In the Belfast Newsletter of the 29th September 1851, two apparently unconnected marriage notices appear above one another:
On the 24th instant, in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Cullybackey, by the Rev. John G. McVicker, Newtownards, Rev. Wm. Close, Carrickfergus, to Eliza, youngest daughter of Mr. James Kinnear, Cullybackey.
On the 24th instant, in the Third Presbyterian Church, Randalstown, by the Rev. Alexander Crawford, Mr. S. Black, Grange House, Randalstown, to Mary, only daughter of the late Mr. John Downey, Ballymena.
In about 1855, Samuel and Mary Black had a son they called James Kinnear Black. In 1870, the Rev. William and Eliza had a daughter called Eliza Kinnear Close, clearly named after her mother.
Fast-forward to the 14th April 1898 and we have another marriage notice in the Belfast Newsletter:
BLACK-CLOSE: April 12, by special license, at Clinen, Knock, by the father of the bride, James Kinnear Black, Belfast, second son of the late Samuel Black, Esq., J.P., Dunmaul House, Randalstown, to Eliza Kinnear (Bessie), younger daughter of the Rev. William Close, senior minister of the Presbyterian Church, Loughmore, Carrickfergus. No cards.
So, James and Eliza both had Kinnear as their middle name and both sets of parents married on the same day in 1851. How much of this is down to family connections and how much is pure coincidence?