Back to my g. g. grandfather, married around 1788 or 89, the Fultons from whom I descend have lived within an eight mile radius of Lisburn. That is not to say that we were unadventurous  -  g.grandfather spent the years from 1850 to 1862 in the USA, the last seven on the California gold fields, and grandfather spent two years, 1904-1906, in Toronto where he worked with Timothy Eaton who founded the well known chain of Canadian department stores, before returning to Belfast because grandmother found the winters too cold. I myself spent several years working in each of Nigeria, Gibraltor and Germany, before retiring in the south of England.
 

    My family history starts from three sources -

 (a.)A Frackleton of Dromore genealogy prepared by Christopher Teeling McCready and printed in Dublin in 1881 which gets me back to my great-great grandfather, Joseph Fulton "of Drumbo" who was married to Jane Frackleton about 1788 and lived in Killultagh House near Stoneyford. My copy came from my grandfather's home and had been prepared during the lifetime of my great grandfather and at least one of his sisters so presumably is reasonably reliable. My grandfather accepted it.

(b) Theodore Hope's book "Fultons of Lisburn". Hope came to Belfast in September 1900 and met my grandfather (I have the letter from Hope arranging the meeting) and it was accepted in that generation of my family that we were descended from the same family in Lisburn. Unfortunately no one noted the details, merely that we were "cousins"

I did not find a copy of Hope's book until a couple of years after my grandfather died in 1961 (he was 93) and I have been searching the link off and on ever since. In the course of it, I have learned a lot about Fultons in Northern Ireland and world wide, both their relationship and businesses. As yet I have made little progress in finding the connnection I am searching for though the information is so interlocking that it would be more surprising if we were not related... I have however found that Hope is not always totally reliable, a fact well known in genealogical circles in Belfast, so I have treated his work with some suspicion. As I get deeper into it, I feel that what he records from 1780 onwards is reliable in itself, but he comes over as a bit of a snob, who omits those parts which he thinks do not come up to his standards - he was wealthy and knighted for his services in India. The earlier part is less convincing,though as it is based on family recollection of earlier generations there is probably a basis of truth which needs to be confirmed.

(c) My recollections of random comments in family circles. One of the earliest is that g.g.grandfather Joseph moved from Drumbo (parish in Co. Down about 4 miles from Lisburn) to Killultagh House "because he didn't want to live next the cemetery". This became relevant when I found a lease dated 1788 in which a Joseph transfers land to Thomas Fulton and his wife Agnes and the description seems to place it next the boundary of Drumbo Presbyterian Church. This lends credence to the family story and encourages me to think that the Joseph Fulton of Drumbo who appears in the local newspaper a little earlier is the same person.
 

(ii) Four Family Trees -From my work to date I have prepared three family trees, copies of which are enclosed plus Hope's tree for comparison (Family Trees are not on line yet.).

(a)Fulton of Lisburn contains the earliest generations and is based on Hope and the IGI but with many additions from the additional information I have collected. I do not claim that this tree is the last word on the subject, and look on it more as a working hypothesis to be challenged.

(b)Fulton of Calcutta from the Hope book, but I have separated it from the earlier generations as I do not believe the connection that Hope makes for the John who heads this tree. His justification in the book "corrects" some contemporary records and would have us believe that John set out for Calcutta in 1780 at the age of 65 approx., was shipwrecked ont he way, set up in business and traded successfully until 1803 when he set out for home aged between 85 and 90 and died on the way. His will dated 1801 is reputed to make provision for his sister who would by then be over 100. None of this is completely impossible but strains credulity, and I treat Hope's deductions as "not proven" and suspect that this particular John was born a generation later. There are of course several to choose from. This part of the family made careers in India over several generations, and then and in and around London up to the mid 20^th century. There are no members of this branch known to be in Ireland now though there is a large group in New Zealond, and they have perhaps spread fromt here to Australia and South Africa.

(c)Joseph of Killultagh, who is my direct ancestor. I have good grounds for all the entries on this tree, and am in touch with the present generations of all but the Montgomerys.

(d)The first tree from Hope's book for comparison