NEWTON FAMILY - PART 2

When I was researching Robert Newton (1821 - 1895) I thought I would look to see if there were other Newtons in the area that might be related.  All I knew was that he was Irish, he was a Protestant and he was a farmer.  He was in Ontario in 1851 according the the Census and he was living in Peel County.  By 1861 his first wife Margaret Fallis had died and he had remarried Isabella McKnight and he had moved to Wallace, Perth County.

It was rather a slow start.   The Toronto Family History Centre  has a weekly newsletter and there is an opportunity to have your  question published with (hopefully) a solution provided, either by the volunteers or another newsletter recipient.   Several years ago I sent in my question asking how I could find out when and where Robert Newton married Isabella McKnight.  Robert's first wife Margaret died in 1855 in Wallace Perth County and Isabella and Robert's first son Robert T. was born about 1857.  It looked like I had a two year window and a possible location of Wallace.

The answer came back that records for that period and that location were very scarce and it would be difficult to find out.  Great I thought, I'd already figured that part out, that was why I was asking where I could start my search.  My goal always to find out the parents names of Robert.

The next week however I received this reply from genealogist Fawne Stratford-Devai:

Fawne Stratford-Devai writes:

“Regarding the question for the Perth County marriage records pre-1869, we are very fortunate that the returns to the clerk of the peace were found and transcribed by Dan Walker and myself some years ago. The full transcription with index is available from Global Genealogy at: http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/ontario/perth/resources/258034.htm

Perth County Baptism, Marriage & Burial Register, 1852-1859

Compiled by Dan Walker & Fawne Stratford-Devai

[Also available at the Toronto Reference Library and North York Public Library]

When I checked the transcriptions, I found the following entries for Newton/McKnight:

Marriages by Rev’d John Armstrong Wesleyan Methodist Minister

Robert NEWTON, to Isabella McKNIGHT. 11 Jan. 1857, Wallace, by Licence. Rev. ARMSTRONG. Wit. William McBRIDE and S. ARMSTRONG

Hooray for the internet.  A source for the marriage and where I could locate the source.  Not the complete answer I was looking for but it did confirm the marriage date between Robert and Isabella.

I decided to go back to the Census and see if I could find any other Newtons in the general area that were Irish, Protestant and possibly farmers.

Here's what I found on the 1851 Census:

William Newton born about 1826 in Ireland living in Waterloo County
George Newton born about 1821 in Ireland living in Waterloo County
Maria Newton Holt born about 1828 in Ireland living in Waterloo County
Henry Newton born about 1828 in Ireland living in Peel County

There was also a Henry Newton listed in the City of Toronto and Home District Directory and Register 1837.  He was listed at Albion Township, Peel County, Concession 1 Lot 27.

Could these be relatives of Robert?  The Henry that owned land in Albion, was probably not the same Henry in the 1851 Census.  That Henry would be just 9 years old in 1837. 

I did some more digging and found that William, Maria and Henry Newton (1828) were related.  Following their marriage registrations the parents for all three were listed as Henry Newton and Mary Bryan or Bryant.  I also found that when George Newton was married Robert Newton and William Fallis were the witnesses.  Fallis is the maiden name of Robert's first wife.

George married a Leitia Eason and  on the 1851 Census there is a William  Newton (1828)  living with the family in Waterloo.  Henry (1828) is also living quite nearby as well. Perhaps George is related to the other 3 Newtons.

A very helpful volunteer a the Peel Region Ontario Genealogical Society looked up some information for me as well.  She reported that a Henry Newton age 21 and a Maria Newton age 16 appeared on the Index for Baptismal Register for the Mission Chinguacousy,  Gore of Toronto and parts adjacent.  They had been confirmed 28 October 1844 in Albion, Peel, living at Lot 20 Concession 2.
Now that is not the same Concession and Lot where the other Henry was living but it was in Albion.

Also according to the Peel Region volunteer, the original land for Henry Newton - Lot 27, Concession 1 had been owned by an A.J. Fallis, by 1859.  Once again the Fallis name appears.

Now all I had to do was connect these Newtons to Robert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAULKNER FAMILY - PART 2 UPDATE

I received a comment from a descendant of the William J. Faulkner family about the information from the North Ontario Vintage Postcards website that Lily Faulkner was the daughter of William J. Faulkner and Saphonia Garbutt.  I have updated this blog to clarify the information.

John Crosby Faulkner, is the oldest son of William Faulkner and Annie Jane (Hanna) Crosby. John Crosby Faulkner was born in Dublin Ireland around 1844 and died in Sundridge Ontario in 1932. He was a photographer working in Toronto and later in Sundridge.

John married Jennie Stewart in 1874 in Toronto at St. James Cathedral. Her parents were John and Frances Stewart. Jennie Faulkner died in 1918 in Sundridge. Both John and Jennie Faulkner are buried in the Strong Cemetery in Sundridge.

John and Jennie had no children, but adopted a girl Lily Agnes Faulkner born about 1888 who was also a photographer in Sundridge. According to Northern Ontario Vintage Postcards site,
Lily was the daughter of John's younger brother William.   However to date there is no proof of this.
The 1891 Census shows the 3 children of William Joseph Faulkner and Saphonia Garbutt Faulkner as Louis aged 10, Henrietta, aged 5 and William, aged 2.   Perhaps the idea that Lilllian was William's daughter evolved by misreading the child's name William for Lillian on this census.  A tombstone indicates Lillian was born in 1888, while William was born 10 January 1889 and died 28 July 1970, in Vernon, B.C.  It is believed that Lillian died in 1986 in Sundridge, Ontario.  If anyone knows Lillian's parents names, please leave a comment below.

. 
John Crosby Faulkner is listed in the book The Ontario Photographers List by Glen C. Phillips.

• Faulkner, J. C., photographer 1887 - 1892 - Toronto
• Faulkner, J. C., photographer 1892 - 1900 - Sundridge

The Dun & Bradstreet Commercial Directory also lists him as a photographer.

• Faulkner, J. C. 1901 - 1907 Sundridge
• Faulkner, John C. 1914 - 1920 Sundridge

In 1881 John & Jennie Faulkner are listed as living in the St. David's Ward, in Toronto. By 1891 the Census shows the couple living in Joly Strong - Sundridge, in the Muskoka and Parry Sound area of Ontario. John's address on the 1911 Census is 5 Main Street, Sundridge.

The photograph used in this blog was taken by John Crosby Faulkner. It is a picture of his brother Ford Faulkner, his wife and children. It was taken around 1910 in Toronto.

NEWTON FAMILY - PART 1

This bible represents my starting point in researching my genealogy.  I knew that my paternal grandmother's maiden name was Faulkner, but that was all I knew.  This gave me dates, names and places to commence my journey.



Bible presented to Sarah Ann Faulkner by her father R. Newton 1884

Holy Bonds of Matrimony Ford Faulkner & Sarah A. Newton June 25, 1879, Fordwich, Ontario

Robert Newton is my great-great grandfather.  He was born about 1821 in Ireland and came to Canada before 1849.  He lived in Peel County, Perth County and  Huron County in Ontario and then in Manitoba and was a farmer.  Robert married twice.  His first wife was Margaret Fallis she was born in 1827 in County Fermanagh in Ireland.  It's not clear where Robert and Margaret married, but possibly in Ontario.   Sadly she died in 1855 in Wallace, Perth County, Ontario, probably shortly after giving birth to her daughter Margaret.  Margaret Fallis' parents were James Fallis and Esther Spence.

Robert and Margaret had at least 5 children born in Ontario:

• Ester Ann  1849 - 1933
• Mary           1850 - 1937
• William Henry 1851 -
• Susan          1853 - 1864
• Margaret     1855 - 1912

On the 1851 Census Robert and Margaret Newton were living in Albion, Peel County.  According to The Christian Guardian, Margaret died 24 February 1855, in Wallace Township, Perth County.  Therefore the family must have moved between 1851 and 1855.


In 1857 Robert Newton married a second time.  His wife was named Isabella McKnight.  They married in Wallace, Perth County.  Isabella was the daughter of George Mcknight and Mary Smith of Fermanagh Ireland.  Isabella was born in about 1839 in Palmerston, Minto Township, Ontario.

Robert and Isabella had at least 11 children:

• Edward George  1856 - 1939
• Robert T.   1857 - 1927?
• Sarah Ann   1860 - 1933   - My direct line - great-grandmother
• Simon A.    1861 - before 1881?
• Stewart A.   1863 -
• Susan  1864 - 1892
• Mary Matilda   1868 -
• Anna Maria 1870 - 1915
• Elizabeth Jane   1874 -
• Christina  1875 -
• Thomas John  1876 -

On the 1861 Census, the family was living in Wallace Township, Perth County, Lot 37, Concession 8.  Margaret Newton, born 1855 to Robert & Margaret Newton was living with her grandparents James and Esther Fallis in Albion.  By the 1871 Census, the family had moved once again, this time to Huron County.  They are listed in Howick, the  North Huron District of Huron County.  Robert Newton  owned 50 acres of  property on Lot 24, Concession 2.

The family moved to Manitoba between 1871 and 1881, as the 1881 Census shows the family living at St. Clement, Lisgar, Manitoba.  The children included in the census were: Robert, Stewart A., Maria, Christine, Elizabeth and Thomas, ranging in age from 22 to 6. 

My great grandmother Sarah Ann had married Ford Faulkner in 1879  and they stayed in Howick, Huron County along with her brother Edward who was staying with them.  Edward was to move to Manitoba later to join his family.

Ester Ann married Thomas Campbell in 1865; she and her husband stayed in Howick until the 1901 Census indicated they had moved to Brandon, Manitoba .

Mary Newton married Robert Armstrong and they stayed in Ontario.  William Henry Newton married Louisa Ann Mosier, in 1879  and by 1911 they had moved to Saskatchewan. Margaret Newton (1855) didn't live with her father, first she was living with her grandparents James and Esther Fallis and by 1871 she was living with her uncle Robert Fallis and his family in Peel County.  In 1880 she married Samuel Cornish Saunders .

Sarah Ann and Ford Faulkner eventually moved to Toronto between the 1881 and 1891 Census.

At this point in my research I had now "lost" both of the Susan Newtons I had recorded.  The first Susan born to Robert and Margaret was born in 1853 and the second Susan born 1864 to Robert and Isabella.  I assumed the Susan born 1853, must have died before 1864 as another Susan was born in 1864.  That detail was to become very important to my research later on.  Susan, born 1864 was not with the family in 1881 in Manitoba.

Robert Newton (1821) died in RM N. Cypress, Manitoba, 11 November 1895.  His parents were not listed, but his birthplace is listed as Queen's County Ireland.  Isabella McKnight Newton died 15 May 1913, in Elton Manitoba.  Her birth date is listed as 6 April 1839 and she was born in Palmerston, Minto Township, Ontario according the the death certificate.

Now, I don't know if you have been keeping count, but Robert Newton and his two wives, produced 16 children, that I am aware of.  I can only hope he was as productive as a farmer as he was as a husband.

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.

THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF RESEARCHING TRANSCRIBED INDICES.

When I took my first genealogy research class, I remember the instructor stressing that we must be flexible when searching for our ancestors' surnames.  This was due to many factors.  Back in the day, a lot of people could not read or write and so the concept of how their name was spelled was not a big issue.  In most cases for farm workers or labourers this did not impact their day to day life.

Emigration played a large part of this name game as well.  An English, Scottish or Irish accent changed how the name sounded to the North American ear and therefore how it was written down.  Another factor to be considered is that when the census were taken, the person taking down the information may have misheard the information given and basically guessed at what they thought they heard.

Therefore I thought I was ready to search and try out variations on a name.  I started with my Meehan surname and tried to think of all the different variations I could.  When I started thinking about it there were quite a few:  Meehan, Mehan, Mechan, Meecham, Meighen, Meaghan, Meaghen, Meagher, etc.

Other names such as Howson, had similar variations:  Howson, Hawson, Honson, Houston (this being the most popular), Howard.  The Faulkner surname became, Falconer, Falkner, pretty close to the original.  The easiest name so far to search has been Newton, it seems to have escaped the many and varied spellings that happened to my other surname searches, although I did find a Hewton.

Then there is the added fact that when these census or vital statistics documents are indexed there is another layer of human intervention that can lead to a completely different surname altogether.  So what we have is potentially a name that is taken down incorrectly in the first place being transcribed incorrectly as well.  It's the written equivalent of playing broken telephone.

When I was researching my Meehan family, I was looking for the marriage for Teresa Meehan and Norman Dunne O'Leary on the Ancestry website.  What I came up with was Teresa Mechan and Roman Dunne Breaw.  That one stumped for a while and I did have difficulty finding the marriage record until I took out most of the information in the search box and just left the parents names.  Even then George Meehan was recorded as George Mechan and his wife Emma Howson became Emma Teresa Danson Mechan.  Not too far off for the Meehan surname, but how in the world can you transcribe Breaw for O'Leary?  The only part of Norman Dunne O'Leary's name that was correct was the middle name Dunne.

My latest search for George Howson is even more bizarre.  I knew that George Howson died, at the age of 85 years, in March 1879 in Belleville, Ontario, as I had his burial record from St. Michael's Church in Belleville.  I realised I didn't have his death certificate recorded.  Easy peasy I thought and went to Ancestry to do a search.  No George Howson appeared.  I then tried New Family Search and  I found him.  Unfortunately New Family Search does not have images.  But it does have the certificate number.  So I went back to Ancestry and searched in the Belleville deaths for 1879 and found the certificate number I was looking for.  George Howson's  name was recorded as Genya Snorton, aged 0.  Of course how silly of me!

Now I'm wondering how many more Roman Breaws and Genya Snortons are out there waiting for me to find them?

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.

THE MEEHAN - O'LEARY CONNECTION

During the  1950's  the O'Leary sisters was a popular Country & Western singing duo.  The duo consisted of Mae O'Leary and her sister Theresa.  Mae played acoustic guitar and Theresa played the double bass and they both sang.  It should be noted that Theresa was quite short and the bass was about a foot taller than she was.

They appeared on a weekly radio programme called the Hayloft Hoedown on CKEY radio in Toronto.  The actor Lorne Greene was a radio announcer at the station and took quite a shine to the sisters, especially Mae.   They performed on WWVA radio in Wheeling, West Virginia on  the Wheeling Jamboree. They also performed in Chicago on the National Barn Dance. They were offered a 15 minute weekly radio program in Chicago and were told the next stop would be Nashville, but they turned it down.  Here's a recording of Mae and Theresa as the O'leary Sisters

My father James Meehan used to brag that he was related to the O'Leary Sisters.   His aunt had married an O'Leary and he claimed the O'Leary's as kith and kin.

My great  aunt Theresa Brigid Meehan (1886 - 1946) was born in Belleville Ontario. The family moved to Toronto between 1896 and 1901. She is recorded on the 1901 Census living with her parents George Meehan and Emma (Howson) Meehan at 373 Queen Street East.

Theresa married Norman Dunn(e) O'Leary in Toronto in 1909. Norman's parents were John O'Leary and Maria Dunn(e).   Norman was born in Lindsay, Ontario in 1886.

In the 1960's we moved to Silverbirch Avenue and guess who also lived on the street?  The O'Leary Sisters plus some of the rest of the family.  The sisters came from a large family, I believe there were 12  brothers and sisters.  I became friends with 2 of their nieces as we were all the same age.

We've tried to find a connection to the O'Leary's but we can find none so far.  The parents of the O'Leary Sisters were John Joseph O'Leary born 1890 in Toronto and Charlotte Lawrence.  They lived in the east end of Toronto as did Norman and Theresa O'Leary.  The families were both Roman Catholic and at some point both lived on Caroline Avenue in Toronto.  But that's as close as we've come to connecting the families.  My two friends and I still jokingly refer to us being related.

I think the connection is tenuous at best.  Once we moved to Silverbirch Avenue, I didn't hear my dad mention the connection again.