Granny Speedy's Saintfield Family

Granny Speedy was born Agnes Yeates in 1883 in Saintfield. She was one of four children (all girls) of James Yeates (a tailor) and Mary Anne Stewart. James and Mary married in 1878. The sisters were Amey, Ethel and Mary Jane. All of the daughters married. In 1903 Mary Jane married a plasterer from Ballyknockan named James Grant whose father was a corn miller named Samuel Grant. She was presumably the mother of the Tom Grant who used to cycle to Newcastle to visit Aggie and her relatives! I suspect the other two moved away from Saintfield. Aggie married William Speedy in 1909.

By 1911 James was dead and Mary Anne was running the grocers shop in Saintfield on her own or possibly with Aggie’s help. The census shows Aggie and her first child Henry present plus a lodger named Thomas Matthews aged 21.

Saintfield Town - this photo was taken in 1910 and shows Main Street looking west from the square

There is a registration of death for a James Yeates aged 44 in Belfast in 1907 which may be Aggie’s father.

James was one of four children of William (1807-1891) and Eliza (1809-1891) Yeates of Auley near Saintfield. They were farmers. Eliza’s surname is unknown. James had a brother and two sisters. Susanna and Anne married and moved away. Thomas married Mary and farmed in Auley. Neither of the brothers had male children. I have found an interesting record on the CofLDS database showing a christening at Inch in April 1806 of a William Yeates whose parents were John Yeates and Sarah Hamilton. The year of birth is slightly out but interesting nonetheless.



Other people of this surname recorded in the 1911 census were:

1) John Yeates (28) and his wife Essie Shaw (24) in Lisdoonan. They married in 1908. John was a labourer. From his marriage record we know that his father (also John) was one too. Probably a cousin of James.

2) William Yeates (farmer, 56) and his wife Mary (50) in Lisdoonan. They are shown as married for 16 years. They had one child who died young.

3) James Yeates (farmer, 74) and his sister Margaret Yeates (70, spinster) in Auley. Probably cousins of James’ father William.

4) Robert Yeates (farmer, 55) and his sister Martha Yeates (53) at Tullyveery, Killyleagh. Both single.

Another view of Saintfield circa 1960

Other facts concerning the Yeates family of Saintfield


5) There is a will recorded for a John Yeatts of Carryduff in 1758.

6) There is a will recorded for a John Yeates of Oughley in 1772.

7) There is a will recorded for a Laurence Yeates of Saintfield in 1772.

8)  There is a will recorded for a Robert Yeates of Carryduff in 1813.

9) There was a marriage in 1852 of a William Yeates of Lisdoonan (whose father was also Wm Yeates) aged 30 to a Margaret Macoubrey from Dungannon who was 25 and whose father was a James Macoubrey (weaver).

10) There was another Lidoonan marriage in 1893 of a William Yeates (whose father was also Wm Yeates) to a May McKey whose father was Hugh McKey (farmer). Witnesses at this wedding were Samuel and Jane McKee. It is likely that these are the William and Mary at (2) above and that the William and Margaret who married in 1852 are his parents.

11) A Hugh McKey Yeates was born in Belfast in 1892 to a Henry Yeates (tailor) and Mary Jane McKey. Almost certainly an offshoot of the Lisdoonan family.

Back garden at Slievenamaddy Ave

12) There is a document at PRONI showing a James Yeates of Oughley as a freeholder in 1783.

13)  There is a record of an admininstration bond (will) in the name of a Robert Yeates of Carryduffin (Carryduff?) 1785.

14) There is a record of an admininstration bond (will) in the name of a James Yeates of Saintfield in 1817.

15) There is a freehold registered in 1821 for a James Yeates of Oughley valued at forty shillings with the land owner named as Rainey Maxwell Esq and the named lives as James, Margaret and Robert Yeates. The James and Margaret mentioned at (3) above as present in Auley in 1911 cant be the two lives named in this lease so it takes us back to the previous generation.

16) The Tithe Applotment Books held at PRONI record James Yeates Jnr, Widow Yeates and William Yeates in Oughley in 1834.

17) There is a will recorded for a Robert Yeates farmer of Tullyveery, Killyleagh in 1844. He could be the third of the names recorded in the 1821 freehold and an ancestor of the Robert & Martha at (4) above.

Saintfield 1964 - the man isn't a relative as far as I know!

18) The Griffiths Valuation of the 1860s shows:

James Yeates Lisdoonan
Thomas Yeates Lisdoonan
William Yeates Lisdoonan
Robert Yeates Leggygowan
James Yeates Auley
Margaret Yeates Auley
William Yeates Auley

19) Co Down land deeds of 1876 record a James Yeates Snr owning 11 acres in Oughley, Saintfield, James Jnr owning 32 acres at the same address and Thomas owning 24 acres also in Oughley.

20) There is a will for a Thomas Yeates recorded in Co Down in 1897. This may have been Aggie’s father’s uncle.

21) James & Thomas Yeates , Saintfield farmers in Oughley/Augley are listed in the Belfast & Ulster Directory in 1901 & 1910. The James in question is likely to be the 74 year old mentioned at (3) above rather than Aggie’s father.



In doing this research I discovered some fascinating information about Saintfield's history including a significant battle during the uprising by United Irishmen in the eighteenth century.  That's for the next blog!