MAURICE FITZGERALD FAMILY - CANADA PROJECT 150

Another family ancestor who lived in Canada at the time of confederation in 1867. Maurice Fitzgerald is my 2x great grandfather.

Maurice Fitzgerald Family

The family belief is that Maurice Fitzgerald (1803- 1881) came from Tralee, Kerry, Ireland.  He married his wife, Ellen Pendergast/Prendergast (1803-1872) in Ireland as their first daughter Nancy was born there.

As Nancy Fitzgerald's date of birth is listed as 1828 Ireland and the next daughter Mary was baptised on 14th December 1833 at St. Paul's Basilica in Toronto,  the family came to Canada between 1828 and 1833 and settled in the Toronto, Ontario area.

Ellen and Maurice Fitzgerald began a family that consisted of at least seven children including: Nancy, Mary, Bridget, Michael, Ellen, Johanna and David.  The baptisms of  five of the Fitzgerald children were found  in the Baptismal Records at St. Paul's Basilica, in Toronto.   These records range from 1833 to 1844.  On the 11th May 1850, their daughter Anne/Nancy Fitzgerald married Michael Stedman / Steadman at St. Paul's Basilica.

St. Paul's Basilica, Toronto, circa 1910 - Photo Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library

For some reason the family moved to Hornellsville, Steuben county, in New York State for a short period of time.  The family is listed on the 1850 US Census and their daughter Nancy and her husband Michael Stedman were also living nearby.

By the 1852  Canada Census, enumerated in January 1852, Maurice, his daughters Mary, Ellen and Johanna are listed as living in York, Ontario along with an Ellen Studman (?Stedman), aged 4.  His wife Ellen, son Michael and David are not listed with the family and perhaps they stayed in Hornellsville.

By the 1861  Canada Census, David Fitzgerald, the youngest son was listed as born in Upper Canada in 1851 and Ellen, Michael  are back with the family. 

Maurice and his son Michael owned land at Concession 1, Lot 6 , in the Southeast part of York County, Ontario.  According to the history of the Toronto Golf Club 1876-1976, Michael Fitzgerald owned approximately 65 acres that extended from Woodbine Avenue to Coxwell Avenue and north to the Grand Trunk Railway Tracks  and south to Queen Street in 1869.  In 1876 the Toronto Golf Club rented a vacant portion of the farmland to play golf.  This informal agreement lasted until 1894 when the Toronto Golf Club sought more permanent accommodation.

The Fitzgeralds also sold some of that land to the St. John The Baptist Norway Anglican Church.   The Church History of St. John indicates the church property was extended south of the Church circa 1880. "This lot was the site of the home of Mr. Fitzgerald, father of Mr. Michael Fitzgerald whose farm began north of St. John's and ran up to the Grand Trunk tracks"  This is in the Woodbine and Kingston Road area of Toronto.

 

Goad Insurance Map showing Fitzgerald Property

Ellen Fitzgerald died 5 June 1872 and is buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in Toronto.  Maurice remarried in September of that year.  He married a widow Ann Altridge O'Neill at St. Paul's Basilica.  Maurice's parents were listed as Patrick Fitzgerald and Annie Walsh.

Maurice died in 1881, and he was living at 20 Water Street in Toronto.  He is buried with his first wife Ellen in Plot 128 North of Bridget St.

Their children Michael Fitzgerald born 1838 married Fanny Down and Ellen Fitzgerald born 1841 married John Busby.  I have previously written about Richard Down see Richard Down Family  and John Busby see John Busby Family
in my previous Canada Project 150 posts.

JOHN BUSBY - CANADA PROJECT 150

First Published in the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogy Society Newsletter - Toronto Tree - July/August 2017


The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogy Society invited members to share stories about ancestors who lived in Canada at the time of confederation in 1867.  John Busby is my maternal great-grandfather. 

JOHN BUSBY

Little is known of John Busby (1819-1899) before he came to Canada.  The census records indicate he was born in Scotland about 1819 and his death certificate gives Edinboro (Edinburgh) as his place of birth.   He married Ellen Fitzgerald (1840-1907) about 1862 as their first son John was born in November 1862 in York, Ontario.   I have not found him on the 1861 Census nor have I found a marriage record for John and Ellen.  His occupation varied from Labourer to Shoemaker to Railway Employee.  He was listed as a Protestant but his children were raised as Roman Catholics.

The first recorded entry mentioning John Busby is his son’s baptism at St. Paul’s Basilica, Power Street on 7 June 1865.  John and Ellen Busby had at least ten children that I have located and possibly they had 13 children as family history indicates.  The children included: John born 1862, Catherine & Mary (twins) born 1865, Ellen born 1866, Agnes born1870, Martha Ann born 1872, Matilda (Elizabeth) born 1875, Bertha born 1878, William born 1881, and Gerald Fitzgerald born 1884.  Seven of the children were baptised at St. Paul's Basilica in Toronto and only 2 of the children’s births were registered.

On the 1871 Census the family was listed as living in Toronto East, St. Lawrence Ward., bounded by Queen, Yonge, lakefront and McGee Street (east of Broadview Avenue)..  When the 1881 census was taken in April, the family was living in York East, York East.  Some of the 1891 census records are missing for York East, but the Toronto directories indicate that from 1884- 1891 the family lived in Norway Village and John Busby was a tenant of Concession 1, Lot 6.  This land was owned by his father-in-law Maurice Fitzgerald.  The 1892-1899 directories show the family living in Little York at Coleman Corners where John and his wife Ellen ran a boarding house for railway employees.

John Busby died 30 September 1899 after being struck by a train.  The Globe & Mail Newspaper of 2 October 1899, carried the following headline:  KILLED BY AN ENGINE - JOHN BUSBY, AN AGED RESIDENT OF COLEMAN, STRUCK BY A TRAIN AND DIED IN A FEW HOURS.   The following is a partial transcription:   “The Grand Trunk express from the west struck John Busby, an aged resident of Coleman, who was walking on the tracks near York station on Saturday morning and six hours later Mr. Busby died in the General Hospital....The train was immediately stopped and Busby was taken from under the engine and carried to the station....and Busby was then placed on the first train for the city.....He was 79 years of age and was a well-known resident of Coleman.....”

John is buried in St. John Norway Cemetery alongside his wife Ellen Fitzgerald Busby who died on 8 February 1907.  They are buried in the Old Plan of the cemetery at Plot 68 along with other Busby family members.

St. John Norway Church, Toronto - cica 1919 (Photo -Courtesy of Toronto Public Library)

In 1936, when his daughter Mary Busby Bell (1865-1936) died an article appeared in the Toronto Star about her death.  The headline of the article was DAUGHTER OF PIONEER MRS. A. BELL PASSES.  The article indicates that John Busby was born in Edinburgh, Scotland the same day as Queen Victoria was born in 1819 (May 24, 1819 - Queen Victoria's Birthday).  It also states that John Busby was "a veteran of the gold rush of '49 and a sheriff in California.  He knew Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson, General Sherman and General Grant of civil war fame and President Lincoln."  

Whether any of this information is true is still an unanswered question and he remains John Busby, man of mystery.