HILL FAMILY HISTORY




Samuel HILL, son of William HILL and Sarah Jane CLARKE was born in Drumaquill, 
County Londonderry, Ireland around 1843.

As per the Griffiths valuation in 1864 William HILL leased a 63 acre farm in Drumaquill 
from John ALEXANDER.  The property included Houses, Offices & Land of a total 
value of £52.

Drumaquill is a small townland in the parish of Killowen, which falls under the Barony
of Coleraine.

In 1835 there were 24 houses in Drumaquill, containing some 143 people.

Out of these 98 were Presbytarian, whilst the remainder were Roman Catholic.

Even though there were a high number of presbytarians in Drumaquill there was 
no Presbytarian meeting house in the parish.  Instead they went to Coleraine, 
Dunboe or Macosquin.

At the age of 20 Samuel emigrated to New Zealand, arriving around 1863.

Eleven years later Samuel HILL married Sarah STRONG on the 27th of January 1874, 
in Gilmers Hotel, Greymouth, New Zealand.  Sarah was also from Ireland, 
being from County Monaghan.

Children of Samuel HILL and Sarah STRONG (1st Marriage)

1 William HILL

2 Letitia HILL 	b 24 Aug 1877 Greymouth NZ, m 6 Mar 1900 Greymouth NZ to Thomas BRAGGE, 
		d 3 Jan 1928 Picton NZ

3 Anne HILL	m WATSON

4 Margaret HILL	m GUNN

5 May HILL	m Neil McARA





Killowen notes:

According to "County Londonderry Sources for Family History" by Brian Mitchell
(1992) there was no Presbyterian congregation in Killowen with pre-Civil
Registration records. Looking at the map of Presbyterian places of worship, the
closest to Killowen were the three in Coleraine. Starting dates of records were:

Coleraine 1st: Baptisms and Marriages 1845
Coleraine 2nd or New Row: Baptisms 1842, Marriages 1809
Coleraine 3rd  or Terrace Row: Baptisms 1862, Marriages 1845

Killowen had no Presbyterian graveyard in the mid 1800s, and nor did Coleraine
so you would need to look at the Public and Church of Ireland graveyards

Re: History books on Killowen, 
those written specifically about Killowen are thin on the ground. 
The places I look for these
normally include the Linenhall Library catalogue www.linenhall.com   , the LDS
Family History Library catalogue www.familysearch.org and the catalogues of the
British Library and the Library of Congress.

The Linenhall Library appears to have no local histories of Killowen, but the
LDS have

"A short sketch of the history of the parish church of St. John the Evangelist,
Killowen, Coleraine" by  D. MacLaughlin, published 1900. This is 19 pages long
and
available on microfiche #6026128 .

The other book that will have some historical background on Killowen is
"Derry Clergy and Parishes" by James B. Leslie. Unlike the first book, I have
personally viewed this, and got worthwhile information on some other parishes
from it.





Don't know if this is related but;

"Lyell - the golden past" by Margaret C Brown page 84
There was an Alexander HILL who married an Emily MAIRS in 1905

"The West Coast Gold Rushes" by Philip Ross May page 171
Hokitika 1865 - "In the first week of November a prospectors claim was granted to BRIGHAM, WILLSTEAD, HILL and FLEMING on the beach immediately south of Waimea creek."