Francis Hutcheson’s birthplace

Now that Francis Hutcheson’s place of burial has been identified and marked with a plaque, the search for his place of birth is more important than ever.

There is a copy of an indenture in the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), dated 25 May 1671, that records the sale of “the Town and Land of Drumaligg” from Henry, Earl of Clanbrassil to Alexander Hutcheson, Francis’ grandfather.  But there is no map to show where Alexander’s house was.  There is a handwritten note on the bottom of the indenture, dated 17 June 1819, which refers to a Deed of Covenant, also dated 17 June 1819 between George Leslie, Rev. John Cleland and David Gordon Esq.  The note also states that the original 1671 indenture was then in the possession of George Leslie.

There is another indenture in PRONI, dated 4 October 1693, between John Hutcheson of Downpatrick (Alexander’s son and Francis’ Father) and two men “of Drumalig”, John Gibson and John Pyrie (sic), which records the sale of “that Quarterland of Drumalig” that Gibson and Pyrie were renting from John Hutcheson.  Interestingly, one of the witness signature to this indenture is Alexander Hutcheson, probably John’s brother.  Again there is no map to identify which parcel of land the indenture refers to.

In the Belfast Monthly Magazine of August 1813 (Volume 11), there is a biographical sketch of Francis Hutcheson in which it states that the land in Drumalig was then still in the hands of the Hutcheson family, though it does not say whether the land had passed down through a daughter and so would have been held in a different name.

In the 1803 Agricultural Census of Saintfield Parish there are two pages of names under the townland of Drumalig.  These names include five Gibsons and one Perry, but no Hutchesons.

In the 1863 Griffiths valuations for Drumalig the townland seems to be more or less divided between two main landlords, Edward Leslie and Rev. James Gordon.

From the above it seems likely that Hutcheson land, with or without Alexander’s house, passed into the Leslie family and was still in the family in 1863.  Can anyone identify where the Leslie house was and whether it is the site of Alexander Hutcheson’s original house, the house where Francis was born?