Surgeoners of Glasgow and Ballyclare

My Surgeoner family were from Ballyclare, County Antrim. I mention Scotland as they flitted back and forth between Ballyclare and various locations in Scotland. These include New Monkland, Airdrie, Lanark, Gairbraid Street and Oran Street in Maryhill, Lanark, Scotland. Certainly the links with Maryhill are numerous over the years although I am not sure if they have been brought about simply by work needs or old family links.

My oldest ancestors here on the Surgeoner side are that of William Surgeoner and Sophia Wilson. Unfortunately they had both passed away before any census information might have been captured and I have not to date found the death of Sophia.

Sophia must have been a significant woman in the family as her name was carried on to various children and grandchildren. This was almost to the point that if I found the birth of a Sophia Surgeoner I could almost guarantee a connection to this family.

Another significant forename running through the family is that of my own, Jackson. William and Sophia had a son called Jackson and I am aware of the forename being used six times with male Surgeoners and once with a female.

My great grand uncle, Jackson Surgeoner, died in France during the first world war and is buried in West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. In the early 1900's two Jackson Baird Surgeoners were christened only years apart in Ballyclare. The family also had a Margaret Jackson Surgeoner who I believe married a man called David James Gracey, a name which coincidentally appears in my wife's ancestry.

A few generations of men called Jackson Baird existed in and around Donegore although I don't know why the name might have been carried into my family. I have not found any direct family links between the two families but it may just be that he helped the family in some way through the Church.

My late father, Jackson, attended any Surgeoner funerals he became aware of in Ballyclare right up to his own death in 1996. He did admit to me though that there were very few left who knew who he was in the family.

My father also placed great emphasise on the spelling of the name often exclaiming "they are nothing to do with our family" simply based on how the name was spelt. Although I place little emphasis on spelling during my research there is some truth in his beliefs especially back in the early 20th century. The spelling SURGEONER will be mostly found in Ballyclare, SURGENOR in Ballymena and SURGINOR in Belfast and Antrim.