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.

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

[D02014] Churchville Cemetery (Canada, Ontario).