Samuel Townsley (Circa 1800-Unknown)

Samuel Townsley , was the father of Andrew Docherty (1836-1899) who we know married a Mary Sarah Gardiner (tbc) in Ireland. Ballymena Parish records confirm a Samuel Townsley marrying a Sarah Gardiner on 8th September 1828. Samuel is the great grandfather (X4) of site author Kevin Hart.

Ballymena is a now large market town in the centre of County Antrim, one of the most northern counties of Northern Ireland. In the early 19th Century however, Ballymena (parish of Kirkinriola) was undergoing a transformation from a rural weaving community as the industrial revolution created large water-powered mills and an associated large movement of the working population. The 1834 population of Ballymena numbered 4,063 individuals, of which 1,238 were Catholic. By 1845, the Potato Famine had started to devastate Ballymena. Although the eventual effects of this catastrophy remain disputed, it is generally agreed that approximately 1 million souls perished between 1845 and 1851, with at least another 1 million emigrating.

"The Almighty indeed sent the potato blight but the English created the famine... a million and half men, women and children were carefully, prudently and peacefully slain by the English government. They died of hunger in the midst of abundance which their own hands created." John Mitchell (Irish: Sean Misteal), Irish Nationalist, solicitor and political journalist.

	A Young John Mitchell Prior to Deportation		Ahoghill Village Centre

With no Census records of a Samuel Townsley apparent and only 7 Townsley-named individuals in Scotland in entirety by 1841, it can be safely assumed that Samuel and his wife Mary did not follow their children to Scotland. This was in those desperate times, a common scenario where Irish parents bade, what was often a final farewell, to their emigrating offspring.

It appears that most if not all of the various Townsley families who appeared in Scotland from 1841 onwards, originated from Ireland. The largest group were recorded at Broompark, Old Luce with another family at Stranraer. Both of these locations being of course being a short sea crossing from Ireland. Efforts to trace early Townsley families are complicated by the facts that families were often travellers and not therefore part of a settled community. Today, Townsley family members are found in Canada, New Zealand and America with a tram service in Toronto dating from 1924, named the Townsley Loop.

Within Renfrewshire, the Townsley name also arrived via Sarah Ann Townsley who was Samuel's grandaughter and who moved to Renfrew from Ahoghill, Ballymena as a young girl. She married a John Barr (born 1872) and together they had 4 children, one of which was named Andrew Townsley Barr who married an Isabella Robinson in 1920. A further 8 Barr family children in Renfrew were produced from this marriage.

      Family Tree Summary

Forename	Surname	Born	Died	Cause of Death
Samuel	Townsley	Circa 1800	Unknown	Unknown