Genealogy Chat

Below is off Ancestry, the 1853 arrival of James Peterkin and his family in 1853

It states his wife Marjorie Munro ( maiden name) is travelling with the family.

However a contact has told me that Marjorie had died on the 8 December 1846 in Aberdeen.

The source of the death was a volunteer at the FHS in Aberdeen and she said May/Marjorie buried at St Peters cemetery,Lair 11/19

Marjorie i believe is actually May Munro dob 1807 Delnies Nairnshire Scotland.

My query is as i can only look at the index was it a requirement then for spouse to also give his deceased spouse name and details.

Hope this makes sense and someone could enlighten me on the subject.

I have all the information i need on the family and need no assistance on them thank you.

Thank you for any replies.

Maurice.


Record Image Index-only record
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Name: James Peterkin
Arrival Year: 1853
Arrival Place: Toronto, Canada
Family Members: Wife Marjorie Munro;Child Ann Gordon;Child James Frederick;Child Charles Robert;Child Robert, Munro;Child Stuart Munro;Child Mary Isabella;Child William Matthews
Source Publication Code: 8655.50
Primary Immigrant: Peterkin, James
Annotation: Name, place and year of arrival, birth and death years, occupation, and relative names are also provided.
Source Bibliography: WHYTE, DONALD. A Dictionary Of Scottis Emigrants To Canada Before Confederation. Vol. 3. Toronto: The Ontario Genealogical Society, 2002.
Page: 89

I have now viewed the death record of Mrs Peterkin on Deceased Online which was suggested by Chris Ho.

There were 8 other burials in the same grave. I can connect 7 of these burials to the May/Marjory Munro.

So the Mrs Peterkin is i believe May/Marjory Munro death i was looking for.

Thank you all again for your assistance.

Best wishes Maurice.

I don't understand the arrival in Toronto. Ocean going vessels couldn't go that far inland. Montreal was as far as they could go.

Thank you for your reply Margee,

Perhaps that was their intended destinatiion. Thats all i can think it means.

The family settled in Toronto and some of their descendants still live there.


Best wishes Maurice.

I can't find that record on Ancestry, Maurice.

It is taken off my cousins tree Margee, i will check to see if it is off Ancestry.

Best wishes Maurice.

Yes Margee the record is on Ancestry.

The record also comes up if you search for Marjorie Munro Peterkin.

Toronto Canada.

Maurice.

James Peterkin is a widower in 1861

Ancestry has made a mess as usual, I searched for Mary with father James and found her but Ancestry doesn't show the household composition

Name: Mary Peterkin
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Birth Year: 1844
Birthplace: Scotland
Marital Status: Single
Home in 1861: Toronto, York, Canada West

the image shows

Jas Peterkin - Scotland - Presbyterian - 60 - widower
Jas F - woodcarver - 20
Anne - 19
Mary - 17
Charles - wood turner - 16
Stuart - printer - 15

I don't think a spouse would be listed on a ship's passenger list if she were deceased or otherwise not travelling

I wonder, could this be a mistranscribed age?

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3G2-6T5

Marjory M Peterkin
Ontario, Toronto Trust Cemeteries
Name: Marjory M Peterkin
Event Type: Burial
Event Date: 08 Jul 1857
Event Place: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Age: 10
Birth Year (Estimated): 1847
Birthplace: Scotland
Cemetery: Necropolis Cemetery
Cemetery Section and Lot: T32 R8
Volume Date Range: Volume 01, 1849-1857

Margee - not so.
With the opening of the Lachine Canal in the 1820s, ocean going vessels could navigate to Toronto and Hamilton,
By the 1850s the locks on the Lachine Canal were abt 200' long.
At that time the locks on the Welland Canal were only 150' long (technically, this would allow navigation to Thunder Bay/Port Arthur, but ocean going vessels of the 1850s were a bit too big).
(For ccomparison, the USS Consitution ("Old Ironsides" in Boston Harbor) was a couple of metres too big for the Lachine Canal (unless one removed the bowsprit.)

By the 1850s, continuing to Toronto by train (Grand Trunk Railroad) from Montreal was the more usual (and practicable) mode.

Periodically, I see photos of guys surfing the Lachine Rapids in the St Laurence.
Using the current and the standing waves, it's possible at some times of the year to remain in the same place.

Not that this is really relevant, but the longest surf ride I ever saw was on a river.
Some guy travelled for over 30km, riding the tidal bore on the R Severn.
It was rather dangerous, as the wave contains all manner of junk - branches, flotsam, etc.

----------------------

I've always considered May and Margery as pretty much the same name, like Jane/Jean and like Janet/Jessie. My (Aberdeenshire born) gran was named May after her Aunt Margery.

http://www.whatsinaname.net/female-names/Margery.html

Thank you for your reply Joonie and mgnv,

mgnv i feel more comfortable having seen the link you posted and the christian name change from May to Marjorie.

Joonie the death of Marjory is i believe that of the daughter of James,
she appears on the 1851 census dob abt 1847 Old Machar Aberdeen.

Her mother May/Marjorie Munro is believed to have died at the time of her birth.

Thank you for that record as i have not seen it before.

Best wishes and thanks.
Maurice.

You didn't disappoint me, mgnv. When I posted that ocean going vessels couldn't go as far inland as Toronto I said to myself "mgnv is going to correct me on that" and, sure enough, you did.

But you have to agree that it was very unusual for immigrants from overseas to go by ship all the way to Toronto. The usual route was to disembark at Quebec or Montreal and take the Grand Trunk Railroad.

I don't think that Ancestry record is actually a ship's record. This site gives details of the source: Source Bibliography: WHYTE, DONALD. A Dictionary Of Scottis Emigrants To Canada Before Confederation. Vol. 3. Toronto: The Ontario Genealogical Society, 2002.:

http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/general/resources/221004.htm

and it would appear to be a fairly recently published (1996-2005). If you Google it, the volumes appear to be available to buy and a copy is held at the National Library of Scotland:

http://www.nls.uk/family-history/emigration

last name Peterkin
first names (Mrs)
Burial date 09 December 1846
Authority Aberdeen City Council
Location St Peters Cemetery (Aberdeen)

(if relating, from below link)

https://www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

Chris :)

Thank you Chris very much appreciated.

Best wishes Maurice.

Thank you for your reply Potty, i can now see where that has probaley come from.

Best Wishes Maurice

Thank you for your reply Margee, a grt grt grt grandaughter of Charles Peterkin has Charles written memoirs from his early years in Scotland and Canada.

She is hoping to publish them this year. .

Another descendant has given the family photos of James Peterkin dob abt 1797
and his family to some public Art gallery in Canada , so the family is well documented.
.
It was just the list on Ancestry which threw me out, but Chris and Potty appear to have cleared that up.

Best Wishes Maurice.

OK, Maurice, I've deleted that post so that the page is back to its proper proportions.

Oh good Marge, i thought it was my eyes or my age.

Maurice.

nudged