My Family in History
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This book was written by Jim Ash, the author, is a Canadian descendant a Barnado boy aged 10 sent to Canada to work for a farmer. His research into his family revealed that part of his family descended from Prudence Ash who lived in our Village in the 1740s. There is mention of a number of other families resident in or around the village at that time and through to the early 20th century. Jim met Eric Palmer whilst visiting the Village some years ago and was put in touch with me to see if the archives may have information that would assist him. Happily there was some helpful material and having completed his book he has kindly agreed that it be placed on the Village web site for the benefit of others interested in the history of the Village. We are grateful to Jim for allowing us to publish his book on the web site and would remind readers that the copyright of all of the work belongs to Jim. Richard Jackson Archivist and Treasurer The Willoughby Society 22nd February 2018 My Family in History The Redmonds of St Margaret's Bay and the Ashes of Willoughby, Warwickshire Jim Ash Aug 2016 Dedicated To Mom and Dad Self-published by Jim Ash 2016 11200 7th Ave, Richmond BC Canada V7E3B9 Request copies from: [email protected] Other Book "A Fortunate Life" - An Autobiography Cover Design by Keziah Selles Cover Photo "Sheep in Willoughby" Printed by Minuteman Press, Richmond BC Copyright © 2016 by Jim Ash ISBN: 978-0-9952310-1-6 The Ash family spent one hundred fifty years farming in Willoughby, Warwickshire in England, while the Redmond family fished and farmed in St Margaret's Bay, just south of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. My wife Fran's family came from France to Quebec in the 17th century, and both our families had pioneers who experienced the Scottish Clearances. This book is about the history that they and their ancestors lived - from the prominent Redmond and Devereux families in County Wexford, Ireland, to the pioneers who lived in early Canadian history. We will learn about their involvement in the French-English wars of early Nova Scotia and Quebec; on both sides of the American Revolution, and the heartbreak of drownings, tuberculosis and the Halifax Explosion. We will tell the stories of the famous, infamous and modest - of mayors and founders, murderers and thieves, candy-makers and shoe-makers. Our family stories tell of the struggle to survive World War II and escape to Canada; what it was like to come from England as a Barnardo boy at age 10 to work for a Canadian farmer (my father Reg), or to cross the country on a train to raise a family in the excitement of early Alberta (my mother's family). TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface .................................................................... 1 James Reginald Ash (Reg) - My Father .............................. 3 My Mother Elizabeth May Redmond's Family .................... 19 The Famous Redmonds and Devereux ............................ 36 The Norman Landing at Baginbum 1170 ................................... 37 The Redmond of the Hall ..................................................... 39 The Devereux family at Ballymagir .......................................... 43 The Modern Redmonds and Devereux in Ireland ........................... 47 Our Pioneers and their place in History .......................... 52 Louis Houde and Nicolas Gamache - Fran's French pioneers .............. 52 Louis Houde Descendants - Famous and Infamous ......................... 62 Camillien Houde ............................................................ 63 Louis David Riel ............................................................ 63 Marie Anne Houde - the Murderer ....................................... 65 David Redmond and Mary Devereaux in Halifax NS ....................... 66 Fishing and Newfoundland ............................................... 68 The founding of Halifax and Lunenburg ................................. 72 The Umlah and Redmond families and the Army ....................... 79 Scotland's Clearances and our Cape Breton pioneers ...................... 84 William Bishop from Falkirk .............................................. 84 Archibald MacKinnon from Barra ........................................ 86 The McKay/MacDonald families from the Outer Hebrides ............ 88 Fran's Family Moves West .................................................... 90 Marlu's German family immigration after World War II ................... 93 Ash Family History ................................................... 98 Willoughby History .......................................................... 100 James Brumage (Bromwich) - Executed Robber .......................... 102 My Great Great Grandparents first marriages ............................ 110 The Watson Family ....................................................... 110 The Boatmen Howkins ................................................... 112 The Marlow family........................................................ 113 The Shoemakers - Ash-Warrens of Long Buckby .......................... 114 Long Buckby History ..................................................... 115 The Northamptonshire Shoe-making Industry. ....................... 117 The Mary Warren (Ash) descendants .................................. 119 The Ash Great Great Grandparents ......................................... 126 My GGrandparents Jim and Jane - Life in Willoughby .................... 128 The Dodd Family - Great Aunt Dinah Dodd ................................ 133 Arthur Dodd’s children and grandchildren ............................ 138 Charles Dodd children and grandchildren. ............................ 139 The Ancestry of Thomas Dodd Sr. ...................................... 140 The Olorenshaws and my Grandfather's First Family .................... 142 my Grand Uncle and Grand Aunt Maria Tomkins family ................. 150 My Grandparents brief time together ...................................... 154 My Grandmother Catherine Farrell's Irish Catholic Family .............. 157 The Brown family - 2nd marriage of my grandmother ................... 166 My Uncle "Bertie" Ash and his family - my cousins ........................ 168 The Redmond Family in Canada.................................. 172 St Margaret's Bay - three generations of Redmonds ...................... 172 The Redmond/Umlah families of Thomas and Margaret ................. 176 The Umlah family - fifth cousins ............................................ 180 The Boutilier Family - fourth cousin descendants ......................... 188 My Great Great Grandparents family ....................................... 190 The Pace Family History and Redmond third cousins ..................... 201 David Redmond/Edith Pace family and descendants ..................... 221 The Catholic branch in Shad Bay (4th cousins) ............................ 226 Thomas Redmond's descendants ....................................... 227 David Redmond descendants ............................................ 231 The Collier family ......................................................... 237 David's younger children in Halifax and the US ....................... 241 The Coolen Family of Mary Redmond (fourth cousins) ............... 245 The Halifax Explosion - 6 Dec 1917 ..................................... 257 The Bishop Family and third cousins ....................................... 259 My Maternal Grandparents and Cape Breton cousins..................... 276 The McDonald family ..................................................... 277 The McKay Family ........................................................ 282 My grandmother Katy McKay's family in Cape Breton ................ 285 Epilogue - the Joys of Genealogy .................................. 291 PREFACE It has been a lot of fun tracing the history of my family back through my mother's Redmond family from the St Margaret's Bay area of Nova Scotia, just south of Halifax; and my father's Ash family from Willoughby in the Midlands of England. I have always been interested in history and geography, and these can be so much more interesting when you can relate them to your own family. Although I have found the vital statistics of the Ash and Redmond families back four generations and more, it is the places they lived and stories of what they did and what history happened around them that have fascinated me. So this book will leave the pictures, genealogical documents and vital statistics for my web-site http://tim- ash.com/genealogy, or possibly for a future picture book. I will begin with the only ancestors I know - my parents and their families, and then will jump backwards to the pioneers who first came to Canada, then follow the various branches that led down through the generations to my parents and my wives' families. We will trace the Redmonds and their wives (McKay, McDonalds of Cape Breton, Bishops of Halifax, Boutiliers and Umlahs of St Margaret's Bay) and the Ash family and their wives (Watsons, Bromwiches, Marlows, Olorenshaws and Farrells) of the area around Willoughby in the English Midlands). The Redmond pioneer David Redman married Mary Devereux in 1766, recorded in the Anglican church St. Paul's in Halifax, Nova Scotia(Catholic churches were forbidden at the time). The Redmond and Devereux families have a very long history, dating back to the 1100s and French ancestors related distantly to William the Conqueror and his generals. The families have a rich and distinguished history in County Wexford, and It seems likely that David and Mary joined