The Dowsett family, from Essex to Bastard township, Ontario

As with all the posts, click on the pictures to see the images full size

Craig-Dowsett Reunion Sunday August 21, 2011

Click here for details 

The Dowsett family coat of arms

     The Dowsett surname rises from the use of nicknames to describe a person's looks or disposition. It is a Middle English derivative of the word "doucet" used to describe something pleasing to the eye or ear. Doucet is from the French word "doux" or "douce" which means soft/sweet. I guess the original Dowsetts were either all good looking or exceptionally nice, maybe both. LOL Either way the name is of Anglo-French origin and came after the Norman invasion.

     My early history of the family is a little sketchy. I think I have the correct family for Philip, our forefather who came to Canada but am not completely sure. I'm going to list it because many of the family details line up and if it ends up being incorrect at least I will have eliminated a lead. I can always correct it later, that's what the edit button is for.

An old ordinance map showing Ramsden Bellhouse,

Later the town would divide into Ramsden Bellhouse and Ramsden Heath

     The origin for our Dowsett line, I believe, starts in Ramsden Bellhouse in Essex county, England with Samuel Dowsett. He married Mary Judd Dowsett. They had nine children; Samuel 1781, Philip 1783, Sophia 1784, Mary 1786, Joseph 1787, Lucy 1789, William 1790, James 1794 and Edward 1795.

     I have three different birthdates for Philip depending on the document, see Family Histories, Huh? for an explanation.

     Edward shows up in the 1851 and 61 census of England in  Newington, Surrey with Ramsden as a birth place.

     Philip and his brother James joined the army and fought in the 2nd battalion of the 57th regiment of the foot. Other relatives have his military records, I'll post them when I get them. The 57th is quite a distinguished regiment and there is lots of information on them if you care to Google the name. They fought in the Pennisula wars and James died in France. The 57th was posted to Canada after the war of 1812, around 1814-15. England was granting land to loyal subjects to help protect its interests and Philip took a grant in Bastard township, Lot 2, Concession 23.

     A silly aside, when I first started looking for Philip online I kept getting Philip Dowsett.....Bastard in the search term precis. I thought it was a reference to his birth, I had no idea there was a Bastard township. LOL

     The conditions of the grant were; five acres cleared, crops grown and a house built in five years time. That may not seem like much but imagine venturing off from Elizabethtown (Brockville) with your axe and hoe, down spotty roads, if they existed,  to get to your land and start your new life. Philip's grant was contested because he couldn't get to his land the winter it was surveyed. He successfully petitioned to get it back and fulfilled the grant conditions. He acquired other grants as well, the last being Lot 3, Consession 29. It would remain in the family for over a hundred years.

An old concession map of Bastard township

The Dowsett grants are near the bottom around Forfar

     Philip married Sarah White, 1800-1847, of Elizabethtown and they had nine children. Philip married twice more but only had children with Sarah. Philip died in 1862, Both he and Sarah are buried at the Forfar cemetery.

Philip Dowsett

His mitlitary record describes him as 5' 5", brown hair and hazel eyes

     There are three others I know of working on the family so there is quite a bit of information on Philip's children. I will include a brief outline of each, compiled by one of the family researchers, add information where I have it, then continue on with my direct line.

The Nine Family Lines:

The Descendants of Philip Dowsett (1785-1862) and Sarah White (1800-1847)

Albert Dowsett (ca 1820?-????)

“Father” of the Smiths Falls Dowsetts Albert is thought to be the eldest of the children of Phillip and Sarah Dowsett.  Albert and his wife Elizabeth Thomas had three children, two who lived to adulthood: Bently , who died as a toddler, Elizabeth Sophia (Libby) and Samuel Hicks Dowsett. At some point, Albert moved to Iowa (USA). Information obtained suggests that he was buried there. If anyone has any leads for information on his life and death in Iowa, Susan and Anne would be happy to research them.

Lucy Ann Dowsett 1821?-????)

Lucy may have been the eldest (varying dates have been found for her and her brother Albert). Some time after her marriage to George Cox in 1836 and the birth of their seven children, Lucy and her family moved “away” from the Forfar area. There was apparently a dispute on the transfer of land to George Cox from Philip Dowsett that led to this move. Recent leads indicate that Cox family descendants live in the Parham area.

Eli Dowsett (1825-1870)

The third child of Philip and Sarah, Eli married Olive Chipman in 1859 in Portland. They had three children: Charles (Charlie), Sarah Ophelia and Russell Eli. Russell Eli moved to Rat Portage (now Kenora). There he built houses and was responsible for having the Winnipeg River charted for navigation. He also had a contract to move supplies for the building of the Grand Trunk Railway with his fleet of ships on the river.  Charlie was a wood-worker and was employed by his cousin William who owned the Dowsett Boatworks in Portland.

     Russell had a son Charles, who had a son John, who had a son Charles, who has a son James. James's mother is one of the people doing research. She has traced the Chipman line, which married into the Dowsetts, back to their roots on the Mayflower.

James Dowsett (1827-1891)

James Dowsett and his wife Eliza Whitby raised 11 children on the Dowsett family farm between Crosby and Portland (part of Chantland Farms today). Daughters Ann and Sarah married and homesteaded with their husbands on Manitoulin Island before 1900. Caroline, Lucy and George married locally... linking the Dowsett line to the Leggett and Baker families.  Joe farmed locally and then moved near present-day Markdale, Ontario. Maggie married later in life and Lea and Rachel never married. Lea and Burt, the two youngest sons, remained on the home farm until their deaths. Although many of the family lived well into their eighties, Burt was the only family member to reach 90 years of age.

Sarah Ann Dowsett (1831-1861)

We know little of Sarah and her three children Patrick, Philip Henry, and Sarah Ann. At the time of her death (likely in childbirth) she was married to William Bolton.   Her eldest son is usually known as Patrick Dowsett. We know that Patrick married and lived in the Rideau area but have not been able to trace the younger two children who carried the Bolton name.

William H. Dowsett (1834-1867)

Sixth child of Philip and Sarah Dowsett, William died at age 33. He is buried in Forfar Cemetery where many of his relatives rest. There is no evidence that he was married.

Charles D. Dowsett (1837-1868)

Seventh child of Philip and Sarah Dowsett, Charles married Alvira Chipman (daughter of Ami Chipman of Portland) in 1864. They have one known son Nathaniel who in 1891 was a farmer in the district. Family sources say that he later moved out west.... possibly to Lethbridge or Edmonton.

Elizabeth Sophia Dowsett (1839-1843)

Eighth child of Philip and Sarah Dowsett, Elizatheth died at age four. She is buried in Forfar Cemetery.  Note that there are others with the name  Elizabeth Sophia in the family.

Uri A. (1844 or 1846-????)

Ninth child of Philip and Sara Dowsett, Uri married Adeline Lawson in 1868. Uri and Adeline had two daughters Mary Estella  and Ada Adella. Ada Adella died in 1872 at the age of 6 months and 9 days and is buried in the Halliday Cemetery in Elgin. After Uri`s death in about 1870, Adeline married John Henry MacDonald and lived in Lennox and Addington and then Frontenac Counties.

      Albert is the son who is in my line. His son Samuel Hicks Dowsett  was born July 8, 18?? in Iowa and returned to the Portland area as a young man. He worked with his cousin William at the Dowsett Boatworks. He married Annie Gallagher April 8th, 1880 in Oliver's Ferry  (Rideau Ferry), North Elmsley. Annie was the daughter of John Gallagher and Emily Havington. She was born Feb. 18, 1861 in North Burgess township of Lanark county. They had eleven children. I don't have birthdates for the children all I know is that Eva Belle was the youngest. The children were as follows; Philip, Samuel(Sonny), James, Elmer, Mabel, John(Jack), Albert, Burton, Ethel, Elva and Eva.

The Dowsetts   

back row - Philip, Samuel (Sonny), James, Elmer

mid row  - Mabel, John (Jack), Annie (mother), Albert, Burton

front row  - Ethel, Eva, Elva

Elva's son Burton had written that the photo was taken at a photographer's studio in Smiths Falls in the early 1920's.

Making ice cream at the Dowsett house in Portland about 1905

Mrs. Sweet, Mrs. Kendrick, Mrs. Pinkerton, William Morris, Miss Cannon, Mrs. Waffle, William John Dowsett, Florence Copus, Mrs. Austin, Miss Heath

The gentleman holding the axe is Samuel's cousin William

One of the Dowsett boats

They are sought after collector's items 

Pictures and descriptions can be found on historical boat sites

     Samuel and Annie parted ways for some reason. Samuel died in 1909 felling a tree and his cousin William claimed the body. In 1911 Annie was living in Smiths Falls with the younger? children.

1911 census of Smiths Falls showing Annie and the children

     Eva Belle Dowsett married John Craig July 29, 1919. They had eleven children together; 

Thelma Kathleen 1920-2005,
Evon Milford 1921-,
Ruth Isabel 1922-2004,
Arthur John 1925 2001,
Clifford Gordon 1926-2009,
Marian Eileen 1931-,
Eva Gwendolyn 1932-,
Allen Havington 1935-2003 
Gary Milton 1937-,
Terrance James 1939-
Bonnie Elizabeth 1941-.

     I have two stories about Eva. The first is that she is named after a boat called the Eva Belle. As of yet we haven't been able to find a picture.

     The second is a little more romantic. Her brother Samuel(Sonny) carried a picture of Eva as a girl with him when he went for training for WWI. John Craig and Samuel would have trained at the same place and the photo is thought to be the introduction between John and Eva.

Eva as a girl, about 13

John Craig in his WWI uniform

Eva and John in 1961

Evon Craig,

Eva and John's first son and my grandfather

     Eva and John's son Evon Craig married Muriel Lumsden and their son Eric is my father. That is my Dowsett family connection.

     I would like to thank Susan Hull, Anne Maxwell and Lynda Renaud for all of their help in tracing the Dowsett family. There are lots more stories, pictures and information out there and I will post it as soon as I have it. I look forward to trading stories at the Craig-Dowsett reunion this summer.

     Feel free to pass along anything you would like to see here and I'll post it as soon as I can. To contact me directly, click here. Look forward to hearing from you all.

Take care, Paul

Family histories, Huh?

     After spending countless hours in front of the computer running down family information I thought I should add some notes on the histories or "our" stories. This will help any future amateur geneologists, you can learn from my mistakes. LOL

    I can't tell you how important is is to know the place, and I mean the exact place, where people came from or where they went to. One of the most useful tools in finding people are the census records. I've searched needlessly through thousands of pages not knowing that my family isn't from Montague township or even Lanark county. What is a 10 minute drive today encompasses three counties and six or seven townships. Township and county boundries and names change with time as well so double check for the time you are looking at. In some cases the location is almost if not more important than the given name.

     Having said that, the census records are wildly inaccurate and often contradictory. There are several reasons. Early Canadian records, pre Confederation, were in some cases deliberately mis represented. People were afraid of being taxed so the answers are false. The census was also at the mercy of the enumerator, if you weren't home,  answers could be provided by a child or neighbour.

     Literacy was also an issue. It is hard to imagine now but the literacy rate in England was about 40% in 1800, 25% in Ireland and about 70% in Scotland. What constituted literacy was also different, being able to sign your name in the parish records was considered being literate in some cases. So you have people who can't read giving information to enumerators that can't be checked or verified. It results in some creative spellings let me tell you. We are also at the mercy of transcibers in the modern indexes. The old records are hard to read and mistakes get made. I have found several just because I know what the name should be. I couldn't find the Lumsden family because it was transcribed as Lamsden in the early records.

     Age is also very fluid, the largest one I have found is a ten year difference. As it turns out, until the Child Labour Laws and drivers license came into effect, age wasn't all that relevant to a lot of people. You could serve in the army at 14 or 15 and be an old pensioner by 25. People didn't think much about it. You worked until you couldn't, married when your parents said it was okay and had children until you couldn't.

     Given names are also a bit of a crap shoot. First, families passed on names so you end up with lots of related people with the same name in the same area. Although it can be helpful sometimes it can also be hard to make sure you have the right "William, John or Mary". One of the saddest things I have encountered is multiple occurances of the same name in children. It usually indicates a child's death. Renaming a later child was a sign of respect. To avoid confusion, many people went by their middle names or nicknames. For example, Grandma Craig's grandparents were "Bert" and "Lena" Wood, everyone called them that and the 1911 census records them as that. Their marriage certificate lists them as Charles Albert Wood and Lurinda Stewart. Never would you know that from Bert and Lena. Be prepared for names switching as well, John William can become William John at the drop of a hat, there doesn't seem to be any consistancy in record keeping for many of the early records. In that vein, people also are recorded either as Sarah or Maria depending on the documents with the full name being Sarah Maria. It can be maddingly frustrating.

     The histories are as accurate as I could be. If the only source I had was anecdotal, I'll say so. The census records, death certificates et al are to provide context and confirmation of family stories and connections.

     The histories started out as an extension of identifying and getting old family photos. Just as an aside the first photgraph was in 1837 in Paris. I have been lucky enough to have had a lot of help for the Craig and Dowsett families and am hoping the Lumsdens, Woods, Fishers and Sadlers will come out of the woodwork as I continue. It has been a lot of fun and incredibly interesting to find out about the family and the times they lived in. I have found out I am not the product of generations of farmers like I thought. There are a few scattered through the family tree but a lot of the family started out in the trades, coopers, blacksmiths, moulders and in the case of the Dowsetts, the military.  Who knew, not me, that's for sure.

     At some point we all wonder, where do I come from? Hopefully these family histories can shed some light on any questions you might have. It also provides a starting point to help pool information that various people have found. It kills me how expensive the ancestory sites are, they've got a good thing going. Posting on the blog offers a free starting point for any future research. Feel free to share anything you'd like posted or just say hi if the family posts are your ancestors as well, after all there are thousands of us out there. Mwahahaha

Take care.

All about the Craig's, from Lanarkshire, Scotland to Lanark County, Ontario

Craig-Dowsett Reunion Sunday August 21, 2011

click here for details 

   

As with all the pictures, click on them to see them full size.

The Craig crest, Grandpa has it hanging in the kitchen

The Craig badge

Worn in battle to distinguish friend from foe

     The Craig family crest has three variations, one for England, Ireland and Scotland. The crest above it for the Scottish Craigs and we have a long history there. The family motto "Vive Deo et Vives" translates roughly into "Live with God that you may live for ever"

     The surname means rock, rocky , low hill. The anglicised word is "crag".  It is often thought to be a descriptive surname but is as likely to be derived from the people who built and lived in the fortresses which were built on the low, rocky hills. Below is a picture of the "ancient" Craig tartan. I guess there is a modern version as well?

     So much for my flip remark, there are about a dozen Craig tartans, for hunting, ancient..... One for every occassion .

ancient Craig tartan

Lanarkshire, Scotland

     I have been able to trace the line back to the middle of the 1700's in Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The map above shows Lanarkshire, and where it is within Scotland.

     The first family I have information on is John Craig and Jane(Jean). All I have is that they had a son, William, born in 1746.

     William married Jean Russell on January 15th, 1763. Jean , born in 1745, was from Cambusnetham, Scotland, a neighbouring parish.
They had seven children;
Lilias 1764-1764,
John 1767-?,
Silios/Lilias 1769-?,
Jean 1771-?,
William 1773-?
James 1775-?.

William and Jean's marriage

Cropped from OPR in Scotland

Old Parish Records

      

William and Jean's son John. He was born January 21, 1767.

John's baptismal record

     John married Janet Gibson on July 8th, 1792 in Lanark parish.  

John and Janet's marriage

     I have five children for John and Janet;
William born July 20th, 1793,
Marion born 1795,
Jean born 1798,
John 1801-1873
Adam 1802-1873.

William's baptismal record

William's youngest brother Adam with his wife Janet Gemmill

     William married Christian Swan January 18th, 1819. I can't find any record of their marriage but the baptismal record for their eldest child, Janet, in 1820 shows them as married and still in Scotland.

Janet's baptismal record

     William is our forefather who came to Canada. There are conflicting stories about his departure and arrival in Canada. I have stories that put him in the country in early 1820 to late 1821, on three different ships, with different groups and alone and unmarried.

     The most reliable story puts him in Canada in 1820 with his wife, daughter and his youngest brother Adam. They settled in Lanark county. His land grant was 50 acres in Darling township, lot 3 ,concession 3.

The trip over would have been anywhere from 40 to 46 days by boat, in less than ideal conditions. I can't imagine what that must have been like for a newly wed couple with a newborn in tow.

     Lanark county was quite literally forest when they arrived, no town, no buildings, no anything. They hacked a livelyhood out of the forest. William was a cooper by trade, a useful skill to have. He would have made barrels for storage and transport, pails and butter churns. All things a growing community needed to survive and prosper.

     The records get very sketchy from his arrival until about the 1880's. The census records are wildly inaccurate if they exist at all and parish records where kept by travelling priests so are spotty as well. People were too busy trying to survive to be bothered.

     William and Christian had six children;
Janet(Jessie) Buchanan 1820-1893,
John McDonald 1822-1889,
William John 1828-?,
George 1829-1897,
Adam 1833-1903
Andrew 1834-1905.

     Christian died in 1837 and William never re-married. She is often named as Christina but it is probably either a transcription or spelling error. William died March 12, 1870.

William Craig

July 20, 1793-March 12, 1870

Old concession map circa 1861 of Darling township

the Wm Craig listed is probably William's son

There are three land grant applications between 1824-36 for William Craig so it may be a later grant

Record of William's death in Darling township

     William's daughter Janet married Sinclair Tullis and one of her descendants has provided a lot of the information here. Janet's son, JS Tullis, wrote a book/memoir about early life in Drummond township. I have a couple of excerpts describing his grandparents, William and Christian.

" My other Grandfather William Craig son of John Craig and Janet Gibson was born July 20th and baptized July 28 1793 in the town and Parish of Lanark, Lanarkshire Scotland, a cooper by trade.

Married about 1818, Christina Swan, their first child (my mother) was born 1820, February 7.  They with his brother Adam Craig migrated to Upper Canada, Bathurst District Settlement, Lanark Depot.  Sailing from Greenock Scotland June 1820 on the ship Brock.  He settled in the hamlet of Lanark.  He worked at his trade, later went on to Kingston; stayed there about three years,working at his trade, then returned to Lanark.  Later he settled on land in Darling Township.  Thier family was Jessie (mother),John, William, George, Adam and Andrew.  He (grandfather) died 15 March 1869, Darling Twp.  His height 6 feet, weight 240 lbs, full beard, hair and beard snow white and was a strong muscular man."

" Grandmother Christina Swan Craig born in Scotland the daughter of William Swan and Janet (Jessie) Buchanan.  She could talk the Gaelic.  When cooking the evening meal she dropped dead about the year 1837.  With her husband and babe Jessie (mother) six weeks old, sailed June 1820 to Lanark Upper Canada settlement".

     One of William's son John Macdonald's descendants is in Spokane, Washington.

     One of the "cousins" has supplied me with story of William's son George and his family. Thanks Sharon.

George Craig
b) 16 Oct 1829 in Darling, Lanark, Ontario, Canada

m) Elizabeth Stewart (12 Jul 1831-12 Dec 1905) in 1850
d) 1 Aug 1897 in Clyde Forks, Lanark Twp., Lanark  

Their children:
John 1850 or 1853 -1922

Jane Jennie 1854-1930

Adam 1858-1923

William 1861-1920

Christina 1862

George 1866-1881

Charles Stewart 1871-1940

John Craig

b) 13 Apr 1853 or 1850 in Darling, Ontario

m) Jane "Jeannie" McDougall (07 Dec 1850-1948) on Nov 20, 1872
d) 1922 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
(He was a cook in a lumber logging camp, and was known as “Fightin” John', because anyone who complained about his cooking had to fight him; he fought a lot.) I love that story, thank God that isn't a family tradition LOL

Their children:

Catherine Matilda Craig 1878-

George William Craig 1880- 

Agnes Highers Craig 1882-1901

Margaret "Maggie" Craig 1884-

Adam Dougall Craig 1886-1962

John Craig 1889-

Adam Dougall Craig (birth cert says McDougall but dropped Mc in most other official records)

b) 13 Sep 1886 in Cobalt, Ontario, Canada

m) Anna "Annie" Auguste Leopoldine Schmidt (3 Aug 1892-8 Mar 1965) on Dec 13, 1911 in Nipissing, On
d) 1962

(Adam worked as a machinist and in the mines) 

their children:

Thelma 1913-1971

Clarence "Curly" 1914-1968

Elmer John 1915- died but I don't have year

Doris 1917-

Adam McDougall Craig (in his 50's-60's)

Adam, Annie, Annie's sister and their children.

Annie and Adam's children, Thelma, Clarence, Elmer and Doris

(Hopefully, I got that all correct)

A later picture of the Annie and Adam's family

Clarence “Curly” Craig

b) 1914 in Cobalt, Ontario, Canada

m) Eileen Booth (1915-2006 Kingston, On) in 1939
d) 12 May 1968 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio

(He worked in the mines then left for Queens in Kingston, put himself thru school, worked for Alcan in Shawinigan Quebec, South Africa, and California and Ohio. Died at 54 of colon cancer)

Eileen and Clarence"Curly" Craig

Clarence and Eileen's children carry on George's legacy

     One of Willam and Christian's son's, William John, descendants has filled in his branch of the tree. Thanks Stephanie. I have posted this as I got it. I like having the histories in people's own words, you've all read enough of mine. LOL

William John Craig born circa 1826 in Darling Twp., Lanark Co., to William Craig and Christina Swan married Mary Molyneaux on September 19 1851in Darling Twp., Lanark Co., Ontario. Mary was born circa 1831 in Drummond Twp., Lanark Co., Ontario to John Molyneaux and Mary Mitchell.  William John died sometime between 1881/1891, he appears in the 1881 census and Mary is a widow by 1891.  Mary Molyneaux Craig died March 29 1900 at Lot 7 Con. 13, Galway Twp., Peterborough Co. which is the same lot that she and William settled on when arriving in this area.  Mary's cause of death was Chronic dementia.

William and Mary had ten children that I am aware of.  All dates are subject to change because as I think you have noticed they can vary from one census to another, from one record to another.

1)  Mary Jane Craig born March 3, 1853 Lanark Co., Ontario married George Henry Emanuel  Dartnell on February 4 1883 in Bobcaygeon, Ontario.  Mary died April 18 1930 in Peterborough Ontario.  Her husband George was born October 14 1856 in London England and died in 1943 in Peterborough, Ontario. Both are buried in Little Lake Cemetery in Peterborough, Ontario.    Mary and George were the parents of Ella May Dartnell (Mrs. Dr. David Wesley Clark), and George Wesley Dartnell who married Huldah Dobbin.  Ella May Dartnell Clark had three sons, James, Grant and Allan, and George and no issue.  Mary Jane and George Henry Dartnell also had two children who lived less than a year, Clara Gwendoline and William Henry Emanuel Dartnell, both children are buried in Verulam Cemetery, Bobcaygeon, Ontario.

2) John Joseph  "Jack" Craig born February 26 1854 in Lanark Co., Ontario, married Mary Allan on July 25 1892 in Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan, USA. John died January 12 1912 in Minnesota, USA.  He and his wife Mary had six children, Bernard Chester Craig, Florence Beatrice Craig, Robert Leonard Craig, John Francis Clement Craig, Walter Allen Craig, and Mary Cecelia Craig.

3)Christina Swan Craig born January 20 1856 in Lanark Co., married William "John Schell" on January 3 1874 in Fenelon Falls, Ontario.  Christina died January 12 1919 in Somerville Twp., Victoria Co., Ontario.  William "John" Schell was born September 15 1852 on Scugog Island, Ontario, he died February 6 1926.  Both are buried in St. John's Cemetery, Bury's Green, Somerville Twp., Victoria Co., Ontario.  In 1923 my great grandfather at the age of 71 was charged with murder, he was defended by Cecil G. Frost and his brother Leslie Frost, who would later become Premier of Ontario, it was said to be the case that launched their careers. In February of 1924 William "John" Schell was acquitted.   Christina Craig and William "John" Schell had 12 children. Melissa (Mrs. John Lang), who had one son, Almira Schell who died at age 18, Grecia Mildren Schell, who died unmarried,  Eliza Ann "Annie" Schell  who died at age 4, Matilda "Tillie" Schell (Mrs. Charles "Wesley" Billett) who had nine children, Delilah Schell, who died at age 10, William John "Jack" Schell who married  and had one child who died as a baby, Louie Maude Schell (Mrs. Henry "Harry" Hopkins) who had one son, Samuel "George Schell who married twice and had 17 children, one of whom is my father, Christina Schell who died as a baby, Charles Warren Schell who married and had 10 children, and Ella May Schell (Mrs. Gordon Thomas Hunter) who had 7 children.

A note about my grandfather Samuel "George" Schell son of Christina Swan Craig and William "John" Schell.  His first wife was his first cousin, Lillian Violet Craig daughter of Christina Swan Craig Schell's brother Adam, they had two children and Lillian died, then my grandfather married my grandmother Dora Christine Cavanagh, who also was a first cousin of Lillian Violet Craig, Lillian's mother and Dora's mother were sisters.

4) Elizabeth "Lizzie" Craig, born circa 1857, I know nothing about her, except I made a note one day while talking to my grandmother, and I believe Gramma said she married a George Parks and had moved to Quebec.

5)Jennet "Jessie" Craig, born August 1865 in Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., married Charles Penrose circa 1887 in New York I believe.  She died before 1920, they were the parents of four children, all born in New York, USA.

6) William Craig was born circa 1863 in Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., Ontario, he died Mary 2 1881 in Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., of intermittent fever, it took forever to find this death registration as it had been transcribed as William Creage.

7) Adam George Craig was born March 11 1866 in Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., he died April 22 1954 and is buried in Kinmount, Ontario.  He married Ann Jane Hughes on April 25 1893 in Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., Ont.  Ann was born November 4 1872 and died died March 28 1944 at her home in Galway Twp.  Adam and Ann had nine children, George Craig who died at the age of 3, Lillian Violet Craig (Mrs. Samuel "George" Schell) who had two daughters and is mentioned in the Christina Swan Craig family, William John Craig who married Janie Doughty and had five children, Charles Lesley Craig who married Irma Levely and had four children, Gordon Craig who was married twice, first to Emma Devitt who died, they had one son Lloyd who would be raised by William John Craig and Janie Doughty, he then married Eva Scriver and had two more children, Austin Craig who married Kathleen "Clatterin Kate" Young, they had no children, Mary Ann Craig, who married twice, first to Walter Grey and had to children, then to Harold Johnson and had two more children, Louella Craig married John H. Lambert, two children who died as infants, Anna Christina Craig, who married James Foster Schader and had one daughter. (Note Lillian Violet Craig Schell and her brother William John Craig were twins, always referred to as Will and Lill)

8)Rosella "Rose" Craig was born November 3 1870 Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., Ontario, died October 13 1921 in New Westminster, B.C. she married Thomas Sandford Craig (no relation), they had one daughter Winnifred Maude Craig, (Mrs. William Epslin Robertson.

9)Bernard "Burty" (Bert)Craig, born February 17 1874 Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., died September 19 1944 in Wainwright Alberta, he married Lucy Dalton on July 8 1903 in

Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., Ont.  They were the parents of Marie Craig, (Mrs. K. Kenny), Joseph James Craig who married Gladys Marshall, Lucille Craig who died young, Bernard John Craig who married ?? Simpson, Francis A. Craig who died as a baby, Harold Sylvester Craig, Angeline Loretta Craig, (Mrs. H. Straus), and Albert William Craig who married Margaret Wilkinson.

10) Matilda Craig born circa 1864 in Galway Twp., Peterborough Co., unconfirmed information has Matilda "Tillie" dying in Chicago Illinois in 1890.

When looking for these Craigs, we came across transciptions using the spelling Creag and Creig and several other variations.

Bernard "Bert" Craig and his wife Lucy Dalton

Albert Collins(Bert's cousin) and "Bert Craig" circa 1895

     William's youngest son Andrew married Sarah Radwell(Rathwell). The only information I have on her is that she was born about 1837 in Ireland.

     They had nine children;
William 1854-1910,
Christina S. 1858-1883,
Andrew 1860-?,
John 1861-?,
Sarah 1862-?,
Janet Magaret 1866-?,
Sinclair James 1867-1947,
Jessie B. 1870-?
Samuel Adam 1871-?

     By the 1881 census Andrew is listed as a widower and his children are with different relatives. I have no real information as of yet on what happened to the family. Eventually he went west and he died in 1905 in Winderemere, British Columbia.

1881 census

Sinclair and Jessie, Andrew's children are living with his sister Janet and her husband

Andrew's son William with his daughter Christina

Sinclair James Craig

I have several pictures of him

Sinclair again



Sinclair and his wife Angelina(Annie)

Sinclair and Annie again

Sinclair in Windermere, 1899

Sinclair went west and was in Windermere three years before Andrew

Sinclair and Andrew in Windermere, 1902

Andrew's youngest, S. Adam Craig and his wife Caroline McMillan

This picture makes me smile, that could be a picture of my grandfather with his dog in hand,

and that great big Craig moustache

     Andrew's son John married Catherine Phillips February 13th 1884. They had ten children;

Samuel 1883-?,
Hester 1886-?,
Florence1891- ?,
Lila 1892-1967,
John 1897-?,
Stella 1899-?,
Charles 1900-?,
Harold 1903-?,
Jessie 1905-?,
Lillian 1908-?.

John Craig and Catherine Phillips

John and Catherine's family, the Craigs around 1914-19
back row - Charles, Florence, Gertrude, Lila, Gordon

mid row  -  John (father), Hester, Catherine (mother)

 front row  -  Jessie, Lillian

missing - Samuel (oldest) and John

     John and Catherine's son John married Eva Belle Dowsett July 29, 1919. They had eleven children;

Thelma Kathleen 1920-2005,
Evon Milford 1921-,
Ruth Isabel 1922-2004,
Arthur John 1925 2001,
Clifford Gordon 1926-2009,
Marian Eileen 1931-,
Eva Gwendolyn 1932-,
Allen Havington 1935-2003 
Gary Milton 1937-,
Terrance James 1939-
Bonnie Elizabeth 1941-.

I don't have a picture of all of John and Eva's children.

 John Craig and Eva Belle Dowsett

     John and Eva's son Evon married Muriel Lumsden Craig. They had eleven children;
Roy,
Eric,
Leo,
Jean,
Jimmy,
Doug,
Donna,
Deborah,
Janice,
Karen
Marilyn.

Evon and Muriel getting married with her brother Harold and his sister Ruth standing up for them

The entire family

Back row: Doug, Marilyn, Jimmy, Donna, Leo, Janice, Roy, Debbie and Eric
Front: Jean, Evon, Muriel and Karen

     Evon and Muriel's son Eric married Joan Fisher and had me, hurray.

Paul, Joan and Eric

     This is the history of the family I have so far, I will update it as I find more pictures and information. If you have something you would like included feel free to pass it along. If there is a mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. I have concentrated on the family as it applies directly to me but if you have information on any other members, pass it along. It would be interesting to see what happened to other lines of the Craig family and where they ended up settling.

     If you are looking for information on my "current " Craig family look under the post Grandma and Grandpa Craig. I have been posting pictures of the newest family members, etc there and will continue to update our family information on that page.

     Please feel free to contact me to share stories of the family, photos, what happened to....whatever.  Click on my profile, About Me, on the side and it will take you to my email address. You can also leave a comment with your email address, I'll repost it with out the address to protect people's privacy. I look forward to hearing from you all.

    The response to the Craig history has been fantastic with people saying hello, sharing their own family stories and photos and filling out the branches of our family tree. If it keeps growing, and I hope it does, I will have to relocate it to its own blog to handle the pictures and text. Keep those photos and family stories coming.Thanks for dropping by.