X00245: Solved!

So, it would seem that I have received an early Christmas present this year. A while back in a previous post I mentioned that I had found a marriage between Henry Mundy and Ann Sidney Taylor in an index [D02737].



Since then, I have been trying to obtain the original marriage record and it has proved to be difficult. For one thing, because the marriage was performed by an acting chaplin, it wasn't kept with the rest of the records for Fort George marriages. It also appears that it was never microfilmed. So the question is: who had the original record? The Anglican Church archives said that they didn't have it, and that the Archives of Ontario should have it instead. Then when I talked to the Archives of Ontario, they said that the Anglican Church archives should have it.

Recently I attended a genealogy fair where both the Archives of Ontario and the Anglican Church archives both had booths. So, I figured that I could sort it out once and for all. I gave the information to someone and the Anglican Church archives who ultimately was able to find the original record and send me a copy:

X00287 Samina "Minnie" Foxwell Williams

One of the daughters of Thomas Williams and Sybil Foxwell was named Samina Foxwell Williams. She was born in 1841 in Liverpool, England and emigrated with the rest of the family in the 1840s. For the longest time, I wasn't able to determine what happened to her after 1871: I couldn't find her in any of the Ontario census, marriage or death records.

I did eventually find a name in the Greenwood Cemetery burial listings of a Minnie McInnis who died in 1878 and is buried in a location close to Thomas and Sybil Williams. I figured that Minnie could be a possible nickname for Samina. As far as I am aware, however, there is no surviving gravestone. I'll verify that the next time I'm in Owen Sound.

So, I had a look in the Owen Sound papers and came across this article from the November 29, 1878 Owen Sound Times:



The sister (Mrs John Douglas) would be Louisa Williams. So, it would appear that she married a Joseph McInnis sometime between 1871 and 1878 and died in Walnut, Iowa in November 1878 (one newspaper gives the date as November 25th and another one gives it as November 26th). Thus far, however, I have not been able to find a marriage or death record for her.

So, I'm still looking for marriage and death records. Here are the known facts about Samina "Minnie" Foxwell Williams McInnis:

• Born Jan 20, 1841 Liverpool, Lancashire, England
• Baptised May 20, 1841, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
• Emigrated to Canada West in the 1840s, first settled in Guelph. Later moved to Owen sound.
• Was in Owen Sound in 1871 and unmarried (from the 1871) census
• Marriage to Joseph McInnis sometime between 1871 and 1878
• Died November 26 1878 (or November 25th) in Walnut, Pottawattamie, Iowa, USA
• Buried Greenwood Cemetery November 30, 1878 Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario, Canada

X00121 Who is Ellen McLeod?

In the 1861 census, the McLeod family has an Ellen McLeod living with them and is listed as a family member [D01599]:



From the 1861 census, Ellen McLeod was born about 1825-1826 in Scotland.

Then, there is an Ellen Reynolds living with the McLeod family in 1871 and 1881 [D01233] & [D01329]:





She is listed as being widowed.

The ultimate question I'm trying to answer is who is Ellen McLeod. But for the time being, I'm trying to determine if Ellen McLeod and Ellen Reynolds are the same person. I've found Ellen Reynolds in the 1891 census, her death registration and her gravestone and it would appear that she was born around the same time as Ellen McLeod in Scotland.

Analysis
If they are the same person:
- Then Ellen McLeod married a Reynolds between 1861 and 1871
- Mr. Reynolds died between 1861 and 1871

If they are two different people:
- Ellen McLeod should appear in the 1871 or later censuses
- Ellen Reynolds should appear in the 1861 census


Next actions:
* Look for marriage between 1861 and 1871 for Ellen McLeod and Reynolds
* Look for 1901 census record for Ellen Reynolds
* Look for death record for Mr. Reynolds between 1861 and 1871
* Look for ellen and john in 1841 census Scotland
* Look for obituary for Ellen Reynolds
* Look for obituary for John McLeod

In Remembrance

Today being the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1, I thought I'd post a remembrance to all of those in my tree who fought in the war

Edwin Ashton	BEF	Survived WW1
Lawrence Ashton	75th Bn CEF	Died September 2, 1918
Charles A. Brown	4th Signal Co. CEF	Survived WW1
Wilfred M. Brown	Can Signal Pool, CEF	Survived WW1
Herbert Hewett Burnet	CEF	Survived WW1
Everett Delahaye	US Military	Survived WW1
Peter Delahaye	US Military	Survived WW1
John C. Douglas	20th Bn CEF	Survived WW1
Stewart Arnold Douglas	CEF	Survived WW1
Thomas W. Douglas	3rd MGC CEF	Survived WW1
Reynold Hardy	CEF	Survived WW1
Duncan Hook	Lancashire Fusiliers, BEF	Died July 8, 1915
Geoffrey Hook	Royal Air Force, BEF	Died April 10, 1918
Harry Theodore Hook	BEF	Survived WW1
Robin Hook	Lancashire Fusiliers, BEF	Died August 7, 1915
Valentine Hook	Royal West Surrey Regiment, BEF	Died May 3, 1917
Howard Radford Letty	CEF	Died October 8, 1916
George Russell Miller	CEF	Survived WW1
James Piggott	CEF	Survived WW1
Christopher Place	King's Royal Rifles, BEF	Died February 19, 1917
Thomas Place	East Lancashire Regiment, BEF	Died August 13, 1915
John Raymond Price	CEF	Survived WW1
Emerson Claude Smith	4th Canadian Mounted Rifles CEF	Died June 7, 1917
George Wilfred "Fred" Smith	15th Bn CEF	Died July 22, 1918
John McLeod Wainwright	CEF	Survived WW1

Marriage Date Found: Adam Smith & Kate Williams

I just realized that it has been a few months since I've posted here. So, here's a quick update. I'm currently working on researching some branches of the Williams family, in particular the Smith family of Eugenia Falls, Ontario.

I was trying to determine the date of marriage for Adam Smith and Kate J. Williams. All evidence pointed to about 1880; their first child was born in 1881, and an article I found suggested that they got married about a year and a half after her older sister Jane Emily Williams married William Henry Madden. The date of that marriage was July 2 1879. So, towards the end of 1880 would seem the most likely date.

The problem is that I couldn't find them in the civil registration marriages for Ontario. So I had a look in the newspapers next. Fortunately, the Grey Highlands Public Library has a collection of Grey Highlands newspapers. I found this article in the Markdale Standard, Dec 3 1880:



The article suggests that the marriage had occurred recently, but didn't give an exact date. I checked earlier newspapers, but found no mention of the actual date. So, knowing that both husband and wife lived past 1930, I decided to look for a 50th anniversary article and found one in the 29 October 1930 issue of Flesherton Advance that mentioned they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on 23 October 1930. So there you have it, I was able to find their marriage date of 23 October 1880 via a roundabout way

X00060 Sybil Williams Death Information

So, here's the issue. I'm trying to find a death record or death information for a Sybil Williams (born Sybil Foxwell) (Feb 17 1798 - May 13, 1874)



Here is the known information:

• She was born February 17 1798 in Gloucester, England based on her baptism records [Sources: D00157, D00419]
• She died May 13 1874 based on her tombstone and the Greenwood Cemetery Internment listing [Sources: D01131, D01637]
• She was buried May 15 1874 Greenwood Cemetery, Owen Sound, Ontario based on the Greenwood Cemetery Internment listing [Source: D01131]
• Her religion was Church of England [Source: D01565]
• She was living in Owen Sound in 1871 based on the 1871 census [Source: D01565] and Guelph before that.

Here's the results of my research:

• Couldn't find anything in the Ontario Civil Death Registrations on either Ancestry or FamilySearch
• Couldn't find anything in the Ontario Civil Death Registrations on microfilm
• Couldn't find anything in the indexes of Owen Sound newspapers
• Couldn't find anything in the indexes of Guelph newspapers
• I found a death certification for a Sybil Williams in England in 1874, but it is not her [D03877]

Any other suggestions of places to look? Or next steps to try?

X00001 - The Conclusion!

I've had a couple of posts so far about trying to find the death date and record for Edwin Ashton. The first post described the issue. The second post was an update when I was able to find Edwin Ashton and Clara Scattergood in the 1939 Register.

The names and dates of birth in the 1939 register [D03865] matched Edwin's known birth date. And the location of Alcester matched the location on the 1950 death certificate. The informant on the death certificate [D00319] was an E.W. Savage who married an Edith Ashton who would have been born about 1920. So all that was left was to link Edith Ashton to Edwin Ashton

It appears that Edith was born in Canada and the 1920 birth registrations aren't available yet. I couldn't find Edwin in the 1921 Canadian census, so he may have been back in England by then. But I managed to find a ship's passenger list [D01427] with Edwin, Clara and Edith. And the ages all match. So we can consider this one closed!