Edith Charlotte Hook Death

I was trying to determine the date of death for Edith Caroline Hook. I had recorded somewhere that her date of death was 1941 according to a Hook family bible. And then on Ancestroy.com I found a hint that she had died in 1941 in Lawrence, South Dakota, USA. But that didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. So I decided to investigate for myself.

I found a probate record from 1943.

It mentions the husband, Joseph Masey White and gives a death date of 28 April 1943. So I looked in the GRO indexes and managed to find the actual death record:

So, not 1941 and not South Dakota. But mystery solved.

X00112 Solved!

Sometime when you wait long enough, an X-File will solve itself.

Such is the case with finding a burial location for Henrietta Fox Addison Rust-D'Eye. She was born 15 November 1838 in Soham, Cambridge, UK but spent time living in Suffolk and Norfolk. She came to Canada with the rest of the family in the 1880s.

Her husband, George Hastings Rust-D'Eye died in 1885. After that, I found her in the 1891 and 1901 censuses in Toronto Junction living with some of her children.

I wasn't able to find anything beyond 1901 for the longest time, until I started searching outside of Canada. I found a death record for her in 1921 in Suffolk, UK. I have not been able to fine her in either the Canadian or English 1911 census, or the 1921 Canadian census.

So, this means that she could have moved back to the UK prior to her death, or could have been there visiting when she died. When the 1921 England census comes out next year (or if I can find her in either 1911 census), it may give some answers. But this means that while she died in the UK, she could have wanted to be buried in the UK or back in Canada with the rest of the family. I checked with Mount Pleasant cemetery (where a number of the family are buried) and there is no record of her having been buried there.

I found a hint on Ancestry recently that pointed me to Gravestonephotos.com and the listings for the Municipal Cemetery in Kirkley, Suffolk, England. I found a listing, but no photo unfortunately, for a Henrietta Fox D.Eye. Although there was no photo there, I was able to find the same cemetery on Find a Grave and found the listing and photos there.

X00346 Potential Irwin Sisters

As best as I can tell, William Hardy had three wives. The first two were named Jane, who lived from about 1832 to 1865 and Sarah Elizabeth who lived from about 1843 to 1880. He married his third wife, Eveline Baker, much later on.

Both Jane and Sarah Elizabeth are buried in the same location in Churchville Cemetery in the same plot:

The interesting thing is that from the records that I've found, they both share the same last name - Jane Irwin and Sarah Elizabeth Irwin. So, the question is, are the two of them sisters? It could be plausible that William Hardy married Jane's sister after she died. Plus, one of William and Sarah Elizabeth's children is named Irwin. But on the other hand, they are eleven years apart in age. As well, some records suggest that Jane was born in Upper Canada, while Sarah Elizabeth was born in Ireland.

So, the next steps are to go back and review the records and review what I know about the two of them and see if I can confirm their last names. Then look to see what information I can find about the surname Irwin in the Churchville area.

A String of Accidents (More)

It was over four years ago that I posted about A String of Accidents.

Not much progress to report on solving this mystery, but I have managed to find the original article. I wasn't able to find it in the Hamilton Free Press (from where the transcription was taken), but instead, I found that the Montreal Gazette picked up the story and published it on Tuesday, 2 August, 1831:

An interesting additional notes (which was not included in the transcription) was that the person who caused the accident had his leg broken by a kick from a horse a few days later.

Henry Mundy and the Wood Duck

Henry Mundy who died in 1827 is one of my end-of-line ancestors (see X00239). I don't know a whole lot about him at this point. Most of what I do know comes from a few individual news articles.

The first one is from July of 1827 and describes a narrow escape as well as establishing Henry Mundy as the captain of the Wood Duck, a two-masted schooner.

Another article, from a few months later, on October 15, 1827 describes his death (as well as a man named Monroe) in the Niagara River due to the upsetting of the Wood Duck.

Definitely some interesting stories and it does give some details on how and when he died. But there's not much else to find about him. He married Ann Sidney Taylor on 12 March 1827, and she would have been pregnant with her first child when Henry died in October of 1827. Unfortunately I don't know a whole lot else about him at this point.