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David Steers

A blog by the minister of the First Presbyterian (Non-Subscribing) Church, Dunmurry and the editor of Faith and Freedom and the Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society.

You can find out more about Faith and Freedom here:

http://www.faithandfreedom.org.uk/

and subscribe via Paypal here:

http://www.faithandfreedom.org.uk/subs.htm

You can read about the Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society here:

http://www.unitarianhistory.org.uk/

The website of the First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Dunmurry is here: https://firstchurchdunmurry.com/

I also maintain a blog about the History of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland which can be accessed here: https://nonsubscribingpresbyterian.wordpress.com/

Anyone wishing to copy or reproduce any item on this blog should secure the permission of the author first and will be required to state this blog as the source. All material on this blog is the copyright of David Steers.

21 thoughts on “About”

  2. Hello David, I write a local history blog about Toxteth Park in Liverpool (written under the name Glen Huntley) and I am currently writing a post on James Martineau and his home Park Nook. This brought me to your great site. I would like to use some content from your site if that is possible and I will of course credit you and provide links to your site.
    Here are some posts from my blog so you can see the context it would be included in:

    The Priory: If you go down to the woods today…

    Robert Griffiths’ Toxteth Park: Glen Huntly, Glen Toxteth and Dempsey’s Hollow

    kind regards
    Jim

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    1. Thanks Jim. You have an excellent blog and I look forward to reading your post on James Martineau’s house. That itself is a fascinating story. Certainly you can use some content from here with a credit and a link, that would be great.
      All the best
      David

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  3. Dear David, in your article about Willaston School you mention my Grandfather, William MELLOR, being the son of the Rev Stanley MELLOR. In fact William and Stanley were the sons of Rev William MELLOR (also a Unitarian) and were brothers. Kind regards, Andrew MELLOR.

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  4. I was touched by a reference to finding the gravestone of Mary Ann Mc Nea (1820-1884), faithful servant of the Nelson family. I have been researching my great grandfather James McNea, Architect of Belfast (born about 1824) and found several McNeas in the Downpatrick area. I had found a reference to Mary Ann’s will and that Rev Samuel Nelson was an executor. Cannot find that she is linked to me, but I thought it was such a lovely write up on her I had to write and thank you anyway. Kind regards, Sue Reehal (nee McNea)

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  5. I have been researching my family history. My great grandfather was Walter Planck. He was an architect specialising in church design. I discovered that he won a competition to design All Souls Church Belfast. Sadly many of the churches he was involved with in England are no longer in existence or have been repurposed due to dwindling congregations. I was pleased to see that All Souls seems to be thriving and I hope come to Belfast from my home in Glasgow sometime this year.

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      1. Gosh that was quick.
        My son and his wife and I were hoping to arrange to pay a visit to Belfast. I await to hear dates that will suit them but will definitely let you know when plans are finalised.
        Stephanie

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Hi, this is a message for Glen Huntly
    I’m trying to find a way of contacting you about my fifth great grandfather , Gomer Williams. I have some information for you that you might wanna add to his biography that you wrote.

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  7. Hello David,

    My name is Jeffrey Clark and I am doing some genealogy of my paternal family. My oldest recorded relative is William Clark, born 1787 in Lecale, County Down and I am sure he was a Protestant believer. Would you be able to please direct me to anyone in the area that might be able to help me further search my ancestry? Thank you so much for your time. Cheers, Jeffrey

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    1. Hi Jeffrey, I don’t know anyone who undertakes this kind of research on behalf of people. Do you have any idea which congregation your ancestor might be connected with? That would be the best starting point.

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      1. Thank you for writing back. My ancestors, for the most part, followed the Methodist church so I’m not sure what church William Clark’s family would have attended, him being born in 1787 in the LeCale area. Do you know of any Protestant churches in the area that go back to those times? Also, is there a Historical Association in the area?

        Sincerely,

        Jeff

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      2. There are quite a number of churches in Lecale that date before 1787 – Church of Ireland, Non-Subscribing Presbyterian and others. The Methodist Church in Downpatrick may well date from then, I don’t know. You could try and contact the Heritage Gallery at Downpatrick Library on Market Street. They night give you some pointers. Kind regards, David

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  8. Hello,

    I’m wondering if David Steers has an email address that I could write to him privately? Or perhaps he could email me?

    I’ve found a number of “mentions” regarding my 3x great-grandfather within this site and would like to find out if copies could be sent to me.

    I’m also interested in citing these “mentions” as part of my family tree… so I would like to get permission from Mr. Steers to use them.

    Sincerely,

    Montgomery.

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