman, and Ann Wilson of Emyvale and by William Johnston. This was the very year James Widney and Ann Erwin left Ireland for the U.S. and four years before Sarah Widney followed, with her husband, Hugh Linn, and three of their children. Killymurry is in the barony of Farney, civil parish of Donaghmoyne. See also, 1731 and 1740 above.

1796 : Alexander Widney appeared on the flax growers bounty list this year, living in Errigal Trough. Errigal Trough is a civil parish in the northeast corner of County Monaghan and includes the townlands of Errigal Trough and Killymurry; see also, 1713 and 1731 above.

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Notes on the Chronology

1. The Scottish name of Udny or Udney is pronounced and sometimes written as Widney.

2. Oliver Udney served in a Scots Brigade attached to the Dutch army and appears in his brigade history as both Udney and Wodney; this was 69 years prior to the Battle of the Boyne. He subsequently held land in County Cavan, not in County Tyrone.

3. Woodney, a recognized form of the name Widney, appears in Ulster 37 years prior to the Battle of the Boyne, and as a member of the military. This man was a Scots Presbyterian and lived at least for a time in County Down.

4. Twenty-one years following the Battle of the Boyne, a Woodney child recognized by Widney researchers as a member of this family was baptized. The Presbyterian Church baptizes infants and young children, but the Methodists do not.

5. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland was founded by Scottish immigrants in the 17th century while Methodism, to which the Widneys later converted, did not arrive in Ireland until the mid-eighteenth century.

6. The first surviving Ulster record in which the name is written Widney is dated 23 years after the Battle of the Boyne and relates that James Widney then represented the Presbytery of Monaghan, specifically the people in Trough. According to Dr. Linn's account, County Monaghan was the home of the mother of siblings James Widney and Sarah Widney, born 40 and 44 years, respectively, following the 1713 record. Monaghan lies between Cavan in the South and Tyrone in the North.

7. The Widneys have not been found anywhere - other than in Dr. Linn's account - as having title to or possession of any property in County Tyrone. However, James Widney did have a half-interest in Killymurry, County Monaghan, which he sold the very year he came to the U.S.

8. While the names Oliver and Nicholas are uncommon to Ireland, (1) the name Oliver appears in County Cavan in 1621 Oliver Udny and in 1630 as Oliver Owdny, and (2) the name Nicholas appears in County Cavan as Nicholas Owdny in 1630 and in County Monaghan as Nicholas Woodney in 1731.

9. The 1731 Nicholas Woodney and 1740 James Woodney both were designated as "of Killymurry" in their respective wills; and James Widney sold his interest in Killymurry in 1784, the year he emigrated to America.

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Summary

It is clear from the foregoing record that the name Widney/Woodney began as Udny/Udney. Since the first occurrence of Udney in Irish records is in 1621 and the first Woodney in 1653, it is also certain that Widney ancestors were in Ireland long before the 1690 Battle of the Boyne. That fact does not entirely negate Dr. Linn's account. Rather, given the military history of the first Udney and first Woodney in Ireland, the Ulster family well may have produced a Colonel Widney who helped secure the victory for William of Orange in that historic conflict.

The records discovered thus far also strongly suggest that the Ulster family originated specifically with Oliver Udney or Owdny of County Cavan, formerly of Aberdeenshire, Scotland; continued with a son named Nicholas Owdny in County Cavan; included a grandson or other direct descendant named Nicholas Widney in County Monaghan; and ended with James Woodney or Widney in County Monaghan. No doubt, a generation or more occurred between the second Nicholas and the first James since, obviously, the 1731 Nicholas Woodney is a different person from the 1630 Nicholas Owdny. Just as obviously, there were several men named James in the family during the 18th century, the earliest being a 1713 County Monaghan Presbyterian elder. Following 1713, the records of James Widney or Woodney in County Monaghan are: (1) James of Killymurry deceased in 1740; (2) James the father in the 1744 lease; (3) James the son in the 1744 lease; (4) James the 1784 seller of Killymurry (born 1753 according to Dr. Linn).

One question remains: did the family in fact own an estate in County Tyrone? The records discovered to date do not prove it.