James [Camus] Gray

Macosquin Parish

He died before 1864.

• Death Notes

  Must have died before 1864 when his wife died a widow.

• General Notes

  Father of James Gray from Glenhall, who married Eliza Jane Brown in 1853 according to his marriage certificate. Father of Samuel Gray of Cullyvenney, who married Sarah McVickar in 1855 according to his marriage certificate.  But not the father of the Samuel Gray, born to James and Margaret Gray in Glenleary in 1827, as his (this James') wife seems to be called Bethy according to her death entry when her son, James of Cullvenney was PAD.
  
  The Tithe Applotment Book for Macosquin is found under the Church of Ireland Parish of Camus.  It shows no Grays in any townland in Macosquin except the townland of Camus (yes, the townland of Camus in the parish of Camus).  It only has the following:
  Samuel Gray = 4/3/21
  David Gray Jnr = 4/1/30
  Joseph Gray = 10/3/12
  David Gray Snr = 13/1/13
  James Gray = 6/0/19
  
  A close study of the 1831 census suggests that this James may have come originally from Camus:
  F/n    S/n    T'land    Hse #    M    F
  Samuel    Gray    Camus    15    1    1
  Susan    Gray    Camus    16    1    2
  James    Gray    Camus    17    1    4
  David    Gray    Camus    21    1    2
  Joseph    Gray    Camus    23    3    4
  James    Gray    Camus    38    2    4
  Joseph    Gray    Glenhall    3    5    3
  Joseph    Gray    Glenlary    17    4    4
  James    Gray    Glenlary    24    5    4
  John    Gray    B'laggin    13    2    2
  There are only three James Grays in the 1831 census for Macosquin.  The first from Glenleary is a different person (married later to a Margaret and father of another Samuel).  That leaves two, both in Camus: one in a 5 person household (No 17) and the other in a six person household (No38).  There are also four other Gray households in Camus: Samuel in a two person household (No 15), Susan in a two person household (No 16), David in a three person household (No 21) and Joseph in an eight person household which includes a servant (No 23).  All this suggests that the Grays originally came from Camus.
  
  There is now sufficient evidence to make this man one of the James Grays in Camus and therefore tie my own ancestry into Camus.  It is this.  According to the Macosquin Presbyterian Church Baptismal Register, a James Gray from Camus, and his wife, Elizabeth, baptised a daughter called Mary in 1827 and three sons called James, Samuel and William in 1830, 1832 and 1836 respectively.  I now know that my great great great grandfather had three sons, James who according to his records was born in 1828, Samuel, who according to his records was born in 1835 and William who according to his records, was born in 1837: same names, same order, similar DoBs. 
  
  There is a clincher.  Samuel was actually baptised Samuel Alexander Gray by James and Elizabeth in Camus.  And lo and behold, my great great grandfather's brother refers to himself as Samuel A Gray when he witnessed the marriage of his brother, William, to Margaret McVicker, in Charles Street United Presbyterian Church, New York in 1870!  QED for me!
  
  Furthermore, Samuel and William disappeared off to America and this fits with the fact that, with one exception, there are no more records that I can find of these two men in Macosquin.  The exception is the marriage of Samuel, who married Sarah McVickar in 1855, when he gives his address as Cullyvenney.  His brother James, who married in 1853 gave his address as Glenhall, which is where the family may have moved temporarily but I know that he then moves to Cullyvenney, shows up in several records in Cullyvenney, his wife, Eliza Jane Brown,dies in Cullyvenney and most significantly, his mother, "Bethy", the wife of this James, also dies in Cullyvenney, where her son, James, is PAD.  This shows that the family moved from Camus, possibly to Glenhall, and then to Cullyvenney probably circa 1854.
  
  This fits with the evidence from the 1831 Census, which shows:
  Grays in 1831 Census in Macosquin            
  F/n    S/n    T'land    Hse #    M    F
  Samuel    Gray    Camus    15    1    1
  Susan    Gray    Camus    16    1    2
  James    Gray    Camus    17    1    4
  David    Gray    Camus    21    1    2
  Joseph    Gray    Camus    23    3    4
  James    Gray    Camus    38    2    4
  Joseph    Gray    Glenhall    3    5    3
  Joseph    Gray    Glenlary    17    4    4
  James    Gray    Glenlary    24    5    4
  John    Gray    B'laggin    13    2    2
  There is NO James Gray in Cullyvenney, when this James is baptising his children, Mary, James Samuel and William between 1827 and 1836, but there ARE two Jameses in Camus, one in a household of 1 male and 4 females and the other in a household of 2 males and 4 females.  Sine the children's dates are baptisms, not births, so we don't know when exactly they were born, and since the census does not differentiate between children and other members of an extended family, the numbers prove nothing; the significance is in the fact that there are two families where a James Gray is head of household in 1831 when my James is having his family.
  
  The only flaw in the theory is that a James Gray, aged 20, of Camus, son of a James, married an Elizabeth Jane Dickson in 1847.  This could have been my great great grandfather, James Gray (baptised in 1830, he would have to have been 3 at baptism, OR, James exaggerated his age when he wanted to marry).  It can NOT be my James marrying someone else before he married Eliza Jane Brown because he gave his condition as bachelor when he married her.  But it could be a son of the other James Gray of camus, and anyway, not ALL families are covered by the 1831 Census, especially those living where the father is not a head of household.
  
  If a James Gray and a Robert Gray (both of Macosquin)witnessed the marriage of Joseph Gray of Coole Glebe, and my family is stuffed with Jameses and Roberts, then Joseph could be either a brother (a tad old) or an uncle of my great great great grandfather, James Gray.
  
  The circa 1855 Griffiths Valuation for Macosquin shows:    
  Gray              James              Ballintaggart 
  Gray              James              Coolyvenny               
  Grey              James              Upper Coole Glebe  
  Grey              Joseph             Camus   
  Grey              Samuel             Camus
  Since James was dead when his wife died, a widow, in 1864, he may well have already been dead when the Griffiths Valuation was published or he could be living in the household of a child as an elderly man.  
  
  In Camus, in the 1859 GV, Samuel Grey held Plot 35 of 12/3/30 arps and lived in Hse 35a.  He also shared Plot 38 of 1/1/20 arps.  Joseph Grey held Plot 33 of 27/1/5 arps.
  Joseph is s/o to Samuel in Plot 33 in Book A, 1860-63, no actual sate.  Samuel is then s/o of all three plots in 1878, Plot 33 going to William Patterson and Plots 35 and 38 to Samuel Martin.  This Samuel Gray must be the one who married Nancy Jane Connor, the son of Joseph GRay of Camus.
  
    

Details of James' family with Elizabeth "Bethy" ??Henry??