X00170 Possible Harry Hook in Directories - Solved!

Some time ago I had been searching for appearences of Harry Theodore Hook in city directories including some of these:

1899 Post Office Directory of London:

and

As well as in this directory from Suffolk:

As well as some other directories showing a Harry Hook on Malden Road

I can rule out the Sussex directory appearance, as I have never seen any reference to him living in Sussex.

As for the Malden Road references, I don't have anything that places him in a certain profession or location in 1899; the closest that I have is 1901 where he was a clerk in Chiswick. Nothing to connect him to Malden Road, or the profession of grocer. So with that, I have nothing to suggest that he is the same Harry Hook as in the directories.

X00122 John Logan Hook Date of Death Solved!

I had some information from other family members that John Logan Hook, a son of James Hook had died in Sierra Leone around 1850-1852 but I didn't have any death information.

I have since come across this article from The Morning Chronicle from 1852

So I have now been able to confirm that he died 30 September 1852

X00361 Is this Tew family connected?

I came across this article in the Oakville Record from 1960

I don't recognize any of the names, and this Tew family looks to have come from England, whereas mine came from Ireland. But it's worth investigating

Willard Eugene Madden

On 23 February 1941, PO Willard Eugene Madden was flying in a Harvard II A.J. 559, about four miles north-west of Collins Bay, near Odessa, Ontario with pupil pilot Walter Herbert Riddett from Wiltshire, England. At the same time, Lead Airman Claude Anthony Trebel, from Hampshire, England was also piloting a training aircraft, and the two planes collided in mid-air, killing all three airmen [D05215, D05220].

Willard Eugene Madden is buried in the Erskine Cemetery in Dunbarton Ontario. Walter Herbert Ridett and Claude Anthony Trebel are buried in Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston, Ontario. All three are memorialized in the Book of Remembrance.

Find a Grave Links:

• Pilot Officer Willard Eugene Madden
• Leading Airman Claude Anthony Trebel
• Leading Airman Walter Herbert Ridett

---

Sources:
[D05215] Canada, "Canada World War II Service Files," Madden, Willard Eugene; digital images, ancestry.ca,ancestry.ca

[D05220] "Eight Airmen Are Killed In Ontario in Two Days,"Globe and Mail, 25 February 1942, p. 1, col. 2.

Profile: The Honourable William Finlayson

William Finlayson was born 12 Dec 1873 in Brantford, Ontario [D08326] the son of Alexander Finlayson and Anna Mary Tupper. He attended Wellesley Public School and Jarvis Collegiate in Toronto and the Osgoode Hall where he received his law degree [D08317, D08321]. William was called to the bar in 1898 [D08317, D08321]. He moved to Midland, Ontario where he set up a partnership with politician William Humphrey Bennett [D08317, D0821] in 1897.

He married Ethel Cordner Sinclair, the second child and second daughter of Henry and Emily Sinclair [D08289, D08279, D05480] on 6 July 1904 in Orillia [D05484].

William first entered politics in 1906 and served as mayor of Midland for two years [D08317, D08321].

William and Ethel had their first child, a son, R. William Finlayson about 1907 [D08278, D08279]. A daughter, Mary Frances Sybil Finlayson was born in 1910, followed by Phyllis Constance Sinclair Finlayson in 1912 [D08278, D08279].

William served in the militia with the 35th Simcoe Foresters prior to World War One. When the war started, he enlisted on 7 January 1916 in Barrie, Ontario [D08281]. He was first assigned to the 157th Battalion, but was transferred to the 10th Brigade, Canadian Field artillery in January of 1917 where he served as Captain until demobilization in March of 1919 [D08281, D08317, D08321].

After the war, William formed a new law partnership with George Dudley, Finlayson and Dudley Barristers and Solicitors in Midland. He entered politics again and was elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Simcoe East in 1923 [D08285, D08321]. In his first term he chaired the public accounts committee and then the municipal committee in his second term [D08285, D08317, D08321]. He was elected to the position of Minister of Lands and Forests and held the position until 1934 when he lost his seat in the legislature [D08285, D08317, D08321]. He was reelected in 1937 but resigned two years later to allow George Drew, the new Conservative party leader, to enter the assembly [D08285, D08317, D08321].

During his time in the provincial legislature, he worked to develop Northern Ontario and expand the provincial parks system [D08285, D08317, D08321]. He travelled extensively to the remote areas of Northern Ontario, particularly around Hudson Bay and James Bay [D08288, D08317, D08321]. Two places in Ontario are named after William Finlayson: Finlayson township in the District of Nipissing (now part of the Township of Lake of Bays) and Finlayson Point in Temagami, which later became Finlayson Point Provincial Park.

William Finlayson died 14 November 1943 or pulmonary embolism [D08280]. His wife died a few months later on 19 May 1944 [D05480]. Both WIlliam and Ethel are buried in St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Midland [D08324]

---

Sources:
[D05480] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, 29392; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca

[D05484] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, Reel 116: 375, 17188, Finlayson-Sinclair; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"

[D08278] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 119, sub-district 32, Midland, p. 17, dwelling 179, family 192; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com

[D08279] 1921 census of Canada, district 126, sub-district 27, Midland, p. 6, dwelling 59, family 59; RG 31; digital images, ancestry.com

[D08280] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, 212, 34407; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca

[D08281] Canada, "Military Service Record - William Finlayson"; digital images

[D08285] "Wm.Finlayson Dead," The Montreal Gazette, 15 Nov 1943, p. 14, col. 3; digital images, Newspapers.com

[D08317] "Former Ontario Minister William Finlayson Dies,"Toronto Star, 15 Nov 1943, p. 18, col. 3; digital images

[D08321] "Wm. Finlayson: Was Minister in 2 Ontario Governments,"Globe and Mail, 15 Nov 1943, p. 7, col. 3; digital images

[D08324] Saint Mark's Anglican Church (Midland, Simcoe, Ontario)

[D08326] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, Reel 9, Record Group RG 80-2: 459, 28728, 95; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births,"

X00327 Update

I posted previously about X00327: Joseph Wood Hardy. I have since found an article that talks about the suicide:

It gives a little more information but doesn't give any more information either way.

X00008 Is the person in this photo Lawrence Ashton - Solved!

I have previously posted about a photo of a 75th Battalion soldier that I found on ebay that I was wondering whether or not was Lwarence Ashton or not.

Here's the photo from ebay:

Recently someone posted a different photo of Lawrence Ashton that I hadn't seen previously:

This photo is nice a clear and I can definitely see that it is the same person as in the other known photos of him. But the person in the ebay photo is definitely someone else.

William Miller & Jane Hardy Marriage Location

Recently, Newspapers.com has added some Owen Sound papers to their collection and it has been very beneficial as it is has allowed me to find the full text articles to some things where I have previously only had the transcription. But a side benefit is that I have been able to find some other articles through searches that I would haven't likely been able to find otherwise.

One such example is an obituary of Jane Hardy from the Owen Sound Sun, 24 April 1917:

The article implies that she and William Miller were married in Meadowvale about 1856. I had previously found their marriage reistration record showing a date of 22 June 1857 in Wellington County. The marriage was performed by Matthew S. Grey.

So, the date of the marriage is confirmed, but the question is where did the marrige take place? The marriage register doesn't give a definite place of marriage, but can a news article written sixty years after the fact (and after both the husband and wife are deceased) be trusted to give accurate information?

The next step is to see if there are additional church records that might give some indication as to the location

X00296 William Henry Muckle Solved!

It's always fun when you solve a mystery that you hadn't been looking to solve.

Edith Mary Williams was the fifth daughter of Isaac Amos Williams and Caroline Seymour Sanders. I have found two marriage records for her; the first is a marriage to a Willian Henry Muckle on 15 March 1882 in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. The second marriage was to William Bastoph on 7 November 1895 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

There were a few interesting things about these findings. The first one is the question of how Edith got from Lindsay, Ontario in 1882 to Omaha, Nebraska in 1895. I was not able to find a death record for William Henry Muckle - assuming that he died somewhere between 1882 and 1895 - checking in Ontario, Manitoba and the US as well. But one of the most interesting things is that in the second marriage record, Edith's last name is listed as Williams and not Muckle. It was as if the first marriage hadn't happened at all.

Some time ago, I was looking into William Bastoph's Civil War history and requested a copy of his pension file. I certainly was not expecting to find an explanation to all of that in a pension file, but sure enough I did.

Included in the pension file was a copy of the decree of divorse from Edith's first husband:

The decree was from the State of North Dakota and evidently William Henry Muckle deserted his wife on 17 January 1889 and went to Seattle. The divorce was granted 4 August 1890.

That certainly explains why she reverted back to her maiden name and why I couldn't find any death information for William Muckle. As for how she got to Nebraska, it's still not confirmed, but after the divorce, she could have moved in with some of her relatives and moved around.

X00326 What happened to Sarah Agnes Hyatt after 1901

Sarah Agnes Hyatt was born 28 March 1877, the daughter or Matthew Ostrander Hyatt and Mary Hardy. I've found her in the 1901 Canadian census. She is working as a domestic servant in Toronto in 1901. But there is nothing that I could find beyond that in Ontario. No death record, marriage record or census record. No cemetery record either.

I have recently found a Sarah A. Hyatt working as a domestic servant in Detroit, Michigan in the 1910 US Census. According to the census record, she was born in 1877 in Canada and emigrated to the US in 1903. So it does fit.

I have found her again in latest census years in Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan at the Traverse City State Hospital for the Insane. She was still alive in 1940, but I haven't been able to find anything to definitely link her to the same Sarah Agnes Hyatt, other than the fact that the name, date and place of birth and profession match.

Michigan death records are only available up to 1952 and I haven't yet found her death record. So it could be that she died after 1952 in Michigan. unfortunately this doesn't give us much to go on to link her to my Ontario Hyatt family so far.

X00253 Who is Eliza Ann Hyatt - Solved!

In the book, Halton Sketches Revisited by John McDonald, there is a reference to an Eliza Ann Hyatt in connection with Lucy Maude Montgomery, who lived in Norval, Ontario at one time. I was wondering if this Eliza Ann Hyatt is connected to the same Hyatt family that I am researching, also from Norval.

So, I managed to find her birth record from 1884, daughter of William Hyatt and Jane Magill.

I next found the marriage record for William Hyatt and Jane Magill from 1870, showing his parents as John and Mary Ann Hyatt, and that he was born around 1846.

I've also come across an index of a marriage record (I haven't found the original record yet) for a marriage between a John Hyatt and Mary McMahon in 1842. Now, my theory is (although I haven't verified it yet) is that this marriage is the second marriage for John Hyatt and that he is the same John Hyatt who married Rachel Ostrander.

Bruce Murphy in the 1881 Census

I have come across two possibilities for Bruce Murphy in the 1881 census of Ontario.

What is known about Bruce Murphy from later records found is:

• He was born about 1857 in Canada West
• He was a jeweller
• He was of Irish background
• His parents were Thomas Murphy and Hurena Brown
• His religion was Church of England

Option 1: Grey County, Ontario
In the first option, there is a 24 year old Bruce Murphy living in Grey County and working as a jeweller.

So we have:

• Age of 24 (matches)
• Occupation of jeweller (matches)
• Scotch in background (different)
• Not living with parents (inconclusive)
• Religion: Church of England (matches)

Option 2: Simcoe, Norfolk County, Ontario
In the second option, there is a 22 year old Bruce Murphy living in Norfolk County and working as a jeweller.

So we have:

• Age of 22 (different)
• Occupation of jeweller (matches)
• Irish in background (matches)
• Living with a Thomas and Hurina Murphy (matches)
• Religion: Church of England (matches)

Other than the age being off by two years, the second option appears to be the best fit. I've looked back to the 1861 census and found the same family in Norfolk county and the information matches, but Bruce's age is given as 4 which corresponds to a birth year of 1857, which matches. So, I'm inclined to go wtih the second one as being correct. There is a possibility that both records are correct, i.e. that he was living in Grey County but the family listed him as a family member as well.

X00222 Update

I'm continuing to look for evidence of the marriage between George Miller and Amelia Grant Munro (X00222).

I've tried looking for Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian marriages in Toronto Township with nothing found.

Another possibility is that Amelia Grant Munro's brother-in-law, Robert Boyd was a Presbyterian minister in Prescott, Ontario. He became Minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Prescott in 1829 and was th eminister there for fourty-three years, so he would have been the minister there in 1835.

Unfortunately, I checked with the Presbyterian archives for St. Andrew's in Prescott and they did not have a record of that marriage.

X00314 Who is Bonnie Chater - Solved!

Every now and then I come across a document with a name on it where I suspect that the name is connected to my family but I'm not entirely sure how. Such was the case wwith an obituary that someone had posted on Ancestry for a Bonnie Chater.

Unfortunately, the obituary didn't give very much in the way of family name clues. And I did not have the surname Chater in my tree anywhere.

I was researching the Murphy family of Orillia, Ontario and came across a record in Find A Grave for a Bonnie Chater with a maiden name of Murphy. Doing a bit more research I found that one of the Murphy daughters, Eva Beatrice Murphy married a Harold J Chater and sure enough the dates match. It appears that she went by the nickname "Bonnie" later on in life.

Article about Mr. E Tricker

I came across this article on the Streetsville Review, dated 5 May 1892 about a Mr. E. Tricker returning to the area after 42 years.

Based on the fact that he was living in Indiana at the time and that he fought in the US Civil War, this would mostdefinitely be Emmanuel Tricker.

It mentions a Mrs. Carthew of Meadowvale, who would be Jane Tricker Hardy Carthew and also that one of his brothers lives to the East, which would have been Mark Tricker.

What is interesting (and the new information) is that the article suggests that he moved away from Meadowvale around 1850.

Hardy Wedding Announcement

I found this wedding announcement between a William Hardy and Bella McNaughton appeared in the Streetsville Review on January 14, 1898. The name William Hardy does appear quite a bit in my family, but upon further investigation I found that this William Hardy is not connected to my branch.

X00360 John Hallam after 1901

John Hallam married Annie Maud Laidlaw on 5 May 1900 in Streetsville, Peel, Ontario [D03609]. But after that time I didn't have much else found for the two of them.

I have found both of them in the 1901 Canadian census, although living in different locations. John Hallam is living with his grandmother, Jane Tricker Hardy Carthew [D07168] and Annie Maud Laidlaw is living with her parents [D07511]. Both are in Toronto Township.

After the 1901 census, I hadn't found any records for either of them until recently that is. I have found Annie Maud Hallam in a 1921 marriage to a Norman Larush in Cleveland, Ohio [D08057].

I have also found an obituary for an Annie Larush, and it would appear that she died in Streetsville in 1968.

So then what happened to John Hallam? Clearly he is out of the picture by 1921. And a related question is what happened to Annie May Laidlaw between 1901 and 1921? How did she get to Cleveland, Ohio?

Did John Hallam die between 1901 and 1921? Did the two get divorced? There is an Annie Hallam living by herself in Toronto in the 1911 census, but it's not clear if it is the same person or not. Perhaps the fact that the two of them are in separate locations at the time of the 1901 census is a clue

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Sources
[D03609] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages212, 13031, Hallam-Laidlaw; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages".

[D07168] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 103, sub-district 6, Toronto Township, p. 6, dwelling 54, family 54; RG 31; digital images

[D07511] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 103, sub-district 6, Toronto Township, p. 2, dwelling 14, family 14; RG 31; digital images.

[D08057] Ohio, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016, 123-124: 34, Larush-Hallam, 1921; digital images, familysearch

X00357 Sarah Jane Hardy and Maria Hardy

OK, so here’s a new puzzle.

Maria Hardy and Sarah Jane Hardy are, from what I can tell, both daughters of the same person (Lancelot Hardy), born to different mothers. Maria born to Ann Wood Hardy and Sarah Jane born to Jane Tricker Hardy. Both appear to have been born in 1844. A number of different sources imply that their birth years were 1844, including their gravestones:

I had thought that perhaps Maria Hardy's birthday of 29 October 1844 was accurate, but perhaps that Sarah Jane Hardy was born in 1845. Then it would all fit if Ann Wood died in 1844 and Lancelot remarried Jane Tricker in 1845. But it got a little more complicated when I recently discovered the birth of Harriet Hardy in July of 1846.

We now know that Harriet Hardy was born in July of 1846 from the baptism record and was the daughter of Lancelot and Jane. Which means that Jane would have become pregnant sometime around November of 1845. So then if we have Maria Hardy born in October of 1844 and somewhere in between October of 1844 and November of 1845, you have the birth of Sarah Jane Hardy. Which seems a lot to have happened in a short period of time, if my original timeline is correct. So, rethinking the information that I have, here are the possibilities as I see them:

1) The dates that I have or 1844 and 1845 are correct.
Which means that in the span of about year, Ann Wood Hardy gave birth to Maria Hardy, then died, then Lancelot Hardy married Jane Tricker very shortly thereafter, she got pregnant and gave birth to Sarah Jane Hardy and then got pregnant again shortly thereafter. That’s a lot happening in a very short period of time.

2) The dates I have are not correct
Which seems the more likely case, but then what dates are wrong? Was Maria born earlier than 1844? That is going to take some more analysis to determine if it is a possibility.

3) Lancelot had an extramarital affair and/or abandoned Ann Wood
This one could be a possibility. Divorce would have been unlikely at the time, but Lancelot could have had an extramarital affair and/or abandoned Ann Wood. This option would certainly fit within the time line. But if this the case, it opens up some other questions, particularly as to when Ann Wood Hardy died. It had been assumed that she died in 1844, but this opens the door to a number of possibilities.

4) Twins
In this scenario, Maria Hardy and Sarah Jane Hardy were twins, born to the same mother (either Ann Wood or Jane Tricker) and I have the wrong mother for one of them. This seems a bit unlikely though, because it goes against all the other evidence.

5) Different Lancelots
The last possibility is that there are two different Lancelot Hardys. I have looked at this possibility before. We know that Lancelot born about 1793 was definitely married to Ann Wood. The Lancelot Hardy born 1827 can’t have been married to both Jane Tricker and Frances Snowden. So, it would have to mean that there was a third Lancelot Hardy living in Toronto Township at the time, which seems very unlikely.

So, given the above, I’m thinking that either #2 or #3 are the most likely possibilities. But technically any of them could be. Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of documents available from that time period to help.

---

Sources:
[TBD] Churchville Cemetery (Canada, Ontario).

[D02014] Churchville Cemetery (Canada, Ontario).

X00359 Alice Hallam Skusky Date of Death

Alice Hallam married Charles Skusky on 14 January 1890 in Meadowvale, Peel Region, Ontario, Canada [D07195]. The couple had a number of children over the next decade, although it would appear that only two of them (Jennie May and Charles Harold) survived by the time of the 1901 census [D07197].

The 1901 census shows the four of them living in the town of Erin, Ontario in Wellington County [D07197]. And it would also appear to be the latest record in which I have found Alice Hallam Skusky...or is it?.

I have found Chrales Skusky in both the 1911 and 1921 census records living in Algoma County, Ontario and he is listed as a widower in both records [D08038, D08039]. He is also listed as a widower in his death record [D08023]. Based on that information, it would appear that Alice died somewhere between 1901 and 1911. I have not been able to find any death or burial records however.

But then, I've come across a 1940 directory that lists a Mrs. Alice Skusky living in Meadowvale, Ontario.

This certainly makes things interesting. Could this be the same Alice Skusky? Skusky is a very rare name in Ontario, so there is a good chance of it. It would mean that Charles and Alice separated some time between 1901 and 1911, Charles moved up to Algoma and Alice stayed with family in Meadowvale. And both of them claimed to be widowed, rather than explain the separation. It is certainly plausible, particularly considering that it appears Alice's grandmother Jane Tricker did the same thing when her husband William Carthew moved to Manitoba.

But in order to prove that I would need some additional evidence that she was alive and living somewhere else after 1911, which I have yet to find.

So, it would appear that she either died between 1901 and 1911 or after 1940. To prove the former, I'd need to find a death or burial record. To prove the latter, I'd need to find either death or burial records, or some other evidence to suggest that she was alive after 1911.

---

Sources
[D07195] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, Reel 68: 291, 9598, Skusky-Hallam; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,".

[D07197] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 126, sub-district 6, Erin, p. 4, dwelling 34, family 35; RG 31; digital images(accessed 27 Feb 2022).

[D08023] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935, M023566, Reel 681: 315, 9556; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (6 Mar 2022).

[D08038] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 55, sub-district 32, Bruce Mines, p. 20, dwelling 198, family 198; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 12 Mar 2022).

[D08039] 1921 census of Canada, district 66, sub-district 4, Plummer Additional, p. 3, dwelling 42, family 42; RG 31; digital images, ancestry.com (accessed 12 Mar 2022).

X00320 William Hallam after 1881 - Solved!

One puzzle that I was trying to solve was what happened to William Hallam after 1881. William Hallam married Sarah Jane Hardy on 12 February 1863 in Meadowvale. Sarah died in 1876. I found William Hallam in the 1881 census, but nothing definite beyond that.

I have found a William Hallam death record in 1895, but initially wasn't sure if it was him.

The age, place of birth and profession matched, but it wasn't until I did some research on his daughter, Alice Hallam that I was able to determine for sure. I disocvered that Alice had married a Charles Skusky, who appears on the death registration as the informant.

There is also an 1891 census record that has a William Hallam married to an Ellen with two children. I wasn't entirely sure about this record either, as I have not been able to find a marriage record for William and Ellen. But the age, profession and religion all match

Ester Tricker - Henry Reily marriage

I contacted the archives for the Anglican Church of Canada, Toronto Diocese to see if they could find some church records that I was looking for from Toronto Township.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to find very many of the ones I was looking for, but the archivist also offered to search the records for the churches in nearby Etobicoke that would have been aound in the 1840s. I'm glad that she did because she managed to find this marraiage record for an Ester Tricker:

It's a marrage dated 1 September 1840 between an Ester Tricker and a Henry Baily. I was wondering if the surname Baily was a mis-transcription of the surname "Reily" and that this was actually the marriage that I was looking for betwen Ester Tricker and Henry Reilly. One of the key clues was that one of the witnesses to the marriage was a Mary Ann Wade, and Ester Tricker's mother's maiden name was Wade.

So, I asked, and it turns out was that this was a transcription made in the early 1900s because the original records in the church are in bad condition. I mentioned this and the archivist went back to check the original records and found this original:

And it turns out that this was, in fact, the correct record!

X00256 Thomas Williams date of death Solved!

I've posted previously about X00256 and Thomas Williams' date of death. In my last post, I mentioned that I was looking into a Thomas Williams who died 3 August 1885 and is buried in the St. James and St. Andrew Cemetery in Orillia.

Other than the cemetery stone itself, I haven't been able to find any information to confirm that it is, in fact, the correct Thomas Williams. I haven't been able to find aa civil registration death notice thus far.

I've check with newspapers for Barrie and Orillia to see if there was an obituary or news article, but didn't find anything there either.

So, I contacted the Anglican Church Archives to check the burial registers for St James Church. They weren't able to find a burial record. I also checked with the Presbyterian Church Archives in the oft chance that St. Andrews Church had a burial register. They didn't either.

So, the next step was to check with the cemetery itself. What they were able to confirm is that the date of death was 3 September 1885 and that the plot was registered to Hewett and Tipping, which pretty much indicates that this is the right Thomas Williams, because those would have likely been his nephews/neices, which also explains the words "uncle" on the stone!

X00262 Everett Delahaye Timeline

Everett Delahaye is the son of John Delahaye and Nancy Lawson. He was born 23 March 1890. But here's where it gets interesting.

A birth registration has been found for him showing him as having being born in Romney, Kent, Ontario. But there is also a second birth certificate out there with the exact same birth date and parents names, showing him as being born in Chicago:

Now, is it a delayed birth registration, so it was created many years after the birth took place and so there are reasons to be a bit suspect. There may have been reasons to suggest an alternative birth location. but this does require tome analysis to determine which birth location is correct. There is the possibility that there could be two individuals with the same name born on the same day, but with the same parents names, it seems very unlikely. It should be noted that his birth location is given as Chicago in his death registration.

Another interesting note is in his delayed birth registration, both parents are listed as being born in the US, which goes against all other information that I've found. I'm inclined to think that the information in the delayed birth record is inaccurate, but I need to do more of an analysis first before ruling it out entirely.

Harriet Hardy

I was requesting some look ups from the Anglican Church archives, and although they weren't able to find what I was looking for, they did manage to find something that I was not expecting: A daughter of Lancelot Hardy and Jane Tricker that I did not know about previously, named Harriet.

Her baptism record gives a date of birth of 11 July 1846 and a baptism date of 11 July 1847:

Her burial record gives a burial date of 13 January 1851

So, she died before civil registration started in Ontario and did not live long enough to appear in a census (although the section of the 1851 census where the Hardy family would have been living has not survived). I've never come across a gravestone for her. So these two records might be the only records that survive for her.

X00310 Norah Eleanor Hewett Knox date of death - solved!

I have posted previously about finding death dates for the Hewett sisters, Annie F., Olive and Clara. I still haven't found anything for them, beyond 1965, where I found the three of them in a 1965 voters list.

But I have managed to find their sister Norah's date of death. It seems that someone has recently added her gravestone to find a grave. The stone gives a date of death of 9 April 1957, which means that I'll need to wait a few years before the Archives of Ontario releases the death information.

But it's another X-File solved!

X00356 More on Lancelot Hardy's date of death

In last week's post, I introduced X00356 about the dates of death for Lancelot Hardy (born 1827) and Frances Snowden Hardy Johnson. For Lancelot, I had estimated his date of death to be between 1865 and 1868.

I have since come acorss a Gazeteer and Directory for the county of Perth for 1867. There is no Lancelot Hardy appearing in the listings for Blanshard Township. While this is not definitive proof, it would suggest that Lancelot died before 1867 and a more likely date of death range to be looking in would be from 1865 to 1866.

X00356 Lancelot Hardy and Frances Snowden death information

You may remember Lancelot Hardy b. 1827 from X00192. He is the son of Lancelot Hardy and Ann Wood and from married Frances Snowden in 1853 in Toronto Township [D07213].

I'm trying to find the death information for both Lancelot Hardy and Frances Snowden.

At the time of the 1861 census [D07143], Lancelot and Frances Hardy were living in Blanshard Township, Perth County. They had a child, Harriet Hardy, born about 1860 in Meadowvale, Ontario according to her marriage registration, so it is likely that they moved to Blanchard Township sometime between 1860 and 1861.

Frances Snowden remarried a William Johnson on 20 April 1868 in Perth County [D07145] so it is likely that Lancelot died before then. The last child that the two had together (as far as I can tell) was born about 1866 in Perth County. So, that would suggest a death range for Lancelot Hardy between 1865 and 1868.

As for Frances, she remarries William Johnson in 1868. They appear together in the 1871 census, but then William Johnson appears in the 1880 US census in Minnesota as a widower. In the 1880 census, he is living with only his children; the children that Frances and Lancelot had together are all living in Canada. So, it would appear that after Frances died, he moved to the US with only his children.

The last child that I’m aware of Frances having was born in 1875, so that would put her year of death between 1875 and 1880.

So, I have estimated ranges of date years for the two of them, and likely locations of Blanshard Township, Perth County. But nothing more definite than that.

Lancelot Hardy died prior to the start of civil registration in Ontario, so no death record is to be found. Frances died after the start of civil registration, but I have not been able to find a death record. I haven't been able to find cemetery records for either of them.

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Sources
[D07143] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Blanshard, district 02, Blanshard, p. 26; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca

[D07145] Ontario, Ontario County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869, GS Film Number 001030063: 194, Johnson-Hardy, 1868; digital images, FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch

[D07213] (Toronto Township, Canada West), "Marriage Registration - Lancelot Hardy and Frances Snowden"; United Church of Canada Archives, Toronto.

X00062 Charlotte Ann Hennell Baptism - Solved!

Charlotte Ann Henneel is my third great grandmother and the wife of Adam Clarke Hook. I knew that she was born around 1830 due to various census records and her death record. But I wasn't able to find a bpatism record. I had checked a number of sources including Ancestry, FindMyPast, FamilySearch and the British Isles Vital Records Index, with no luck.

I had a note in my genealogy database that she had been baptised 1 September 1830 at St. Mary Abbott Church in Kensington, although I'm not sure where that came from.

I had a look for records of St. Mary Abbott Church in Family Search. The church was listed, but unfortunately the year 1830 was missing:

I went back to Ancestry and did some creative searching and found that the record had been indexed under the surname "Kennell" rather than Hennell. It did confirm a date of 1 September 1830 as a baptism date:

A number of trees on Ancestry, however, also give a birth date of 6 August 1830. I haven't found a source for that yet. The year is consistent with all the other sources, but nothing that I've found gives an exact date of birth

X00038 William Douglas Passenger List - Solved!

I finally managed to find a passenger list for William Douglas, my fourth great-grandfather.

I knew that he was born in Scotland and from the letters that he had sent, had relocated to Vermont to teach at a school there. I checked a number of passenger and immigration lists, including Filby's, but couldn't find anything.

I did find a mention in Volume 2 of A Dictionary of Scottish Immigrants to the U.S.A. by Donald Whyte:

All of the other information checked out, and it gave a date of "before 1825". I next was able to find a reference to a William Douglas, teacher, who arrived in New York from Scotland on the Sceptre on 24 July 1822.

Here is the port registration for the Sceptre:

And here's the actual passenger list:

X00207 Elizabeth D'Aye Baptism - Solved!

Elizabeth D'Aye is my 5th great-grandmother. She appears in the book The House of Cromwell and according to the book, she is the daughter of Robert D'Aye and Mary Russell and she married Thomas Addison on 5 April 1762 in Soham Cambridgeshire. Not much else is given about her life, other than details about her children.

Even though there was information given in The House of Cromwell, I did want to verify it myself. I have found the marriage record. I have also found her burial record.

But as for the baptism record there were multiple options that I found. One dated 27 February 1730 - an Elizabeth born to Robert and Mary D'Aye:

And another dated 26 October 1746 - an Elizabeth born to Robert and Mary Day:

My initial inclination was to go with the first one because the surname is D'Aye vs Day, but add on the fact that with the second baptism, it would mean that she would have been age 15 when she got married. So, I've concluded that the first one is the correct one.

X00197 Christopher Place date of death - Solved!

Christopher Place is my 3rd Great-Grandfather. Finding his death information presented a bit of a challenge. I knew that it was likely before 1891 because he didn't appear in the 1891 census, but did appear in the 1881 census. The problem was that there were two individuals named Christopher Place who died in 1888 in Blackburn. Both worked in the cotton industry:

There's a Christopher Place who died 2 February 1888 in Oswaldtwistle, formerly a Cotton Carder and married to a Jane Place

Also, another Christopher Place who died 11 November 1888 in Blackburn, formerly a Cotton Sizer and married to a Nancy Place.

Prior to ordering the certificates, I wasn't sure which one was the correct one, because both of them matched the age and location. But I bought both of them to get more information. At the time, that I first discovered this, I wasn't entirely aware that Nancy Place was still alive in 1888 and so didn't know what to make of the two certificates. Not to mention, there was a marriage of a Christopher Place and a Jane just prior to 1888. But if I compare the two, the one with a death date of 11 November makes more sense because:

• The location of Blackburn makes more sense than Oswaldtwistle
• Nancy Place as a wife's name makes more sense

So, I've decided that the second one makes more sense. This is another closed X-File!

Andrew Hook (1778/9 - 1881)

I found this article in the Alnwick Mercury, dated 1881 about an Andrew Hook who died about age 103.

Although it doesn't mention the parents by name, it mentions that he was born in Belford, Northumberland about 1778 or 1779 and that his father was a Northumbrian shepherd. Could he be a son of Andrew Hook and Elizabeth Logan? The date and location match, and Andrew Hook the elder was a shepherd. It might be a clue.

X00047 The Sir Slade Connection

Family lore has it that our Slade line is descended from a "Sir Slade" somewhere along the line. So far, I've only managed to trace the Slade line back to a William Slade (born 1800) and his father, a Robert Slade.

I had a search of the last name Slade in FindMyPast's Britain, Knights Of The Realm & Commonwealth database. All of the occurrences of the surname Slade were born after 1800 except one: a Sir Thomas Slade 1703-1771 who was a Naval architect.

According to WikiTree, Sir Thomas Slade lists only one child in his will, dated 1760 and that child is Thomas Moore Slade 1749-1831. WikiTree hasn't identified any spouse or children for Thomas Moore Slade. If the family lore store is true, then it would likely have to be the case that Robert Slade is the son of Thomas Moore Slade. It's just a matter of proving things one way or the other.

X00093 Elizabeth Logan Hook Death Information

Elizabeth Logan was my 5th Great Grandmother, and the wife of Andrew Hook. I had some difficulties in tracking her down later in her life, partly because I didn't have much to go on, and partly because the name of Elizabeth Hook is not that uncommon.

I found a few death certificate candidates and a few candidates in the 1841 census - including ones living in Belford, Northumberland, England. I had figured that the person in the Belford death record and 1841 census record was the most likely candidate, but wasn't 100% sure, until I found this news article in the Newcastle Courant:

The date corresponds with the date of death in the Belford death record and provides a link to Andrew Hook, and so I'm now confident that I have the right one.

On a side note, she's living with an Isabella Kinghorn in 1841 (born in 1820), and the witness to her death in 1847 was an Isabella Bromfield. Could it be the same person? Could Isabella be a granddaughter?

X00219 George Milford Birth - Solved!

Tracking down the birth information for George Milford presented a bit of a challenge. I had a birth year of about 1850 from census records, as well as a location of Devonshire, England. But I couldn't find anything that was a good fit in the England birth registration lists.

So, I expanded my search to include more years which give some possibilities, but also created a new challged in that it created a number of possible candidates.

I did know the names of his parents - James Milford and Eliza Beard - from George's marriage records, so I checked the GRO's indexes (because you can search by the mother's maiden name as well) and looked for the maiden name of Beard. I still didn't find anything.

So I next took out the first name to see if I could find something under a variant first name. I found an entry for a Milford without a first name, so I decided to take a chance and order the certificate:

It turns out that it was the correct one - it appears that the baptismal name was added after the fact.

X00071 Andrew Hook EOL

Andrew Hook is my 5th Great-Grandfather and currently and End-Of-Line Ancestor. To this point I haven't found out much about him, other than he married Elizabeth Logan in Belford, Northumberland, England on 23 July 1786 and was a shepherd (according to his wife's death record). Elizbeth Logan Hook is listed as a widow in 1847, so he likely died before then.

Recently, I've found an index of a record for a burial on 24 October 1820 in Belford for an Andrew Hook. The age at death was 58 years, which would correspond to a birth year of about 1762, which would work with a marriage in 1786. so, it's a possibility. It's not definite, but the name, dates and locations match.

I don't have the original record yet, but I'll see if I can get a copy through the Family History Library and see if it gives any more information on it.