The McBryan Family in Eastern Canada

Three Eastern Families

The story of most of the McBryans who grew up in Western Canada began around 1820 when Henry McBrien and his wife, Mary Allingham, daughter of local Irish gentry, Lord Edward Allingham, (possibly a courtesy title because he isn't listed in Burke's Peerage), loaded their half grown family on a boat from Ireland to Quebec City. If you want to check this connection out see Allinghams of Ireland. For the really anal retentive, finding the actual ship might be fun.

(Yes, I know we have been telling everybody we are Scots for four generations but what the hell, times have changed, it's safe to be Irish again. Now we can all wear a “Kiss Me I'm Irish” button.)

Maxine McBryan, a noted Canadian McBryan genealogical reasearcher has this to say on Ross Beattie's website:

“According to the family bible, Henry McBrien was born in Pettigo, a small town in County Fermanaugh, Northern Ireland which is in the parish of Dunkereen. His parents were Thomas McBrien and Elizabeth (nee Bruce). We're not certain how many brothers and sisters Henry had, but we do know that he had at least three brothers and one sister.

Family tradition tells us that his brother, Thomas, went to Australia; we believe that Robert came to Upper Canada with his wife, Jane (nee Johnson) and family, around 1837. According to Henry's great granddaughter, Jessie (McBryan) Menhinick, there was another brother, William, who married Hannah Spense, and they had two sons, Thomas and William. Henry's one sister, Elizabeth, married Ovine Tracy. There may be other siblings who never left Ireland. Except for the Robert McBrien family, we have lost contact with the rest of Henry's brothers and sister.”

Henry and Mary brought with them, fourteen year old Elizabeth, twelve year old Anne, nine year old Edward, six year old Hugh, three year old Isabel and possibly a newborn Mary, or she might have been born shortly after reaching Quebec City or even on the ship. Their youngest, Thomas Allingham was born in Canada, probably at Coburg Ontario. They arrived just at the very beginning of the Great Hunger, but hopefully before the Irish began calling those vessels leaving for the new world "coffin ships".

Again Maxine writes to Beatties website:

Table 1 in Tracking:

Henry McBrien and Mary Allingham

In the Beer's Complementary Biography, printed in 1906, it says that Henry and, his wife, Mary left Ireland and landed at Quebec where they stayed for two year before moving up the St. Lawrence River to Cobourg, Upper Canada. During their stay in Cobourg, they purchased land from the Canada Company in 1830 and moved there in 1831. Henry had purchased the north half of Lot 34, Concession 5 in Whitby Township, Ontario County, while his son Edward bought the south half. Lot 34 was larger than most being two hundred acres, so father and son each had one hundred acres of land to work with.

They probably lived in a log house when they first settled on the lots, but when Mary's father passed away, they used the money she inherited to build a stone house which is still standing. Although her father's death date is unknown to us yet, we do know that the frame and stone houses began to become more prominent across Ontario in the 1840s and 50s. This hou se may have been built it in the 1830s.

Henry McBrien and Mary Allingham had been married for fifteen years when they emigrated. They were married in 1805 in the Parish of the Lower and Middle Inishmacsaint Church of Ireland in Rosscor, County Fermanaugh, Northern Ireland. That was an Anglican Church, because at that time only the Church of England was legally responsible for registering marriages. One had to be married in the Anglican church to be legally married under English law; it di d not matter whether you were Presbyterian, Methodist, Quaker or Catholic.

There is a record of their daughter, Elizabeth, being christened in 1806. Also in this registry is a record of baptism for Henry's son, Edward's baptism in 1811. The other children, who were born in Ireland, are Ann (1808/9), Hugh (1814), Isabel (1817). We are not sure if Mary (born in 1820) was born in Ireland or Quebec City. Thomas was the youngest born in 1823, and he must have been born in Cobourg if the story of them living in Cobourg for seven years is true. Hugh was the first member of the family to die in t he New World. It was 1836 when he was one month short of his 22nd birthday that he died. He might have been killed in an accident as family tradition tells us. Pioneers who were inexperienced were frequently killed in logging accidents.

Table 2 in Tracking:

Edward McBrien and Ellen Wilson 1808

In 1830, Edward and Ellen Wilson were married in Cobourg, Ontario and moved to Whitby. He must have been a very enterprising man because according to his will, he had acquired quite a bit of land which he bequest to his children. There were ten children : Mary (born 1833) who married Philip Cooper; Ann (born 1834) who married John Brander; Sarah (born 1836) who married Samuel Jones; Isabella (born 1840) who married William Bowles; Hugh (born 1840?) who married Margaret Jones; Henry (born 1842) who married Christina Smith; Edward (born 1844) who married Angeline Stevenson; Jane (born 1846) who never married; Thomas (born 1848) who married Adelina Altenbreck and William (born 1849) who never married.

In 1857, Edward invested in some land in the Huron Tract when he purchased Lot 5, Concession 5 of Bosanquet Township from the Canada Company. He transferred the ownership of this land to his daughter, Jane. In 1869, Edward's son, Henry purchased Lot 6, Concession 5 from Luke Robinson which was abutted to Lot 5 . When Henry married and moved down to Bosanquet, he and Christina lived on Lot 6.

Henry married Christina Smith on March 15, 1870 in a little church in Kinsale, Ontario, about two or three miles from the homestead. It was a Methodist church which still stands and his parents and grandparents are buried in the cemetery which surrounds it. In 1883, Henry purchased the north half of Lot 6, Concession 5 from William Hackney. It wasn't until 1898, that Henry bought Lot 5 from his sister, Jane, for $2,500.00.

One mystery that puzzled me on looking at the data from this period was the lack of information about daughter Jane in this family. In Ross Beattie's website the question remains.

Whatever happened to Baby Jane?

A note on Jane Johnston: According to the family story which was written in 1937 for the Robert McBrien family reunion, Robert had died before 1870, because this is what it says, in part:
"In July 1870, Sarah McBrien died and left her family of small folk, but in the meantime Grandfather Robert McBrien had died in Whitby, and Jane McBrien had moved to Bosanquet (to live with her son, Robert and Sarah)."She lent a hand towards the care of the small grandchildren and very soon Robert and Margaret Jane were doing a fine job of mothering their small brothers and sisters. Jane McBrien died at her son Robert's home in the spring of 1874, a spry little old Irish lady who was never ill in bed a day."

Where Jane is buried is a mystery? Common sense seems to indicate that she would be buried in Arkona Cemetery with her daughter-in-law, Sarah, since it would not be convenient to take her all the way back to Whitby to be buried with her husband, Robert. I have an awful suspicion that she was buried in what was known as the Bradley Cemetery which was just north of Forest, Ontario. This cemetery is a bit of a scandal because it was a private cemetery in which the owner sold lots to individuals. In the late 1800s, the Bradley property was sold to the town of Forest and some of the graves were moved by family members, but not all of th graves were moved. That property is now paved over with a parking lot and a big arena. No one has any records of who was buried there because Bradley didn't keep a record of who he sold plots to.
…P.S. … according to this story … [Robert and Jane] almost ended up in Australia … where Robert and Jane were headed when circumstances made them come to Canada.[Maxine McBryan (12 May 2001) wrote that “[Jane] is still a mystery … One day I might go look in Beechwood Cemetery in Forest where she is most likely buried. She might be in the notorious Bradley Cemetery, too, which means she is resting in peace under a parking lot”. And again (10 May 2002) wrote “… someone told me that Jane is buried in Arkona Cemetery … she might be buried with her daughter, Catherine Iles”.]

Table 3 in Tracking:

Henry McBrien and Christina Smith 1843

There is the story of Henry McBrien/McBryan when he first came to Bosanquet. It is said that he drove a small herd of cattle with him, and he used a twig of a weeping willow from his father's farm. When he arrived in Bosanquet, he is supposed to have stuck that twig into the ground, and it grew into a gigantic weeping willow. It's a great story; however, 1870 is also the year in which the Grand Trunk Railway was completed to Sarnia.

It is possible that Christina came by railway, while Henry was driving his small herd across the wilderness. Much of Southern Ontario had been claimed by this time, but most of it had not yet been cleared. There were very poor roads for him to follow, except the one major road, Dundas Street which ran from Toronto to London, Ontario. Even this was not a very good road. When he reached London, he would have probably turned onto the old London Road and than on to Egremont Road which led to Lambton County, turning north at one of the Concessions. There were many creeks and rivers to cross, not to mention the swamps to get by. Lambton County, in particular, was a very swampy territory.

In 1866, Henry McBryan was involved in a very significant event ... the Fenian Raids. He was a private who had been sent to the Niagara Peninsula with the 34th Battalion to head off the raids of the Fenians (Irish Nationalists) which were believed to be heading for that area. He was at the Battle of Ridgeway, the only major battle which took place during this futile attempt to invade Canada. Of course, the Fenians lost. The government of Canada did not see fit to reward their men for their services for quite some time later, when in 1901 the provincial government decided to give them land grants. Henry's piece of land was Lot 1, Concession 3, Lybster Township up in the Thunder Bay District. Before you think this was a noble jester on the part of the provincial government perhaps you should know that this was the exact same time in which the Provincial government was trying to open up the "New Ontario" (that is Northern Ontario), and they were trying to get settlers into this area. Of course, Henry was an old man and did not accept it. In fact, he wrote to the government, asking if they would buy the land back. They did, for fifty dollars.

Henry must have been very civic minded, because there was a school house built on part of his land. According to the Land Registry Office, Henry sold one quarter of an acre to the Trustees, School Session, No. 5 for twenty dollars. The earliest records of this frame building is in 1881 when the trustees were John Brander, Henry's Brother-in-law, Henry McBryan and George Japp. The teacher was Sarah McCordic. In 1888, there was a need for a larger school. An auction for the old school was held; Henry purchased it and had it attached to his house. His nephew, Henry Brander, was the first teacher at the new school. He was paid $325.00 per year and had the responsibilities of janitor in addition to his teaching duties.

In 1894, Henry took over the responsibilities of John Dallas as director for Lambton County in the an insurance company known then as the East Riding of Lambton Farmer's Mutual Fire Insurance Company. This was a cooperative organization which has now grown into a major Lambton County Insurance Company. It began in 1875 when a group of local farmers decided that they needed fire insurance protection. Each policy holder had one vote. Henry held the office of director for Bosanquet until his death in 1910.

By Maxine McBryan submitted to Ross Beattie's website.

One document we found in my father's (Ken McBryan) papers after his death was a tribute to Christine presented ten years after Henry's death.

A Paper Read on the Eighttieth Anniversary of the Birth of Mrs. Henry McBryan of Bosanquet, Ontario

Read by Maxine McBryan

Our story begins in Scott Township away back on September 25th, 1849 when a baby girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. The baby was named Christena. Of their other children, four grew to womanhood - Jeanette, who was crippled; Mary, a brilliant young Teacher, who died at the age of nineteen years; Christina, the central figure of our story; and Marion, who now lives at Richmond Hill.

The fact that there were no boys often called the girls to their father's assistance in the fields. On one occasion Mary and Christena took complete charge of the sugar bush in the syrup season. The work was hard but the girls found at the end of the run that they had never felt so well.

About the year 1864 the family moved to Pickering. It was shortly after this, while watching the progress of a cricket game that Christena first saw Henry McBryan. Friendship grew into courtship, the latter ending in marriage in 1870. John Smith provided a generous trousseau for his daughter. Some of the contents were very well preserved and remembered by the older members of the family. Silk dresses, five yards wide, little parasols the size of a young girl's picture hat were prized by the bride. Money was given to buy furniture for the new home.On March the 20th, the young couple came by train to Bosanquet Township, there to live on the grooms fr.rm, Lot 5, Concession 6. The pretty,slight girl with the abundant fair hair, at the age of twenty, came happily to the farm and her stay grew to the length of fifty-two years. Land had already been taken up in the section by others and neighbors were not very far distant. Among them were livingstons, Armitage, Robinsons, Munroe:, Babbingtons, Stephensons, Dallas and Paines. Of these they were most closely associated with the Dallas Family.

The Bride assisted her husband at the outdoor work. Machinery that we take quite ars a matter of course to-dry, was quite unknown at that time. Reapers, however, soon came into use. The first house was small and the walls were whitewashed. This, of course, required constant refinishing. Hardships were many, but these people who came to the fertile acres, which promised much, did not easily turn back. Mr. McBryan drove to Strathroy for his for his first set of harness. Mrs. McBryan attemped and completed a woollen suit for her husband--no machine, just pain taking stitches. It is true that the trousers insisted on going together backwards, but that was only part of the game. Seven children were born to them in their first home. Then fifty acres was purchesed from Mr. Hackney, making a total of one hundred acres. In 1881 they moved to this adjoining farm. Mr. and Mrs. John Laird now occupy this old homestead, the house being the original one. Mrs. Laird is a Granddaughter..............................

For along each side of the lane and about the grounds were planted maple trees. The reward was shade and company. This is how the home got its name "The Maples". The Mother was devoted to flowers. Even with the duties which her children entailed (for they now number ten) she always found time for attention to her numerous flower beds. She found time, also, as did her husband, for reading. The Globe came three times a week to the Jura Post office and was ea.ge"ly devoured. They instilled in their children the value of reading instructive and entertaining matter. The family organ graced the home in due time and with its accompaniment, many and varied were the programmes. The father took no excuses for not entering into the musical spirit-- everybody sang. He, himself, took great pride in his violin. Mrs. McBryan's sweet Scottish voice was a great help to their children in their choral attempts.

Ten children grew to manhood and womanhood. William, a successful business man in Detroit,married Letitia Swann; Jessie, whose name has twice been changed, first to Stevenson and then to Menhennick, lives in Forest. For the past few years, Mrs. McBryan has lived with her daughter Mary, married David Russell, and lives on the 8th Concession of Bosanquet; Edward, married Jennie Gilliard, and lives adjoining the old home; Smith, who distinguished himself with his family of twelve, married Lizzie Campbell; Sara, who is Mrs. Joseph Burnett, reside in Columbus, Kansas; Wilson, married Margaret Kenny, and his home is in Edmonton; Hugh, the youngest, married Violet Clemens, and lives near Kerwood. Two have gone before. Fred, a young and promising prospector in the Peace River District, went happily swimming one day in the year 1915 and was called Home. Ellen, the third child, departed this life in June of this year. Her husband is Thomas McBrien.

Mr. McBryan went some few steps ahead in the year 1910.

And so we come to the evening of her life. We find her on this Eightieth Birthday with her rich full experience, still looking forward with her eyes eager and unafraid. She finds her two great Grandchildren quite as interesting as her thirty-four Grandchildren. Every day finds her eagerly waiting for mail. While in the summer, her flower beds are a great interest, so in winter are her indoor plants.

Visit Maxine here as she recounts a whirlwind trip through the west.

Here we leave the Eastern McBryans behind us. The pioneering of the west was in it's own way as sundering as the original migration from Ireland. Transportation and communication was expensive and sporadic, family ties fell away. For us Westerners, Ontario is the “Old Country”, land of myth and legend. The ones who made the trip were the younger sons who would not be inheriting land in the east. Daughters would go too, like my grandmother Margaret Kenny leaving her ten siblings, but they would be leaving their family name behind.

My Grandmother had her own take on the McBryan saga. According to her, four brothers came from Scotland named McBrien. One of the wives couldn't get along with the other wives so she had her husband change their name to McBryan. So the one who changed his name was Henry, the wife Christine Smith and the other three were Hugh, Edward and Thomas of the family of Edward and Ellen Wilson. Now that is interesting. We will meet more of Henry and Christine's children as the story unfolds. One question left. I wonder who changed the nationality to Scottish? Did Hernry, after his experience fighting the Fenians decide that it was much safer to be Scottish than have anything to do with the whole issue of Irish nationalism and the dicey problem of Protestant versus Roman Christianity?

Theresa McBryan


Other websites of general interest:

History of the Irish Immigration

The Ireland List

The Irish in Canada

Parks Canada-Canadian Workers in History

Upper Canada Genealogy

Canada in the Making

The History Place- The Irish Potato Famine