Dougan Family Tree
November 13th, 2011
One of the books in our possession is a self published volume entitled “The Dougans of Cobble Hill”. This was produced by Nathan Dougan or based on his writings and documents in his possession. It has a fairly accurate family tree for Dougans born in Canada and this can be corroborated by census data and such. This book also details the Dougan family farm in Ireland called Ballywillen near Coleraine.
The entire tree descends from a James Dougan, who is not the James Dougan after whom the cemetery is named. Just like there are many Andrew McKays there are many James Dougans. I used Reunion to make a graphic showing several generations of James’s descendants. I don’t have dates of birth for these oldest Dougan ancestors.
I made another post on the genealogy forums looking for more information on this James Dougan, the family farm, and the Dougan family that lived in Northern Ireland for many, many, generations. If anyone has information on this James Dougan leave a comment or send me an email.
Folks keep finding the family trees I posted, but not through Ancestry.ca or any special genealogy forum. Folks seem to find this blog and thus the family trees through Google. I’ve been pretty good about sharing information and adding tidbits others have shared with me.
I haven’t learned too much more about Dougans who lived or remain in Ireland, but apparently I should contact Patrick. I did find out a little more about other Irish ancestors.
Here is a photo of the Dougan Homestead, I don’t think this is the original house or even necessarily the one that still stands beside Dougan Lake. The photo came from the Cowichan Valley Museum archives/website. Some of my ancestors have donated to the museum, but despite living in Duncan for many years I’ve never been. My mom is involved with the Union Bay Historical Society and I’ve volunteered at their museum.
This entry was originaly posted on , it was last edited on and is filed under: Rambles and tagged: Dougan, Family Tree, Genealogy.
Hi there are Dougans still farming in that area just off Quilly Road. Maybe you could contact Patrick!
Wow, thanks for commenting. This is a surprisingly popular blog post. The 87th annual general meeting of the Jamese Dougan Memorial Cemetery Society is coming up on March 10th, but I will be in Scotland finally seeing the homeland of the Clan MacKay.
Hi, my name is Alan John Dougan, born in Liverpool England, my Brothers are Ronald, Philip and Colin, sisters are Karen and Susan, our Fathers name was Ronald, his Brothers were Tommy, Rankie and Joey, Sister was Lilly. Their Father (my Grandfather) was George, he was Born in Ireland which makes me 2nd Generation Irish on both sides as my Mothers Familly are also from Ireland (Mothers maiden name was Byrne)
Thanks for you comment. This post continues to remain surprisingly popular after all these years. I haven’t worked on the family tree in a long while, but others have used some of the information I provided. Best of luck in 2024.
Hello Nathan, I was interested in the Dougan family tree as my grandmother was Annie Marie Dougan from Ballywoollen (although some old records spelt it Ballywillen) near Castlerock. (Ballywillen is actually near Portrush)There are remnants of the 1831 census that records five Dougan households in this townland. The Dougans farmed between Castlerock and Coleraine and there were so many Dougans in the area that the sea bay was called ‘Dougan Bay’ . My great-grandfather was Richard Dougan, who was a brother to James. I remember my father telling me that all the sons emigrated and only Richard returned and farmed at Ballywoollen. They had a sister Annie Marie Dougan. I suppose my granny was named after her. Richard and James’s father was Arthur Dougan. He was born about 1795. He married Jeannie(Jane) McKeown(1812-1873). I think this Arthur was one of four sons- Neal, Arthur,Isaac and James. Their father was Joseph Dougan and their mother was Ellen (nee Hunter). Joseph(1770-1820) was born at ‘Barmouth’- a farm near where the river Bann meets the sea(between Castlerock and Coleraine). At that time the town of Castlerock did not exist. Castlerock was built after the railway lines were built. My granny was Presbyterian but there are also records of Church of Ireland Dougans. I don’t think there are any Dougans left now in the area. There is an old graveyard opposite ‘Downhill’ where the old graves would be. My dad told me that some Dougans went to Canada and were lumberjacks. This would tie in with your story.
I’m not Nathan but thanks for commenting. The Dougans definitely moved to Vancouver Island and many of them became loggers, but they started as farmers. The old homestead is no longer in the family but there is a lake named after the family and the family cemetery is on Vancouver Island. My mom and sister are more involved with the family as I’ve moved away and there are less and less old-timers left, but the history was written down and I got some documents from Ireland but I’ve never been back, but I think my grandmother (Doreen) went.
Hi, My name is Peter Dougan – my great great grandfather was Robert Dougan (elder brother of James) and born on 8 February 1833 in Castlerock, Londonderry. He had one son (William Hunter) with Isabella Stewart in 1871. My dad says that Robert Dougan went to Canada with his brothers looking for gold but having no luck returned to NSW, Australia. He died on 20 March 1915 in Ashfield, New South Wales, having lived a long life of 82 years.
I went to the Ballywoolen house in Castlerock with my father (Don Dougan) a decade ago and stepped foot back inside the original Dougan thatch house which still stands. My father and other older relatives (some passed away) have done a fair bit of genealogical research.
One day, i’m keen to visit Vancouver Island and look up Dougans still living there.
Peter Dougan
pete.dougan(at)gmail.com
Wow! Good work. This post is surprisingly popular. I’ve never been to Ireland. Your ancestor Robert is on the tree above, just with no birthdate and birthplace. Australia was definitely another part of the new world that relatives of my ancestors settled in.
There are less and less people from my Grandma’s generation. She was survived by one brother and one sister, but they both may have since passed on. One of my grandmother’s brother’s wives still lives. My mom sees Aunty Mary regularly. Dougan Lake and Cemetery still exist and there are many descendants on the Island, but my grandma grew up on the farm, so our connection to the original homestead is pretty much gone.
Good luck in your future genealogical research.
Hi Muskie, apologies for my delay in responding. I have just heard from Alan Chatterton thanks to your blog.
will forward some dates for Robert Dougan and some other related information shortly. Could i get your email?(perhaps direct message me at my email (refer my previous post).
Peter
Andrew
I stumbled across your blog post today and want to thank you for this info on the Dougan family of Ireland and Cobble Hill.
My 2nd great grandparents are Mary Ann Dougan and James Rutledge. Lots of gaps so this was helpful.
Good luck with your research. I haven’t added anything in years to the tree, I need to upgrade the software to continue my research. Once you get back to Ireland, it will depend on the local church records.
My great great grandparents are James Rutledge and Mary Ann Dougan. Interesting!
It was the best family tree ever when I built it. I know people have used it to make their own family tree. It is based off research done by other Dougans, particularly Nathan. I just entered it all into a computer program which I need to pay to upgrade then I could work on it more. But I was always more interested in the old relatives than whatever cousins have been born recently. I know cousins of mine are working on their own version, which would have all the youngsters, but after a certain date you just can’t get records unless your ancestor was famous or owned land, held a title or served as an officer in the military. Good luck with your genealogy research.