DAVID McLERYE & MARGARET COWNE

MARRIAGE CONTRACT - 1680 (Braddan)

April 7th ..

Articles of Marriage condisioned, [concluded and agreed?] upon betwixt David Mclerye of the parish of KK ..... with the consent of his mother Christian Cowne on the one part and Margaret Cowne of the foresaid parish with the consent of her brother Philip Cowne on the other part as followeth:

First it is agreed upon between the foresaid parties that the said David & Margaret are to meet at the parish church of KK Braddan to be joined together in holy matrimony before the 15th of May next after the date hereof according to the law of God and the church.

Secondly the said Christian Cowne mother of the said David doth promise to give unto the young couple such necessaries as she hath of her own to [pleasure?] them and for the aforesaid conditionally that they maintain her now in her old age during her life.

These parties have bound themselves to perform this bargain in every particular in the penalty of 5 ..... one half to the honourable Lord of this Isle and the other to the party grieved the day and year abovewritten. David Mclerye his mark X, Margaret Cowne her mark X, Christian Cowne her mark X

Witnesses William Killip X, ....... Cowne X, John Fletcher X, John Crayne

[Ref: ...............]

NOTES

  1. This contract and subsequent marriage took place in Braddan, although David and his descendants later lived in Maughold and then Lonan
  2. David was probably born 1650-1660
  3. A Henry Mallereay died in 1675 naming sons David and John, and the name David being so rare in the Mylrea families could be a strong hint that this was David's father. The fact that his mother was the negotiator in David's Marriage Contract bespeaks an absent father at least
  4. Possible Braddan baptisms for the children of David & Margaret: Hen (MOLLEREIGH) 1685, Jo (MALLEREIGH) 1686, Richard (MALAREIGH) 1690. There is also a record of a burial in 1684 for "a child of David's". Margaret's will (1723) also mentions a daughter named Margaret and indeed, Margaret the daughter had a Marriage Contract in 1709 to which her parents David and Margaret were parties
  5. A Christian Mallarye als Cowne was buried in Braddan 20th February 1680/1
  6. Daughter Margaret married Daniel Cowne in 1709 and in the Marriage Contract, her parents kept open the possibility of moving in with Daniel & Margaret if the said David McYlroy and his wife shall think fit at any years end to remove to and dwell with their within mentioned son and daughter the said Daniel and Margaret, that then they are to have half the said tenement with half the crop of corn and hay (which they did)
  7. Margaret McYlroy died 1723 in Lonan and David died 1733 (the burial records the location as Blondall which is a variation of the land where both daughter Margaret and son Richard resided)
  8. Son Richard married three times: Isabell Moore 1714, Ellinor Ffargher 1732, Mary Quark 1740. He died 1749 leaving nine children
  9. There was no connection between David and the Mylrea families in Braddan in the 1600s - 3 Nov 1685 MALLEREIGH Margt (d/o John) married JOYNER Robt & 22 Jul 1689 MALLEROY Jane (d/o John) married KELLEY Richd. These two women were the daughters of Catharine McYlroy als Moore; 13th October 1703, Jane Mc YLROY (d/o Hen Mcylrea & Amy Joyner als Watson)
  10. Recent DNA studies show that this family have Viking heritage, as opposed to the Mylreas who are Celtic - David was not a Mylrea after all, despite the similarity in surname
  11. Lonan parish registers from the early 1700s have not survived in their entirety so extreme caution must be exercised when attempting to draw conclusions about these families and their relationships

Associated Documents

Last updated: Aug 2020