A central theory in my research is that there were at least three brothers John, William and Robert. There is no direct explicit paper trail supporting this theory, however, there is strong circumstantial evidence.
Based on their family history each of them were Presbyterian. They had a father, John who was a farmer. William was the most successful and had a grocery store in the same location for many years and appears to have been the main son in the family. John, the father, and his wife, Jane (presumably the mother) lived with him until their respective deaths in 1876 and 1875.
Other than this there is s set of possible inter-connections which suggest they were all brothers.
In the Belfast Directory of 1865 John, a hairdresser, had two addresses listed, One was his hairdressing establishment (5 1/2 Donegall Street) the other was the address of William’s grocery store, 68 Durham Street. The was the year that John married.
In February 1890, Catherine who was John’s daughter was married on the same day as Robert’s son John Mitchell. They were married in the same church. Catherine’s first use of her married name, Catherine Hamilton, was to sign as a witness on John Mitchell Foster’s marriage certificate. This strongly suggests they knew each other and were cousins. Robert, his son John and Catherine’s husband Robert were all in the printing and book industry.
I(n addition an examination of their children’s name suggests they were in the same family and were connected.
John named a daughter Jane Wilson in 1869. William named a daughter Jane Wilson in 1976. It is believed that their mother was Jane Wilson who died in 1875.
Robert named a daughter Anna Maginnis in 1868. John named a daughter Wilhelmina Annie Maginnis in 1872. William’s first wife Anne Maginnis died in 1872.
John named a son William in 1876
John named a son Robert in 1879
John named a son James in 1874. William named a son William James in 1878. This suggests a possible 4th brother James or the father John was really named James.
If these data points support the conclusion that John, Robert and William were all brothers and children of John and Jane they we a get a clue to where they came from before 1803 (John & Jane’s birth year). In the 1901 Census Robert listed himself as being born in County Monaghan. He was listed as being born in Belfast in the 1911 Census but the handwriting suggests he did not complete that census directly himself. Also, there are multiple traces of connections to Monaghan in the family history but that is another story.