Letter to Recorder leads John to meet new Down family

Letter to Recorder leads John to meet new Down family

21 March 2012 - by David Telford

NEW Zealander John Morland had been attempting to trace his family roots in Down District for a number of years.

He had surfed many Irish genealogy websites looking to trace his great grandfather Thomas Morland who emigrated from the area in 1865, but continually came up against a brick wall.

But John wasn’t going to give up that easily and wrote a letter to the Down Recorder appealing for anyone who could help him to get in touch.

The appeal prompted local man John McMahon to answer the call and while his relative in New Zealand was rather sceptical at first, it soon became clear that Mr. Morland’s appeal had in fact opened the door to relatives he never knew existed. He was also informed of a family burial ground at the old Loughinisland’s graveyard.

In addition to being contacted by Mr. McMahon, Downpatrick woman Mrs. Ann-Marie Morrissey made contact with Mr. Morland by email to explain she had also come across his great grandfather while tracing another family tree.

The New Zealander returned to the Morland family’s ancestral home last week in Loughinisland — his third visit in three years — and while he leaves tomorrow, he’s already planning his next trip back.

But it’s only this week that the full story of how the 65 year-old finally managed to meet his Irish family fully emerged. And it’s been revealed that the spelling of his surname was the reason the man from down under had little success with genealogy websites.

John Morland has no “e” in his surname but it appears this was ped for some unknown reason when his great grandfather emigrated to New Zealand. And it has also been confirmed that Mr. Morland has relatives in the Saintfield area, but they spell their surname Murland.

Mr. McMahon, who is originally from Ballygowan but now lives in Warrington, said if Mr. Morland’s letter had not appeared in the Recorder, the families would never have been reunited.

“If the appeal hadn’t been made I would not have went back to trace other descendants of Thomas Morland. Without the Recorder, we wouldn’t be here today,” he said.

“I sent an email to John in New Zealand explaining I knew all about the Morelands, but the first email he sent back said ‘sorry, we are not related’ as his name was spelt Morland. However, I knew differently and had a laugh to myself as I knew I was right and that John Morland in New Zealand was related to my family and was inextricably linked to Loughinisland.”

Mr. McMahon said his research revealed that later generations of the Morland family also travelled to New Zealand.

“I knew John Morland was related as I’d seen the headstone at the old graveyard in Loughinisland and letters sent from relatives in New Zealand. After a few emails and sending John a photograph of the headstone he then realised it had to be his relation, not just because of the spelling, but the names of the other people on the gravestone.”

Mr. Morland said he had been researching his family history but believed that local people who spelt the family surname differently weren’t related.

“I knew my great grandfather was from Co. Down as we had a postcard in the family which my father had, posted from Downpatrick in 1908. I don’t know who it was from or who it was to, but I’m now certain that it was from my great grandfather who came back to Loughinisland in 1908. I had no idea I had other relatives in this part of the world. It was a lovely surprise to discover I did.

“I had been researching Irish genealogy websites for five months trying to trace Morlands but had no success and gave up. I then had a few beers one Friday night and remembered the postcard my father had. It would had to have been sent to him from Loughinisland by his father when he returned here and erected the family gravestone where the family surname is spelt with an “e.”

Mr. Morland said had he not placed his appeal in the Down Recorder, he would never have been able to get in touch with his local relatives.

He added: “I was delighted when John and Ann-Marie contacted me but the world really is a small place as a lady called Margaret Robertson, who lives in New Zealand’s south island and has the Recorder sent to her, contacted me after my appeal appeared. Believe it or not, she is related through marriage to the Morland family.”