Hello.
I am looking for anyone who knew my family from way back when.

Charlotte mccutcheon was my gran, hugh mccutcheon was my grandad and their children were Leo, Elias, Francis, Marie, Bernard, Carol, Tommy, Bernadette, Patricia, and Joseph Mccutcheon.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who knew any of the people I have mentioned because I did not really have a chance to get to know this side of my family so it would be great to hear from anyone that did.

there was also a cecil married to one of the bells from antrim street,Aubrey and derek were brothers of hers im sure

Hi Wayne,

I worked with both Leo and Elias in the Island Mill for a couple of years,Marie also worked there. Leo was quite a good boxer as an amateur, he also had a few fights as a Pro. Both of the boys followed the Charles Atlas body building course while working at the mill and wanted me to try, I wasn't really the type to have muscles....I could run fairly fast though. Elias was also a close friend of mine up to when I got married and moved out of Lisburn. Other friends of ours were Raymond McKee,Billy Vogan and Davy Bell. Having to bring up a big family wasn't easy,but your Grandparents managed with a lot of hard work. I can honestly say your Gran and Grandad were a quiet couple and brought up a great family. Also, I never saw your Gran without a smile on her face.

Beano

Hi Wayne,

My brother, Denis Reid, is married to Elias McCutcheons daughter Rosemary. Many of the family members still live in the Lisburn area, others, including Elias have passed away. I will inform Rosemary that you were making enquiries and hopefully she will be able to make contact and provide fuller information.

Regards,

Maurice Reid

Thank you for the replies, I didnt expect anyone to get back to me so quickly!

I know from my ma that Elias had passed away, and also my gran passed away recently in woodgrove care home, she reached 100 years old, but I hadnt seen her since I was a child, Im now 33, and the older I am getting the more curious I am about the family I dont know.

Other than that she couldnt really give me much more information at all so I started searching the internet, the only things that came up in a search was my grans obituary and this forum mentioning Elias and Leo.

I appreciate the information so far. Thanks very much.

Hi Billy (Beano)

I was just thinking you should start writing your memories down in a book . Along with Dabbler , and Donald and all others on the forum . It would be fantastic . Regarding Wayne finding out about his relatives , i think , the forum under Jim's supervision , is brillient to help people like Wayne who are going back in time .It is a very popular thing to do these days .
Question ? Does anyone know of a gentleman named Williamson , who lived , or lives in the low road .he has been takiing photographs around lisburn over the years .
Regards to all .
Tommy

Wayne, I attended primary school with your aunt Marie. I haven't seen her since then. I do remember your recently deceased grandmother and was amazed when I learnt that she had been alive all these years. My own mother died at aged 79. I remember your grandmother as a smallish, pleasant-looking woman with chestnut coloured hair. There was a big family. My husband attended school with Leo and Elias. My daughter is friendly with one of the granddaughters but which one I don't know off-hand.

Hope this helps a bit.

Tom,

I knew a Matt Williamson who lived in Hilden Crescent & worked in the Office in Hilden Mill. He is long deceased, but it might be a
relation of his that you enquire about.

Then there was a Billy Williamson, who was a bus driver or conducter in the old days. He lived just below Leamington & was married to Isa Leathem, an aunt of George Leathem.

The Low Road has changed so much in the intervening years & more new houses built in the fields there, that perhaps it is a new Low Roader you mention.

Hope you are lucky in your enquiry. If anyone knows it is Brendan Matier. Brendan is one of the old stock that never left the home place.

Pat

Pat

Hi again Wayne,

I have a couple of photos somewhere in the house of Elias,Davy Bell and Myself. I will look them out and ask Jim to post them on the "Old Photographs". You say you are thirty three, that makes me feel old. I left Lisburn in 1961 and moved to Carrickfergus then emigrated to Canada, we have been here now for 40 yrs., the McCutcheon's of Canal St. are still fresh in my memory.

Beano

Hi Tommy,

My memory is still very good,but most of my postings are prompted by the other Forum contributors. Dabbler, Ann,Pat,Mauri and Donald, all of them can write much better than I can. I love all their reminisces along with Frank,Brendan Matier, Barneykx,MaggieD, Sallyann,Lord Downshire,Co.downer,and yourself of course.I can't forget the wee dancer from the Well Lane, Liz,now a preacher's wife. All these people have made for me anyway, proud to be part of Lisburn Exiles,and thanks to Jim for making it all happen.
Sorry for being a bit slobbery, however that's the kind of mood I am in.
Beano

Hi Pat,

Dan McWilliams is the name you are searching for, I think he may have been a solicitor at one time, he also had a brother called Ernie.

Dan used to travel around Lisburn, camera in hand, taking photographs, particularly of streets and builings in Lisburn. I recall as a child watching him take photographs of the last homes in Bullicks Court, we were the final family to move away, couldn't understand why he was interested in taking photos of derelict buildings. Of course Dan was ahead of his time ensuring the history of those long gone communities was captured for future generations. Many of the photographs of old Lisburn which appear in various outlets were taken by him. Not sure what happened to his collection but it would be well worth a review if it came to light.

Like, Beano, I knew Marie and Leo at the Island Mill. Is Marie still alive? At work,I think she was friends with Rita Kerr, who may have been a few years older.
Leo, I recall, was indeed a useful fighter.
It shows how long I have been away - I had no idea my brother was/is married to one of the family. Hello, Rosemary.

Hi Pat ;Maurice , and all many thanks for your info on Mr Mc Williams . It would be great to see all of his photos of the past in Lisburn . i had been told about him when i worked in the transport workshops in the Fire authority in liburn , and i was always curious to find out who he was . Fingers crossed that his photos appear , and are not lost .
Regards!
Tommy .

Hello again, once again thank you all for the information, this is probably a long shot but would anyone know anything about my grandad Hugh? As in when he died?

As far as I know Bernadette, Patricia, Joseph and Elias have all passed away, as well as my gran and grandad, everyone else is still alive, and Bernard would be my da.

Must say this forum is great!

Dabbler,

Prompted again, when you mentioned Rita Kerr, more memories came flooding back. Rita worked in the Winding room for Eddie McDowell along side Winnie Potts, a young Marie McCutcheon was their "Gopher",the boys used to give her a hard time when she brought the dockets down to the Bundling room. Now, even though I was relatively immature back then, I will always remember Rita Kerr's complexion it was always so clear,beautiful in fact. Another thing about Rita,she set me up on a date with a girl from the Longstone called Orr who worked in the Hackling Shop. When Eddie McDowell heard that, he said "Geez Billy" you better watch out for her brothers, they are all hard men. Needless to say I reneged on the date and Rita never spoke to me for weeks after that.
By the way the age difference between Rita and Marie was about nine years.

Question: Was Rita Kerr related to Rocky Bell????. I get a feeling that Rita was Mrs.Bell's younger sister !!!!!!

Beano

Beano
That is better to me than Hello Magazine (though I have a copy with the son of an old friend's marriage in there).
I remember Rita very well, and can recall conversations with her - naughty girl.
I have fond memories of all those people. Was Winnie Potts a tall slim lady, about the same age, or dare I say older than Rita?

Beano
"Gopher" ! that´s a new one for me, "Doffer", "Handel houler", "Cage boy", Bobbin boy" are all familiar expressions, but not "Gopher"
donald

I think Winifred was a blonde lady, pleasant and kind to a young lad like myself, but not 'naughty' like many of the mill girls.

Beano
Rita, though quite small and slim,managed, for me, to look like Jane Russell.

Hi Donald,

Gopher is the term used over here for a young person in the work place.....who is asked to "GO FOR THIS" and "GO FOR THAT"......as simple as that.

Beano

Dabbler,

You are right on all counts about Winnie Potts, quiet, but not shy, slim, blonde and about two years older than your Jane Russell......both girls were fabulous.

Beano

Beano
I completely agree about the girls.

I remember Rita Kerr in the Wee Hall she was a great ballroom dancer she went about with Jean Bell who I think married Mickey Rooney,Mickey may not been have his christian name but he always got Mickey anyway Charlie Webb Jimmy Kernahan were also regulars there

Barney
Somehow I knew that Rita was a good dancer. Thanks for popping in with comments about these people (including Derek Bell) and places that still grab my attention.

Wayne
The McCutcheons, along with all those poor families mentioned on this forum, helped to make Lisburn a great town too grow up in. They were the soul of the community, every bit as important as the famous politicians, and infamous fighters for and against a united Ireland.

Hi Dabbler,

Here here to that.....I wish I had been the one to say it.

Beano

Rita Kerr... a blast from the past.

Rita went to the Convent School too & for a while lived in Lawnmount Crescent before moving to Belfast. Many a conversation I had with her then. I think she married a Belfast man, they had no family.

Rita was a nice girl always pleasant, always well dressed & perfectly made up. As someone said a perfect complexion.

Thanks for the memory, wonder where she is now.?

Pat

Barney,

I remember when Jean Bell married Gordon(Mickey)Rooney, Rita Kerr was a bridesmaid. Rita tried to teach me to dance without much luck. All taking place in the winding room with Eddie McDowell's ok.

My original message disappeared into cyber space (Jan.14)

Beano

Sorry all,

Last night I suddenly remembered the girl I was speaking about was Annie Kerr, not Rita....a Senior Moment.

Pat

elias has being dead for many a year,and like all the mccutcheons was a very useful boxer,,leo is still alive and lives down the low road,there mother charlotte,my granny,died before xmas at the grand old age of 99,,marie is still alive and lives in england,hope this helps

Martin, I presume that you and Wayne, who started this thread, are related.
It is nice to read again about your relatives, who are, it seems, also mine, since my brother Dennis, according to Maurice, is married to Rosemary.
I'm pleased to hear that Leo is still alive. He is at least as old as I am.And wee Marie, too, God bless her.