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Harry Childeroy COMPTON (1759-1839) - #8 (52 Ancestors)

2/26/2015

8 Comments

 
Theme: Land deeds, Good deeds
PictureColonel Harry Childeroy COMPTON
My 4G Grandfather, who I previously wrote about in "If I Could Meet My Ancestor: Harry Childeroy COMPTON (1759-1839)”, owned a lot of land.  I’m not talking about his family’s land in Amport, Hampshire in England, but rather about his colonial property in the newly named Prince Edward Island, Canada.  Harry emigrated there in 1803, after serving in Ireland with the British Army (Perth Highland Regiment of Fencible Infantry) during the Irish rebellion in the late 1790s.  He was thereafter granted a sizable chunk of property in Prince County, but little if any remains in family hands.  So what became of it all?

There are a number of local histories that acknowledge and record some details of Colonel Harry Compton’s proprietorship, his involvement with the Acadian population on his property, his politics and his mixed religious leanings.  I also have transcripts of a limited number of conveyances for parts of his land that he later sold.  But I'm getting ahead of myself here...


LAND DEEDS
I sure wish I had a copy of Harry's original land deed or grant, as anecdotal sources vary on the boundaries and size of his holdings and the exact circumstance and conditions of his ownership.   According to one researcher: "Harry seems to have been given 20,000 acres of perhaps not very wonderful land on PEI, some on Lot 17 and some on [Lot] 20 [which aren't adjacent].  He did a deal with one Townsend who also had his land thus, so that they each had a lot of their own."  Others say that the south side of Lot 17 (where Summerside is now) was granted to the Loyalist Daniel Green in 1795 from Governor Fanning.   But all seem to agree that Harry owned at least the northern part of Lot 17 on Richmond Bay where he built a house call "The Pavilion".  He was later considered  the "proprietor" of the whole of lot 17 even though others had title to parts of it.

To understand the historical context and the significance of these terms and locations, a bit of background might help explain the quite complicated and unique land issues in colonial PEI.  Before the British seized control of the “Ile Saint Jean” from the French in 1758 (made official in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris), as many as 4700 French Acadians had settled on this island on the east coast of Canada. Most were evicted back to France, but some stayed on the island or fled to New Brunswick or Quebec.  Some later returned. 
Picture
Holland's lot map following his survey of PEI in the 1760s. Harry Compton had land in Lot 17 on Richmond Bay (the narowest part of the island).
In the 1760s “St John Island" was surveyed by a Samuel Holland, which divided  into 3 counties (Prince, Queen, and King) and approx  67 lots (like townships), each of approximately  20,000 acres.  These lots were then "disbursed by the Board of Trade and Plantations in a land lottery in 1767 to a variety of British politicians and military men. ... These proprietors were tasked with the job of improving their lots and sponsoring new settlers to the Island.” 

Generally speaking, the grants also stipulated that their settlers must be Protestant and equal to 1 for every 200 acres.  Proprietors were also required to pay "quit rents"
of between 2 and 6 shillings per 100 acres to the British Crown to offset administrative costs.  Many remained absentee landlords and ignored these requirements.  Over time, population grew and lands changed hands.  Some property was reclaimed by the crown for arrears (and subsequently granted to others, often Loyalists), and other lands were sold or leased out by  proprietors to those settlers who could afford it.  And of course there were also tenant farmers working the land.  

Our Harry was not part of the original land lottery in 1767.  According to an online source, Lot 17 was originally awarded to "Bingham (Benjamin) Burke, Esq., and Theobald (P.) Burke, Esq.  In 1781, one half was sold for arrears of quit rent.  By 1783, John and/or Walter Patterson were listed as owners with one fourth granted to Loyalists.  By 1800 the remainder was owned by Colonel Compton (who sold 6,000 acres to Acadians in this year)."  This may not be totally accurate, as the Burke Chronicles say the sale of 6,000 acres occurred in about 1818.  In 1800 Harry was not yet on the island.  It's also worth noting that
in the 1798 census of heads of households, 30 names are listed for Lot 17;  most were French, but notable exceptions included Daniel Green and Benjamin Darby.  Ownership status was not listed.

Harry certainly didn't hold onto some of his land for very long, judging by a few early land conveyance documents or transcripts that have survived.
  • In "... 1807, 21 Acadian farmers signed leases with Colonel Harry Compton."
  • In 1809,  William Craswell purchased 408 acres + 243 acres of land from Harry Compton.
  • In 1817, James and Charles Craswell (sons of the above William) paid £50 and 30 shillings annual rent for a 99 year lease on the "Churchill" property, described as  "Seven Acres a little more or less of Arable dry meadow or clear Land Bounded on the West by Lakes the property of Captain Thomas Compton, on the North by the shore of Richmond Bay on the East by Lands now in the occupation of Mr Benj'n Crossman and on the South by Lands the Property of Mr Wm Craswell".
Obviously not all "sales" were in fee simple!
Moving forward to 1838 when another reckoning of the lots in PEI was taken, Harry Compton is listed as the proprietor of Lot 17, 20,000 acres, with a population of 835, consisting mostly of small freeholders.  But by 1838 Harry had sold off a fair part of his property.  He had also left the island to reside with his third wife in Normandy France.  His son Thomas remained behind with his large family, and was considered to be in charge of Harry's "colonial affairs".  Then just before Harry died, "certain deeds were executed by him in 1839 leaving land to each of his grandsons, Harry Alfred and John Newman Compton".  So this claim of proprietorship of the entire Lot 17 seems a trifle exaggerated!  Harry died in 1839 in Normandy, without returning to PEI.

In 1863, the proprietors of  Lot 17 were listed as the "Heirs of Col. Compton", but was this official?  After confederation in 1867 and then PEI joining Canada in 1873, it is said that all outstanding proprietor-owned land was sold back to the provincial government, although not without a lot of legal hassle!  I do not know if Harry's heirs were affected by this legislation.

Picture1798 Ashby map of Prince County showing Malpeque/Richmond Bay
GOOD DEEDS
So what was Harry's good deed?
It has to do with an early Acadian Roman Catholic cemetery on his property and a revealing clause in the 1817 lease to the above Craswell brothers. 

I am indebted to a very enthusiastic researcher with French roots in PEI and a keen interest in locating this cemetery.  He contacted me last year and  is credited with unearthing many of these clues in news clippings, conveyances, maps and publications.  Here's some further evidence and details ...

Harry seems to have had some sympathy for the Roman Catholic faith (in spite of having been brought up and retaining his allegiance to the Anglican Faith).  It is written that his son, daughter and housekeeper all converted to Catholicism.  There are also accounts of Harry meeting and having long conversations with a Roman Catholic priest and fellow passenger aboard the "Teresa" on their journey to PEI in 1803, sailing from Portsmouth on August 23 and arriving in PEI on September 23.  Once on the island, Harry also made friends with the local Abbe and was known to entertain RC dignitaries in his home.  As the French settlers on his land were Roman Catholic, he seemed motivated to support their religious activities. 


Long before Harry arrived on PEI, and even before the British gained control of the island in 1758/1763, there was
an RC parish called  Malpeque (St John Baptist) on the shores of Malpeque Bay (now Richmond Bay, whose extensive shoreline borders on several lots including Lot 17).  When Acadians returned to the area,
some settled in a new location several miles south of the original village of Malpec [aka Malpeque, aka St Eleanors] in Lot 17.  In either 1772 or 1785 they erected a 20 foot long log church dedicated to St John the Baptist between the River Platte and North St Eleanors.  Instead of establishing a cemetery near the church, they initially buried their dead on a small island opposite George Inman’s point.  In 1794 they opened a cemetery on high ground at a place called Le Vieux Magasin (unfortunately I don't know where this was).  In 1796 they built a new framed church twice as long near the cemetery.

In a letter reportedly written by Col Compton (perhaps in 1804) to Mgr Denaut, Bishop of Quebec, he begs that a priest be sent to his Acadian village, and says “I am proprietor of the Township of which the village forms a part and together with numerous family who are Roman Catholic reside in the village.  I have, as directed as I understood was your Lordship's wish, attached to the Church six acres of cleared land, the inhabitants have repaired in a good manner the church and tithes they pay are considerable and daily increasing. … I inform your Lordship that I have set apart six acres of land for the church.  It is my intention after a little to establish a new village in this township, on a plan so as to place the church exactly in the centre of the village.  We shall subscribe liberally towards the building of the Church and forty acres of land shall be attached to the cure for a presbytery.”

Harry sends another letter and petition in 1807 asking again for a resident priest.  He adds: “I had almost forgot to say that not only six acres of land, but any reasonable number of acres will be added to the church for the comfort of the priest.”

Then about 1807 or 1808, the Acadians decided of their own accord to move their church themselves about a mile and a half to an open field near Harry's Pavillion residence.  It was now nearer the water spring, but now separated from the cemetery and presbytery.  Harry was apparently not pleased with these unapproved actions, and ended up not keeping his promise to prepare suitable premises for a resident priest.

In 1812 when a RC delegation arrived for a mission, they found “the miserable chapel, remarkable not only for its smallness, but much more for its total destitution of ornaments and linen.  The Bishop goes on to say that the useless displacement of the Church, the uncertain tenure of the land upon which it stood, the want of a presbytery and of a farm for the use of the priest were the reasons which prevented the Bishop from leaving Father Beaubien there as had been originally disposed.”


We learn further details about the early Acadian church and cemetery in Lot 17 from one of several articles written by Harry's descendant Hubert G Compton.  It was titled “A Short Sketch of North St. Eleanors", and published in the Charlottetown Guardian 16 Dec 1906:
“The writer in his last omitted mentioning, Robert, the youngest of the Craswell family.  He settled on part of the last purchase a little beyond the Post Office.  He became a very prosperous farmer and at his death bequeathed this valuable property to his youngest son Harry.  This farm did not extend to Richmond Bay, as the burying place of the first settlers in Lot 17 intervened between it and the Bay.
"The ground in use for burials was enclosed by a substantial stone wall and a cross erected in the centre of the enclosure.  Father Poirier P.P. of Mischouche had the cross placed there in the year 1840 or about that time.  The same priest had the remains taken up and place in Miscouche cemetery many years since, but those who cultivate this field at the present day are strangers to these facts.
”


So this would explain what happened to the cemetery and and provides its location near the Craswell property by the shore. According to the Burke Chronicles book, the cemetery was moved to Miscouche in about 1817 or 18.  (This book is an excellent source for those wanting additional details - see link below.)
According to a transcription of Harry's Land Conveyance document for the above-mentioned "Churchill" property  (which was drawn up 29 Sep 1814 but not registered until 20 Feb 1817 in PEI), conditions included "reserving to the said Harry Compton his Heirs Executors and Administrators the width of six feet together with a Dyke round said Premises to the Burying Ground allowing the French agress and regress for the purpose of Burying their Deas [sic]…" 

According to an old plot map, by 1880 this 7 acre plot seems to have been absorbed into the neighboring Craswell property (then belonging to Harry C Creswell) - by then it extended all the way to Malpeque/Richmond Bay.
Picture"Old Deed Cited" from The Charlottetown Guardian, 9 Aug 1932
From the Charlottetown Guardian, 9 Aug 1932, pg 6, (part of a bigger article entitled “Eucharistic Congress First in Island History - St John Baptist Parish, Miscouche, Where Congress Will Be Held is Rich in Historic Association”):
“Old Deed Cited - It is interesting to note at this point, that an old deed, dated 1807 * in which Colonel Compton leased lands to James and Charles Cresswell that he reserved to the French the right of egress and regress to their burial ground.  An illustration showing the Church and its boundary is in the corner of the deed.  This is in the possession of Mrs. Henry W. Compton a great grand-daughter of Colonel Compton.  This was the Mission Church, which was afterward moved to Miscouche.”
  
* I think this should read 1817 rather than 1807. 

In reference to Mrs Henry W Compton, this was Viola Catherine "Kate" - also born a Compton - who married a cousin William Henry Compton.  They were my great-great-aunt and uncle.  I sure wish I knew what happened to that old deed!  The sketch would have been most useful!

My very resourceful friend in Ontario has taken a current picture of the north shore of Richmond Bay near the location of the WWII RCAF station and airport (now Slemon Park complex), and marked the location of the old burying ground.  It's got to be at least very close! 


Picture
Probable location of the old Acadian burying ground in Lot 17 PEI on the shores of Richmond Bay.
REFERENCES and FURTHER READING

1767 "Proprietors of PEI Lots in 1767-1810
"
1807 Acadian Leases and
"Pioneer Acadian Entrepreneurs on Prince Edward Island"
1838 PEI Proprietors (as published in the Colonial Herald, 3 Feb 1838 pg 4 col 4)

"A Short History of the Comptons of Chitterne", by C.M.L. Koppana (private publication)
"History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" by Fred Driscoll
Island Newspapers - UPEI Robertson Library digital search
"Past and Present of Prince Edward Island", 1906, published by F.F. Bowen & Col, Charlottetown, pg 85
PEI Historical maps and related history 
"Prince Edward Island - How it was Bought Back from the Landlords", by Hugh C. E. Childers, c1895
"The Burke Chronicles - The Story of the Beginnings of the Roman Catholic Parish on Prince Edward Island to 1885", Edited by Ernest MacDonald - see page 99+ (takes a while to download)
"The Origins of the Land Question on Prince Edward Island, 1767-1805” by J.M. Bumsted

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Mary SWEETLOVE (1728-1778) - #7 (52 Ancestors)

2/19/2015

6 Comments

 
Theme: Love
With a last name like SWEETLOVE, how could I not write about my 5G Grandmother Mary SWEETLOVE this Valentine’s week?  Mary was christened on 9 Jun 1728 in St Clements, Hastings on the south coast of East Sussex in England.  Her father Thomas SWEETLOVE was a well to do gentleman and, according to his will and probate of 1753, had properties and investments in several parishes including nearby Mountfield (to the NE), Peasmarsh (north of Battle), as well as in the Town and Port of Hastings . 

Thomas was in his mid 50s when he died, leaving behind his widow Mary HUCKSTEP and 2 surviving children: his son John, aged 28 and a daughter Mary, aged 25. Their first son William had died as an infant.  Both John and Mary were both still single.  Thomas provided his widow with a healthy annuity after his death, and appointed John and Mary as joint executors, with help from an appointed Trustee.  Son John inherited the bulk of the estate, while Mary was granted an outright sum of £1000 - quite a significant amount in those days.  According to measuring worth.com, the value of that amount of income or wealth would now be at least £132,900!  Or if you want to consider the amount of economic power it granted her in today’s economy, the worth would be more like £13 million!!!  

So with these appealing prospects, perhaps it is no surprise that on May 1st of the following year, Mary married Henry RICHARDSON (1727-1798) of nearby Brede Parish.  I wonder how and when they met?  I would hope that they knew each other and were perhaps even engaged before her father died, causing them to delay the wedding for the mourning period, but this is pure speculation.  The Richardsons seem to have been prosperous land holders as well, and Brede is not far from Hastings, so it is possible that the families knew one another socially or through business dealings.

In another sad twist of fate, Mary’s brother John died just 2 months after Mary’s marriage and, in Aug 1754, Mary was sworn in as sole administrator of her father’s will.  As John had not yet married and was without issue, his father’s will stipulated that his share of the estate revert to his sister Mary.  She was now a very wealthy woman.
Picture
Gorgeous view looking south towards Hastings, Sussex, England. In the foreground is St George's lower churchyard on Brede Hill.
PictureWestern border of St George's upper churchyard in Brede Sussex, with Church House in the background.
What a tumultuous time this must have been for Mary and her mother.  Mary had lost both her father and brother and gained a husband, all while trying to deal with all the legal estate hassles and adjusting to her changed circumstances and grief.  On top of it all, the calendar had just changed in 1752 (when England finally adopted the Gregorian calendar, they had to remove 11 days in September of that year and shift the New Year back to January 1 - the previous Julian calendar started their year on March 25).  It must have seemed as if her whole world had turned upside down.

Then the following year her first son Harry was born and baptized, but her joy was short lived when he died just 2 months later. Money obviously could not prevent such a steady stream of deaths and heartache.

Mary went on to bear 8 more children between 1756 and 1773, including
another Henry (my ancestor), a John (who also died as an infant), and another John (a farmer in Brede who, in spite of being the executor of his father’s will in 1798, ended up in a workhouse by 1851).  Baptisms for all 9 children were dutifully recorded in the parish registers of St George's Church in Brede Sussex.  

The family home in Brede was called Church House,
which is now listed on the English Heritage site.  It is unclear in what year this Henry and Mary Richardson took up residence there.  Certainly by 1777 when their oldest son Henry married, Henry (Sr) gifted Church House to the newlyweds.   It could be that Henry and Mary then moved to Firelight in Hastings. 

Henry seems to have had a good head for business, because he operated a successful kiln works, manufacturing bricks, tiles, and pottery from the ample supply of clay on one of his Brede properties.

A book by John Manwaring Baines entitled "Sussex Pottery" reports ...
“Some time between 1736 and 1761 the land (Site of the old Brede Pottery) was acquired by Henry Richardson, who lived at Church House. Whether he actually started the works is not known, but the existence of a three acre Kiln Field, shown on a survey in 1715 suggests there was already some pottery or brickmaking activity in the area. We do know that Brede works became quite extensive for in 1786 Richardson received 2s 6d a load for carrying 14 load of potsherds to repair roads in the Parish."
On 12 May 1778, just one year after her oldest son’s marriage, Mary (SWEETLOVE) RICHARDSON was buried in St George's upper churchyard in Brede.  Any gravestone that might have been erected no longer exists.  Nor is there a record of why she died at the age of 50.   Her death would have been very hard on her young family.  Her husband Henry went on to marry twice more, causing complicated and not always congenial family relations which had repercussions for generations to come.  But that’s another story.

I really do hope that Mary did experience “sweet love” as her maiden name seemed to predict, in spite of her life having been riddled with hardship as well as privilege.
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Damaris RICHARDSON (1834-1856) - #6 (52 Ancestors)

2/9/2015

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Theme: So far away
PictureHistoric England - the field below the Abbey in Battle Sussex near Hastings, where part of the famous battles of 1066 were fought.
I am one of the first generation in my family to be born on the west coast of Canada, so all my ancestors come from far way, from other parts of Canada, the USA or the UK.  Of course there are some side branches that ended up in farther regions such as Australia and New Zealand as well.  So this means that I need to do a lot of traveling if I want to do research “in situ”.   I sadly admit that I have hardly done any traveling for the purpose of "walking in my ancestors footstep".  I have been relying on online resources and sometimes asking for help from people in the area I’m researching.  I know this is not ideal; it’s not the same experience at all.

We have traveled to England only once, which happened in 2012 for the Royal Jubilee celebrations, so genealogy was not its primary purpose.  Although we didn’t step foot in a single record office, we did manage to squeeze a few cemeteries into our schedule.  It was a moving experience to actually touch gravestones from the 1800s and to walk in the churches where some of our ancestors had worshiped.

One of our stops was at Hastings on the south coast of England, where we stayed overnight near the train station in a comfortable bed and breakfast (the only one that we stayed at that didn’t serve breakfast).  We visited the nearby town of Battle and saw where the Battle of Hastings really took place in 1066.  Places in England are SO much older that in Canada!  Also nearby was the small village of Brede where several generations of my RICHARDSON relatives lived from the late 1600s to the mid 1800s.  This was even more thrilling to me!

Several years before we traveled to England, I had contacted the Sussex Family History Group and obtained a list of Richardson burials, indexed from the Brede parish registers.  So I knew there were 56 such burials recorded between 1736 and 1877, even though I couldn’t place all of these Richardsons in my tree.  I also realized that the tombstones for the older burials might not have survived, but I hoped there would still be lots to see, hopefully including the grave of my 3G grandfather Henry Proctor RICHARDSON (the first) who died in 1850. 

PictureThe south wall of St George's church viewed from the lower cemetery, in Brede, Sussex, England
When we arrived at St Georges Church in Brede, the doors were unlocked and inside we found pamphlets available (for a donation) listing all the monuments in the churchyard.  This greatly sped up the search, and we quickly learned that there was only a small cluster of Richardson gravestones in the upper cemetery beside the western fence in the shadow of a large tree and the church tower:
  • 1 large upright stone commemorating 2 burials: William North Richardson (1876, aged 30 years), and his mother Jemima Richardson (1877 aged 69 years)
  • 2 small foot stones: W N B  1876?; M A R 1879???
  • 1 small oak cross

That was all.   The 2 small stones can’t be identified with certainty, although one may have been a foot stone for the same William North Richardson listed on the bigger stone. And I am only guessing when I suggest that the other small stone was for Jemima's youngest daughter Mary, born 1855 - no further record of her has been found, and the burial records don't include 1879, if in fact that is when a death occurred.  The other three burials were for relatives, but not direct ancestors.

I admit that initially I was disappointed.  But the land where they were all buried was there to experience, and the view was spectacular.  We also learned that the old wooden cross, engraved with nothing but the name “DAMARIS”, had a dramatic story to tell.  Several versions of this touching story have been published over the years, with the following taken from 'The East Sussex Village Book' by Rupert Taylor. In the Brede section he tells the sad story of Damaris RICHARDSON. Talking of the churchyard he says:
"But it has a relic of a tragic Victorian love story in the form of a small oak cross bearing the single word 'Damaris'. Damaris Richardson lived with her uncle in a modest cottage in Rectory Lane. She was a beautiful orphan who worked at the rectory and in a small residential school operated by Rev Maher to supplement his income. She fell in love with Lewis Smith, the handsome young son and sole heir of a wealthy Brede landowner, and they would meet in secret at the west wall of the churchyard - she on the graveyard side and Lewis on the other, in the grounds of the big house where he lived with his parents.

They soon agreed to become unofficially engaged. But affairs are hard to conceal in a small village community and somebody told Lewis' father of the clandestine meetings.  He angrily forbade any ideas of marriage - beautiful, charming and respectable Damaris might be, but she stood far below the station of the Smith family. Lewis, threatened with being cut off without a shilling, gave way to his father.

Presumably there was one final meeting of farewell beside the wall before they parted forever. Damaris, they say, died of a broken heart at the age of 22 and was buried near the trysting place, on September 4th 1856. Her grave was unmarked until the Rev Aylward, who years later succeeded  Mr Maher as Rector of Brede and remembered the orphan from his days as a pupil at the village's school, commissioned the erection of the cross. Lewis Smith never married, living alone and withdrawn in the big huse he inherited. Villagers say he was often to be seen walking gravely in the gardens, close to the wall. He died, age 65, on february 1896 and was interred in the family tomb on the north side of the church.
”
PictureSmall oak cross in memory of Damaris RICHARDSON, Saint George's churchyard, Brede, Sussex, England
Is all this really true?  How does Damaris fit into my tree?  I now have some of the answers.

Damaris RICHARDSON was baptised in this very same St George’s Church in Brede on 27 Apr 1834, the daughter of my 3G grandparents Henry Proctor RICHARDSON and Ann PACKHAM.  She was my great-great-great Aunt who did in fact die at the young age of 22 in Brede on 29 Aug 1856.  According to the burial index, she was buried 5 days later in the churchyard.  But I can’t vouch for the exact location of the meetings between the two young lovers. 

Damaris was also an orphan because her mother Ann had died young in 1838 after childbirth, and her father Henry had died in 1850.  Damaris would have been 4 years old when her mother died, and 16 when her father died, so she would not have had an easy childhood.  It might also help explain why she didn’t have a proper gravestone.

So what happened to Damaris after her father died?  Another version of this story also says that "Damaris Richardson was an orphan who lived with her uncle Thomas Wakeham Richardson in a house in Rectory Lane. She spent a good deal of her time at the Rectory assisting Mrs Maher in household duties connected with the Rector's residential pupils."

Looking in my tree for the identity of her “uncle” Thomas, I see that he was actually her first cousin once removed. Considering the generation gap, it was probably easier for her to call him “uncle”.  This Thomas Richardson (Jr.) was the son of her great uncle Thomas, brother of Henry and Susannah (mentioned below).   And to bring this full circle, this “Uncle” Thomas was the one who married a Jemima and had a son William North Richardson (named after Thomas’s brother), both of whom were buried beside Damaris.


Other researchers have told me that Lewis Smith, the young man who loved yet shunned her, was also a relative of hers, a second cousin.  Lewis’s grandmother was Susan (or Susannah) Richardson, the sister of Damaris’s grandfather (another Henry).  Susannah married a David Smith, a local farmer, and it was their son David Jr. who had a son Louis (or Lewis) Smith.  In 1851 David Jr was farming 500 acres with 20 hired labourers.  So the family had become prosperous, but Damaris was a poor orphan.  It would have been Louis’s father David Jr. who reportedly vetoed the marriage and threatened disinheritance, even though his own mother was a Richardson.  Louis was the oldest son, but as he had other siblings; I don't know if he was the sole heir.  As second cousins are generally allowed to marry, perhaps his father didn’t want him to intermarry.  But if David was wanting better prospects for his oldest son, that seems to deny the worth of his own relatives, which seems rather hypocritical to me!

[I must apologize for the continued repetition of some of these names in multiple generations - a common but very confusing practice by many ancestors, making relationships more difficult to understand as well as explain.]

I can find no record of a marriage for Damaris.  And I have not yet confirmed what became of Louis Smith.

So what of this tale of a broken heart?   According to Damaris's death certificate, her official cause of death was "phthisis pulmonalis some months”.  In other words, she died from pulmonary tuberculosis, sometimes referred to as consumption.  But I have no doubt that she would have been devastated by Louis's rejection of her, and compounded by the extreme emotions of youth, probably felt that life was not worth living without him.  This trauma could have affected her immunity to disease at least. But it does make a much better story to say that she died of a broken heart.

As to the other details of this story, I can only hope that there is at least some grain of truth in them. I am grateful to whoever eventually erected the sturdy little oak cross as a memorial to this young woman who endured too much tragedy in her short life. It and her story will hopefully endure for a lot longer.



See my Richardson Genealogy page for more family photos and an overview of my RICHARDSON line.
My Richardson Family Tree has even more details.
For more details of our trip to Brede, visit our travel blog (scroll down for LOTS of photos).

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A Musical Interlude

2/7/2015

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A while back, some of us had a conversation about not forgetting the human side of our family research, and to be mindful and respectful of the hardships and the effects of life events on family members.  Illnesses, accidents, separation (emigration etc.), death (children perhaps the hardest to bear), love lost, and even the happy times of births, marriages and family celebrations, all take an emotional toll on the individuals as well as impact the whole family.  Sometimes we get caught up in the research and forget to listened to the human stories behind the facts and events.

I was reminded again of this the other day when I was writing a story about my maternal grandfather.  After WWII he and his wife were separated for about FOUR long years (that finally sunk in!).  They lost their farm to the war effort and my grandmother needed to stay behind in PEI to look after her aging parents and invalid mother.  Meanwhile, her husband and almost all her children left in groups for the west coast (4 time zones away).  The stress of this time took its toll on the whole family, and my grandmother developed a heart condition. A concerned doctor counseled that, for her health's sake, she leave her parents and go join her family in BC.  So she did.  But can you imagine how torn she must have been, knowing that she'd never see her parents again? 

I have a family photo taken at Christmas time in 1950 after Granny left PEI and traveled across Canada to reunite with her husband in Duncan BC (see this photo in my previous post about Harry Charles ANDREW).  I can really appreciate the joy behind their huge smiles now!

Then today I saw a posting that shared the following YouTube link.  This song really solidified this whole concept for me. It deals with a family divided due to emigration, missing each other and writing letters trying to stay in touch.  I think you will be very touched by these poignant lyrics performed by a very gifted Irish singer.  You don't have to be Irish - it's universal. The music really adds to the story's impact.   Expect a lump in your throat at the very least ...

Kilkelly Ireland Song (1995) 

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Harry Charles ANDREW (1889-1985) - #5 (52 Ancestors)

2/2/2015

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Theme: Plowing through
PictureMy grandfather Harry C ANDREW
Last week I wrote about the hardships that my paternal grandfather faced during his life, so it is only fitting that this week I talk about his counterpart: my grandfather on my mother's side who had to “plow through” his own struggles as well as the red soil of his family farm in PEI, Canada.

My grandpa, Harry Charles ANDREW, was a quiet mannered, down to earth and seemingly calm individual with a great sense of humor and lots of patience with his many grandchildren.  My mother, sister and I lived with my grandparents for most of my preschool years, which made our bond very special. 

I have very fond memories of my grandpa playing card games with us; he taught us to play Rummy (his favorite) as well as Go Fish and other games.  He was also a great story teller, and again I have fond memories of sitting on his lap, avidly listening to the tales of the "Big Brown Bear".  Unfortunately most of the details of these highly anticipated and entertaining tales have been forgotten, even though we heard them so often as children that we had them memorized and would often correct Grandpa when he ‘got it wrong’.  Of course it was done on purpose, with a twinkle in his eye and a slight hint of a smile. It was part of the game, the entertainment!  On the other hand, we appreciated it when his stories were personalized to include the names of his varying young listeners.

Grandpa was also good at "Dolly" stories, using an actual doll as a prop.  Dolly (probably a "Betsy Wetsy") went for a walk ‘down street’ (along Grandpa’s leg) and midway Dolly would freeze in horror, lift one little leg and wipe her shoe off furiously on the ‘sidewalk’, exclaiming “Dirty little dog!”.  Such bathroom humor is always popular with kids, it seems, so naturally this got rave reviews and was often requested.  Grandpa liked to doze off in his chair, even during story time, and I fear at times we got a little too persistent with our demands for his wonderful stories.

But what of Grandpa's early life?  Harry was born in 1889 in North St Eleanors, Prince County near Summerside, the 2nd generation of ANDREW's to be born on PEI.  (See also the story of Harry's grandfather Charles ANDREW who emigrated from Stratton, Cornwall, England in 1842.)  Harry was the ninth and youngest child of William ANDREW (1848-1920) and Harriet Washbourne COMPTON (1849-1923), born when his mother was 40.  He had only 2 brothers and the other 6 were sisters, all of whom were raised on the family farm.  He had a love of animals, as depicted in two precious photos that have survived from his early years.  One shows young Harry with his dog, and the other with a colt.  The youngest photo we have of him is a small portrait with his sister Sadie, who was closest in age to Harry and who tragically died at the age of 20 from cancer.
Harry probably knew my grandmother, his future wife Nell RICHARDSON, since he was a child as they grew up living only a few miles apart.  They were also related, second cousins to be exact as their mothers were first cousins, so that likely increased the chances of them crossing paths.  According to Granny, she first dated Harry when she was 16 but broke it off.  They reconnected again later and were engaged for about 2 years.  My Aunt Harriet once told me a story about Harry purchasing her engagement ring: "Dad bought the ring with the money (all of it apparently) that he earned harvesting outside Winnipeg (one season) and then came back to PEI when his father became ill. … [Harry's youngest daughter] now has Granny's engagement ring that was purchased by Grandpa for $50 in Montreal (?).”  My Aunt seemed uncertain of where it was purchased, as she also told me that Birks Jewelers had opened a store in Charlottetown about that time.  But wherever it was purchased, the ring was obviously well received and is now a treasured family keepsake.

Harry Charles ANDREW and Eleanor Louise "Nell" RICHARDSON were married in St Johns Anglican Church in St Eleanors in PEI on 16 Jun 1915 when Harry was almost 26 and Nell was 21.  They lived on and worked the Andrew family farm along with Harry’s parents and perhaps his sister Mabel (before and after her nurse’s training in Charlottetown until her marriage).  By this time, the rest of his siblings were married and pursuing their own lives:  sisters Alice and Isa were both living near Winnipeg, his brother Albert was a clergyman in Nova Scotia (soon to distinguish himself in WWI), Horace was married and farming his own property near his parents, and sisters Delores and Fanny were married to local farmers.  
PictureHarry happy to be reunited with his wife, Christmas 1950, Duncan BC
Harry and Nell started a family, but were eager to move to the west coast to join other relatives.  I have been told that they even started packing.  When the rest of the Andrew family heard of their plans, they  pressured Harry into staying to take care of the family farm and their parents.  He was a dutiful son, so they stayed and raised all seven of their children there.  Harry’s father died in 1920, and his mother in 1923.  In 1921 his father’s brother Thomas died, and according to the newspaper account, Harry was one of his pall bearers.  

Fates later intervened, and after the start of WWII, it was decided by the powers that be that an airport and RCAF training base was needed on the Island.  The farmlands of North St Eleanors were targeted as the ideal site.  According to family stories, Harry and Nells’s farm of about 100 acres was one of the first to be appropriated.  In about 1941 when Harry was bed ridden recovering from an accident, Granny was left to negotiation with the men who turned up at their door.  They ended up getting a pittance for their property, although others latter held out for better deals.  They then bought a house from Mrs. Rhodes in St Eleanors, on the Old Town Road to Sherbrooke. Before the war was over, Harry was working as a boiler man, or heating system Engineer, at the new air base.

During WWII, three of Harry’s sons were old enough to enlist.  One was critically injured overseas and eventually made it back to PEI to convalesce.  The doctors advised the winter weather was too harsh for him and he would do better in a warmer climate.  So in 1945 they sent him out to the west coast of Canada to live with relatives.  As Harry no longer had a farm to care for, he quickly made plans to follow his son, thus starting the cross-Canada migration
of most of his family, which occurred between 1945 and 1953.  His oldest son George settled in Ontario after the war.  

On Jan 29, 1946, Harry came west with his youngest son, and his sister Mabel and her husband Fred May. He settled in the Westholme area near Duncan and Chemainus on Vancouver Island, BC.  Other children followed them.  Nell stayed behind in PEI for another 4 years or so to look after her own aging parents.  The separation was very hard on the family.  Sometime before Mar 1948 they bought a home on some property on Herd Road (north of Duncan), but I don't think they were there long.  Sometime after Granny arrived (about 1950), they moved into Duncan, just outside the city limits, and bought a little 2-bedroom house on Garden Street where I spent my early childhood.  It had a lovely back yard with large maple and Bing cherry trees and a sizable garden where they grew raspberries, rhubarb, asparagus, cucumbers and of course potatoes as well as other vegetables - they certainly knew how to grow and preserve food.   For a time Harry worked in the logging industry as a “whistle punk” in the bush near Duncan.  He may also have worked with his son in a dairy and creamery, which was just at the end of the street.   Their house no longer exists, but the memories do.

PictureHarry Charles ANDREW and family, 1959, Duncan BC
In 1959 we had an Andrew family reunion at my aunt’s house in Duncan, and group pictures were taken by my Uncle Charlie. Harry and Nell posed with all their 7 children lined up in birth order behind them.  The photo of their grandkids was more chaotic!  Some of the 21 grandchildren hadn’t been born yet, while others didn’t make it into the photo. Perhaps it was nap time.  I got to meet cousins from Ontario for the first time and play with my other Duncan cousins which made it a very memorable event for me.

Harry lived to be age 96, living in an extended care facility and bedridden for the last couple of years after a series of strokes.  He had a good long life, and celebrated many milestone anniversaries throughout his retirement years with his wife Nell and their growing family. They also welcomed visitors (relatives, old neighbors and friends) from PEI and elsewhere to their home, always eager to hear news of the their first Island home.  Growing up, I heard so many stories of their life on PEI, and how I wish I could go back and record them all!   One day I really must visit their homeland.

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    Authors

    Terry and Claudia Boorman have been interested in their family history since the 1980s.  They live in Victoria BC Canada.

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