City/County Londonderry Millican, Milligan, Millikan, Milliken, Millikin, Mullican, Mulliken, Mullikin etc.

Documents, Records and Families

Co. Londonderry, part I

There are several important genealogical sources for the seventeenth century that list the names of individuals of tenant status in Co. Londonderry, which include, the c.1630 muster rolls (which lists the names of Protestant male tenants above the age of 16 years), the 1642 muster rolls of the British forces in Ulster and the Hearth Money Rolls of 1663 (a partial listing of heads of households). Of the 46 parishes in the county, only one has records surviving from the 1600s, namely, St. Columbs Church of Ireland in the City of Derry/Londonderry (which date from 1642). For the 1700s, the Presbyterian Church of Ballykelly has the earliest records, which date from 1699. Other important sources include the Will Indexes for the Diocese of Derry and the Prerogative Court of Ireland, but neither list the variant surnames.

1. Parish of Templemore, City of Derry
St. Columbs' Cathedral Church of Ireland (baptisms, marriages & burials 1642-1703)

Elizabeth Muligane widow buried the 5 February, 1657

James sonne of Robert Mulakine bapt. 28 June, 1668

2. Hearth Tax Rolls of Co. Londonderry 1663

Parish of Errigal

Robert Mullegan in Garvagh

The parish of Errigal lies in the old barony of Coleraine, next to the parish of Aghadowey.

Parish of Ballinascreen

Art O'Mulligan' in Brackagh.

3. Maxwell Papers

Ensign Henry Mullygan, mentioned in a list of adventures claiming land in Ireland in 1666, money paid to Sir Robert Maxwell knight at Ballycastle, Co. Londonderry - 0163. 09. 09.

[Source:- Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, T.640/104]

The land leased to Henry Mulligan isn�t defined, but it may have been located in one of three manors owned by Sir Robert Maxwell of Orchardtoun in Kirkcudbrightshire; the manor of Ballycastle in the barony of Keenaght, and manors of Killowen and Articlave in the barony of Coleraine. Sir Robert Maxwell acquired the manor of Ballycastle near the town of Limavady in Co. Londonderry through his wife, Marion, daughter of Sir Robert McClelland, Lord Kirkcudbright. He had leased the manor from Haberdashers' Campany of London. Interestingly, a Gilbert Milliken married Margaret McClellan at Ballykelly Presbyterian Church, which is located not far from Limavady, in 1712.

4. Parish of Tamlaght-Finlagan
Ballykelly Presbyterian Church (baptisms 1699-1709, marriages 1699-1740)

Gilbert Milliken and Margaret McClelen both in this parish of Ballykelly are alowed the benefite of Proclamation April 12, 1712

Robert Mulakine, whose son James was baptised at St. Columbs' Cathedral Church of Ireland in the City of Derry/Londonderry on 28 June, 1668, may have been the son or the same 'Robert Mulligan', a trooper in the horse of Sir Robert Stewart, knight, and governor of Culmore Fort and Derry. He was an able veteran of distinction, who had fought in the service of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. In April 1638, he was appointed by Charles I governor of Culmore Fort on Lough Foyle, which guarded the entrance to the port of Derry. In 1643, he was appointed governor of the City of Derry. At the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion in October 1641, he raised a regiment of horse and foot, which was officially mustered at Raphoe in Co. Donegal on 22 August 1642. The following soldiers were listed in his regiment: Robert and John Mulligan in his troop of horse, David Mulligan, a soldier in the company of Capt. William Mather, and David Milligen, a soldier in the company of Capt. Robert Hamill. Stewart's regiment was recruited from men who came mainly from the counties of Donegal, Londonderry and Tyrone.

For the 1700s, the picture begins to improve, the most important source being the Religious Survey of 1740. In that year, the Irish House of Commons commissioned a survey of Protestant householders in the North of Ireland. The original returns, however, were destroyed in 1922, but copies survive in the Tenison Groves transcript in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, called the Londonderry Survey, for 37 of the 46 parishes in Co. Londonderry. Later in 1766, the Irish House of Lords commissioned a survey instructing the clergy of each Church of Ireland parish to prepare a return of the number of Protestant and Roman Catholic families in their parishes. Returns survive for 13 of the 46 parishes in Co. Londonderry and of these, some are only numerical returns but others give the names of the heads of families.

Protestant Householders - 1740
Aghadowey:............ William Miliken, Robert Milikin
Tamlaght O Crilly:.. John Milliken
Kilrea:..................... Patt O'Mallican, Donaghy O'Mullighan
Maghera:............... George Miliken
Termoneeny:......... Thomas Millikin, Josh Miliken
Ballynascreen:....... And Miliken, Wm. Miliken
Desertmartin:......... Pat Mulloghan
Magherafelt:.......... Daniel Mulligan, Thomas Miliken
Desertlyn:.............. James Miliken

The parishes of Tamlaght O Crilly, Kilrea, Maghera, Termoneeny, Ballynascreen, Desertmartin, Magherafelt and Desertlyn are all located in the district of Loughinsholin, which takes in the southern part of Co. Londonderry. Only three of the parishes listed above are represented in the 1766 Religious Survey and of these, only two list M surnames all of whom were dissenters, in other words - Presbyterians.

Religious Survey - 1766
Ballynascreen Parish
Dissenter - Samuel Milliken, Andrew Milliken, William Milliken & James Milliken

Magherafelt Parish
Dissenter - James Milliken

As part of a Government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning-wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax. The list of those entitled to the award was published in 1796 and recorded only the names of individuals and the civil parish in which they lived. The original publication is held in the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, and only the following names appear in connection with Co. Londonderry.

Flax Grower of Ireland - 1796
Agivey .................................. Thomas Millikin 1
Tamlaght-Finlagan ............ David Milliken 2

I have included the Flax Growers list to draw a comparison between it and the 1740 Religious Survey for two reasons. In the first instance, the parish of Agivey is usually incorporated with the parish of Aghadowey, and in the second, the 1740 Survey fails to record any references to the surname Milliken in the parish of Tamlaght-Finlagan. The significance of the latter point willbecome evident in the next issue, when I begin to examine the biographical notes recorded in the Rev. G. T. Ridlons book in relation to the Millikins of Dromore in Co. Londonderry. Finally, it should also be noted, that neither the Will Indexes for the Diocese of Derry nor the Prerogative Court of Ireland, list the surnames Milliken or Milligan in the 1700s.

"M" Families in Co. Londonderry

In his book on the Biographical notes and History of the Millicans, Milligans, Milliken, Millikins etc (published in 1907), the Rev. G. T. Ridlon mentions several families who settled in Co. Londonderry from Scotland, including the families of Samuel Millikin of Coleraine, Alexander, William and James Milliken of Castledawson, James and William Millikin of Dromore in Drumraighland, Robert Milliken of Tobermore, James and Thomas Milliken of Tamneymore, William and John Millican of Co. Londonderry, and of these, the earliest and most important are Samuel Millikin of Coleraine and the Millikens of Castledawson.

In chapter three of his book entitled Compendium of Family History, Ridlon narrates that old men now living in Antrim and Londonderry, have informed the author of visits made by relatives bearing the Milliken name from distant parts of Ireland to the homes of their grandparents when they were children; and they have a distinct recollection of the stories to which they listened when sitting around the peat fires, concerning the sufferings of their Scottish forefathers on the moors and mountains with Cameron, and how they fought at Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge, at the Boyne, Enniskillen and Londonderry.

To illustrate the point, he goes on to recite a tradition narrated to him by the lips of two persons, but only names one, Samuel Milliken of Coleraine, who he describes as being hale and hearty at aged of 85 in 1895 and gives his lineage is given as follows:

Robert Milliken, a shepherd farmer in the shire of Galloway, Scotland, was a zealous Covenantor who escaped with his family to Ireland, in the year 1680. He was born in 1650 and died in Londonderry in the year 1740, aged 90.
James Milliken, son of the preceding, born in the 1670, was ten years of age when he went with his parents to Ulster, Ireland, in 1680, and lived contemporary with his father 70 years, dying in 1750, aged 80.
Robert Milliken, son of the preceding, born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1695, lived contemporary with his father 54 years, and with his grandfather 45 years, dying in 1791, aged 96 years.
William Milliken, son of the preceding, born in Londonderry, Ireland, in the years 1720, died in 1794, aged 74. He lived contemporary with his father 71 years, and with his grandfather 30 years.
Robert Milliken, son of the preceding, born in Londonderry, Ireland, in the year 1750, died in 1830, aged 80. He lived contemporary with his grandfather 41 years, with his father 44 years.
Samuel Milliken, son of the preceding, born in Coleraine, Ireland, 1810, was living in 1895 in full possession of his mental faculties, and related what his father had received from the lips of his grandfather relating to the experiences of his grandfather who was the exiled Covenanter first in Ulster.

The description by Samuel Millikin of his grandfather's grandfather, Robert Millikin, is worth quoting in full - "my grandfather lived with my father when an aged man and was a person of peculiar and unalterable habits. He was small of stature, a weaver of the hand-loom by occupation and very stooping. He wore always, indoors and out-of-doors, a blue, knitted Kilmarnock (sic. Killmanmock) bonnet. His hair, heavy and snow-white, fell in curling masses about his neck; his diet in old age consisted of potatoes, which he insisted upon roasting in the embers and oatmeal porridge. When not employed at his loom he spent much of his time in reading the lives of the Covenanters, and was never weary of his description of his grandfather and the recitations to which he had listened in his boyhood from his lips relating to his adventures on the moors and mountains of Galloway when hunted by Claverhouse".

The Account goes on to narrate that Robert had "two brothers who were at Bothwell Bridge on 22 June 1679 and amongst the covenanters imprisoners in Grayfriers Churchyard" in Edinburgh, where many perished. The names of three men, 'Robert and John Milligan' from the parish of Glencairn and 'Thomas Milligan' from the parish of Closeburn all in Nithsdale, Dumfriesshire, where amongst those who survived and were sentence for deportation to Barbados. In November 1679, they were all herded into 'The Crown of London' at Leith, a vessel that was soon ship-wrecked off the coast of the Mull Head of Deerness and sank in the midst of a storm. Only John survived, what became of him after the ship-wreck remains the subject of ongoing research.

From the Proclamation Rolls of 1684 (printed in the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland), we find a list the names of those covenanters, declared fugitives and outlawed after the battle of Bothwell Bridge. There are no "Ms" listed amongst them. However, the rolls also contain the names of those charged with harbouring or conversing with declared rebels and in the rolls of Galloway, we find the names of 'James Mulliken in Knocknoon' and 'John Mulliken in Barscobe' in the parish of Balmaclellan. Both men later took the test act in 1684. There is no indication to suggest either men fled to Ireland, but continued to live in Galloway. That said, the charge made against them indicates they had harboured known rebells and fugtives, and one of these may well have been Robert.

Samuel's account goes on to say, Robert's father "when an aged man, made the long journey on foot to sign a copy of the Covenant, and died soon afterwards from the fatigue of his exertion. He [Robert], himself, had escaped to Ireland by a small boat in the night-time, and had returned to Scotland but once to visit kindred in Galloway". The signing of the National Covenant of Scotland took place in 1638, therefore, this man could not have been the father of Robert, but more likely his grandfather. Prior to the signing of the National Covenant, petitions were submitted from different parts of Scotland to the Privy Council calling for the English Common Prayer Book to be with drawn from the Church of Scotland; amongst the noblemen, barons, burgesses, ministers and elders who signed the petition from the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, are the names of 'Robert Milligane' in Broigmark' 'Roger Milligane' [in Craigengullan!], 'Robert Milligane' in Holm of Dalquhairn, 'John Milligan' in Cairnmonow, and 'James and Roger Milligane' in Arndaroch all in the parish of Dalry.

In 1684, the Privy Council carried out an extensive survey, parish by parish, of all males and females above the ages of 12 years. By then most of the parish of Dalry had been annexed to form the new parish of Carsphairn for which a detailed survey survives. Compared with the 1638 petition not one of the families listed is mention in the 1684 survey. It takes no great leap of the imagination to work out what became of these families! For several generations they had lived in the uplands of Galloway, where it will be recalled the lairds of Blackmyre acquired part of the land of Dalquhairn in the parish of Dalry and part of the land of Crogo in the parish of Balmaclellen earlier in the sixteenth century. To find Millikins turning up in Co. Londonderry as refugees from these parishes, fleeing the scourge of religious persecution, and to find their family and descendants recounting the sufferings of the Covenanters for generations afterwards, should perhaps come of no great surprise to any of us.

Finally, we learn Robert was present at the battle of the Boyne in 1690 and suffered at the siege of Derry. He was well known and held in high esteem, and when he died in 1740 the "local militia turned out and gave him a soldier's burial. His body was carried to his grave on chairpoles by his four sons". A similar tradition is conveyed in the chapter covering the Millikens of Castledawson in the parish of Magherafelt and county Londonderry. This family are said to have been descended from Alexander Milliken, who according to Ridlon was a native of the lowlands of Scotland and is said to have been one of four brothers who were among the sturdy defenders of Londonderry in the memorable siege of 1689, he alone surviving. The tradition goes on to say that Alexander's grandson James - who was reared mostly in the family of his grandparents - remembered that at his grandfather�s funeral the military turned out to do honour to an old soldiers� memory who had been one of the survivors of the siege; he died at Castledawson.

Samuel Millikin of Coleraine

Of Samuel Millikin himself, he indeed appears to have been born in Coleraine as his name appears in the householder's valuation for the Corporation of Coleraine in 1834, published in the Third Report from the Select Committee on Fictitious Votes in Ireland submitted by the House of Commons to the House of Lords in 1837. As 'Samuel Milligan', he lived at 1 Society Street, Coleraine, and his house was valued at �8. This would make him aged about 24 years in 1834. He is not listed in the Census Return of Coleraine in 1831, but may have been living with 'Robert Milliken', who is listed in the Census Return in 1831. He lived in a dwelling house in the Diamond, consisting of two males, two females and one female servant. The family's religion is given as Presbyterian.

If Samuel's father, Robert was still alive in 1831, he may have been one of the two males, however, it seems he was already deceased by then, as another 'Robert Milliken' is listed in the Parliamentary Papers as one whose name had been referred to the Common Council of Coleraine to consider his petition for the freedom of the Corporation, but had not been decided on by 1832. Two years later, his name appears as a subscriber to the Coleraine Poor-house and Mendicity Association in 1834, as Robert Milliken, Diamond, paid 8 shillings. He died a widower on 21 November 1870 aged 73 years, giving him a projected birth date of 1797, which would make him an older brother of Samuel. He had two known children Robert and Isabella Milliken; the latter married Cochran Patterson, a shopkeeper, in 1849.

The Millikins and Millicans of Aghadowey

In the Account, Samuel's father, Robert is said to have been born in Londonderry, and his father, William, and his father Robert. Despite there being a fairly comprehensive listing of heads of household in the Protestant Householder's returns for the City of Derry/Londonderry in 1740, there is an absence of any family bearing the surnames, Millican, Milligan, Milliken, Millikin and Mulligan, suggesting Londonderry refers to the county of Londonderry rather than the City. In 1740, William and his father Robert, would all have been sufficient age to appear in 1740 listing of Householders, yet none appear in Derry. It is more likely, Londonderry refers to the County, where the names of Robert and William appear together in the parish of Aghadowey. There have been Millikins living in the parish of Aghadowey for generations and their descendants, some taking the style Millican, are still prominent farmers in the district.

It was from this area in the Bann valley that emigration to north America began in earnest in 1718, when eleven Presbyterian ministers, under the leadership of the Rev. James McGregor of Aghadowey, and nearly three hundred members of their Congregations emigrated to Boston and later founded the settlement of Londonderry on the frontier north of the Merrimac river in what is now New Hampshire. The cause of such large scale emigration to north America was due primarily to the heavy fines imposed by landlords after a lease fell-in, many of which were due for renewal by 1719 with some having run for upwards of 51 years as in the case of one farmer on the Clothworkers estate whose lease had commenced in 1669. It is known from later records, that the Millikins who settled in the Aghadowey area were farmers, weavers and bleachers. It is not certain where exactly they lived in the parish in 1740, thought, they probably lived in the townland of Ardreagh.

The Millikins of Drumraighland

This sub-title calls for some clarification as it refers to the family of James Millikin and Martha Hemphill, styled of Dromore, a designation that has lead to a great deal of confusion by Ridlon mistakenly assuming this referred to the town of Dromore in Co. Down. To avoid further confusion, I have chosen to follow the custom in Ireland of placing a person�s given townland as their address, though, it should probably read as Dromore in the townland of Drumraighland and parish of Tamlaght Finlagan. Dromore was a hamlet in the townland of Drumraighland. This couple's eldest son, also called James, was born in the townland of Drumraighland on 5th January, 1752. Although, the Religious Survey of 1740 fails to note any "Ms" living in the parish of Tamlaght Finlagan or townland of Drumraighland, there is the distinct possibility his name may have been miscopied for "James Miller", who is listed in the same townland. He may have been the son of Gilbert Milliken and Margaret McClelen, whose marriage was proclaimed at Ballykelly Presbyterian Church in 1712.

It is known that James Milliken of Drumraighland was born in 1727, and was evidently a weaver, an occupation continued by one of his younger sons, David Millikin, who acquired two spinning looms under the Governments scheme to encourage the linen trade and is styled of the parish of Tamlaght Finlagan in 1796. He is probably the same David Millikin, who leased a small area of land amounting to over 6 acres in the townland of Bovavagh and whose name is listed, along with Samuel Millikin of Glenconway, James and John Millikin of Ardinarive and Alexander Millikin of Straw, in the parish of Bovavagh in 1827. Of the Millikins of Drumraighland, it is surely significant that the home of this God fearing family of Presbyterians and weavers, lay along the main road that runs between the City of Londonderry and the town of Coleraine!

In the 1990s, the late Paul Millikin of Columbus, USA, a direct descendant of James Millikin, sent me a copy of the note Book of James Millikin eldest son of James Millikin and Martha Hemphill in which he states - I was born Jany 5th 1752. Paul also possessed the family bible of his great great grandfather, Samuel Millikin (son of the above James son of James Millikin and Martha Hemphill), which on the inside cover is inscribed the following words - my father James Millikin came from the county Derry Parish of Ballykelly, Born in the town of Drumralune (Drumraighland) in Ireland. The parish of Ballykelly was another name for the civil parish of Tamlagh-Finlagan. Ridlon cites a letter sent by James Millikin in 1786 to his son Samuel in America, in which, he mentions the townlands of Calmore now Culmore, Claggon now Clagan, Lartnally now Lisnakilly, Macremore now Magheramore, and Drumraigkellan now Drumraighland, all located in the parish of Tamlagh-Finlagan. By all accounts, if James Millikin of 1752 was born in Drumraighland and his father was still living there when he wrote his letter in 1786, it seems reasonable to assert, that nearly all the other children were born in little hamlet of Dromore in Drumraighland.

Before concluding my comments on Ridlon's notes on this family, it may be worth observing that Martha Hemphill and her brother, James Hemphill of Culmore, were descended from Robert Hemphill, a tenant of George Canning, who acquired the Agivey estate near Aghadowey, at the plantation of Ulster. The head of the Hemphill family in Agivey is traced later through a James Hemphill who built a house at Camus near Coleraine in 1685. The arms of this family are similar to those of Baron Hemphill of Tipperary descended from an Ayrshire family. In his book, Aghadowey A Parish and its Linen Industry, the Rev. T. H. Mullin notes the Hemphill family were leading linen drapers in the area. By the turn of the 19th century, we find them in partnership with the firm of Hunter, Hemphill and McFarland, who owned three bleach greens, Greenfield, Aghadowey and Ballybrittain, all the parish of Aghadowey. The Millikins of Ardreagh were also established bleachers and by 1832, when we find William Milliken of Bovagh and partners, John Lynn and John Martin, running a bleach green over at Gorton in the same parish.

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