THE LOYNES-LYONS FAMILY by Don C. Kellaw ay

The Richard Loynes family was identified in the George Dawson (1823), Elizabeth (1824), William records of the Poor Law Commissioners in (1827), Harriet (1829). which documented about 3,000 were people assisted There were no children identified between 1811 and out to Upper Canada by the parishes of in 1817 a period of six years, however, we know that the 1830s. Other Stirling-area families were also sent another daughter Anna Dawson Loynes was born to Canada under this program including Eggleton, August 19, 1814, and was not listed in the Brooke Twiddy, Neal and Barlow. The following details re­ baptismal records. It is possible that other unidenti­ garding the Loynes family and their removal to Up­ fied Loynes children were born outside of Brooke per Canada came from these records. and these older children may have decided to remain A notice of meeting of the parish of Brooke dated in England. April 26, 1837, saw a resolution passed to raise £54 According to family lore the Loynes family origi­ by a rate of 6d in the pound and a further sum of £20 nally settled on the Baptist Church Road in Sidney be borrowed on the rates of emigration. A further let­ Township. A list of Township Highway Overseers ter dated May 19, 1837, to Mr. J. Bridges, Church­ found in the Sidney Township office dated January warden, Brooke, Norwich, asks that names of the 22, 1850, names Richard Lyons as the overseer for emigrants be inserted on the forms. The names on the Concession 9 of the township. printed form of the List, Parish of Brooke (rec’d May The following are the known details of the children 27, 1837) were: of Richard and Sarah Loynes: Richard Loynes, 50; Ann Loynes, 48, Married Mary Anne Loynes likely married Jonathan Bar­ Mary Ann Loynes, 19, single; George Loynes, 13; rett in 1837 as their first child Elizabeth was born William Loynes, 10; Harriet Loynes, 7. September 21, 1838. A total of nine children were Robert Biles, 50; Mary Biles, 49 Married born based upon the baptismal records of St. Thomas Harriot Biles, 17; Robert Biles, 15; Sary Ann Biles, Church in Belleville: Elizabeth (b. 1838), Sarah (b. 13; Fanny Biles, 9; James Biles 3. 1841), Louisa (b. 1843), James (b. 1845), George (b. On June 2, 1837, a sending order was issued and 1847), Amelia (b. 1849), William (b. 1850), James it is likely that the Loynes and Biles families were Henry (b. 1851) and George (b. 1853). aboard the ship by month’s end. While the name of Elizabeth was the only Barrett child for whom the ship has been forgotten with the passage of time, we have identified a marriage record. On August we understand that the trip took 51 days. 25, 1865, Elizabeth married Henry Bonner and she My interest in the Loynes family stems from died on December 15, 1866, giving birth to their son William Loynes (1827-1885) being my maternal George. In the 1871 Belleville census Henry Bonner great-great-grandfather and his sister Anna Dawson had the following family members living with him; Loynes (1814-1882) being my paternal great-grand­ his son George, Anna Degroff (nee Loynes) age 58, mother. For more than 20 years I searched for the shown as housekeeper; Anna’s daughter Sarah De­ family under the name of “Lyons” as that was the groff, age 21, a tailoress; Louisa Barrett, age 24, also name that was used by most of the male descendants a tailoress, and a sister-in-law to Henry Bonner and in the late 19th and into the 20th century. It was only finally George Loynes, harness-maker, age 50 years, after searching local church records that I found the a brother to Anna Degroff. family name was originally “Loynes” and originated George Dawson Loynes continued using the in Norfolk, England, being a variation of the surname “Loynes” spelling of his name up to his death in 1872 “Lines.” while his brother William had started using the Lyons Richard Loynes, the progenitor of the family in spelling in about 1860. George, a harness maker in the Quinte area was bom in the parish of Brooke, Belleville, was the oldest son of Richard and Sarah Norfolk, in 1786 and he married Sarah Dawson at Loynes. It would appear that the Loynes family was Brooke, Norfolk, on January 24, 1811. Sarah died sharing responsibility for their father’s keep since in February 11, 1849, at the age of 58 years; her grave the 1852 census Richard was living with his daughter marker in the St. Thomas Cemetery, Belleville, iden­ Anna’s family in Sidney Township and in the 1861 tifies her as the wife of Richard Loynes. Richard died census Richard was with the George Loynes family at Belleville on March 19, 1869, and is also buried in in Belleville. the St. Thomas Cemetery. George Loynes’ first marriage was to Harriet De The Brooke baptismal records identified the fol­ Graw and they had a son Vincent (1846-1911). Vin­ lowing children of Richard and Sarah Loynes: John cent purchased a home in the south end of Belleville (1811), Mary Anne (1817), John (1819), John (1821), and in the 1882 the Degroff families were residing 312