byDavid J Porter This book was published in August 2008 by Burning Ambition Publications in London, England
Some descendants indicated in the index migrated to and settled in Elgin County, Ontario. Copies of the book are available from the publisher – email – [email protected]
In 1852 a newly married couple emigrated from Gloucestershire to Aylmer in Upper Canada (now Ontario). Over the rest of the century, their relatives in England wrote to the emigrants. The two dozen surviving letters give an insight into the reasons people emigrated, supported by information on prices of basic commodities and wages. The letters touch on political events and social changes in Britain and articulate the Christian faith of their writers.
The book describes the six-week voyage to New York in a former slave ship, the 600-mile trek to their destination, and what they found there. The letters also contain significant information on members of the Pearce family remaining in Gloucestershire and their neighbours. The emigrants’ descendants are widely dispersed across Canada and the United States. Family trees cover both these and their relatives in Britain.
Book Review by Dr. Colin Read, Professor of History, Huron University College, London, Ontario
History is about the great, the good, and the not-so-good: kings and queens, prime ministers, prelates, merchant princes, and the like. David Porter’s From Almondsbury to Aylmer: The Pearce Letters provides yet another powerful antidote to this tired and tiresome argument and hence should be read widely, especially by the historical illiterate, too many of whom occupy positions of power. Those who would argue, for example, that Sir John A. “built” the Canadian Pacific Railway, even though he worked not at all on it, not even swinging the sledge hammer that drove the last spike, would benefit mightily from immersing themselves in this well-produced, well-written, well-illustrated, well-mapped volume about “ordinary folk” on either side of the Atlantic who, like unrecorded multitudes, led lives of consequence. The ordinary is ever significant.
The principals of Porter’s piece are, in the first instance, William and Emma Pearce who left the southwest of England in 1852, settling, first, in Malahide in Elgin County, where they joined, according to the 1851-2 census, 176 others from England and Wales then in that township. Chain migration had played its part in their coming, as friends had preceded them and made them aware of the possibilities inherent in the new land. Pushed by the prospect of landlessness in Almondsbury and attracted by the pull of real property, William and Emma struck deep roots in Elgin, eventually acquiring a farm in the east part of Yarmouth, not far from Aylmer. With deft strokes, author/editor Porter sets the scene, establishes needed context, tells the tale, and provides genealogical data. The key part of his book, however, consists of the twenty-five letters discovered in the 1960s between the Pearces and their English relatives, especially William Pearce senior. Though nibbled by mice, these letters provide a rich banquet for those interested in real people who populated a world that is receding in time and memory yet connected still to the present.
On the latter score, does any of this sound familiar: the call of greener pastures with its promise of land and prosperity, the heartbreak involved in family members leaving for distant places, the fragility of life, the search for solace in the face of death through the promise of life eternal in heaven in company with the newly departed. All this and more, as the author/editor points out, is to be found in these letters. Particularly poignant is the family falling-out that developed over a small bequest left to William by his departed father, despite the elder William’s having done all he could to assure that his three sons would be treated fairly. The journey to this particular family hell was clearly paved with good intentions.
From Almonsbury to Aylmer provides the stuff of lives lived, far more than do many accounts that have those deemed “historically important” swaggering upon the world’s stage.
Index for the book, From Almondsbury to Aylmer: The Pearce Letters
Numbers in italics relate to figures.
Gloucestershire is abbreviated to Glos, Ontario to Ont, Northwest Territories to NWT.
Figure followed by f or ff implies and the following page or pages. Figure followed by n means see the footnote.
Act of Parliament (1601) 19
Africa 49
agricultural labour 28, 42, 44, 48, 137, 157, 170, 174
Alabama, USA 151
Albany, NY 54, 55, 60
Almondsbury , Glos, England 3, 11ff, 14, 35, 36, 59, 64ff, 80, 91, 112, 149 and passim
Almondsbury Hill 14, 15, 16, 28, 35, 36, 41f, 169, 175, 185, 196
Almondsbury School 42
St Mary’s Church/Parish 13, 15, 21, 34f, 41, 72ff, 102, 132, 175, 185
Sheymoor Lane 189
Swan Inn 14, 17
The ‘Smithy’ 35, 37, 38
Vestry Records 21, 23, 196
Alveston, Glos 34, 37
Appalachian Mountains 54
Armstrong’s Gazette 64
ashery 63
Assiniboia, Saskatchewan 159
Atlantic Ocean 49, 51f
Attryde, Rachel 171
Aust, Glos 188
Austin, Texas 149
Australia 48, 73
Avon River 50
Aylmer, Ont. 3, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63ff, 137 and passim
Aylmer Anglican Cemetery 66
Aylmer Cemetery 48, 163, 166
Aylmer District Museum Archives 61, 62, 136
Aylmer Express 46
United Church parsonage 166
Baber, Escombe Hillier 178
Backer/Baker/‘Bacon’, Billy 82, 85, 90
Backus, George 143
Baker, Alfred (1896-) 194
Baker, Arthur William (1885-) 193
Baker, Florence (1890-) 194
Baker, Hannah, née Pearce (1890-) 192f
Baker, Hilda see Vowles
Baker, Henry 193
Baker, Mabel (1898-) 194
Baker, Oliver Charles (1887-) 192ff
Baker, Sarah Jane, née Pearce (1860-) 39, 93, 96, 98, 103, 107, 109, 193
Baker, Thomas 193
Baker, Thomas (1892-), son 194
barn-raising 136, 142
Barton, Florence Mabel 189
Barton, Frances Florence, née Hill 188f
Barton, Herbert Sidney 189
Barton, Sidney 188
Barton Regis 22, 170, 173, 183
Bath, Somerset 39, 44f, 117, 193
Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia 17
Beck Isle Museum 94
Bennett, Ada Louisa, see Pearce
Bergan, Manitoba 157
Blake, Elizabeth 43
Blake, Emma, see Pearce
Blake, John 43, 45
Bond, Elizabeth Mary see Hill
Booking, P.A. 41
Boon, Ethel M.L., née Husher 183
Boon, Leslie S. 183
Bowers, Brian 6
Bowers, Faith 6
Boyles, Sarah Ann, née Pearce (1872-) 178
Boyles, George 178
Bracey, Hester 34
Brentry, Glos 22, 129, 131, 169, 175f
The Crow 124, 176, 177
brick/brick making 31, 32, 143, 178
Bristol Channel 17
Bristol, City of, England 3f, 10, 14f, 37, 43ff, 49, 50, 51f, 66, 74, 118, 176, 178f, 181f, 195, 197
Alton Terrace 180
Avonmouth 180f
Bedminster 181
Bridge Street 195
Bristol Port 180
Bristol Repository 74
Bristol Trade Directory 43
Brunel’s Lock 50
City Library 6, 51
Clifton 75, 132f, 171ff, 178f, 197
College Place 74n
Hotwells 180
Presentment 51
Record Office 6, 21
Shirehampton 180ff
St James’ parish 45, 169, 178
St Paul’s, Portland Square 42, 43f, 49, 179, 197
St Phillip’s parish 180
Britannia Mines, Vancouver Island 154
Britain/British Isles 57, 63n, 70
British Army 59, 179
British Government 59, 78, 85, 176
Bromyard, Herefordshire 191
Broom, Thomas (Tommy) 113, 123, 125, 169
Brown, George 36
Browne, Capt John 51
Bruce County, Ont. 154
Buffalo, NY 54ff
Builder family, Dundas 134
Builth, Brecknockshire, Wales 179
Burns, Thomas Nicholas 152
Burns, Thomas W. 152
Caldwell, Beatrice see Pearce
Caledonia, NY 53, 56
California, USA 150
Canada passim
Canada Air Line 63
Canada Southern Railway 63
Canada West 57, 76, 153
Northwest Territories 157f, 162
Upper Canada 48, 53, 57, 58, 141
Cann, Eliza, see Pearce
Cardiff, Wales 172
Castle Garden, NY 53
Cattybrook Brickworks 32
Census 1841 44, 169
Census 1851 42, 44, 169
Census 1861 137, 169, 174, 196
Census USA 1870 151
Census Canada 1881 157
Census UK 1881 171, 173
Census UK 1891 172f, 179, 193ff
Census UK 1901 172f, 180, 188, 193, 195
Centennial Farm 5, 140, 163
chapel 82, 107
Charles, Ethel, née Smith 157
Charles, James Edwin 157f
Charlton, Glos 22, 131, 169, 173
Chester-Masters, William 20
Christian belief/religion 32ff, 72, 116ff,
119ff, 124f, 127, 145
Church, Austin 63n
Church of England (Established Church) 11, 42
church wardens 19, 21
Cinque Ports, UK 171
civil registration of births 56
Clark, Dr (Aylmer) 46
Clark’s Crossing, NWT 157
Clarke, James Laurence 178
Clarke, Kathleen Frances 179
Clarke, Norah 179
Clarke, Rose Ethel, née Pearce 178f
Clifton Suspension Bridge 50
Cole, Eva 143
Coles Corners, Yarmouth, Ont. 163
Collector of Customs, New York 52
Compton Greenfield, Glos 44
concession road 61
conscription 28
Cooper, Ann 73, 78
Cooper, Seth 73, 78
Corinth, Ont. 60, 62, 166
Cropp, David 65
Cropp & Newell, Messrs 64
Crosby, Willie 143
Cumberland, England 159
Curtis, Mrs (Bristol) 74
Curthoys, Frederick 188
dame schools 26, 188
Darrow, Annie née McGahey 152
Darrow, Daniel 151
Darrow, Eliza, née Pearce (1852-1943, daughter of emigrants) 46, 53, 66, 87, 98,149ff, 150, 151, 153, 156, 158
Darrow, Ella 152
Darrow, Hannah, née Handley 151f
Darrow, James Nicholas 152
Darrow, Lorene, née Shepperd (wife of James) 152
Darrow, Nettie 152
Darrow, Nicholas (husband of Eliza Pearce) 149, 150, 151
Darrow, Walter 152
Davidson, Clare 143
Davidson, Mary Lucretia, see Pearce
Davis, Andrus 60
Davis, Benjamin 74
Davis, William 60
Deadwood, British Columbia 165
Deception, Lake Ont. 154
Detroit, Michigan 57, 166
Detroit River 57
domestic service 39, 43f, 48, 171f, 178f, 183, 188, 193f
Drake, Edith, née Husher 182, 182
Drake, Edward 182
Dryden, Ont. 160
Dublin, Ireland 58
Dundas, Ont. 134
East Tawa, Michigan 166
Easter Compton, Glos 106
Eastville, Glos 170
education/schooling 26, 37f, 42ff, 46, 74, 141, 190, 196
Edwards, Mike 6
Elgin County, Ont. 4, 57, 59f, 60, 136, 141, 153f, 158
Elgin County Archives 6
emigrants/emigration 41, 61, 64, 66, 73, 122, 137, 145
England 61
English Channel 171
Erie Canal 53ff, 55
Erie Canal Museum, Syracuse, NY 6
Esseltine, Jack 143
Esseltine, Winona 143
Established Church see Church of England
Europe 152
Evans, Jenny 6
Feltham, Susan Amelia see Husher
Fennians/Fenian Brotherhood 78
Ferris, Annie, see Pearce
Filton, Glos 76, 101, 131f
Fionn mad Cumhaill 78n
finance/money matters 34
Fisher, William 44
Ford, Joseph B. 178
Forest of Dean 15
Fort Erie 57, 63
frame houses 142f
France 28, 179
Francis, Thomas Ernest 140
Franco-Prussian War 83
Frape, Margaret Lucy, see Pearce
Free Churches 34
Frome, Somerset 195
Gayner, John 87, 101, 114f, 120f, 123, 131ff, 190
Georgia, Fulton County 152
Gibraltar 178
Giddings, Texas 149
Glasgow, Scotland 51
Gloucester, City of 10
Gloucestershire 13, 44, 48, 59, 73n
County Record Office 6
South Gloucestershire 3, 11, 12, 17
Gold Rush 150
Gore, Emily Harriet see Husher
Governor (Aylmer) of Canada 62
Graham, Arnold 155
Graham, Emma Blanche, née Smith (d. of Hannah & Homer), 155, 156
Graham, Percy 155
Graham, Norman Dufferin (husband of Emma
Blanche Smith) 155
Great Lakes 54, 59
Green, Pearl Winnigene, née Pearce 159
Green, Richinson 159
Greenbush, Ont. 157
Greenwich Maritime Museum 50
Griffin, Jane 39
Grovesend, Ont.60, 137, 153
Great Western Railway (UK) 117
Great Western Railway (Canada) 63, 90
Haight, Samuel 138
Halton, Bucks, UK 172
Hanwell, West London 172f
Harman, Ellen, née Hill 172f
Harman, James John 172
Harman, Nellie 172
Harman, Thomas James 172
Hawkesbury, Glos 192
Hawkesbury Upton, Glos 193
Hawkins Corners, Ont. 138
hay/hay broking/hay cartering 31, 33, 65, 72, 76, 81, 93,94, 95, 98, 185
Henbury, Glos (now Bristol) 171, 178, 183f
St Mary’s 34, 175, 184
Her Majesty’s Customs 171
Higgs, Sarah Ann, see Pearce
Higgs, William 178
High Wycombe, Bucks, UK 172
Hill, Alfred Rowland (1878-) 189
Hill, Annie see White
Hill, Caroline/Carolyn, née Pearce (1852-86, daughter of James & Arabella) 90, 99, 107, 109, 117, 125, 187
Hill, Charles (1873-) 107, 187f
Hill, Clara see Norman
Hill, Edith Alice 188
Hill, Ellen see Harman
Hill, Eliza, née Britten (also Curthoys) 188
Hill, Elizabeth (1886-) 190
Hill, Elizabeth Mary, née Bond (wife of Charles Hill) 188
Hill, Florence Jane see Jefferies
Hill, Frances Florence see Barton
Hill, Frank (1898-1919) 188
Hill, Frank (1882-) 189
Hill, George (Caroline’s husband) 185, 187
Hill, George (1884-) 190
Hill, George (1879-81) 189
Hill, Jane, née Vowles (daughter of Eliza and Joseph) 77, 98, 107, 114, 123, 125, 170f
Hill, John 187
Hill, Madge Jane 107, 187f
Hill, Martha 188
Hill, Thomas (husband of Jane) 170, 172f
Hill, Thomas Edwin 173
Hill, William (father of Thomas) 171
Hill, William George 173
Hill, William (1879-) 189
Hodgkinson, John 62
Hodgkinson’s Corners, Ont. 62
homesteads 157, 158, 159, 166
Hope, Arkansas, USA 149
Hopkins family 4, 64ff, 86
Hopkins, Alfred 65f, 94, 99, 102
Hopkins, Edwin 64ff, 75, 86, 93,99, 102
Hopkins, George 65
Hopkins, Harriett Ishmael 65f
Hopkins, Hester/Hestor 64f, 75
Hopkins, Jane 65
Hopkins, Joyce 24
Hopkins, Lucy, née Barton 65
Hopkins, Mark 65
Hopkins, Mary 65
Hopkins, Sarah 65
Hopkins, Selena 65
Hopkins, William 65
Hopkins, William Henry 65, 67
Horseman, Hestor, see Pearce
housekeepers 112f, 131, 186, 193
Houston, Texas 149ff, 153, 156
Charles Shern Memorial Methodist Church 150
First Methodist Church 150
Glenwood Cemetery 151f
Houston Chronicle 150
Howe, David 143
Howe, Gordon 143
Howe, Kenneth 143
Howe, Mervin 143
Howe, Miss (teacher in Jaffa) 143
Hudson River, USA 54
Hurst, Andrew 42, 73
Husher, Albert Edward 181
Husher, Doris Phyllis 181
Husher, Edith (1887-) see Drake
Husher, Edith (1886-87) 182
Husher, Edith (d. of George & Susan) 181
Husher, Edward V. 181
Husher, Elizabeth 182
Husher, Ellen 181
Husher, Emily Harriet, née Gore 181
Husher, Emily Louise 181
Husher, Emily Louisa 182
Husher, Emma, née Pearce (1853-99) 180f
Husher, Ethel see McCullock
Husher, George Henry 181
Husher, George Owen 181
Husher, Herbert A. 181
Husher, Kate see Roche
Husher, Phyllis 181
Husher, Robert 180ff
Husher, Robert (s.of Robert & Emma) 182
Husher, Robert Thomas 181
Husher, Rosina née Stevens 182
Husher, Susan Amelia, née Feltham 181
immigrant processing 52, 53
impressment 28
India 165
Indians (native North American) 57
Indian Head, NWT 157
Ingerson, Eliza B., née Pearce 198
Ingerson, Harry B. 197
Ireland 17, 58, 78
Iroquois (tribe) 57
Isaacs, Mary Jane, see Pearce
Isaacs, William John 191
Jaffa, Ont., Canada 5, 46, 60, 138, 141, 143, 149, 153, 163, 165f
Jaffa Baptist Church 165
Jaffa School 143
Orwell Cemetery 163
James, Alfred 180
James, George (1875-) 179
James, Hannah, née Pearce 179
James, Henry 180
James, John 42, 125, 176
James, Sarah 180
Jefferies, Florence Jane, née Hill 172f
Jefferies, Frank 172
Jefferies, Frank Hubert 172
Jenkins, Ann, see Pearce
Kempton, Glos 87
King, Emily 180
Kingston, Dr (Aylmer) 46
Kirkland Lake, Ont. 162
Kirkpatrick, Eliza (Dolly), née Pearce (1891- 1941) 160
Kirkpatrick, Thomas 160
Knole Park, Glos 20
Knowle, Glos 113, 115, 121, 123, 125, 127, 129, 169f, 176, 179, 183
Lake Erie 57, 59
Land Grants 158
Lawrence Weston, Glos 175
Leigh, George 74
Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada 59
limeburning 31
Livingstone County, NY 53, 55f
Lloyds Register of Shipping 6, 49
log houses 60, 138, 141, 142
London, England 49
London, Ont. 166
Long Point 57
Lord of the Manor 19
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 58
Luton, Ont. 60, 137f
Malahide, Ireland 58
Malahide, Ont. 46, 60ff, 137, 158
Manchester, UK 171
Manitoba, Canada 4, 156f
Mary Ann Peters 49ff, 50
McCullock, Betty M. 183
McCullock, Ethel, née Husher 183
McCullock, Ethel M.L. see Boon
McCullock, James F. 183
McCullock, Nettie J. 183
McKeever, J.J. 150
McTaggart, Saskatchewan 159
Methodism/Methodist Church 17, 34, 46, 150
Middlesex County, Ont. 59
Millard, Ann, see Young
Millard, Hannah, see Pearce
Minsterworth, Glos 17
Moore, Eva Clara, née Smith 156, 157
Moore, Gordon 157
Moore, Howard 157
Moore, Lesley 157
Moore, Louis Rossington 157
Moore, Shirley 157
Moosomin, Saskatchewan 158, 160, 162
mortgage 45, 98, 104, 139, 140, 163
mudlarked 55
Napoleon Bonaparte 58
National Society/National Schools 42
National Archives of the United Kingdom 6
Neutrals (Indian tribe) 57
New Brunswick, Canada 49
New Orleans 150, 153
New Passage, Glos 17, 80, 90, 99, 109, 113, 116f, 176, 185, 187, 189ff
New Passage Road Hotel 193
The Glen 116, 191, 192
New York City, USA 49, 51ff,
New York Port Authority 6
New York State 54, 56
Newell, George 65
Niagara 57
Niagara River 56
Normal School 43f
Norman, Amelia née Gazzard 189
Norman, Clara, née Hill (1881-) 189
Norman Conquest 171
Norman, Ena Kathleen May 189
Norman, Henry Charles 189
Norman, John 189
Norris, Arabella see Pearce
Norris, Oliver 185
Norris, Thomas 185
North Battleford, Saskatchewan 159, 161
Northwick, Glos 187ff, 192ff
St Thomas’s Church 191ff
Nova Scotia 154
O’Brien, Janice 6
Offer, Sarah 187
Old Passage, Glos 17, 126, 177
Old Sodbury, Glos 179
Oldbury on Severn, Glos 15
Olveston, Glos 37
O’Mahony, John 78n
Ontario, Canada passim
Northern Ontario 153
Ontario Archives 6
Ontario Carriage Works 64
South Western Ontario 165
Western Ontario 63
Orton, James W. 65
Over, Glos 25, 26, 27, 74, 88, 124
Over Court 26
Overseer of the Poor 19, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 34, 35, 73n, 74n, 132
Paddington, London 172
Palmer, Faye, née Smith (d. of Hannah & Homer) 156, 157
Palmer, John Francis 157
parents, care of elderly 146f, 186
parishes 11ff, 12, 19ff, 33f
parish relief 23ff, 28
Parrott, Frederick 188
Parsons, Sarah see Pearce
paupers 21f
Pearce, Ada Louisa, née Bennett 195
Pearce, Alfred John (1858-63, s. of James & Arabella) 192
Pearce, Alfred H. (1891-) 195
Pearce, Ann, née Jenkins (1799-1861, wife of James) 24, 75, 196ff
Pearce, Ann (d. of James & Hannah) 23, 24
Pearce, Ann (1797, d. of James & Hannah) 24
Pearce, Annie, née Ferris 197f
Pearce, Arabella, née Norris (1829-1908, wife of James) 30, 39, 109f, 112, 127n, 129, 133f, 185f, 194
Pearce, Arthur I. 198
Pearce, Beatrice née Caldwell (Bea) 166
Pearce, Blake Kenneth 45, 160, 161, 162
Pearce, Caroline, see Hill
Pearce, Charles Delmar 160
Pearce, Christine, née West 162
Pearce, Edith Ann (1889-) 195
Pearce, Edith M. 198
Pearce, Eliza, née Cann 197f
Pearce, Eliza, see Darrow
Pearce, Eliza B., see Ingerson
Pearce, Eliza, see Vowles
Pearce, Eliza (1855-72) 183
Pearce, Eliza (Dolly) see Kirkpatrick
Pearce, Elizabeth (1849-1867) 179
Pearce, Elizabeth (1822-26 d of Wm & Hannah) 30, 31
Pearce, Elizabeth (wife of Norman) 5
Pearce, Emma, née Blake (1823-94, emigrant) 3f, 30, 41, 43ff, 48, 49, 52ff, 57ff, 66, 72, 137f, 141f, 149, 170
Pearce, Emma, see Husher
Pearce, Estella Irene (Stella) see Plato
Pearce Family Bible 47, 53, 56, 137
Pearce, Fanny (b.1899) 195
Pearce, Florence (1895-) 195
Pearce, Floyd Ellis 5, 140, 143, 164, 166, 168
Pearce, Frances (Fanny) (1862-, d. of James & Arabella) 69ff,105, 107, 126, 171, 186,191, 194f
Pearce, Gail (daughter of Norman) 5, 7
Pearce, George (1846-1847) 178
Pearce, George (1857-82) 183f
Pearce, George (1823-1908, s. of Wm &
Hannah) 30, 34, 70f, 73, 77, 82, 84, 87, 90, 98, 101, 103f, 108, 112ff, 121, 123ff, 129 131, 133ff, 146f, 169,171, 175ff, 186f, 190
Pearce, George Edgar (1855-84, s. of emigrants) 137, 153
Pearce, Hannah, née Millard (1797-1870, w. of elder William) 24, 30, 31, 34f, 35, 37, 39, 41, 72f, 77ff, 81, 169f, 175, 185
Pearce, Hannah, née Stephens (c.1770-1838, w. of elder James) 23ff, 24, 25, 27, 31, 64
Pearce, Hannah see Baker
Pearce, Hannah see James
Pearce, Hannah, see Smith
Pearce homestead 137, 138, 149
Pearce, Harley Green 162
Pearce, Helen Eileen see Porter
Pearce, Hestor, née Horseman (1819-80, 1st w. of George, emigrant’s brother) 30, 113, 175, 177
Pearce, Isaac (1833-50) 197
Pearce, Isaac William (1861-1948, s. of emigrants) 46, 137, 149, 158, 162, 163
Pearce, Isaac Jenkins (1860-) 197f
Pearce, Jane (1833-42) 198
Pearce, James (1826-92, emigrant’s brother) 30, 34, 40, 70f, 73, 77, 79f, 82, 84, 87, 90, 93, 95, 98, 101, 103ff, 109f, 112ff, 116ff, 124, 126f, 131ff, , 185ff, 190
Pearce, James (1830-1903) 197
Pearce, James (1847-) 178
Pearce, James (son of 1801 James) 75, 196ff
Pearce, James (c.1776-1819, grandfather of emigrant) 23ff, 24, 31, 64
Pearce, James (1859-1942, s. of emigrants) 46, 47, 157f, 158, 162
Pearce, James (1801-80, s. of James & Hannah) 24, 31, 75, 82, 90, 170, 196ff
Pearce, James Cann (1858-76) 197f
Pearce, James E. (1885-) 197
Pearce, Jane 197
Pearce, Jane see Sarah Jane
Pearce, Jessie Irene (daughter of James & Albina) 161
Pearce, Jessie Irene see Walker
Pearce, John (son of Norman) 5, 140
Pearce, John (1866-) 195
Pearce, John Wesley (1863-1954, s. of emigrants) 34, 137f, 140, 151, 163, 164, 168
Pearce, Lillian (Lillie) 158, 160
Pearce, Lydia Eva Doris see Porter
Pearce, Louisa (1896-) 195
Pearce, Mabel (1893-) 195
Pearce, Margaret Lucy, née Frape 45, 160
Pearce, Marion C. (1892-) 195
Pearce, Mary (wife of James) 196
Pearce, Mary (1888-, d. of William Clement) 118, 192
Pearce, Mary Ann (1835-43) 197f
Pearce, Mary Jane, née Isaacs 191, 193
Pearce, Mary Lucretia, née Davidson (Lynn, wife of John Wesley) 163, 164, 168
Pearce, Martha (1885-, d. of William Clement) 118, 192
Pearce, Matilda 161
Pearce, Minnie Matilda, née Smith 197f
Pearce, Neta Luella see Smith
Pearce, Norman 5, 140, 168
Pearce, Pearl Winnigene, see Green
Pearce, Ralph 166
Pearce residence 36
Pearce, Rosa 165
Pearce, Rose Ethel see Clarke
Pearce, Ruby Gladys see Ruel
Pearce, Sarah, née Pople (1819-1911, 2nd wife of George, emigrant’s brother) 30, 71, 113, 127ff, 132, 134, 175f
Pearce, Sara Albina, née Davidson (wife of James, son of emigrants) 158f, 158, 162
Pearce, Sarah Ann see Boyles
Pearce, Sarah Ann, née Higgs 178
Pearce, Sarah Jane (d. of James & Arabella) see Baker
Pearce, Thomas 90
Pearce, Mrs Turner Thomas 73
Pearce, William (1798-1882, father of emigrant) 23, 24, 28, 30, 31ff, 36, 37, 39ff, 65f, 70ff, 107, 109, 112, 118, 131f, 145, 169, 175f, 185, 192, 196f
Pearce, William (1824-1904, emigrant) 3ff, 30, 33, 38, 41ff, 46, 48f, 52ff, 57ff, 66, 70, 131f, 137f, 140ff, 146f, 170, 176, 187, 190
Pearce, William (1860-64) 184
Pearce, William (1897-) 197
Pearce, William Clement (1855-1916, son of
James & Arabella) 68, 70f, 87, 90, 107, 109, 111, 113, 116, 117ff, 127, 129, 134, 186ff,190f, 193f
Pencavel, Robin 6
pension (old age) 176
Percy, Lanora 143
photography 88, 107
Pickard, Beatrice 143
Pickard, Frank 143
Pilning, Glos 188f, 192, 194
St Peter’s Church 192f
Pilning and Severn Beach Family History
Group 6
Plato, Bobby 165
Plato, Estella Irene (Stella), née Pearce 165, 168
Plato, Murray Lee 165
Plymouth, Devon, 188
St Luke’s 188
Poor Law 20f
Poor Law Amendment Act (1834) 21, 29
Poor Law Unions 21f, 115
Poor Rate 19
Pople, Elizabetta 183
Pople, Sarah, see Pearce
Pople, Thomas 175
population 59, 61, 63
Port Bruce, Ont. 60
Port Burwell, Ont. 60
Port Stanley, Ont. 60
Porter, David J. 4, 6, 168
Porter, Helen Eileen, née Pearce 3, 4, 143, 147, 166, 167, 168
Porter, Lydia Eva, née Pearce 143, 147, 164, 166, 167, 168
Porter, Robert William 166, 167
Porter, Ruth 168
Porter, Sandy 6
Porter, Thomas Edward 166, 167
press-gangs 28
prices 68, 72ff, 78, 81ff, 85, 89f, 93, 96, 98, 100, 106f, 134, 190
Prussians 83
Quakers 33, 92, 98, 101, 120, 132, 138
quarry/quarrying 121, 123, 124, 125, 129, 176
Raikes, Robert 42
Rail Road Strike (USA 1877) 106
railways 16, 31, 53, 99, 180, 191, 195
Ranson, Bertha, née Smith 154
Ranson, Blake 158
Ranson, Fred 154
Ranson, George Coulter (husband of Bertha Smith) 154
Ranson, George 154
Ranson, Harley 158
Ranson, Stanley 154
Redwick, Glos 3f, 38, 109, 117, 119f, 131, 185ff, 188, 190, 192ff
Bland’s Row 39, 185ff, 187, 193f
Zion Chapel 34
Riel Rebellion 157
Roche, Eileen 183
Roche, Francis J. 183
Roche, James F. 183
Roche, Kate, née Husher 183
Rosser, Manitoba 154
Regina Cemetery, Saskatchewan 154
Ruel, George Edward 165f
Ruel, Ruby Gladys née Pearce 165f, 167, 168
Russo-Turkish War (1877-8) 100f
Rye, Sussex 171, 173
Mermaid St 171, 173
salteratus 63n
San Antonio, Texas 157
Saskatchewan, Canada 141, 149f , 158
Saunders, Robert 44
Schenectady, NY 149
schooling see education
Schram, Willie 143
Seawell, George H. 152
settlers 61ff
Severn, River 14f, 16f, 185
Severn Bore 17
Severn Railway Tunnel 32, 185, 186
Shepherd’s Bush, London 173
Simcoe, General John Graves 59
slavery 49f
Smith, Ada Melissa, née Spearman (wife of
Clarkson) 156
Smith, Carl 154, 155
Smith, Clarkson Freeman 156, 156f
Smith, Daniel 154, 155
Smith, David 157
Smith, David T. 165
Smith, Douglas 157
Smith, Earl 154, 155
Smith, Ella (d. of Hannah & Homer) 153, 156
Smith, Ethel see Charles
Smith, Eva Clara see Moore
Smith, Faye see Palmer
Smith, Gary 168
Smith, Gordon 157
Smith, Hannah, née Pearce (1857-1939, d. of emigrants, w. of Homer) 45f, 137, 149, 153f, 153
Smith, Harvey Wilson 154
Smith, Jerry Edmund 154, 155
Smith, Lena May 154, 155
Smith, Les 154, 155
Smith, May, née McCharles (w. of William
Havelock) 154
Smith, Minnie M., see Pearce
Smith, Muriel 157
Smith, Neta Luella, née Pearce 165, 167, 168
Smith, Owen 154, 155
Smith, Sidney 94
Smith, Wayne 168
Smith, William Havelock (s. of Hannah &
Homer) 154
Smith, William Homer 153, 154, 157
Smith, Wilson Harvey (s. of Hannah &
Homer) 156
Somerset, England 50
Southmead, Glos 123, 176
Sparta, Ont. 60, 62, 153
Springfield, Ont. 165f
St Thomas, Ont. 59f, 165f
City Library 6
Stephens, Hannah, see Pearce
Stokes, Arthur 143
Stokes, Doris 143
Stokes, Lloyd 143
Stokes, Raymond 143
Stroud, Glos 13
Summers Corners, Ont. 60, 137
Sunday Schools 42, 46, 108
Syracuse, NY 55
Talbot, Col. Thomas 58f
Talbot Road/Street 57, 58, 59, 60, 62
Teignmouth, Devon, UK 171ff
temperance 111
Texas, USA 46, 153
Denton County 152
Harris County 152
Hempstead 152
Texas Central Railroad 149
Thornbury Union Poor House/Workhouse 22, 27, 29, 66, 175f
Thornbury street market 68
threshing machine 32, 76
Thurnham, Lancashire 172
tithe (and tithe map) 17, 36
Toronto, Ont. 163
Union Depot 151
trades unions 106
Trafalgar, Ont. 153
Tribe, Beatrice 143
Tribe, Gladys 143
Tring, Herts, UK 172
Troy (later Aylmer), Ont. 62
Turner, James 65
turnpike road 15
tythings 13, 25, 74n, 196
United States of America 3, 49, 140, 149
Civil War 150
Upper Canada see Canada
Vale of Berkeley, Glos 15
Vancouver, British Columbia 165
Vaughan, Squire James 25f
Vienna, Ont. 166
Vowles, Caroline 170
Vowles, Eliza, née Pearce (1818-80) 30, 34, 39f, 77, 81f, 84, 87, 90, 96, 98f, 101, 103f, 107ff, 114f, 123, 125, 131f, 146, 169f, 173, 183
Vowles, George (son of Eliza & Joseph) 77, 82, 104, 114, 123, 125, 170, 173f
Vowles, Hilda, née Baker, (1894-) 194
Vowles, Jane see Hill
Vowles, Joseph (1819-85) 30, 73, 77, 82, 90, 99, 104, 113ff 123, 169f
Vowles, Joyce née Osborne 169
Vowles, Thomas 169
wages 72f, 76, 85, 89, 98, 99, 119
Wales 14, 17, 90, 191
Walker, Jessie Irene, née Pearce 161
Walker, William Charles 161
Waterloo, Battle of 28, 58
Watts, Isaac 112, 120
Waugh, Samuel B. 53
Wellesley, Arthur, Duke of Wellington 58
Wesley, Charles 17, 34, 80, 111
Wesley, John 17, 34, 80
West Indies 49f
Westbury on Trym, Glos 3f, 22, 113, 115, 169, 175f, 178ff, 181f
Westleigh, Devon 197
Weyburn, Saskatchewan 159
White, Alfred 172
White, Annie, née Hill 172
White, May 172
White, William 172
Wiley, Hugh 143
Will of William Pearce 34, 87, 101, 131ff, 187
Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan 159
Wimborne, Dorset 180
Windsor, Ont. 163, 166
Winnipeg, Manitoba 149, 157
Brookside Cemetery 154
Winterbourne, Glos 175, 178
White’s Hill 179
workhouse 20, 22, 170, 174, 183
Yarmouth Township 137f, 153f, 163
Young, Ann, née Millard 35, 73
Young, Charles (husband of Ann) 38
Young, Charles (employer) 38f, 42, 73f, 82
Young, Emma 42, 73
Zavitz, Ira 138
About the Author – David Porter
David J. Porter was born in London, Ontario, Canada in 1945. His education includes degrees in Economics and Commerce from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle. David and his wife Sandy moved to London, England, in 1971, where they have lived and worked ever since, Sandy as a teacher and David as Chief Executive of a financial services company. David’s pursuit of his own family history began many years ago, stimulated by his mother’s keen interest in her family’s past. Since most of his ancestors emigrated to Canada from the British Isles during the nineteenth century and he now had easy access to the wonderful archives and libraries that the British enjoy, his quest to learn more about the origins of his ancestors began in earnest in 1971. Over a dozen articles written by David have been published in the World Leasing Yearbook, but From Almondsbury to Aylmer: The Pearce Letters is his first non-business publication.