Hello everyone!
I am a Canadian searching my family roots and have hit a couple of
brick walls, most notably with the first in my ancestry to arrive in
Canada.
I am currently trying to track down my g+++ grandmother JANE MARY
NEE?) JOHNSTONE (born in London, 1784). She arrived in Holland
Landing, Ontario then on to Penetanguishene about 1810-12. There is a lot of family rumour about this woman: she was married to one
Thomas Johnstone (born England or Scotland in 1783) about 1805-1810, supposedly at Westminster Abbey or perhaps St. Margaret's chapel. She also appeared to have lived in the Covent Garden area and was supposedly titled and related/descended from the Earls of Darnley (possibly related to the Blighs). Of course, I am having trouble establishing this as I do not have her maiden name. (Tho the name Darnely has been passed down in my family as a middle name through the years). And unfortunately, there are no records for marriages at WA for the period 1775 to 1850. I might be able to find parish records, but I am in Ottawa which is quite a long way from the UK ;-)
I know these 'facts' because they were quoted in the Pioneer Papers of Simcoe County book. She/her husband had the first Inn/ Lodging/Hotel in Penetanguishene, right across from the Military establishment). The inn was called the Masonic Arms as her husband used to hold his masonic meetings there. I would love to substantiate this as well.
Also, she remarried a Robert Wallace as Thomas died young.
I am very curious as to why a woman of the peerage/lesser nobility
would up and take off to the wilds of Canada. How would a silk
merchant (Thomas) end up running a lodging house?
Apparently, her father was so distraught at her departure that he
refused to acknowledge her further and disinherited her (would this
wipe out any record of her?). A silver teapot set that was given to
her from a friend before she left for Canada (we still have it)
would have been worth a substantial sum, so at least some friends
were well off, but was her father really a peer or did he just have
rich friends? Her mother (so family legend says) was a lady in
Waiting to Princess/Queen Caroline. I have tried to find a list of
these ladies and trace them, but for such a wild woman, there seems to be very little about her household.
SO...Is any of this true or are Jane Mary's 'pants on fire'? (honestly, in the wilds Ontario, who is going to check Jane's stories?).
If anyone has any leads on how I can substantiate any of these
claims, I would love to know. Sorry for the rambling - it's hard to
get this all in one short paragraph.
Catherine
