This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: ScottRCAnderson Surnames: Cranston, Cromwell Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.cranston/373/mb.ashx Message Board Post: William Cranston (b. ? 1647) had settled in Muntober, Parish of Kildress, Co. Tyrone, by 1664. He may have come to Ireland from Scotland or possibly England, or he may be a descendant of the Co. Fermanagh Cranstons who were part of the original plantation of northern Ireland around 1619. He is described as "Colonus" in his son John's biographical information at Trinity College Dublin, which seems to be Latin for "Colonist"or "Settler", suggesting that he was a recent arrival to Muntober (though it could simply mean "Farmer"). In the fifteen years from 1641, Ireland was in turmoil due to the Irish rebellion concurrent with the English Civil War, until Oliver Cromwell suppressed the rebels. A large number of lands were forfeited, often given to Cromwell's soldiers. This timing raises the question of whether William Cranston could have been one of those soldiers. But evidence suggests otherwise: 1) Published lists of these soldiers do not show a William Cranston; 2) William Cranston's son John became an archdeacon in the Church of Ireland, suggesting alignment of the family with the Stuart King Charles I rather than with Cromwell and the Puritans; 3) Muntober was deeded to the Church of Ireland during the original plantation and when deeded away may more likely have gone to an Anglican; 4) And, I recently discovered, Muntober was not one of the forfeited townlands, as can be seen in the Down Survey of Ireland, which was used to catalog the lands to be forfeited and is now online: http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/down-survey-maps.php#bm=Dungannon&c=Tyrone&indexOfObjectValue=-1&indexOfObjectValueSubstring=-1&p=Lisan Derriloran and Kildresse This map, which has northeast upward, shows that from Kildress, only the townlands of Drumshanbo, Magheraglass, Strews, and what appears to be Kildress Lower were forfeited. These are in the northeastern part of Kildress, just southwest of the parishes of Derryloran and Lissan, which also appear on the map. http://applications.proni.gov.uk/geogindx/tyro.htm Townlands in the unforfeited areas aren't delineated, but comparing with Google maps we can find the approximate location of Muntober, not directly but presumably in the vicinity of Muntober Road, about five miles west of Cookstown, and just below (southwest) of Feegarran and Creevagh. So it can't be confused with any of the forfeited lands. Scott (probably 8th great grandson of William Cranston) Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board. <br>