Other Hardy Gravestones

With the research I was doing with X00216: The Trafalgar Hardy letter, I was able to answer some questions I had about some other Hardy surname gravestones that I found in both St. Peter's Cemetery in Erindale and Springcreek Cemetery in Clarkson.

On previous trips to St. Peter's and Sprincreek Cemeteries I had photographed some stones that had the Hardy surname on them, in the event that they were connected. I've since been able to connect many of these to the George Hardy and Mary Buckton who are buried in St. Peter's

The above stone, for George H. Hardy was found in Springcreek. This George, I found, was the son of George Hardy and Mary Buckton. He married an Emma Gilby, which accounts for a number of stones I found in both locations with the names Hardy and Gilby.

George and Mary had another son, J.C. Hardy and I found his stone in Springcreek as well

So, it seems that many of the Hardy names that I've found in Clarkson and Erindale are all connected to the George Hardy and Mary Buckton line (to which I'm still investigating if they are connected to mine). It would appear that there were at least three Hardy families living in Toronto Township at the time: One in Churchville (mine), one in Streetsville and one in Clarkson/Erindale. If there is a connection between any of the three of them, it was before they arrived in Canada.

X00216 The Trafalgar Hardy Letter

In 2017 Summer newsletter of the Trafalgar Township Historical Society, there's a mention of a letter in their archives written in 1855 from a Mary Hardy to her sister Elizabeth in Yorkshire, England. Given the surname Hardy and the timeline, I was curious to know if this Mary Hardy was connected to my Hardy family. I have not found any evidence of the family being located in Trafalgar Township, but it's not that far from Churchville, so it could be a possibility.

The article mentions that the letter was written by Mary Buckton Hardy (1801-1881) who married a George Hardy. Interestingly enough, I had previously come across and photographed both of their gravestones at St. Peter's Anglican, Erindale when I was looking for the gravestone of Lancelot Hardy.

Knowing this, I could now solve a couple of mysteries at the same time - the first as to whether the letter was connected to my family and the second as to whether the George and Mary Hardy buried in St. Peter's Anglican Cemetery were connected.

George Hardy died in 1850, which is before civil registration began in Ontario, but I was able to find Mary Hardy's death registration:

Unfortunately, it doesn't give anything additional to confirm or rule out a connection between the two families. I have since found evidence of a marriage between a George Hardy and a Mary Buckton 30 December 1830 in Kirk-Leatham, Yorkshire, England. The original record may give some more information about George's background, but I'd need to get that from a Family Search Centre or Family Search affiliate library. Stay tuned for more...

X00251 Death Date for Jonadab Hardy - Solved!

For the longest time, I had figured that Jonadab Hardy (son of Lancelot Hardy and Ann Wood) had died sometime between 1891 and 1901. This was based on the fact that I had found him the 1891 census [D02255], but in the 1901 census his wife, Mary Ann Foster Hardy appears without him [D03280]. But I wasn't able to find a death record for him in that range. Nor was I able to find any cemetery record indicating when or where he might be buried.

I came across a death record from 1906 that could be a possible fit [D03297].

It was indexed as "John Adolph Hardy", but on closer inspection, it could well be Jonadab (or a spelling variant of it). The date of death was 12 March 1906.

Looking at the death record, there are a few arguments in favour:

• The name matches (or at least it's a close approximation)
• The location of the death (Toronto) makes sense, because previous records indicate he had been living there.
• The age at death (73) indicates a year of birth around 1833, which matches what is known about Jonadab
• I haven't seen any other occurrence of the name Jonadab Hardy in southern Ontario at the time.

There were a few problematic areas as well:

• The given occupation (speculator) does not mach previous records indicating that he was a carpenter and operated a saw mill in later years.
• The birthplace (Canada) does not match all other records indicating that he was born in England
• The fact that he doesn't appear in the 1901 census with his wife is suspicious. The census record does not indicate whether or not she was a widow.

I did some digging in the Peel archives and found an death notice in the Streetsville Review dated 15 March 1906 [D04565].

Not only does it confirm the name, but it also indicates that he formerly operated a sawmill in the area. Based on that, I'm going to conclude that this is the same person and that the birth location given on the death registration was an error. I still haven't found him in the 1901 census but that might likely be because of the various mispellings of his name. Another plus: it gives the location of where he was buried, in Erindale Cemetery. That being said, he doesn't appear in the transcriptions for Erindale so, it is most likely that either there was no stone, or the stone hasn't survived.

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Sources:
[D02255] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 119, sub-district St. Stephen's Ward, Toronto City, p. 150, dwelling B2/6, family 678; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.

[D03280] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 103, sub-district D-3, Toronto Township, p. 2, dwelling 19, family 19; RG 31; digital images.

[D03297] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 124: 55, 1742; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca. [D04565] (Streetsville) Streetsville Review, 15 March 1906, p. 1, Col 6.

X00199 - Solved!

A couple of years ago I went to the Peel Archives to look up the Perkins-Bull collection for the surname Hardy. In it, I came across this record:



The record indicates that Lancelot Hardy the younger lived from about 1860 to 1896 and was buried in St Peter’s Cemetery in Erindale.

According to the record above, there was a Lancelot Hardy who was born about 1860 and died in 1896 and was buried at St Peter’s Anglican church in Erindale. The problem is that:

• I can’t find a death record in the Ontario death registrations for a Lancelot Hardy in 1896
• The cemetery transcriptions for St Peter’s Cemetery do not show a Lancelot Hardy
• I’ve contacted the Anglican Church archives and they don’t have a burial record

I also went to the cemetery and couldn’t find a stone.

I was about to conclude that Perkins-Bull had the wrong information, or that no stone existed, but then I checked the cemetery transcription for the nearby Erindale Cosmopolitan Cemetery and found a listing there.



Then I went to cemetery and actually found the stone. It’s very worn and difficult to read, but you can make out some of it.



Next, to see about finding a death or burial record.