Oakman ^of Ireland

About 4 or 5 miles to the south of Glenavy village, in Templecormac Townland (Parish of Ballinderry), a property named Ashvale (also known as Ashville) was the home of an Oakman family from 1833 (and possibly earlier) until the early 1900s.

Townland Valuation Records 1828-1840 (PRONI VAL/1B/167) show Ashvale consisted of a house, stable, 2 byres (an outlying farm building used for storing grain, animal feed and/or housing farm animals etc) and a barn. In 1833, John Oakman and his wife Elizabeth (aka Eliza Ann) Johnston were living at Ashvale.

John Oakman was born about 1791. He was the son of unknown Oakman and Susan unknown. He married Eliza Ann Johnston on 17 October 1820 at Ballinderry Parish Church. Their son, William John Oakman, was born circa 1824. It is not yet known whether John and Eliza had any other children.

The remnants of the 1851 Census tell us John's mother, Susan, died in the Spring of 1849 at the age of 85. It would be good to learn the name of John's father, and the names of Elizabeth's parents.

These same census records - taken on 17 April 1851 - tell us John was still living and farming Ashvale. He was 52 years old and had only recently lost his wife - Eliza having died "from fever" in the Spring of 1850.

Living with John in 1851 were his son William John Oakman, William's wife Ruth, and a servant (ploughman) John Hattin.

John died at Ashvale in 1866. He was 75 years of age. It is not yet known where John and his wife were buried.

William John Oakman took over the farm after his father's death. His wife was Ruth Higginson, daugher of Edward Higginson and Maria. They had married on 6 May 1850 at Ballinderry Church of Ireland. Ruth died on 13 May 1896. The following death notice was published in the Belfast Newsletter on 14 May 1896 and is reproduced here with permission of the Belfast Newsletter.

OAKMAN – May 13, at her residence, Ashvale, Ballinderry, Ruth, the dearly-beloved wife of W.J. Oakman. Interment in the family burying-ground, Templepatrick, tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, at two o’clock. Friends will please accept this intimation. No flowers.
W.J. Oakman

William died 15 May 1906. Ruth and William are buried together in the Templecormac Graveyard in Ballinderry Parish.

Some of William's children appear to have continued living at the property until the early 1900s. The following details have been found about William and Ruth's children:

1. Eliza Anne Oakman - born 1851 and baptised on 15 June 1851, Eliza Anne married Arthur Peel, Farmer of Legatirriff, Glenavy Parish on 5 Feb 1873. The following notice was published in the Belfast Newsletter on 6 Feb 1873 and is reproduced here with permission of the Belfast Newsletter.

   
   PEEL - OAKMAN - Feb 5, at Ballinderry Church, by the
   Rev. Edward Maguire, Rector, Mr. Arthur Peel, of
   Aghadalgon House, Glenavy, to Lizzie, eldest daughter
   of Wm. J. Oakman, Esq., of Ashvale, Ballinderry.
   
   

   They had one child - Albert Arthur Oakman Peel - born 26 Feb 1876 and died Dec 1962 in Aghadalgon, Glenavy Parish. He is buried in Glenavy Parish Church graveyard. Eliza died sometime between 1876-1882. Arthur remarried in 1883 and had two daughters by that marriage - Amy Susannah Elizabeth Peel and Rebecca Jane Evangeline Peel.
2. Edward Higginson Oakman - born abt Feb 1853 and baptised on 3 April 1853. Edward married Eliza Jane Kenmuir on 1 Dec 1909 at Dunmurry Presbyterian Church. It is not known whether Edward and Eliza had any children. There were none listed in the 1911 Census of Ireland when they were living in Cardigan Drive, Belfast.
3. Mary Oakman - born 1855 and baptised on 25 Feb 1855. Mary was still single living with her siblings, Thomas and Henrietta, at the time of the 1911 Census of Ireland. She died 4 July 1935 and is buried in the family grave at Templecormack Burial Ground.
4. Henrietta Oakman - born 1862 and baptised on 31 August 1862. Henrietta never married and was living with her siblings, Thomas and Mary, at the time of the 1911 Census. She died in 1916.
5. Thomas Francis Higginson Oakman - born abt 1871, Thomas does not appear to have married. He died in the family home Ashvale on 14 Jun 1911.
6. Ruth Oakman - born abt 1871, Ruth married George Grant in 1913. They appear to have remained at Ashvale. Ruth died in 1937 and is buried in the family grave at Templecormack Burial Ground.

Thomas became an Estate Agent while Edward became a builder (1902 Belfast and Ulster Street Directory). Edward also went into the realestate business - the 1907 Belfast Street Directory lists him as an Auctioneer, Surveyor and Insurance Agent with premises at 5 Garfield St, Belfast and the 1913 Belfast and Ulster Street Directory list him as a house and land agent at Stravondale, Cardigan Drive, Belfast as well as a rent agent at 393 Lisburn Road, Belfast. Their sisters, Mary and Henrietta, don't appear to have married - both women signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912.

The headstone on the Oakman family grave at Templecormack reads:

Erected by
William John Oakman
in loving memory of
his wife RUTH
who departed this life
May 13th 1896, aged 73 years
Also the above
WILLIAM JOHN OAKMAN
died 15th May 1906
aged 84 years
THOMAS FRANCIS OAKMAN
son of the above
died 15th June 1911
HENRIETTA OAKMAN
died 4th December 1916
EDWARD H OAKMAN
died 1st March 1924
MARY OAKMAN
died 4th July 1935
RUTH GRANT
died 24th January 1937