Oakman Families of Ireland
The Oakman family of Northern Ireland, lived mostly in the north of Ireland (now Northern Ireland) in the counties of Antrim and Armagh.
My initial research focused mainly on the Oakman families of the Parishes of Glenavy and Camlin in County Antrim, for this is where my own ancestor was born. As time has allowed, attempts have also been made to trace Oakman families from other counties and parishes in search of a connection between them and those Oakmans of Glenavy and surrounds.
The more prominent Oakman families of Ireland appear to have been landowners and tenant farmers, linen manufacturers and clothing merchants, importers/exporters of goods to and from the West Indies, East Indies and America. Quite a few Oakman individuals and families left Northern Ireland to settle in other parts of the world — Australia, America, Canada, England and Scotland.
My initial research focused mainly on the Oakman families of the Parishes of Glenavy and Camlin in County Antrim, for this is where my own ancestor was born. As time has allowed, attempts have also been made to trace Oakman families from other counties and parishes in search of a connection between them and those Oakmans of Glenavy and surrounds.
The more prominent Oakman families of Ireland appear to have been landowners and tenant farmers, linen manufacturers and clothing merchants, importers/exporters of goods to and from the West Indies, East Indies and America. Quite a few Oakman individuals and families left Northern Ireland to settle in other parts of the world — Australia, America, Canada, England and Scotland.
Sources
Newspapers
There are many references to Oakman in the “Belfast Newsletter Index” – mostly advertisements during the 1700s and very early 1800s, where Oakmans have advertised imports and exports, or been mentioned as witnesses or jurors in Court Lists, donors of rewards offered to informants, and even a few birth, death...
Registry of Deeds
The “Registry of Deeds”, held in Dublin, is a repository of records dating from 1709. This repository contains a variety of legal documents concerning land leases, marriage contracts, Wills, etc. Many of these records can provide valuable information about family relationships which may not be found elsewhere. The Registry of...
Land Records
There have been a number of different land valuations undertaken in Ireland. The well-known Griffiths Valuation between 1848 and 1865 is the first to come to mind, but there were others also. The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) holds Townland Valuations Records between 1828-1840 and Annual Revision Lists...
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Prior to civil registration of births (from 1865), deaths (from 1865) and marriages (1845), surviving church records, newspaper announcements, census records and even Wills have been useful in finding birth and baptism, marriages, death and burial records. There are many more births, deaths and marriages to be added here so...
Emigrants
Oakman individuals and families have been leaving Ireland to settle in other countries from as early as the 1770s. I have endeavoured to trace as many of these as possible. If you have more details on any of these people I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
Wills
A person’s Will can contain a wealth of information about their family, where they lived, what property they owned and their relationship to those mentioned in their Will. On this page I include any Wills I have come across and the names of those mentioned, as well as any relationship...
Acknowledgements
The information contained within this website is the result of many, many hours of research at the State Library of Victoria, the Australian National Library in Canberra, the Genealogy Society of Victoria, as well as reading and re-reading the many informative websites, books and other publications which specialise in researching Irish ancestors.
The wonderful indexes now available to genealogists have sometimes been the only source of information, but as time permits I manage to view many of the original sources of these indexes and include my findings on this site.
Some of the details contained within this website would not have been possible without the generosity of friends and other Oakman descendants. I am extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed and assisted with this research!
I also wish to express my gratitude to the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, for granting permission to publish extracts from their records which relate to Oakman individuals in Northern Ireland.
The wonderful indexes now available to genealogists have sometimes been the only source of information, but as time permits I manage to view many of the original sources of these indexes and include my findings on this site.
Some of the details contained within this website would not have been possible without the generosity of friends and other Oakman descendants. I am extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed and assisted with this research!
I also wish to express my gratitude to the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, for granting permission to publish extracts from their records which relate to Oakman individuals in Northern Ireland.