The content of this site deals primarily with the life, ancestors and descendants of James Pentland born in Grey Abbey, Ards Penninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland in 1820. He died in Baltimore, Maryland, USA in 1902.

The Pentland roots appear to begin in Scotland with migration to Northern Ireland sometime by the late 17th century. Indeed, there are still Pentland families living in Scotland as well as descendants world-wide. The earliest known ancestor in the line of James Pentland was his greatgrandfather John Pentland/Pendleton born about 1705, died about 1780. Prior to John Pentland, records are meager and no proof exists to a definitive ancestor in Scotland.

There are several clusters of Pentlands around the globe. In addition to those still residing in Scotland and Northern Ireland, there is a relatively large number of Pentlands in Canada and Australia. In particular, quite a number of inhabitants of the Ards Penninsula emigrated to Amherst Island, Ontaria, Canada during the 1830's. As a matter of fact, there is a scholarly work written by Catherine Anne Wilson entitled, "Family Emigration from the Ards, County Down, Ireland to Amherst Island, Canada in the Nineteenth-Century." She discusses the history of the migration and compiles a list of families including Pentlands and ancillary families such as Polley, Finnegan and McWatters.

Many people have contributed to the information that is found at this web site. Most noteably, it was the work of the late Leora Ruth Wright whose extensive research and query in the 1987 Ulster Genealogical and Historical Guild Journal led me to her cousin Frances Holmes in Canada. Subsequently, Ms. Holmes put me in contact with Nancy Hamilton, the only surviving grand child of James Pentland. Without the help of Ms Wright, Ms Holmes and Ms Hamilton, none of the information on the ancestors of James Pentland would have ever come to light and certainly the very existence of photographs of the Brown family and Pentland residence would never have been known.

Additionally, Michael McWatters from Australia, a fellow TMG (The Master Genealogist) user has provided me with details of the McWatters branch of this family. He has also very kindly provided copies of many original records detailing the family history.