RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Canada => Topic started by: Redroger on Sunday 05 September 10 20:50 BST (UK)
-
I wonder if anyone has suc cessfully traced a relative across the Atlantic, from birth in the UK to Canada or Newfoundland? If so, how did they do it? I've tried to connect the surname Luffman on both sides of the Atlantic for several years, so far unsuccessfully.
-
Hi Redroger,
It all depends on what time frame you're researching. Have you tried the Newfoundland site?
http://ngb.chebucto.org/
or the various Canada census' which cover every province except Newfoundland which until 1949 was part of Great Britain & those records should be at Kew.
http://automatedgenealogy.com/
If you post exactly what you're looking for you might get a positive answer.
Good hunting.
-
I agree with J.A.M. My research was trying to link my Canadian ancestors with possible ancestors in England and Ireland. Some time periods had better records than others, in my cases.
I don't know about Newfoundland records, but I've been successful with Ontario burial records, Ontario directories, and using internet searches for my ancestors' names, occupations and place names. Ontario birth and death certificates were a bit helpful, but if I remember correctly, not once did they state a county or town in England or Ireland...just the country of birth. Thinking about it, when I received a copy of the actual image, it did state how long the person had been in Canada/Ontario.
-
John Loughman (Luffman) was shown in an early Newfoundland census I think it was 1806 as being born in England. From his family details I was able to calculate that this must have been before 1780. However, I have been unable to find him in either of these spellings, or a third possibility Loveman. The surname, which is rare is at its most frequent in the West, and I am aware of the heavy migration from Dorset to Newfoundland. So that is where I started.
-
Hi,
Have you checked "Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland" by E. R. Seary? In it, it lists Luffman as a variant of Leaman/Leamon/Loveman/Luffman, or possibly an anglicization of Le Moine.
Seary lists early instances, but the only John is "John Leamon, merchant of Brigus, 1828", which might be too late for you. The only reference to Luffman with that spelling is "Luffman; at Bell Island, Harbour Grace, Markland and St. John's". Maybe you'd have more luck if you widened your search to include Leamans or Leamons.
If you haven't checked it already, a good source for early references is the Keith Matthews Name Files, at the Maritime History Archive. http://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/keith/index.php. The MHA staff will photocopy the contents of any name file for a very reasonable price, and it appears there is one for Luffman. There also appears to be at least one Luffman reference in another collection, "Index of Surnames from the Births, Deaths and Marriages in Newfoundland Newspapers, 1810-1890" - which you can purchase on CD-ROM.
Good luck!
Jennifer.
-
Never heard of the Anglisization of "LeMoine" before, interesting; however the other variants are simply a reprint of some which have endured since the Middle Ages. I am surprised how this continues to be perpetuated as Luffman has been a surname since at least the time of Geoffrey Chaucer, and appears as Luffman in early (pre 1600) parish registers. It does mean beloved man, and is likely to originate from the Anglo Saxon Leofman, man of love, I have traced the name back as far as 925AD, unfortunately I have been unable to make any definite connections before the 18th century.Thanks for the leads Amazon, I shall certainly follow them up.
-
He was already there in 1797 http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/nfld_history/CO194/CO194-39.htm
68-68v ( volunteer corps) Request to continue to provide rations and provisions. Also request new clothing . Signed by John Sawer, Nathan Park, James Winter, John Loughman.
also 73-74 " Return of Captain John Loughman’s Company of Volunteers acting under the command of Maj. Thomas Charleton" prepared on 25 Oct. 1796
Would a search of military records have some information on him?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
he is not listed here...so he is called Captain but only a volunteer? http://members.tripod.com/~Al_Beagan/soldier.htm
Jan. 31, 1797 ""Muster Roll for 31 January 1797, St.John's, Newfoundland" The Company commanded by Major Thomas R. Charleton in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Artillery The company arrived in Newfoundland in August 1789 and went back to the UK in October 1819
-
Because he did a military stint...Have you tried an inquiry with land records, as they might have something for you...
( archives may want a small fee for research, but doesn't hurt to inquire)
http://ngb.chebucto.org/Research/land.shtml
If this is same family, may have died before 1836- as female in household over 60, no male over 60
http://nl.canadagenweb.org/ndfogo_1836lionsden.htm
-
Be aware too that the late 18th century/early 19th century was the tail end of the migratory fishery. Some people were settling in Newfoundland for good, others were still coming to fish for the season and returning to England again in the fall. Others might go back to England to marry, or to retire. You might find records on either side.
Jennifer
-
Many thanks JJ and Jennifer. Regarding this company of volunteers, were they a regular British Army Unit? If so then the officers should be in the Army Lists for that time. Thanks in anticipation.
-
Of course the royal regiment of artillery was a regular British army regiment, but as I said I am not sure if he was Captain as part of the regiment or a volunteer, and either way, would he be listed.? perhaps they can answer the question for you here:
http://www.hmforces.co.uk/Join_The_Forces/articles/138-the-royal-regiment-of-artillery
-
Will try that link thanks JJ and report back here.
-
As he was born before 1780, I think it is a reasonable assumption that 1) He had died 2) The family shown in the 1836 Lion's Den census is the same one.
-
Do you have a Henry Luffman/Loughman in your records? I stumbled on one today in the Harbour Grace records, and I remembered your post.
See http://nl.canadagenweb.org/cbhg_hg_burials_1860.htm - Harbour Grace Anglican burials, Henry Loughman, buried March 26, 1863, age 80 years, which puts you back to 1783.
If you then look at the marriage records, he is presumably the Henry Luffman who married Ann Narocot in 1807, and they had a bunch of children baptized in the baptism records as Loffman, Loftman, Luffman, Luftman, and possibly even Luffnel.
Jennifer.
-
Do you also have the census- 1794-1795 Harbor & District of St. John's where there is a John (Jn) occupying a dwelling in the location "from The Engine House to the Kings Beach " occ. boatkeeper / Roman Catholic
He says he has been in NFLD 14 years....Says he is single, but there is one male child with him as well as 2 servants.
( So this census says he came from ? to NFLD c. 1781 if this is the same man, and so birth may have been 1760s or earlier) )
http://ngb.chebucto.org/C1794/1794-div-4-sje.shtml
I guess a marriage was never found for the younger John occ. planter in the Lions Den - 1836 census ?...Sad that Henry found by amazon didn't say who his parents were either. ( Might he have been that young boy?)
Nice to see they are all listed here...am wondering if the "John" in the census was one of Henry's & Anne's using a middle name...If there were enough Henry about to confuse?
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~downeast/7KI.htm
The name Eglantine is unusual, ...a type of rose... "Sweetbriar or Eglantine Rose, ROSA EGLANTERIA, native to Europe and western Asia"
Lohmann, Louhman, Loman
-
Hi,
Sadly, marriage records in Newfoundland very rarely give the parents names. It would sure be a lot easier if they did. :(
I'm not very familiar with the St. John's records, most of my research is in the Harbour Grace area. Looking at the 1794 census, two things stand out.
First, John is Roman Catholic. This makes me wonder if he is actually any relation to Henry Luffman/Loughman in Harbour Grace, since Henry is Anglican. By the time Henry married, there was toleration of Roman Catholics, and a functioning RC parish in Harbour Grace, so he would not have been forced to marry in the established church unless he converted of his own volition. Also, Roman Catholics in Newfoundland were almost always Irish. Are the Loughman's you are researching in Devon Catholic?
The other thing is that the census doesn't explicitly state that the male child is his. As this appears to be a household census, the male child could belong to one of the servants. I wonder is it possible to find out more about Mary Macdonald? Looking over the census, she seemed to have a lot of property and people looking after that property or renting from her.
John Loughman, boatkeeper of St. John's sounds to me like an Irish servant hired by Mary Macdonald to look after her boats and stores over the winter. Might be a different instance of the name than Henry of Hr. Grace.
Of course, John Loughman might still have married and left descendants. However I would expect he would have done so at the Roman Catholic Basilica. In those days, it was still a Cathedral and confusingly both the RC and Anglican Cathedrals were both in honour of St. John the Baptist. I can't find any on-line records for the Basilica. It's possible they are not in the provincial archives - their collection of RC records is less complete than other denominations. You could try contacting the diocese archives directly - they have an excellent archivist who may be able to help. http://www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca/archives.asp
I'll try to remember to take a look the next time I go to the Provincial Archives, but as I don't get there very often it might be a while.
Re the 1836 census, the only Lion’s Den I can find is on Fogo Island, a long way from St. John’s or Harbour Grace. Not to say that one of John or Henry’s descendants couldn’t have moved there. I had a quick look in the on line Fogo records, you could dig around there a bit more, you might turn something up. Sadly, the really old records for Fogo were probably at Twillingate and almost all the Anglican records were lost in a fire.
Jennifer
-
Addendum - I looked up Boat Keeper in the Newfoundland Dictionary. Here's what it says - Boatkeeper: Man who operates inshore fishing craft; by-boat keeper. Under by-boat keeper, there is the following reference from the Anspach 1819 History of Newfoundland - "...bye-boat-keepers, who were supplied by the merchants to whom they sold the produce of their voyage. These by-boat-keepers kept also a certain number of servants; and, in process of time, became resident planters."
A by-boat is defined as "a fishing craft...owned and used in the inshore cod-fishery by men migrating annually as passengers to Newfoundland, the craft being left on the island on their return to the West Country of England".
So, John Loughman of St. John's was probably a by boat keeper with a couple of people working for him, supplied by Mary Macdonald. He may or may not have been resident year round in Newfoundland at that time.
-
Many thanks indeed for all this further information. I think that if he was a Catholic then it is unlikely given the fact that Luffman's were injured in the shameful Harbor Grace affair of the early 1880s when Orange men attacked Catholics and shots were exchanged. The injured Luffman was recorded as a Protestant. However, there is I suppose always the possibility for error and that John Loughman was in fact a protestant working with a Catholic, the statement about boats being kept over winter for people who returned to the West Country of England may be significant.
Since I lasted posted on here I have found an instance of a spelling of the surname as Loughman, this was in the mid 18th century in Gillingham Dorset, the marriage of a Joan Loughman, her baptism and that of all her siblings the surname is recorded as Luffman, so I am sure she is one of mine. Over the years there have been many (fiercely resisted) attempts to spell my surname Loughman, many people insisting that was the correct version.
I have 2 Henrys viz: Henry Luffman d14 Apr 1879 Harbor Grace, and Henry Loughman d25 March 1863 Harbor Grace.
Again thanks for your help.
-
Yes, I noticed that in the Harbour Grace baptism records, Henry and Ann Luffman children's names were recorded differently over time. The first two were Loffman, the next two Loftman, then Luftman, then finally the last few (including the delightfully named Eglantine) were Luffmans. I don't suppose the trend continued until some of the Luffmans became Loughmans? I feel your pain, I'm researching a surname that I think is a corruption of something else, but I can't figure out what.
It is possible that John Loughman was Protestant with Catholic servants and the census taker got it wrong. There were lots of exceptions, but I think servants tended more to be Irish and planters were more likely to be English. Merchants heading out to Newfoundland from Devon often stopped in southern Ireland to pick up extra supplies and workers.
j.
-
The surname Luffman with all its variants is rare, it is at its least uncommon in Dorset and I think significantly Newfoundland, given the mass migration in the early modern period. A complication with the spelling occurred when people surnamed Loughman moved to the same area as people who spelled the name Luffman. After 2 generations or so people who had used one form were using the other, both clearly researched and documented.
-
I came across this spelling today...the usual suspects misnamed, I am sure, but thought to add to the others ...Lufman ;D
http://nl.canadagenweb.org/cbhg_hg_mar_1802.htm http://nl.canadagenweb.org/cbhg_hg_bap_1876.htm
http://nl.canadagenweb.org/cbhg_1870mcalpines_harbourgrace.htm
-
Thanks for that the variant Lufman keeps appearing, interesting the marriage date differs by one day 9/10th compared to the source I already had. The location at marriage may be useful.
-
Hi there,
This topic has been inactive for awhile but I have just begun researching the Luffman & Bray families in Newfoundland and I can shed a bit of light to the Luffman/Loughman issue.
The Loughmans listed on this page -
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~downeast/7KI.htm
are in fact Luffmans as Henry & Susanna are my great great grandparents and I have the Luffman family bible which started with their son James (1862-1918) who married Mary Bray.
I am only beginning to build the tree back from that point so if anyone has information regarding the ancestry of Henry Luffman (1826-1879) born Harbour Grace, married to Susanna (1828-1907) born Harbour Grace ne??, I would be delighted to share.
Debra Aubin
Montreal, QC
currently researching Aubin-Luffman-Bray-Twambley
-
Debra, Only to happy to share.The surname Luffman/Loughman variant seems to have originated in the late 1800s in Northern Ireland, and were at first separate surnames. For some reason people who had previously been "Luffmans" became "Loughmans" perhaps they thought it looked better, or perhaps it was the result of a clergyman making an entry in a register. Anyway, after a generation or so it became difficult to sort the two spellings as separate families, and your information adds more to my research. Thanks very much.