THE HOWSON FAMILY - CANADA PROJECT 150

HOWSON FAMILY

Another family who lived in Canada at the time of confederation in 1867

George Howson is my 3x great grandfather and was born in 1794 in Buckland, Berkshire, England.  He married Jane Lay in October 1816 in Abingdon, Berkshire.  The county boundaries have changed since then and Abingdon is now considered part of Oxfordshire. Jane  was born about 1794 and baptised in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, England in 1795.

According to the book "Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of York" (Canada) published in circa 1905, the Howson family came to Canada about 1832.  There is paragraph  about George Plant who married Georgianna Adelaide Howson (granddaughter of George Howson)   " ...George Howson, who was born in Oxford, England where he married Jane Lay. In 1832 they came to Canada settling at Belleville, where Mr. Howson was a market gardener...."

George and Jane had at least 3 children.  Their first son Thomas was born on June 15, 1817 and died 1 day later in Abingdon.  They had 2 more sons Thomas born in 1818 and George born in 1820, possibly Buckland, Berkshire.  At some point, around 1832 the family of 4 emigrated to the Belleville area of Ontario, Canada.  There were also some cousins of George Howson who emigrated to Belleville about the same time from the Oxfordshire area, namely the Cox and Little families.

The first known record of the Howson family in Canada is 1844 when George (1820) married Bridget O'Neill in Marysville, Ontario.  

George (1794) owned land in Thurlow, Hastings Ontario where he was a market gardener.  The 1851 census lists his land as Concession 2, Lot 9, 25 acres of land.  He later sold this land to the Grand Trunk Railway.

Son Thomas Howson (1818-1896) married Rebecca Reynolds/Runnels(1824-1893) about 1842 possibly in Kingston Ontario.  They had at least 11 children and moved to Morrisburg, Dundas, Ontario where Thomas was a tinsmith.  Thomas and Rebecca retired to Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario where they are buried.

Son, George (1820-1856), my direct ancestor, married Bridget O'Neill(1812-1884). Bridget was from Thomastown, Kilkenny, Ireland.  They had at least 5 children, all girls:  Jane(Jannett), Eliza, Emma Teresa, Margaret and Bridget.  They were all baptised at St Michael's The Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Belleville, Ontario.

Emma Teresa Howson (1850-1913), picture circa ?1880?

Emma Teresa Howson is my direct ancestor.  She married George Thomas Meehan.  Link to:  Meehan Family 

George (1794-1879), Jane (1794-1876), George (1820-1856) and Bridget (1812-1884) are all buried at the St. Michael's The Archangel Cemetery in Belleville.

ROAD TRIP - ABINGDON

We arrived in Abingdon-on-Thames on a beautiful sunny day after spending the morning in the City of Oxford.  It's just a bus ride way about 5 1/2 miles south of Oxford.

Abingdon, in now considered part of Oxfordshire,  but historically it was in Berkshire.  It claims a long history that dates back to the Iron Age.  A defensive enclosure was discovered in the town centre that dates back to the Iron Age and shows evidence of Roman occupation.

St. Helen's Church dates back to 1100 and is still in use today.  And that is where my personal interest begins in Abingdon.   We are on a search to find St. Helen's Church where I know my George Howson married Jane Lay in October 1816.  They also had a son Thomas born in June 1817 and sadly died one day later.  I've already checked with the Oxford Family History Society and they can find no burial records or any other baptismal records, for that matter for George and Jane.

George Howson is listed as a victualler and so we will definitely need to search out some pubs.  Just for authenticity sake, you understand.  Morland was the main brewery in Abingdon for many years.  While Morland brewery was purchased by the Greene King Brewery, you can still see some of the Morland signs.

Armed with a map of Abingdon, off we go to find the Church.  St. Helen's Church is a large Church with it's own small cemetery.  Unfortunately, the church isn't open for tours when we are here.  So, I'll just have to view it from the outside.  Many of the tombstones in the surrounding cemetery are hard to read.  We did find a tombstone for a Charles Lay, but I have no idea if he is one of "my" Lay people.  The stone reads:  An affectionate remembrance of Charles Lay, who died on November 29, 1849, age 39.

Charles Lay Tombstone in  St. Helen's Churchyard






St. Helen's Church entrance

I also know from one of the church records that George and Jane Howson lived on West St. Helen's Street, so we'll have a look for that as well as Ock Street where the pubs were located.

We decide to meander through the streets to see what we can see.  We find a pub on Ock Street called the Brewery Tap.  It once housed the Morland administration office in the 1800's.  It is where the landlords came each month to pay their rent.  The pub itself is quite new but there is lots of Morland memorabilia around.

After a wander through the town, it's time to be on our way.  I'm sorry to leave Abingdon as we only had a flying visit here.  I think I found an Innkeeper in Devon in my family tree, so maybe that will be our next holiday.



 

ROAD TRIP - OXFORD ENGLAND

We arrived in Oxford on a beautiful sunny summer day, but there is heavy rain in the forecast, so we are hoping we can fit in our walking tour of Oxford before that happens.   George Howson (1790), is my 3 times great grandfather and I believe he was born in Oxford.  This reference comes from a publication entitled   "Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of York" (Canada) published in circa 1905.

There is a paragraph  about George Plant who married Georgianna Adelaide Howson (granddaughter of George Howson) " ...George Howson, who was born in Oxford, England where he married Jane Lay. In 1832 they came to Canada settling at Belleville, where Mr. Howson was a market gardener...." 

So, I'm not sure if George actually lived in the City of Oxford, or if the reference is for the County.  But, I do know that George Howson and Jane Lay were married in Abingdon, Berkshire, which is not far away.   Oxford dates back to 900 AD and the University is one of the oldest in the English speaking world. There is also a long history of brewing beer in Oxford.  Since I think George Howson was an Innkeeper in Abingdon, it's conceivable that he lived and worked in Oxford as well.

The University is a series of Colleges and does not have a main campus.  Since the colleges date so far back in history is easy to imagine what the area looked like in the 1800s.

The University dominates the City and there are lots of students and tourists here.  The main mode of transportation appears to be the bicycle.  Our tour guide tells us to be wary of the bikers or as he calls them the "assassins."  As they don't stop for pedestrians.

Several scenes from Harry Potter movies were filmed here.  The Divinity School, Bodelian Library was used as the infirmary for Harry.



Divinity School, Bodelian Library

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) held academic positions at both Oxford and Cambridge and wrote his novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, while in Oxford.  These might have been an inspiration for his work:

 

 

  

 

 

 There are also lots of pubs here so after our tour we will have a quick lunch and a pint.  Then we will head to Abingdon to see where my George Howson lived.

ROAD TRIP - ENGLAND

We recently booked a last minute vacation, and I found that we had 5 days in England with nothing special planned.  As we were staying near Salisbury, Wiltshire we looked at day trips we could take from that location.

I immediately thought of George Howson, my 3x great grandfather. I knew from information from the Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS), that George Howson had married Jane Lay in 1816, at St. Helens Church  in Abingdon-On-Thames, Oxfordshire.  They also had a son Thomas Howson born in 1817, who died at 1 day old, also at St. Helens.

According to the parish records, George was listed as a victualler of West St. Helen's Street at that time.  Unfortunately the OFHS have no tombstone records of any Howsons buried at St. Helen's cemetery.

Since we were in England for such a short time, I didn't feel I could devote a day of research in the library.  However, I did want to see Abingdon and perhaps walk the streets that George and his wife Jane may have walked so many years ago.  Another factor was that my husband in not very interested in genealogy and we both needed to enjoy the day.

We decided to make an overnight trip and accomplish 3 things.  The first was a walking tour of Oxford City.  Our tour guide was very funny and we walked past many of the colleges.  According to him Trinity is the best as he is an alumni.  The day was perfect for a tour and we enjoyed ourselves.  The next part of the trip was a visit to Abingdon, which is just a short bus ride from Oxford.  The 3rd event was a trip to Banbury to see a  Fairport Convention concert, as this is one of my husband's favourite bands.

After all the various tickets and hotel accommodations were booked we were ready to go.  St. Helen's Church is open to the public on certain days, but we would be there late afternoon so we couldn't go inside, but there was still the outside of the church and the churchyard to discover.  I wanted to see the church and West St. Helen's Street, where George lived.  There were also a lot of pubs listed, on Ock Street.  Since another meaning for victualler is an Innkeeper I have been working on the premise that George might have been a pub landlord.  My husband was interested in this concept, he loves a good pub.

So armed with not much more than a Family Group Record of George Howson, a one page history of the St. Helen's Church and a street map of Abingdon, we were on our way.


 


 




 

HOWSON FAMILY - PART 2

George Howson (1790-1879) was listed as a victualler in 1817, living at West St. Helen's in Abingdon, Berkshire.  A victualler is described as either a supplier of  provisions or an innkeeper.  I have no idea which category George Howson fell into to.  I do know when he lived in Thurlow Township, in Ontario he was described as a market gardener.

I thought I would check out the pubs and taverns of Abingdon.  I tried a search for George as a licensed victualler on the National Archives at Kew but didn't find his name.

There is a wonderful website that records historical information about Pubs in England.  Here is the link Dead Pubs in England  There were over 100 pubs listed for Abingdon, must have been a thirsty crowd that lived there.  There were even several listed on West St. Helen's,  no joy there either.

When George Howson died in the Belleville area in 1879, he left a will.  There were 3 executors:  Thomas Cox, Michael O'Neill and Michael Graham.  I think Michael O'Neill may have been a relative of  George's daughter-in-law, Bridget as her maiden name was O'Neill.  There are several Michael O'Neill's listed in the 1881 Census for Belleville, so I'm not sure which is the correct Michael.

However it started me thinking that perhaps the other executors may be related.  I started a Google search using the names of "Howson" and "Cox".  I found  a genealogy forum that mentioned the surnames Abraham, Howson and Cox and Berkshire England.  It appears that a Catherine Abraham born 1756 married a William Howson.  From that family tree there was also a Phillip Cox who married an Ann Abraham.

Here's where it gets interesting.  Phillip Cox had a son also called Phillip.  This Phillip married a Mary Ward and they emigrated to Belleville Ontario about 1832.  Now this is about the time that George Howson and his wife Jane Lay and their 2 sons are reported to have come to the Belleville area as well.  Thomas Cox, the executor, is the son of Phillip and Mary Cox.

I was in contact with a lady who has done quite a bit of research on the Phillip Cox family.  We tried to find a connection but it remains elusive.   She also told me that Mary Ward's father James  married a Teresa Howson as his second wife.  According to this researcher, the Cox family were Roman Catholics and came to Canada to escape religious persecution.  I contacted the Catholic Library in England to see if I could find any information about my Howson and Lay families.  No Howson or Lay names were found.

The Cox and Howson families seems to have been close.  George Howson (1820-1856) and his wife Bridget O'Neill were the sponsors at the baptism of one of Phillip Cox's children at St. Michael's church in Belleville.  Then just to add to the mix with the Meehan side of the family, Ellen Meehan 's (1845-1901) husband Thomas Bolger (1850 - 1910) was the witness at a wedding that connects with the Cox family as well.

I have found some other Howsons in the Oxfordshire area, so for now my search continues.

HOWSON FAMILY - PART 1

George Howson is my 3x great grandfather and was born about 1790 - 1795 in England.  I think he came from the County of Oxfordshire, but this is still a work in progress.  He married Jane Lay in October 1816 in Abingdon, Berkshire.  The county boundaries have changed since then and Abingdon is now considered part of Oxfordshire. Jane was also born about 1790 - 1795 in England.

The Oxfordshire reference comes from a book "Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of York" (Canada) published in circa 1905.  There is paragraph  about George Plant who married Georgianna Adelaide Howson (granddaughter of George Howson)   " ...George Howson, who was born in Oxford, England where he married Jane Lay. In 1832 they came to Canada settling at Belleville, where Mr. Howson was a market gardener...."

I contacted the Oxfordshire Family History Society (FHS)  to see if I could find any more  information.  They found a few things for me:

• George Howson and Jane Lay married in Abingdon, St. Helen 20 October 1816
• Thomas Howson baptised in Abingdon, St. Helen 15 June 1817
• Thomas Howson  buried in Abingdon, St. Helen 17 June 1817

George and Jane are listed as living on West St. Helen's Street and George's occupation is victualler.

I know that George and Jane had 2 other sons namely :

• Thomas Howson born abt 1818  England
• George Howson born abt 1820  England

These 2 sons came to Canada with their parents around 1832.  Unfortunately, their baptism records were not located within the Oxfordshire FHS records.  There was no record of George Howson (1790) being baptised in that area either.

I had a little more luck with Jane Lay.  According to the Oxfordshire FHS there were 3 Jane Lays baptised around that time period:

• Jane Lay baptised 1795 Eynsham, Oxfordshire, parents Thomas & Christian
• Jane Lay baptised 1796 Appleton, Oxfordshire, parents Daniel & Mary
• Jane Ley baptised 1799 Abingdon, St. Helen, parents Dr. Hugh & Mrs. Eliza

Now the question is which (if any) is the correct Jane Lay/Ley?  I had high hopes for the Abingdon family, as that is where the marriage took place and it is often in the bride's home parish.    The family forenames also seemed to fit in with the information I had on the Howson family.   After researching this family I found that Jane Ley married some one else named Whitmore Smart  in Cornwall.  There was quite a bit of information on this family as there was a disputed will and land distribution involved.

George and Jane settled in Thurlow Township, Hastings, Ontario which is now part of Belleville Ontario.  The 1861 Census shows them on Concession 2 Lot 9 and George is listed as a Gardener.  Their older son Thomas was a tinsmith.  He  married Rebecca Reynolds and they eventually settled in Morrisburg, Ontario.  George (1820) married Bridget O'Neill and they lived in the Belleville area.  Sadly, George died quite young at the age of about 36 years, in 1856 in Belleville. 

Jane Lay died in Thurlow Township in 1876 and George Howson  senior died in 1879.  They are both buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in Belleville.