 We were originally of Scottish Blood |
 My life in Pictures |
 Last Update 25 November 2009 |
We were originally of Scottish Blood |
My life in Pictures |
Last Update 25 November 2009 |
Newtownards, my birthplace.
The People Past
Page 1
The people from the past represent those characters now
no longer with us who made Newtownards what it is today, they were the serious ones,the
strugglers,the heroes and also in many cases the clowns but all deserve a mention. Page 2
and on includes James McMeekan, Jim McMeekan, Maggie Berry, Mr and Mrs. Joe Blake, Watson
"Watti" Weir, John Johnston and many more to follow...
Did your family sign the Ulster
Covenant (28th. September 1912) check out the
signatures below...
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Have a look back through the new
feature below...
The links below will take you to pages which contain
records i am slowly putting together regarding families with any connection to Newtownards
in the past including, births,deaths,marriages and any other events. Some pages contain
the letter H or P in bold capitals after the name, this will take you to another
image storage facility where you can look at or copy a larger image. Also the first image
storage page allows you to add a comment and start your own blog about your family or
others you may have a connection with. Hope you all enjoy and why not start researching
your family tree..? If there is a family name you would like me to include just let
me know ok,.. have fun... Derek
Note: links are colour coded where necessary to enable
you to link a birth to a marriage or death etc.
A-Z
Who lived in Newtownards back then - Who operated the
services - Who owned the shops and businesses
Check it out below..
Eddy Menzies
One of the first members of the Communist Party of Ireland, Menzies joined the Revolutionary Workers Groups in the early 1930s and was involved in the Outdoor Relief struggle. He was prominent as a leader of the squatters? movement in Northern Ireland after the war.
An enthusiastic supporter of the Daily Worker, he delivered 100 copies a day by carrier bicycle to the Shorts aircraft factory in Belfast from the small newsagents? shop he set up with compensation money from a factory accident.
His daughter, Edwina, one of five daughters he and his wife Sadie Newell, from Newtownards, had married Jimmy Stewart, General Secretary for a long time of the Communist Party of Ireland. Menzies died aged 82 in 1993.
Morning Star February 13th 1993
Sam Porter Millar |
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Henry Bournes Higgins Click on image to read more about Henry.. |
Irish speaking Orangemen and the Land LeagueYet as late as the 1880's things were not so straightforward. The Orange Order was still very much a self identified Irish cultural-political organisation. When on 12 July 1867 a 30,000 strong parade Orange Order parade from Newtownards to Bangor took place the Belfast Newsletter reported that they marched "without interruption save the cead mille failtes' of hosts of sympathisers".(3) This use of the Irish language by loyalists was to fade as the Irish nationalists sought to solidify the nationalist political agenda through a cultural revival which laid claim to the Irish language. The unionist Ulster Convention of 1892 would be the last time the slogan "Erin-go-Bragh"(4) would be on display. |
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