Vol. 6 No. 1 - 1989

Lurgan, 1693

by Francis X McCorry

Top >mong the eight splendid articles comprising the issue was an outstanding contribution by the late George R Chapman (d. 16th January 1987) - 'Quaker Meeting Places in the Lurgan area in the 17th century'. Concluding the article is a complete list of the 130 contributions donated by Quaker men, women and children to the Building Fund of the new Lurgan Meeting House, in 1696. The publication of such a list allowed a valuable insight into the social and economic well-being and structures which had evolved locally within the Society of Friends in a matter of forty short years.

The late Professor E R R Green (d. 21st January 1981) asserted in a lecture to our Society (10th October 1978) that Irish Quakers were a small radical group with tremendous qualities who came to the local area in the third quarter of the 17th Century. It can be shown that their economic attainment matched their unquestioned spiritual zeal. The important source which allows such an analysis is the Church Cess Returns, 1693, for Shankill Parish, Lurgan.

Early town boundaries were invariably nebulous. Because of the lack of a proper boundary line for well over two hundred years, the name 'Lurgan' was applied to various entities adjudged to comprise the extent of Brownlow's town. (Even in 1832, the original ordinance surveyors failed to delineate the exact boundary of Lurgan). Thus, any list which sets down the household heads of Lurgan, one by one, is most important to an understanding of the con-current perception of who was a town dweller, and who was not. When tax returns or local tithe assessments are included with the inhabitants' names, the list assumes even greater importance, as judgements can be made regarding the economic well-being of the district's population.

Church Cess

Church Cess was an annual local tax imposed upon every family in a parish to help defray Church of Ireland obligations. While the Church of Ireland was bestowed with many material advantages, many onerous obligations to the parish poor and indeed to other concerns fell on the shoulders of the Vestry. Each family in town and country was assessed on its apparent potential to contribute to the local tax which might well be regarded as corresponding to the latter-day Poor Rate. The disputes which arose as a result of this assessment are not the concern of this article. Suffice to state that local taxes paid to the representatives of one religious denomination could not have been popular affairs.

In the list which follows, ninety-nine household heads are detailed for Lurgan town. But it would be imprudent to assume that there were therefore only ninety-nine families dwelling in Lurgan, in 1693, since every population unit contains families and individuals unable to contribute to a social obligation, viz. the blind, the very aged, the incurable, the crippled and the orphaned.

Church of Ireland, Shankill Parish, Lurgan Church Cess, 1693
The Town of Lurgan

1	Mr Robert Martin	0 - 10
2	Mr Nath McCormick	0 - 6
3	Madam Babersham	1 - 0
4	William Bell	0 - 6
5	John Porter	0 - 6
6	Leit. Smith (Thompson)	0 - 4
7	Thomas Kain	0 - 4
8	James Fforbus	0 - 3
9	Widow Compton	0 - 4
10	Alice Thamie	0 - 6
11	George Hoyle	0 - 8
12	Thomas Walker	0 - 10
13	George Fox	0 - 8
14	Jo. and Thomas Turner	1 - 0
15	John Clarke	0 - 2
16	Henry Semple	0 - 4
17	Torronce Murphy	0 - 6
18	Widow Johnston	0 - 4
19	William Taylor	0 - 8
20	Bryan Gaynir	0 - 8
21	Widow Blackburne	0 - 4
22	William Wallace	0 - 4
23	John Hamilton	0 - 3
24	Alice Matthews	0 - 8
25	Henry Ginniffe	0 - 8
26	John Hoyle	0 - 6
27	Thomas Mulligan	0 - 4
28	John Wilson	0 - 4
29	John Neis (or Neir)	0 - 3
30	Ezokiall Bullock	0 - 6
31	George Bullock	0 - 6
32	Henry Mizror	0 - 4
33	Widow Hamilton	0 - 4
34	Alex Spence	0 - 6
35	Henry Douglas	0 - 6
36	Charles Kaine	0 - 6
37	John Porter	0 - 6
38	James Allen	0 - 3
39	Thomas Johnston	0 - 4
40	Thomas Bunting	0 - 3
41	William Spence	0 - 3
42	William Marshall	0 - 6
43	Thomas Taylor	0 - 3
44	John Addyson	0 - 2
45	Henry Spence	0 - 6
46	Widow Lawllis	0 - 4
47	Widow Barrab	0 - 6
48	Widdow Hodgson (Robert)	1 - 0
49	Thomas Turner	l - 0
50	Saudard Ssi-b (Lennon)	0 - 8
51	Alex Patterson	0 - 3
52	William John Smith	1 - 0
53	John Titterington	1 - 0
54	Ambrose Hodgson	0 - 4
55	Thomas Wanwright	l - 0
56	James Morton	0 - 6
57	Robert Hoop	1 - 0
58	William Porter	l - 0
59	Lawrence Hobbs	0 - 6
60	George Straitton	0 - 6
61	Francis Wallace	0 - 2
62	Geroge Leggatt	0 - 4
63	John Lawtherdale	0 - 6
64	George Johnston	1 - 0
65	John Donaldson	0 - 6
66	Thomas Trimble	0 - 4
67	William Loggan	0 - 6
68	William Waddy	0 - 6
69	Richard Bamber	0 - 8
70	William Hall	0 - 8
71	Sandard Shiols	0 - 8
72	Jacob Turner	0 - 8
73	William Roley	0 - 6
74	John Hoop	0 - 10
75	Widow Matthews	0 - 3
76	Robert Robinson	0 - 8
77	William Robinson	0 - 4
78	John Hoath	0 - 9
79	James Jamison	0 - 2
80	Shane O'Neill	0 - 3
81	Dorby Maglaughlan	0 - 2
82	Thomas Pattison	0 - 2
83	Widow Walker	0 - 4
84	Widow Haddon	0 - 3
85	William McMahon	0 - 4
86	William Brooks	0 - 10
87	Butcher	0 - 2
88	Robert McCowan	0 - 2
89	William McMurray	0 - 6
90	Widow Clarkson	0 - 3
91	Robert Richy	0 - 3
92	George Slowall	0 - 4
93	Mason	0 - 2
94	John Turkington	0 - 4
95	William King	0 - 8
96	Alec Noble	0 - 4
97	Broggor	0 - 2
98	William McCiorr	0 - 2
99	Thomas Walker	0 - 4

Rural Townlands of Shankill Parish

a	Knocknashane	2 - 0
b	Toberhewny	1 - 8
c	Tersogue	1 - 6
d	Moynbrief	3 - 0
e	Tullagally	3 - 0
f	Legacorry	4 - 4
g	Aghnacloy	1 - 0
h	Tegnevan	2 - 6
i	Dogher	3 - 0
j	Derry	3 - 0
k	Lurgantarry	2 - 8
l	Tannaghmore	3 - 0
m	Clanrolla	3 - 0
n	Dromnicame	2 - 0
o	Tullydagon	2 - 0
p	Comakinagaire	4 - 0
q	Killaghy	3 - 0
r	Lissacorran	3 - 0
s	Dromnamoe	2 - 4
t	Ballyblagh	2 - 4
u	Killmore	1 - 0 - 0

The townland of Shankill, the Glebe, is not included.

SOURCE: Shankill Parish Church of Ireland Baptism Register, 1681-1767. pp. 233-4.

Disregarding names, personalities and religious groupings, the following table summarises the Lurgan section of the foregoing Cess List, and categories within the town.

Table A - Enumeration and Classification of Lurgan Cess Payers, 1693

Number of cess payers	Cow rate in pence	Number of men	Number of widows	Number of other women
11	2d.	11	-	-
13	3d.	10	3	-
23	4d.	16	6	1
24	6d.	22	1	1
13	8d.	12	-	1
1	9d.	1	-	-
4	10d.	4	-	-
10	12d.	8	1	1
99		84	11	4

A considerable section of the town's population is accommodated in the approximate centre of the table. The ten highest cess payers are balanced numerically by the eleven lowest-valued house-holders. However it is unlikely that lowly-rated cess payers were the poorest people in a district. Always in society, there are individuals or heads of families unable to afford any form of direct taxation or tithe. It could be argued that in a relatively new and thriving town where each tenant was virtually 'hand-picked; abject poverty did not exist. Nonetheless, the known occupation of some people in the lowest-rated category, the known occupation of one in the second lowest-rated category, and the complete absence of widows in the lowest-rated grouping, combine to cast reasonable doubt on the acceptance of the Cess List of 1693 as a complete roll of Lurgan householders for that year.

The unnamed butcher, mason and brogger, anonymous perhaps because of their lowly social standing, would have had a reasonable income-expectancy in Lurgan yet in the company of eight other men they comprise the lowest-rated category. Thomas Bunting, a leading carpenter, and responsible for the construction of the new gallery in the old Shankill church, is placed in the second-lowest-rated category which also houses the three lowest-rated widows or women. Thomas Bunting's income potential as a skilled carpenter tends therefore to place the three widows in far-from-poor economic circumstances. With eight other widows and an additional four women rated in various other higher categories, the evidence suggests that those universally recognised as the deserving poor, eg orphan children, lone and poor widows, single-parent families, the elderly and the crippled, were not asked to contribute cess, or that, by direction or agreement, such people dwelt outside the town.

Enforced departure from the town is not compatible with the spirit of the Lurgan community as epitomised by various references to charitable under-takings some few years later.

The presence of some poor within the community can therefore be assumed, which in turn infers that Lurgan consisted of more homes than the 99 households listed. In 16th century English towns, the poor formed four to five per cent of the population. In spite of historical and sociological differences which could be advanced to nullify this parallel. there is little reason to dispute the application of similar figures to Lurgan, one century later. It can therefore be assumed that Lurgan comprised approximately 105 houses in 1693, having more than doubled its population in the 30 years after 1664.

---

1.   This, the smallest estimate available relating to English towns, is preferred, because of the evolving socio-economic nature of a relatively successful Irish Plantation town. Much larger estimates are available, ranging from 10% to 25%. See, Clark, P., 'Introduction: English country towns 1500-1800', and, Beier, A.L., 'The social problems of an Elizabethan country town Warwick, 1580-90', in Clark. P., 'Country towns in pre-industrial England, Leicester', 1981.

Ironically, it was not just the poor who were not included in the Cess List of 1693. Lurgan's two principal citizens were also missing viz. Arthur Brownlow, the landlord, and Joseph Wetherby, the rector. Each dwelt on a raised site just a few hundred yards away from the town. and from each other, the landlord in his castle. and the rector in Shankill glebe. This subtle distancing from tenants and flock by temporal and religious leaders in towns was a quite common strategy used to demonstrate independence and authority. A hint of authoritarian rivalry arising between the two men in Lurgan surfaces in the Shankill Parish Vestry records with the landlord, not the rector. being first always to sign the minutes of Vestry meetings. By the introduction of a son, and in the case of the rector, sons, on to the Vestry in the early 18th century period, both men confirmed the Vestry as the principal assembly of town leaders 2. Vestry membership undoubtedly confirmed or contributed to the status of those chosen to serve. in the eyes of their fellow townspeople.

What of the status or relative social position of the majority of Lurgan's population, i.e. those named on the Cess List of 1693 and of those who assessed them for Cess purposes, i.e. Vestry members. It is generally accepted that for all societies wealth enhances an individuals overall status in the community. and that relative poverty would limit his standing 3. Yet in a small town which was dividing along religious lines into a fragmented segment of a larger parish community, status, depending upon a certain number of people to bestow it, and being a matter of perception rather than of objective placement on a Cess List, may have been more of an unconfirmed idea or illusion. Lurgan had a sizeable Quaker population, an almost similar number of Presbyterians 4, a fringe Catholic population, and a large Church of Ireland representation. In such a multi-cultured mix, length of stay in the community, resolution in the pursuit of livelihood, and staunch adherence to a religious denomination 5, would perhaps have been more realistic contemporary yardsticks of 'status' than the net result of an objective placement in a purely economic stratification.

2.   William Brownlow, son of Arthur Brownlow, was present with his father at the Easter Vestry of 1709, the year prior to Arthur Brownlow's death. Joseph Wetherby, the rector, brought along two of his sons. Simon and Arthur, to the special Vestry Meeting of June, 1718. convened to lay plans for the erection of a new church in the town's 'Green'. Arthur Wetherby had been present at earlier Vestry meetings.

3.   Cook. E.M., The Fathers of the Towns : Leadership and Community Structure in Eighteenth-Century New England. London. (1976). p.63.

4.   Extracts from. An Outline History of the Congregation of First Presbyterian Church, Lurgan 1684-1966. Author unnamed. Printed by LM Press Ltd Lurgan (1966). 'Although Presbyterianism had reached Ulster early in the 17th century, it did not gain a toehold in Lurgan until 1684'. 'The year 1684 saw both the foundation of the congregation of First Lurgan and its initial welding together for public worship under one roof. 'The first minister of the congregation. The Reverend Hugh Kirkpatrick, a man of Scottish origin, was ordained in 1686'.

5.   In the first 200 years of Lurgan's history it is most difficult to accept that purely religious motives and inter-denominational marriages were the only factors involved in transference, temporary or permanent, by individuals from one religious denomination to another.

Such criteria rather than a raw judgement of an individual's occupation and wealth appear to have been the determinants used to select men for duty on the Shankill Parish Vestry. Lurgan Church of Ireland men in the highest economic category were not to be found serving in the Parish Vestry during this period; rather, the Vestry men who could be traced to Lurgan were in the lower middle, middle or higher middle categories 6. Vestry service undoubtedly bestowed status within that particular denomination and there were always proportionally more rural members than town representatives. Even a casual reading of Vestry records reveals a pre-occupation with at least one rural area, Kilmore, a huge townland of 1,500 acres in Shankill Parish but not in Brownlow's ownership since it lay just into County Down. Kilmore yielded £ -0-0 towards the Cess of 1693, a significant amount in the light of Lurgan's total of £2-7-8. With other townlands also holding substantial farms and prominent families, the parish's interests and honours may have lingered in rural areas while its duties appeared to focus on town.

In Lurgan, at the end of the 17th century, the turn-over in occupiers of some urban tenements continued 7. This pattern would inevitably had led to a reduction in the number of men in town with an image of proven character and 'back-ground'. It is probable that the traditional handing down of farms and rural businesses from father to son had established a greater permanence in rural families and rural life. a permanence not always associated with town businesses. With father-to-son continuity in office-holding an already recognised pattern in community life 8. it is not surprising

6.   Nos. 5, 11, 16, 26, 37, viz. John Porter (6d.). George Hoyle (8d), Henry Semple (4d.). John Hoyle (6d.). John Porter (6d.).

7.   This turn-over of population in town tenements can be illustrated from leases of the period by taking one section of the modern town (main Street) of Lurgan and detailing the names on the later - 17th century leases of the equivalent tenements. (This list was devised and compiled by Dr W H (Bill) Crawford when History Master in Lurgan College).

<<<<<<<<

Tenements
Tenements		Modern Equivilent Addresses
Original Lessee c. 1667	Next Lessee c. 1680-90
Shallcrosse	Titterington	51 High Street and the width of Malcolm Road
Hoope	Hoope	Nos. 45 - 51High Street
Barrow	Porter	41 - 43 High Street
Hartlow to Matthews to	Reed (tanners)	33 - 39 High Street
Sharp	Spence	25 - 31 High Street
Sharp	Stamper	17a - 23 High Street
Reilly (freehold)	Reilly (Miles, a distiller)	15 - 17 High Street
Watson	Barry	9 - 13 High Street
Kitchen	Donaldson	1 - 7 High Street

8.  Cook. EX. op.cit. p.98.

That rural members dominated the Vestry of this particular period. These observations combine to suggest that if status was linked to Church of Ireland membership through association with the landlord, rector and Vestry. Lurgan may have been a town where status had little tangible presence at the end of the 17th century.

A reconsideration of the Cess List of 1693 helps to identify the various groupings within the town's population assuming that these will more or less correspond with the various religious denominations represented, and assists in assigning an economic role to each grouping. The list and summary table to follow denote arbitrarily the numerical strength and relative economic standing of each denomination. The list can only be an arbitrary arrangement since the absence of related parish registers the placing of Catholics and Presbyterians in their respective groupings depends entirely upon the original significance of their names.

The Church of Ireland baptism register, for 1693, confirms the presence of a Catholic priest locally by referring to the probable rebaptism of a child, Francis Leigh, by the 'popish priest, Richard McGinn', two years after the original baptism. The Presbyterian grouping within - the Lurgan area had built a church by 1697, and Presbyterians were sufficiently strong in numbers locally to host the Synod of the Presbyterian Church on twenty-four occasions during the 18th century. The Quaker grouping can be drawn up more objectively since a complete list is available of the subscribers to the building fund of Lurgan Meeting House, 1696 9. Adding to the indefiniteness of the various lists is the toing-and-froing of some people or families between religious denominations for whatever reason' 10.

9. Chapman, G.R., 'Quaker Meeting Places in the Lurgan Area in the 17th Century', op.cit. The article contains a copy of a minute from Lurgan Men's Meeting relevant to the erection of a new Meeting House followed by a list of those who contributed to the building fund. Among 130 names of men, women and children who contributed, eight are from the Hoope family circle who contributed £55 out of the total £208 subscribed. It is quite significant that the landlord's name does not appear on the list of subscribers and indicates a degree of residual suspicion of the religious practice of Quakers.

10. In later times, the build-up of population in the narrow confines of Lurgan, particularly in the rows of poor housing, the subsequent social mix as social and economic structures changed, and variations in the numerical balance between religious denominations, account for various instances of individuals and groups changing their religious affiliations. The permanence of such changes is always difficult to establish although some permanent adherence to adopted religions over two generations is obvious in the modern town of Lurgan.

Composition of the Population of Lurgan Town, 1693, by Religious Denominations (based on the Church Cess Returns)

Table B

Presbyterian
2	Nath. McCormick	0 - 6
21	Widow Blackburne	0 - 4
22	William Wallace	0 - 4
33	Widow Hamilton	0 - 4
44	John Addyson	0 - 2
56	James Morton	0 - 6
61	Francis Wallace	0 - 2
63	John Lawtherdale	0 - 6
65	John Donaldson	0 - 6
91	Dorby Maglaughlan	0 - 2
99	Robert McCownan	0 - 2
89	William McMurray	0 - 6
91	Robert Richy	0 - 3
98	William McCiorr	0 - 2
Average assessment		0 - 4

Catholic
80	Shane O'Neill	0 - 3
85	William McMahon	0 - 4
Average assessment		0 - 3½

Quaker
4	William Bell	0 - 5
5	John Porter	0 - 6
12	Thomas Walker	0 - 10
14	Jo. and Thos. Turner	1 - 0
30	Ezokiall Bullock	0 - 6
48	Widow Hodgson	l - 0
49	Thomas Turner	1 - 0
57	Robert Hoop	1 - 0
58	William Porter	l - 0
67	William Loggan	0 - 6
72	Jacob Turner	0 - 8
74	John Hoop	0 - 10
75	Widow Matthews	0 - 3
76	Robert Robinson	0 - 8
99	Thomas Walker	0 - 4
Average assessment		0 - 8½

Church of Ireland - the remaining 68 people or families on the Cess List
Average assessment 0- 5½

Summary Table of Lurgan's Population in 1693

Table C - by Religious Denominations

Denomination	Number of families or individual householders	Avg. assessment per household
Quaker	15	8½d.
Church of Ireland	68	5½d.
Presbyterian	14	4 d.
Catholic	2	3½d.

The favourable economic position of Quaker families makes an immediate impact in both tables. This can be attributed to their involvement, not only with the embryonic linen trade, but also with other commercial ventures, tanning particularly. John Hoope's success has already been mentioned while for the Turners, Bradshaws and Bells the acquisition of surplus cash was at hand. Other less prominent Quaker families were also present and involved in the same industries but in a much smaller way. Quaker Minutes of 1698 detail the setting of a plot of ground to Ninian Simpson: the plot. situated between the graveyard (Quaker) and the river (Flush) contained a bleaching yard and a bucking shed, a building in which unbleached linens were treated.

Friends' Meeting House

In 1672. William Sowley was required, on an adjacent site, to 'keep half the mill-race bordering on the premises scoured'. In both instances, use was being made of the insignificant Flush river, adapted in such a way as to provide a 'high-level' stream to facilitate the bleaching of raw linen and the disposal of various waste liquids. It is no coincidence that the Friends' Meeting House and land were sited beside the adapted river and, from a different aspect, that the Meeting House and graveyard were positioned at the opposite end of the elongated town to where the Church of Ireland edifice and adjoining cemetery were. This is one of a few earlier and locally significant examples of uncontrived social zoning, often apparent in towns in later centuries. In this respect. the tendency of many Quakers, Presbyterians. Catholics and unnamed men to be dwelling in close proximity takes on a new significance, assuming that recorded position on the Cess List of 1693 bears some relationship to location within the town.

Following the Quakers in overall economic wellbeing came the Church of Ireland community, by far the largest grouping in the town and of the same denomination as the land-lord and rector. This population segment formed the commercial backbone of the town being, on the one hand, the suppliers of food through farming, marketing and general commerce, and on the other, those with the most resolution to remain, and those encharged with town organisation and the care of the poorest in society. The Church of Ireland community in Lurgan, in like manner to the urban Quakers, stood to benefit economically from the commercial needs and activities of their rural counterparts who comprised the numerical majority and held the best land on the townlands which mattered in the Brownlow Estate.

Whoever controlled the urban aspect of the tannery business, and it may have been reasonable to assume that Church people did, would have been very much to the forefront of economic affairs. Complications exist here as Quakers records mention as converts, Fox, Hodgson, Matthews and Robson, names associated with tanneries in the late l 7th and early 18th centuries' 11. Yet the tanning industry, centred on the hill-sites of the Brownlow Estate where the oaks grew and where the cattle were, could only have been Church of Ireland orientated when the substantial holdings of Church members are taken into account. This suggests that Church people in rural parts supplied the raw materials for tanning viz. hides and oak-bark, while the Quakers were prominent in tanning in the town or on its periphery.

11.  The following original leases indicate the presence of tanners in both Lurgan and the rural part of the Brownlow Estate. The leases are retained in the office of Mr J Neill, Lurgan.

Town leases: Arthur Brownlow to Thomas Matthews, tanner. 1670. Arthur Brownlow to Joseph Robson, tanner. 1701. William Brownlow to Alexander Matthews. tanner. 1715.

Rural leases: William Brownlow to William Allen, tanner, 1712. William Brownlow to Oliver Dowey, tanner. Tannaghmore South, 1718. William Brownlow to William Robson, tanner. Tannaghmore South. 1723.

Lease No 96, in Lurgan, refers to the presence of a tan-yard on property leased by Jacob Kirk. and originally leased by Robert Hodgson, deceased by 1693. and represented on the Cess List by No 48, Widow Hodgson.

In a detailed analysis of the English bark trade. Professor Clarkson has demonstrated the importance of bark peeling as a provider of on-site casual and skilled employment 12. Reasonably good wages were available and men, women and children in some instances worked in family groupings. The tanning industry also required adequate facilities as it was normally more economic to shift bark to the hides. On the Brownlow Estate the presence of cattle and oak trees generally coincided with available labour, but transport to towns. markets and ports, posed considerable problems not least being the need for a major development of new tracks, ramparts and roads. The tanning industry therefore may have had a greater influence on the development of the extensive road network on the Brownlow Estate than the linen trade which has been credited with this achievement.

The implication of an abundance of skilled and labouring work at the close of the 17th century suggests a constant interaction between various groupings, religious and economic. Such interaction is at the very foundation of community life. Through work provided by the weaving and tanning industries and also by the expanding agricultural system of the period. all sections of the community could establish a niche or role in local social and economic affairs which in later years. and perhaps centuries, would be regarded as their traditional place in society.

The relevant position of Catholics and Presbyterians is obscure. The Presbyterians were likely to have been weavers or tradesmen with the majority dwelling in or close by the town. The Catholics in many instances having been deprived of their rural leases as a result of substantial in-migration by English and Scots to the area from 1670 onwards, would have been the hewers of wood and diggers of turf, with plot farming and fishing the mainstay of their existence. The presence of two Catholic families in town seems surprising at first, but Brownlow was sufficiently sensitive and astute to realise the importance of having at least a few Irish families dwelling in Lurgan. It is likely that at the bottom end of the economic spectrum the unnamed broggor, butcher and mason were Irish and Catholic, and were unnamed on the list because of those very characteristics.

12.  Clarkson, L.A., 'The English Bark Trade, 1660-1830', in The Agricultural History Review, Vol 22, 1974, Part 11. pp. 136-52.

The popular image of the early migrants' foray into, and development of, North America, may be a valid parallel to Lurgan towards the end of the 17th century. Certainly, 18th century American towns were, on a time scale, roughly the equivalent of 17th century northern Irish Plantation settlements. Settlers came to the relatively undeveloped Lurgan area from England and Scotland, displaced the indigenous population and established themselves as the de facto developers. The migrants brought with them their distinctive languages, cultures, religious practices and skills, and, in spite of major difficulties and hardship, in time began processes of specialisation with various groupings concentrating on particular branches of agriculture, commerce and industry.

Cook states that little is known about the internal economic affairs of various urban settlements in the earliest years of their formation, but allows, for 18th century American towns at least, that urban areas differed widely in the degree to which property was concentrated in a few hands or in particular groupings13. The Lurgan experience indicates two in-migrant groupings dominating the economic scene, and it is likely that the leaders of each group, Arthur Brownlow of the Church sector, and Robert Hoope of the Quakers, accumulated much wealth, while their denominational brothers remained on a different economic plane.

Other interesting data exists which allows additional insight into the nature of society in Lurgan almost three hundred years ago. Some material yields sad and sometimes harrowing caveats of local life. The severe demographic crises which struck Lurgan town and the parishes of Shankill and Seagoe in 1708 and 1713, removed almost a fifth of local children in out-breaks of contagious diseases. In another sphere, a significantly reduced number of officially recorded marriages, 1693-1710, tends to suggest an onset of radicalism within the local community. All such lists are important. Without them, insights into early urban life would have a less secure foundation. Parish registers and denominational records store valuable and as yet untapped material of great historical potential and much integrity14. The pity is that the registers of two major denominations locally do not begin to contribute to the found of knowledge until c.1820.

13.  Cook, E.M., op.cit. p. 93.

14.  Burn, J.S., The History of Parish Registers in England. Second Edition, 1829. Republished Wakefield. 1976. pp. 23-4 quoting an Ecclesiastical Mandate of 1603: "in every parish church and chapel within this realm shall be provided one Parchment book at the charge of the parish, wherein shall be written the day and year of every christening, wedding, and burial which have been in that parish since the time that the law was first made in that behalf..."