The LANE/Lain(e)s of Ulster, Ireland, Chapter 1

The LANE/LAIN(E)s of Ulster, Ireland, Chapter 1

The "LANE Family" section of this site is divided into 8 chapters and 8 appendices. Please read in sequence by following the links at the bottom of each page or use the "Quick Nav" at top right. Please note the companion photo galleries which show the LANE family house ruins in Co. Tyrone, Ireland; the LANEs' Parish church in Lissan; the homes and graves of the LANEs in Jarrow, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Note the style: link to an individual photogallery image: …#5 . If you wish to select individual chapters, please click on the top left link to the Sitemap page.

Do you have information, opinion or a question relating to either this site’s contents or its copyright? Please use the e-mail link available at the bottom of each page. I look forward to corresponding with you.

Jane STRONG (née LAINE) b. 1830, Cookstown, County Tyrone

Jane LANE, b. 1839
Courtesy B & I Strong

This chapter introduces Jane LANE and this site. It also describes the search for the LANE family. This search commenced from clues in the family bible in NSW Australia; records in Auckland, New Zealand; finally to the remote and beautiful townlands of Unagh and Tatnagilta in the Parish of Lissan, north of Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Throughout, our family name varied from LANE to LAIN, LAINE, LAYNE and even to LINN!

Jane LANE is pictured on left. She was born in 1839 in the Parish of Lissan (described beneath), and married my g-grandfather Robert STRONG (Jnr) in Belfast. The STRONG & LANE families were very close… one of Robert’s daughters from his first marriage (also a Jane!) also married Jane LANE’s brother! I first saw Jane's photo (above) in the lounge room of my cousins Brian and Irene STRONG of New Zealand. This photo was a large portrait developed on glass and was hand tinted, as was her husband Robert's photo (see the STRONG pages). We are grateful to Brian and Irene for permission to reproduce the photos. Please use this link to view a full sized coloured image of JANE STRONG (née LAINE).

The remainder of this site details the LANE origins in the Parish of Lissan, Co. Tyrone, and also the possible LANE French extraction. It describes the family's move to Belfast and their subsequent life in Newcastle upon Tyne. The links between the LANE & STRONG families are explained.

Thanks to my various cousins who have readily provided information, photos etc. Particular thanks to Jill Cargill of New Zealand (d. 8 Jul 2003), who collaborated in the research. My Irish friend, Bill Cardwell has enabled most significant break-throughs in Co. Tyrone, as has Margaret Hall of Wallsend, Northumberland in the archives of Newcastle upon Tyne. The present day owners of the LANE Unagh farm kindly sent photos of an old stone house which is most likely my g-g grandfather James LANE's home. My LANE relations have given most enthusiastic assistance. Tony Appleton of Co. Durham has helped in research and photography around Jarrow, and Gladys LANE and Pat Rooney have contributed information and photos. I am most grateful for all this generosity and kindness.

The Search Commences

The Family Bible was indispensable! It told us when my g-grandmother’s children were born, leading us to the Irish birth register entries for her children. Unfortunately, the Irish birth register entries don't tell us about a mother's origins, but at least told us Jane’s maiden name. I obtained four Irish birth certificates and Jane gave her maiden name as LANE on 3 occasions and LAYNE on one. Jane may not have been able to read or write when she lived in Ireland, since in one certificate it said: " Informant: Jane STRONG mother (her mark)"... thus she could not check what the registrar had written. Why do I also call her LAINE? The Family Bible also had the answer. See French Origin? in Chapter 3.

Patient collection of the New Zealand birth register entry for each of Jane’s children finally paid off! Her youngest child, John Taylor STRONG had a birth record which said that Jane came from Cookstown (Ireland) and the informant for this information was Jane herself. Then the New Zealand death register entry for Jane gave the name of her mother as Mary Moore.

The marriage record of Jane LAINE to Robert STRONG (my g-grandparents) at a Wesleyan Chapel in Belfast in 1862 told us that she (and her family?) lived at Ross St, Belfast, and her father's name and profession was James LAIN, Yarn bundler.

"From Dublin to LDerry by Cookstown", p31.
Taylor & Skinner's Road Maps of Ireland 1783

Search for James LAIN(E) / LANE

The Index to Griffith's Valuation, 1848-1864 gives LANE, James County: Tyrone, Parish: Lissan, Location: Unagh. Likewise the Index to Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1838 gives the same location for a James LANE with the year 1827. Lissan is a neighbouring parish to Cookstown, thus these records could apply to our family, bearing in mind the comparative rarity of the LANE name in Ireland.

See the page Family Farms (Chapter 2) for details of the farm of the James LANE mentioned in Griffith's Valuation as well as details of baptisms in the Parish of Lissan, which show that this is where Jane STRONG (née LAINE) was born! Taylor & Skinner's map shows the highway to Londonderry passing through the centre of Cookstown in a due North direction.

Lord of the Manor & Lissan Parish

On the road just north of Cookstown are the 82, 83, 84-mile pegs from Dublin. Just east of the road between the 83 & 84-mile pegs is a symbol for the demesne of the Lord of the Manor (Rt Hon. John Staples (1736-1820), M.P. for Co. Antrim), shown on the map as Staples Esqr.

His landholdings within the Lissan Parish (shown as Lifsen) extend over the dotted line, which shows the boundary between County Tyrone and County Derry. The LANEs were tenants of the STAPLES family. See the transcription of the Lissan Parish entry in Lewis "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland", 1837, for more information on the Staples and the Parish of Lissan, given below:

"LISSAN, or LISANE, a parish, partly in the barony of DUNGANNON, county of TYRONE, and partly in that of LOUGHINSHOLIN, county of LONDONDERRY, and province of ULSTER, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Cookstown, on the road to Moneymore and on that from Omagh to Belfast; containing 6163 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded on the north by the mountain of Slieve Gallion, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 24,684.5 statute acres, including 147.75 in Lough Fea, and of which 12,917.5 are the county of Tyrone. The greater portion is in the manor of Ardtrea, belonging to the see of Armagh, and part is in the manor of Moneymore and the property of the Drapers' Company of London. In the war of 1641, the castle, which at that time was the property of the Staples family, to whom it was granted on the plantation of Ulster, was seized by Nial O'Quin for Sir Phelim O'Nial, who plundered the house of Sir Thomas Staples while rendezvousing at Moneymore castle, and compelled the men employed in his iron-works on the Lissan water to make pikes and pike-heads from the stores of their master. The land is mountainous and boggy; about one-third is under tillage and produces excellent crops, and the remainder affords good pasture; the system of agriculture is improved, and much of the bog is of valuable quality; limestone abounds and is extensively quarried for agricultural uses. The mountain of Slieve Gallion has an elevation of 1730 feet above the level of the sea; the surrounding scenery is strongly diversified and in some parts very picturesque. The principal seats are Lissan Park, the residence of Sir Thos. Staples, Bart., a noble mansion in an extensive demesne embellished with thriving plantations, an artificial sheet of water with cascades, and a picturesque bridge, built by the celebrated Ducart; Muff House, of the Rev. J. Molesworth Staples ; and Crieve, of W. Maygill, Esq. The linen manufacture is carried on to a great extent by the whole of the population, who combine it with agricultural pursuits. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of the Lord-Primate: the tithes amount to £500. The glebe-house was built at an expense of £1313. 14. 5., of which £100 was a gift and £650 a loan from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1807, and the remainder was paid by the incumbent; the glebe comprises 87.25 statute acres, valued at £67.10. per annum. The church is a plain and very ancient structure, with an east window of stained glass. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also part of the parish of Desertlyn; the chapel is a neat edifice. About 400 children are taught in five public schools, of which the parochial school, for which a house was built by the Rev. J. M. Staples, at an expense of £500, and a school at Grouse Lodge, for which a house was built by Mrs. Wright, who endowed it with an acre of land, are supported under the trustees of Erasmus Smith's charity; a school at Crevagh was built and is supported by Sir T. Staples, Bart., and one at Donaghbreaghy is aided by the Drapers' Company. There are also a private school, in which are about 30 children, and four Sunday schools."

Source: Lewis, S. Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S Lewis & Co,1837; 2:287.

Please see The Lissan Parish Church Photo Gallery for photos of the Lissan Parish church in Churchtown, Co. Londonderry, its stained glass window and the Slieve Gallion, all mentioned above. I am indebted to Keith Ison, who diverted from his tour of Ireland to Churchtown for these photos taken in May 2006.

The Rector who featured in the photos has now retired. Does this advertisement interest you?

The Church of Ireland Vacancies 27/09/2006
INCUMBENT, Parish of Lissan, Diocese of Armagh

Applications are invited for the incumbency of the above parish, located in mid Ulster, which has recently become vacant through retirement.

Approximately 140 families. Range of parochial organisations. Large six bedroom rectory situated between Cookstown and Moneymore.

Further information regarding stipend and allowances etc from:
The Diocesan Secretary, Armagh.

The Story Continues

Chapter 2 Farms of the LANE family.

The LANE Family