Investigating the McLeod-Dority Connection

Since I discovered the name Anne Doherty in Annie Agnes McLeod's Death Registration (see previous post) which has thrown up the question of whether Annie Agnes's mother is Anne Doherty or Henriette Mundy, I've been reviewing some of the family records. While I haven't found any definite proof either way, I've found the surname Doherty (or more accurately, Dority) staring me in the face in a number of records.

First, in the marriage record between John McLeod and Henriette Mundy, there is a Margaret Dority as a witness:



Next, in the 1861 census there appears to be an M.A. Dority either living with the family or next to the family



Same with in the 1871 census, when the family had moved to Hamilton:



I've also discovered that one of John & Henriette's daughters as named Amy Dorrity McLeod:



And finally, we find a marriage record for Margaret Dority, and both John McLeod and Annie Agnes McLeod are witnesses. Worth noting: the groom comes from Cobourg.



So what this all means, I'm not sure of yet. But there's definitely some connection between the McLeod family and the Dority surname.

New Record, New Information, New X-Files

Ancestry just released the 1945 death records for Ontario. There were a few that I was looking forward to seeing, one of which is the death registration for Annie Agnes Tew. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to find much that I didn't already know. But it turns out that there was a lot more on this record than I had expected. Some clues, and a whole lot more questions.



So, here are a few interesting observations:

1. The date of birth is listed as December 11, 1849. From census record to census record, her year of birth varies, although it's usually around 1855. 1849 is much earlier than I would have expected. Granted, death records are often erroneous, but this is definitely something to check out. [X00128]

2. The place of birth is listed as Niagara-on-the-Lake. I had figured that the McLeod family would have been living in Cobourg at the time of her birth, but that was when I had figured it was 1855. Again, this is a bit of a clue as to where I might find a birth record. [X00128]

3. The birthplace of her father, John McLeod is given as Edinburgh, Scotland. Until today, I only had a very common Scottish name, and an approximate year of birth to go on to trace him back to Scotland. At least this gives one more piece of information to narrow down possibilities. [X00182]

4. By far, the most interesting piece of information is that the name of the mother is given as Anne Doherty. All the evidence that I have points to her mother being Henriette Mundy. It's time to review the evidence and re-evaluate. Again, the information on the death registration is all coming second-hand, but it's worth investigating; even if it is incorrect, the name of Anne Doherty must have come from somewhere. [X00191]

5. And finally, the information that the mother was born in Cobourg, Ontario gives a clue on where we might find more information. [X00191]

The Parents of Alice Butterworth

I love it when a distant cousin or someone who is researching the same line as I am asks me how I arrived at a certain conclusion because then it forces me to review my evidence and assumptions. Sometimes my assumptions turn out to be correct; sometimes I find that I've made a mistake, but all-in-all it helps to make my research stronger.

Anyway, I received a recent question about how I arrived at the conclusion that the parents of Alice Butterworth (born about 1828 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England) were Robert Butterworth and Betty Council. There appears to have been a number of Alice Butterworths living in or around Blackburn at the time as well as multiple Robert and Betty Butterworths, so how did I arrive at these ones?

So I went through my documents and here is my analysis:

I start off with the marriage record of George Ashton & Alice Butterworth. From this, we learn that her father’s name was Robert Butterworth and his occupation was a weaver. Also, that Alice was born about 1828.



Next, I’ve found George & Alice in the 1851 census. The names and ages match the marriage certificate. In the household, they are living with a Betty Butterworth who is listed as a widow. So, presumably Robert had died by 1851.



Next, I found Betty and Alice in the 1841 census. The ages and names of the Alice and Samuel match the family in the 1851 census, so I’m confident it is the same family. Robert is missing from this census as well, so he likely had died before 1841. One thing to note is the ages for Betty don't match between the 1841 and 1851 census, although the 1841 census was notorious for rounding ages.



Next, I’ve come across a death certificate for a Robert Butterworth in 1840, living in Blackburn, who is listed as being a weaver. In the document the informant is a William Counsell. That isn't necessarily proof of anything, but it does support the argument that Betty's maiden name was Counsell.



Finally, I’ve come across a marriage record for a Robert Butterworth and a Betty Council, married in Blackburn in 1813. Robert's occupation is listed as weaver and the year of 1813 is consistent with when their oldest child from the 1841 census would have been born.

So, all seems to be consistent: the names, dates, occupation and locations. The only outlier (aside from the difference in ages for Betty Butterworth in the 1841 and 1851 censuses) is what I believe is the baptism record for Alice, where her father’s occupation is listed as a farmer and everywhere else it is listed as a weaver. That being said, if this is her baptism record, she was baptized much later in life, and it would have been 37 years after her father had died, so it is very likely that she could have given the wrong profession for him.

Frederick Ashton Birth Record - Solved!

I've been trying to find the birth record for Frederick Ashton. The 1891 census suggests that he was born in 1889 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. According to the Ashton Family bible, he was born on October 17, 1889.

A search of Free BMD found a Frederick Ashton born in Blackburn in the Oct-Nov-Dec quarter of 1889. But looking at the certificate, the parents were not the correct family:



Later on, however, I found a burial record, where his name was listed as just "Fred". So, I tried the search again, searching just for a Fred Ashton. This time the parents are the correct ones:



The date of birth is a little off from what is in the family bible (October 22nd vs October 17th) but Frederick likely would have died long before the owner of the bible was born, so I can assume that the birth date is at least second-hand information.