Sunday, February 28, 2010

A Message for the Francis George Cuthbert Family - 100 Years in Canada!

If you’ve ever pondered about why it is that you were born on this side of the Atlantic, the reason is that 100 years ago this year Francis George Cuthbert and his wife Laura (nee McCarthy) came from Ireland to Canada with their seven children!   They left behind their friends and relatives in what was then a somewhat economically-depressed country, to seek better opportunities for their family -  and for us their descendants.

Francis George Cuthbert, known as Frank, came ahead by himself to scout out the new country.  The Nanaimo Family History Society Ships’ Passenger List Index, for passengers arriving at Quebec ports between June 25th, 1905 and October 13th, 1910, at http://members.shaw.ca/nanaimo.fhs/ shows Frank Cuthbert, age 40, born in Ireland, arriving June 19th, 1910 on the ship Lake Manitoba (page 016-016, National Archives Microfilm Reel T 4768).   Click on ”The Index” and do a search under “cur-cze”, scrolling down to find Frank.
On the National Archives site at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-100.01-e.php it is now possible to search for specific ships and, once found, to see the actual names of the persons on the passenger lists.   The first page of the Lake Manitoba of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. shipping line is at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5354&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=g2lggkts5ngtr3brj1t1cmdhq4  where details of the voyage are given.   And Francis George’s name is on page 17 of 46, at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5354&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=53155&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=tf26lgsflcfuvumjhqulq7t6l0
about half way down the page, heading for Winnipeg.  His occupation was traveller (i.e., travelling salesman) and this was his intended occupation in Canada.


A picture of the ship, the Lake Manitoba, is at:  http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/lakemanitoba.htm
Francis Percy Cuthbert, age 17, arrived next on September 30th, 1910, on the ship Tunisian (page 020-004, Reel T - 4772).  His country of birth is shown erroneously on the Nanaimo FHS site as England instead of Ireland, possibly because the ship sailed from Liverpool in England.
on page 21 of 41, fifth name from the top. He is shown as going to his father in Winnipeg and that his intended first occupation in Canada was clerk.


A picture of ship, the Tunisian, is at:    http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/tunisian.htm
Because the other members of the family came just after October 13th, they are not listed on the Naniamo FHS site.  Therefore it's necessary to have some other source to find out the name of the ship they travelled on and the date of the sailing.
Laura Cuthbert and the other six of their seven children arrived in Canada on the Corsican of the Allan Line Steamship Co., arriving in Quebec, Oct. 15, 1910.   Luckily I remembered that my Aunt Ida  years before had told me the name of the ship and I first found them back in 2000 by laboriously scrolling through reams of microfilm at the Archives.  That was before the information was more conveniently available on line.  
Their names can be seen at  http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5516&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=56743&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=151ughvih931n4ktsta4bcptn0 on page 22 of 39, about half way down.  They are shown as going to Winnipeg, to an Eaton’s Clerk, my grandfather’s first occupation in Canada.  


A picture of ship, the Corsican, is at:   http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/corsican.htm
Francis George’s uncle, Edward Beggs, and his family were on the same ship but not in steerage like the Cuthbert kids as Ida recalled.  See  http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5516&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=56729&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=151ughvih931n4ktsta4bcptn0.  They are near the bottom of page 8 and Edward is a house agent (a real estate agent I guess in today’s terms).
We’ll never know what our lives would have been like (or even if we would have been born) if Frank and Laura had remained in Ireland - a lovely place really -  but I’m ecstatically happy living here - and look at all those gold medals Canada has won at the Olympics this week  :-)    As I write there’s cheering going on outside on the street and so I think we must have won another gold!



Saturday, February 20, 2010

Are Robert and Olivia Cuthbert related to Christopher?

The Christ Church Delgany parish register lists the baptisms of the following children of a Robert and Olivia Cuthbert:
William b 2 Sept 1810 Kilquade;
Robert b 19 Sept 1813 abode Woodstock;
Mary Anne b 22 Oct 1815 Kilcoole;
Jane baptised 14 June 1818 abode Glen of Downs; and
Robert born 23 Apr 1821, baptised 26 Apr 1821 (mother’s name spelled as Olymphia).
While there is a nineteen-year gap between the 1791 baptism of Christopher’s youngest known child and Robert and Olivia’s oldest, there is a possibility that the two families might be related since they all belonged to the same Delgany church.  

My e-friends Sheila and Barrie in England are searching for a possible link.  Is there anyone else out there who might also be able to shed some light on this?  

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Was Joseph Cuthbert related to Christopher?

Faulkner's Dublin Journal of March 5th - 9th, 1765, at http://www.irelandoldnews.com/Dublin/1765/MAR.html contains the following notice under the heading Marriages:    
Wednesday last, Mr. Joseph CUTHBERT, an eminent Taylor of the Parish of Delgenny, County of Wicklow, to Miss MEDCALF, of Windgate, in said Parish”.  
The Christ Church Delgany register shows the marriage of Joseph Cuthbert to Elizabeth Medcalf on March 7th, 1765.  This is the earliest Cuthbert marriage at Christ Church, the same church in which Christopher was married in March 1769.  Were Joseph and Christopher related? 

The only child of Joseph and Elizabeth Cuthbert that I have discovered so far is a son, Richard Cuthbert, baptised on October 13th, 1766, also at Christ Church Delgany.   This is the earliest Cuthbert baptism listed in the Delgany register. 

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Christopher and Elizabeth’s children

I am eternally grateful to my friend Doreen in Ireland who first found Christopher and Elizabeth Cuthbert and their family in the Delgany parish records, getting me back one further generation.   The Parish Registers of Christ Church Delgany show the baptisms of their children:   
Mary, Nov 1769;  
Robert, May 1772;  
Christopher, Dec 1774;   
Charles, March 1776;  
William, Jan 1779 ; 
John,  Nov 1781;  and 
Jane, Jan 1791. 
The family lived at Windgate at the time of at least one of the baptisms.  
William is my great great grandfather and I’ve traced many of his descendants down to the present.  Charles was the subject of a fascinating court case which I’ll describe later on.  I would be interested in learning more about the other children and their descendants.
The Parish Registers of Christ Church Delgany are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin.  A transcription is at the Society of Genealogists Library in London.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Christopher Cuthbert was from Killincarrig

At the time of his marriage in March 1769, Christopher Cuthbert, was from Killincarrig, County Wicklow, Ireland.  A topographical dictionary from a slightly later period describes Killincarrig as a village in the parish of Delgany, barony of Rathdown, county of Wicklow, and province of Leinster, half a mile east north-east from Delgany, on the road from the village of Bray to the town of Wicklow.  Later generations of the Cuthbert family lived in Bray for over 100 years, until the early to mid 1900's. Bray is located along the coast, not far south of the city of Dublin.