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!

X00212 More on Esther Riley

Some more background information that I've found related to the sawmill accident mentioned in a previous post, related to X00212: Who is Esther Riley.

Below is the transcript of the news item from the Streetsville Review:

I recently connected with some people from Churchville who were able to inform me that the mill owner was note named "Mr. Snewer" as described in the article, but was in fact Jacob Snure who owned and operated a number of mills, most notably the Eldorado Mills, which was located just north of Churchville on the Credit River (where Churchville and Creditview Roads intersect).

From this site, I found that the Eldorado Sawmill originated in the 1830s. A woollen mill was set up in 1842 or 1843, and a flour mill was added in 1858.

It doesn't give us any more information about Henry Raleigh, of course, but it's nice to be able to get some more background information.

Jacob Snure

X00212 Who is Esther Riley Part 2

In last week's post, I was verifying information found on a tree in Ancestry.

In the post, it mentioned that

• Henry Raleigh died 1848 in Meadowvale due to a sawmill accident
• Henry married Esther Tricker in 1843 in Churchville, Ontario
• Esther Tricker lived 1822 to 1851
• They had three children: William b. 1844, George b. 1846 and Henry b. 1848

So far, I've been able to verify a number of the facts including Esther's birthdate and the names and birth dates of the children.

While doing these verifications, I had another look at Lancelot Hardy and Jane Tricker in the 1861 census and realized that the Henry listed with them is actually Henry Reilly, son of Henry Raleigh and Esther Tricker, which not only confirms the family connection, but adds further evidence to the idea that Esther had died by that time.

But the biggest piece of confirmation that I was able to find was this transcription of an obituary from the Streetville Review:

I still need to confirm with the original record, but from the transcription it does seem to confirm that Henry Raleigh did in fact die in a sawmill accident (albeit in 1849, rather than 1848).

So, this means that I've been able to confirm all of the details from the other tree, except for the year of marriage between Henry Raleigh and Esther Tricker and Esther's date of death.

X00212 Who is Esther Riley Part 1

One of the mysteries that I've been searching is the question of who is Esther Riley. Thus far, she had only appeared in a marriage register from 1850, listing a marriage between a Lancelot Hardy and an Ester Riley:

Unfortunately, that's all the information that I have on her. No death information, nothing about her parents, or when or where she was born.

I had originally thought that Esther Riley was the second wife of the older Lancelot Hardy (born about 1794), remarrying after Ann Wood Hardy had died, and that the younger Lancelot Hardy (born about 1827) had married Jane Tricker. But I've since changed my opinion on that - more on that issue in a future post.

I've come accross some additional information and Esther Riley recently. A cousin who is researching the same family pointed me to a family tree on Ancestry. The tree mentioned a Henry Raleigh who died in Meadowvale in 1848 due to a sawmill accident, married an Esther Tricker (1822-1851) in 1843. They had three children together, William Raleigh born 1844, George Raleigh born 1846 and Henry Raleigh both 1848.

On the plus side, the timeline fits quite nicely: Esther Tricker marries Henry Raleigh in 1843. Henry dies in 1848 and the widowed Esther Raliegh (or Riley) marries the younger Lancelot Hardy in 1850. She then dies in 1851 and Lancelot Hardy goes on to marry Frances Snowden in 1853. The fact that her maiden name is Tricker also suggests that there is a connection with Jane Tricker. On the minus side, there are no sources given in the Ancestry tree for any of the information given. So, I decided to treat the Ancestry tree information as a clue and do my own verification.

The first thing that I did is find a baptism record for a Hester Tricker, baptized 7 April 1822, the daugther of James Tricker and Sarah Wade, the same parents as Jane Tricker (see X00214). So, Esther and Jane Tricker were sisters.

Next, I had a look at the children.

I found the death certificate for Henry Raleigh who died in Tacoma, Washington in 1935. In the death certificate, his birth date is given as 10 July 1848 in Meadowvale, Ontario and his parents are listed as Henry Raleigh and Esther Tricker.

I managed to find a marriage registration for a William Riley and a Mary Ann Hyatt in 1866 where William's parents are listed as Henry and Esther Riley. It also confirmed a birth year for him of 1844.

Verifying the connect with George was a little harder to do, but I found that from census records he was living with James Tricker and Sarah Wade in Indiana and is buried in the same cemetery as them.

So, I've been able to verify dates of birth for Esther and the children and everything checks out with the details on the Ancestry tree. Next week, I'll look at some of the other details from the tree.

Investigating Lancelot Hardy after 1850

There are two Lancelot Hardy's in the Hardy family that I am investigating: One born about 1793 and his son born about 1827, both in Yorkshire England. I have both of their baptism records, and they both appear in the 1841 census, but there is very little information about either of them after 1850.

Issues to investigate:

1. What happened to Lancelot the younger? The older appears to have died in 1874 and is buried in Churchville Cemetery, Meadowvale, Ontario, Canada. I haven't found a death notice or record for either of them and have not found a cemetery record or burial record for Lancelot the younger.
2. Which of the two married Jane Tricker? There is evidence that a Lancelot Hardy and Jane Tricker were parents to a Sarah Jane Hardy (b. abt. 1844), Henry Reilly Hardy (b. abt 1849) and George Hardy (b. abt. 1860). So, that would suggest a marriage date of about 1843 or so. She remarried in 1876, so whichever one she married would have died before then.
3. Which of the two married Ester Riley in 1850? There are no ages or parents given for the marriage, so can't determine which one it is. And I have not seen Ester Riley in any other record.
4. Which Lancelot Hardy appears in the 1861 census with Jane? The age is shown as 50, or a year of birth of 1811, so it could conceivably be either of them.
5. When did Ester Riley Hardy die? Where is she buried?
6. When did Ann Wood Hardy die? Where is she buried?

Known Facts:

• Lancelot Hardy the older born about 1793 in Yorkshire, Married to Ann Wood
• Lancelot Hardy the younger born about 1827 in Yorkshire
• Both appear in the 1841 census in England
• Presumably the family emigrated to Canada in their early 1840s, around 1840
• One of them likely married Jane Tricker
• One of them likely married Ester Riley (the marriage years overlap, so it was likely not the same person married to both)
• Lancelot Hardy the older died in 1874
• None of the above names have been found in the 1851 or 1871 censuses. One of the Lancelots and Jane Tricker have been found in the 1861 Census of Canada.
• Maria Hardy, daughter of Lancelot & Anne Wood Hardy was born Oct 29, 1844, so Anne Wood Hardy was alive at that date.
• One of them appears in an 1866 directory of the Home District and the profession is listed as “Gardener”. Lancelot Hardy the elder’s profession appears as a miller on most records, so this could likely be the younger one

Possibilities:

1. Lancelot Hardy the older married Ester Riley & Lancelot Hardy the younger married Jane Tricker
Timeline:
Anne Wood Hardy dies between 1844 and 1850
Lancelot Hardy the younger marries Jane Tricker about 1843
Lancelot Hardy the older marries Ester Riley in 1850
Lancelot Hardy the older dies in 1874
Lancelot Hardy the younger dies before 1876
Ester Riley Hardy dies ??

2. Lancelot Hardy the younger married Ester Riley & Lancelot Hardy the older married Jane Tricker
Timeline:
Anne Wood Hardy dies about 1844
Lancelot Hardy the older marries Jane Tricker about 1844
Lancelot Hardy the younger marries Ester Riley in 1850
Lancelot Hardy the older dies in 1874
Lancelot Hardy the younger dies ??
Ester Riley Hardy dies ??


Documents that would give some answers:

• If I could find Lancelot Sr or Jr, Ester or Jane in the 1851 census
• If I could find the other Lancelot or Ester in the 1861 census
• If I could find Lancelot Sr or Jr, Ester or Jane in the 1871 census
• If I could find a death record for Lancelot the older
• If I could find a death record for Lancelot the younger, or any later record, for that matter
• If I could find a death/burial record for Esther Riley Hardy
• If I could find a date of death/burial record for Anne Wood Hardy
• If I could find a will for either Lancelot Hardy
• If I could find either one in land records

Next actions:

• Look for will for Lancelot Hardy (either)
• Look for land records for either Lancelot hardy
• Check for assessment/collector rolls for either Lancelot hardy