Family History, Family Mythology

Long before I became interested in genealogy, I had heard the story of how my ggg-grandfather had come from Barnstaple, Devon in the early 19th century to establish a fishing station in Newfoundland. A sister of my grandfather had been very fond of telling how William Cooke had brought over three sailing ships, two slaves and £80,000; and had then lost it all when the fishery collapsed.

 

Even before I began to research my family history, I had doubts about this story. Although slavery existed in the United States and in British possessions in the Caribbean, it was essentially non-existent in the United Kingdom and in Newfoundland. As well, £80,000 in 1820 would be worth almost three and a half million pounds today. 

Eventually, after several years of research, the truth began to emerge. In 1817, William Cooke had left High Bickington, Devon to assume management of a fishing station located at Paradise on Placentia Bay on the south coast of Newfoundland. The fishing station had previously been owned by William's great-uncle George Cooke, and had been inherited by William's father in 1790. William's father was also majority owner of the brig Friends, built in Barnstaple in 1812. When William's father died in 1821, William inherited both the brig and the fishing station.

This brig, build in 1828, would have been similar to the brig Friends built at Barnstaple in 1812. (Source: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia)

The men who actually did the fishing often worked in very harsh conditions, however, they were not slaves. One of them, William Harding, recorded his experiences:

I and seven men more was sent in a cod seine skiff hauling codfish. We were sent off Sunday after dinner and not to return to the cookroom until Saturday evening. No place to sleep only a nap in the skiff, while one would be waiting for a haul of fish and only one meal of victuals cooked in twenty four hours. If we wanted more there was bread and butter and water in the skiff ... we had only one night in the week to sleep in our bed".

When William Cooke left Newfoundland in the late 1830s, it was not because the fishery had collapsed, but because it had slowly become unprofitable. As the youngest son, there was little in Devon for him to return to, so William decided instead to move to New Carlisle, Quebec, a small but thriving settlement on the Gaspe Peninsula that had been founded by United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolution. 

My maternal grandfather's family also has it's share of mythology. My mother had heard stories about how the Jacques family were the descendants of French Huguenots who had fled persecution in the 17th century. Another story was that the Jacqueses has been involved in the manufacturing of beaver hats in the 17th and 18th centuries. When I began researching the Jacqueses, I came across yet another myth, one that held that my grandfather was the descendant of a Colonel Henry Jacques who fled France during the Revolution. At least one distant cousin still holds to this belief, and this perhaps explains why he no longer responds to my emails. 

The reality is not quite so dramatic, but is interesting in it's own right. My gggg-grandfather David Jacks was most likely born in Scotland, and was employed by the Curwen family as a gardener for their Belle Isle estate on Lake Windemere in Westmorland. The Windermere parish register shows a gradual change in spelling from Jacks to Jacques. The latter spelling had firmly taken hold by the time my ggg-grandfather moved south to Keighley, Yorkshire. 

My sense is that my Jacques ancestors invented a mythology to make themselves more socially acceptable. It apparently worked. My ggg-grandfather married "above his station," as his wife was the niece of a mill owner. A brother of my gg-grandfather married a mill owner's daughter and eventually became a mill owner himself. My great-grandfather's brothers were architects and journalists. And they were apparently horrified when my great-grandfather married a coachman's daughter. This possibly explains why my great-grandfather emigrated to Canada.

So beware of family mythology. Although there may be grains of truths in the stories, the reality is often quite different, but just as fascinating.

Death by Misadventure

All Saints Church, Merton, Devon

Merton is a Devon parish a few kilometres south of Great Torrington. Perhaps best known as the birthplace of General George Monck (1608-1670) — the architect of the restoration of Charles II — Merton is also the birthplace of my ggg-grandfather Thomas Smith (1807-1841).

This past summer during my trip to Devon, I spent some time viewing microfiche of the Merton burial registers, and noticed that in the mid 19th century the curate of Merton, John C. Fisher, and later the rector, J.C. Kempe would include details of accidental or unusual deaths. Here are a few of the entries:

• Jane HEYWOOD buried 30 Apr 1837 aged 4 "accidentally drowned in the Torridge"
• William LUGG buried 4 Nov 1838 aged 40 "died of small pox"
• Fanny MAYNE buried 19 Nov 1838 aged 5 "accidentally burnt five weeks before she died"
• Eliza ELLACOTT buried 3 Feb 1839 aged 4 "accidentally burnt about a week before she died"
• Thomas STACEY buried 29 Oct 1843 aged 22 "died from injuries received by a Waggon going over him — surviving only a few days"
• Mary JOHNS buried 10 Jun 1845 aged 15 "accidentally drowned at Beaford Bridge"
• Hannah BALKWILL buried 18 Aug 1847 aged 33 "killed in the harvest field by the cart going over her chest"
• Priscilla CUDMORE bur 14 Aug 1859 aged 5 "her clothes caught fire during the temporary absence of her mother & died within 6 hours by the effect of the burns"

William Lugg's death from smallpox is somewhat unusual as it occured more than forty years after Dr. Edward Jenner discovered that immunity to the disease could be produced by inoculating a person with cowpox pus.

According to a brief article in Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, Eliza Ellacott "was accidentally burnt during the temporary absence of her elder sister who was left in charge of her."

Caldwell and Beebe

February 1834 marriage of Joshua BEEBE to
Mary WATT. Joshua's mother Mary SECORD
was almost 100 years old at the time of the
marriage. (Source: Drouin Collection)

So I finally gave in and purchased a subscription to Ancestry. Previously, whenever I needed to check census information or use the Drouin Collection of Quebec Vital & Church Records, I would have to visit the library to access the Ancestry Library Edition, usually on a computer with a monitor far too small for the purpose. Far more convenient to work at home with a 24" widescreen monitor and a really comfortable chair.

Access to the Drouin Collection has been quite useful as I am currently updating and expanding my information on the CALDWELL and BEEBE families of New Carlisle on the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec. I've previously written how my ggggg-grandmother, Mary SECORD (1734- ?), widow of Joshua BEEBE (1738-1778), settled at New Carlisle in 1784 with six of her seven children (four sons and two daughters). One son, Amasa BEEBE (1769-1862), did not marry, while another, Secord BEEBE (1764-1859), moved to Nova Scotia. The other two, Asa BEEBE (1772-1861) and Joshua BEEBE (1778-1844), had large families and some of their descendants still live in New Carlisle.

Joshua BEEBE had three wives and at least 11 children born over a forty year period. In fact, his third wife, Mary Ann WATT (1813- ?), was younger than several of the older children, and was not much older than Joshua's son Amasa BEEBE (1815-1901), who married Mary COOKE (1823-1873), sister of my gg-grandfather.

In the previous post I mentioned that Mary SECORD's youngest daughter, Sarah BEEBE (1774-1823) married Andrew Todd CALDWELL (1772-1827), son of Robert CALDWELL (1735-1825). Her descendants are proving to be rather elusive. A document dated 1816 records that Andrew and Sarah had four children, however, additional records exist for only two of them. Andrew and Sarah's daughter, Elizabeth CALDWELL (? -1864) married her cousin Adin BEEBE (? -1865) . Two of Andrew's nephews also married BEEBEs, while another two married COOKEs (sisters of my gg-grandfather). In 19th and early 20th century New Carlisle, almost everyone was related.

Many of the CALDWELL's were seafarers. Andrew Todd CALDWELL, for instance, apparently died at sea sailing from Boston to Halifax. Last year I was contacted by a CALDWELL descendant living in Australia who believed that his gg-grandfather, Charles CALDWELL (1812-1874), had been born in New Carlisle. The problem was that although it seemed likely that Charles was a grandchild of Robert CALDWELL, it was uncertain who the father was. Eventually my correspondent decided that Charles was the son of John Todd CALDWELL (1764-1850). Having now looked more closely at the data, however, I think it equally likely that any of John Todd CALDWELL's brothers, including Andrew Todd CALDWELL, could be the father.

Barring the discovery of a Caldwell bible, it is unlikely that this mystery will be solved. Records for New Carlisle from the early 19th century are almost non-existent, although clues can often be found in later records preserved in the Droiun Collection.

New Carlisle's Presbyterian Burial Ground

Sarah CALDWELL nee BEEBE (1775-1823)

 

Family historians travelling to New Carlisle, Quebec on the Baie des Chaleur will most likely visit the historical St Andrew's Anglican Cemetery. Surrounding the wooden church are approximately 300 gravestones. The oldest stone is that of Issac MANN who died in 1803 at the age of 73. New Carlisle was settled in 1784 by discharged soldiers and United Empire Loyalists. Many of the gravestones commemorate names of descendants of these original settlers: ASTLES, BEEBE, BILLINGSLEY, CALDWELL, CHATTERTON, FLOWERS, MANN and THOMPSON. 

 

Zion United Church, New Carlisle

Another historical New Carlisle cemetery is the much smaller Old Presbyterian Burial Ground located behind Zion United Church. Zion United Church is a relatively modern congregation, formed in 1925 when the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches merged to become the United Church of Canada. The building itself, however, dates from about 1820. Apparently, a significant number of Presbyterian families in New Carlisle were not pleased with the merger and decided to continue a Presbyterian congregation, building Knox Presbyterian Church next door to the old church. A cemetery is located behind the new building, however, the stones all date from the 20th century. In the summer of 2010, I photographed all 40 gravestones in the Old Presbyterian Burial Ground. 

This past week I finally began to transcribe the inscriptions for the CanadaGenWeb Cemetery Project. Unfortunately, the inscriptions in some of the photos are quite difficult to read, and as New Carlisle is 1500 kilometres away, a quick trip for retakes is out of the question. Fortunately, the baptism, marriage and burial records of the Presbyterian church in New Carlisle are part of the Drouin Collection which is available online through Ancestry.ca. A transcription can also be found on the Loyalists of the Gaspe website. As I cross-checked my transcripton against the burial records I realized that the information on the gravestone does not necessarily match what is in the burial record. I also discovered that while there are large gaps in the Presbyterian records, burials at the Presbyterian burial ground during the time of these gaps were frequently recorded in the St Andrew's register. 

Presbyterian Church, New Carlisle, 1906

The oldest gravestone in the Presbyterian burial ground is that of Sarah CALDWELL who died in 1823 at the age of 47. Sarah was the daughter of Joshua BEEBE (1738-1788) and Mary SECORD (1734- ?), and was born in the vicinity of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania in 1775. Joshua BEEBE was a Loyalist and in 1777 he and his oldest son, Adin BEEBE (1761-1843), enlisted in Butler's Rangers. In the summer of 1778, just prior to the Battle of Wyoming, Mary SECORD and her children were evacuated first to Tioga Point near Athens, Pennsylvania, where Sarah's brother Joshua BEEBE (1778-1844) was born in July, and then to Fort Niagara.

Sarah's father died of smallpox in October 1778 after being sent to New York with dispatches. Mary Secord and her children were sent from Fort Niagara to the refugee camp at Machiche near Trois-Rivières, Quebec, where Sarah was baptised on 15 Aug 1781. 

Mary Secord married Christopher PEARSON (1737-1832) later that year at Machiche and they were among the first settlers at New Carlisle in 1784. Sarah married Andrew Todd CALDWELL, son of Robert CALDWELL (1735-1825) and Sarah TODD. Like Sarah, Andrew had been born in Pennsylvania, and had spent time at the Machiche refugee camp before coming to New Carlisle. Sarah and Andrew married about 1798. In a 1809 letter to Sarah's brother, Adin, who had been granted land in Louth Township on the Niagara Peninsula. Andrew stated his time was "Spent at Saling and fishing" but that he was interested in taking up farming at Niagara. It would appear that nothing became of this as Sarah died at New Carlisle in 1823.

Snure Cemetery Revisited

GLINZ gravestone at Snure Cemetery,
Jordan, Ontario

Work continues on photographing and transcribing the gravestones of Snure Cemetery near Jordan, Ontario. A few days ago, I made my fourth and hopefully final trip to the cemetery. Retakes were needed for a number of gravestones. These were mainly for gravestones where the inscription had been in deep shadow on the north or west side of the stone. Previous visits to the cemetery had occurred in the morning, so this time I visited in mid-afternoon. What a difference. The lighting was such that on many of the stones, the face of the stone was in sunlight while the inscription was in shadow, making the inscription much easier to read.

There had been about eight gravestones that were me causing transcription headaches. The inscription on these stones was so faded that few or no details can be made out. Even under perfect lighting, only minimal details could be seen. In the 1984 Ontario Genealogical Society transcription these stones were either listed as illegible or were not listed at all. An earlier 1965 transcription didn't help.

Fortunately, while researching the history of the cemetery, I discovered a partial transcription completed in 1929. Dr. W.G. Reive was an amateur historian who spent his spare time transcribing old cemeteries in the Niagara Area. Apparently, after his death, his son donated his work to the Archives of Ontario. Using the Reive transcription I have been able to to identify all but one of the mystery gravestones.

Perhaps the stone which gave me the greatest difficulty was that for Matilda, Frederick and William GLINZ. The stone is located in a shadowy corner of the cemetery, and is broken into three pieces.

My initial visit to the cemetery last year had resulted in a photograph where no detail could be made out. A second visit last May didn't help. In July, a third attempt to photograph and transcribe the stone produced an age: 2 years. On my most recent visit, I temporarily reconstructed the gravestone. The ideal lighting conditions revealed the names Glinz, Matilda, Frederick, and William.

The stone was not listed in the 1984 or 1965 transcriptions, but Dr. Reive's transcription included a gravestone for Matilda GLINZ (1855-1862), Frederick GLINZ (1860-1860) and William GLINZ (1860-1862), children of F. and E. GLINZ. A mystery had been solved.

The actual inscription is still hard to decipher, and one line is still unreadable because of the break, but here is my reconstruction:

Children of
F. and E. Glinz
MATILDA
died 22 Mar 1862
aged 6 Y. 11 M. 22 D.
Frederick
died 26 Aug 1860
aged 12 days
William
died _________
aged 2 years

At the time of the 1861 Census, Frederick GLINZ was a 34-year-old labourer living in Louth, Lincoln, Ontario. Living with him was his 27-year-old wife Elmeda and four children: Matilde, aged 6, Anst, aged 4, Margret, aged 2 and William aged less than one. Frederick and his family do not appear to have remained in the Jordan area for long. All that remains to mark their presence is a broken, fading monument in a forgotten corner of Snure Cemetery.

The Rolle Brass at Petrockstowe

Monumental brass at Petrockstowe, Devon

One of the more challenging photographs I took during my trip to Devon was that of the early 17th century monumental brass to Henry ROLLE and his wife Margaret YEO at Petrockstowe, Devon. A tripod was essential since flash was out of the question. In hindsight, a polarizing filter would have also been useful to reduce the amount of reflection.

The two brasses show Henry ROLLE and his ten sons, and Margaret YEO and her eight daughters. Another daughter who died before her parents is represented by a skull. Margaret ROLLE's date of death in 1591 is given, however, no date of death is given for her husband. Above the head of Margaret ROLLE is the inscription, "My children feare the lorde."

Henry ROLLE was the fourth son of George ROLLE of Stevenstone in St Giles in the Wood. Henry acquired the manor of Heanton Sachville in Petrockstowe upon his marriage to Margaret YEO. Henry ROLLE presumably died in 1625 as his will was proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury later that year. Heanton Sachville was inherited by the oldest of his nineteen children, Robert ROLLE (1560-1633).

When Henry ROLLE's great-great-grandson Samuel ROLLE died in 1719, Heanton Sachville became the inheritance of his ten-year-old daughter, Margaret ROLLE (1710-1781). When Margaret married Robert WALPOLE (1701-1751), son of the first British Prime Minister, Heanton Sachville passed to the WALPOLE family. Neither Robert WALPOLE nor his son George (1730-1791) used Heanton Sachville as a residence. When George died childless, a distant cousin, Robert George William TREFUSIS (1764-1797), inherited the property, however, four years later the house was destroyed by fire.

Trip Report

Hound Tor Cairn Circle and Cist

Well, I'm back from a very successful research trip to Devon and Somerset. Filled most of a notebook with genealogical research and took over 1450 photographs. It's going to take some time to go through it all.

You'll note that the photograph that leads this post isn't an effigy or a gravestone. It is, however, a burial site, so I technically was stalking dead people. During my trip I spent three days on Dartmoor visiting a number of megalithic sites including this cairn circle and cist near Hound Tor. Hound Tor is thought to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Hound of the Baskervilles, and was the location for filming the 1975 Doctor Who episode The Sontaran Experiment.

I also spent more than a few hours at various libraries and archives. Visits to the Westcountry Studies Library in Exeter and the North Devon Atheneaum in Barnstaple were very productive. I also spent lots of time looking at microfiche of parish registers at the Devon Record Office. Of course not all parish registers have been microfilmed, so I had several opportunities to consult some of the original registers. Viewing original documents is quite different from staring at microfiche. This page from the East Buckland register records the baptism of my ggg-grandmother Elizabeth STEVENS in 1816.

At the Dartmoor Bookshop in Ashburton, Devon, I picked up a copy of Florence Wrey's 1892 book Tawstock Church, and a copy of W.G. Hoskins Devon published in 1954.

Only visited about 20 churches this time. Most were open for visitors. Exeter Cathedral once again had scaffolding on the west front, however, the fascade of Wells Cathedral was free of obstructions. Unfortunately, the Chapter House wasn't open. As expected, St Mary's, Atherington and St Mary's, High Bickington were closed due to roof repairs. St Peter's, Tawstock, however, more than made up for any disappointment.

St Peter's is remarkable both for the number of monuments it contains and for it's architectural features. Hoskins writes that the church "contains the finest collection of monuments in Devon." Notable monuments include those for Frances KITSON (1535-1586) and for William BOURCHIER, 3rd Earl of Bath (1557-1623). Much of the floor is paved with ledger stones and the walls are covered with mural monuments. Architectual features include roof bosses, oak screens, a manorial pew, carved bench ends, a 16th century gallery leading to the tower, and corbels decorated with leaves and heads.

Also did some "normal" tourist things like visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan and Glastonbury Abbey.