Hi everyone!
I posted something back in August that didn't seem to get a lot of attention but in the past few days, I've had a lot of replies. However, since it's been so long, I have found a lot of the answers. Since - for some reason - I can't seem to "modify" my original post, I am creating a new one to include the new information I have, with the original post below.
Since I first posted, I have found LOADS of information on the Hardy family in Bowesville, Ontario (Bowesville no longer exists - all the land was expropriated by the government in 1951 and is now the home of the YOW Airport).
From newspapers, I was able to find an article from the 1980s about a Hardy family reunion. At the end of the article, it talked about Francis Hardy - a pioneer of Bowesville - who left Ireland on May 4th, 1830 and arrived at the Quebec Port on June 6th, 1830. Still looking for passenger lists for this.
However, I eventually found a book called "Bowesville: A Place to Remember." Now, this book gave me A LOT of valuable information but also gave me more questions. For instance, it states that Francis Sr's wife was named Sarah Brown (not Mary Troy). So although Ancestry is insisting that his mother was Mary Troy, this book says her name was Sarah Brown.
All censuses in Canada from 1851 to 1899 (when Francis Jr. died) state that he was from Ireland, was a farmer, and the records either say he was Methodist (which wasn't an established religion in Ireland until shortly before they left) or the Church of Ireland. This means that they were protestant - which also means THOUSANDS of parishes and records.
Someone in my original post asked "what are you trying to find now then?" So here is it:
I am about 90% sure that my Hardy family is connected to the Le Hardys from England. I have done a reverse trace (starting with Thomas Le Hardy, 1666, and working my way down), but once I get to John Hardy, born 1704/1705 (who married Anne Bowler), I get stuck again.
From my father up to Francis Hardy Junior, I have a plethora of information - more than I ever thought I'd find. And after 1705, I have quite a lot of information on the Le Hardys. But in between Francis Junior and John/Anne Hardy, there are TWO Francis Hardys. One I assume to have been born around 1780 (and who married either Mary Troy or Sarah Brown - or both!) and another Francis Hardy (though, I have no proof that this was his name) which I would assume to have been born around 1740-1750.
To clarify, this is what my tree currently looks like:
1809: Francis Hardy Junior, married Jane Armstrong in 1836 and had a bunch of kids. His parents were (apparently) Francis Hardy and Sarah Brown.
1780ish: Francis Hardy (and Sarah Brown). I have no death records for them - if they had passed away before 1840(ish) they would have been buried in the Freeman Cemetery in Bowesville, which was dug up after expropriation and moved to Pinecrest Cemetery. However, there is no Sarah Hardy/Brown/Francis Hardy listed here (Francis Hardy, 1809 - 1899, however, IS there). So this portion of the family is not complete. I also have evidence that Francis Hardy Sr’s other children came shortly after him: Robert to Hull, Quebec, William to Ogdensburg, and Elizabeth who stayed in Ireland. But again – no proof and no birth records to find parents.
1741ish: Francis Hardy – this one is an empty hole; no wife, no children, no birth place....nothing. There are just so many Francis Hardys who married and had children in Ireland/England around this time. For instance, between 1760 and 1765, there are 4 possible marriage records for Francis Hardy: Mary Gettliffe, Mary Brunt, Mary Woolhouse, and an Elizabeth (no last name).
So far, it seems that the Francis (1787) who had Mary Gettliffe as a mother married first a woman named Elizabeth and second woman named Eliza - and this family is mostly located in America.......and THIS seems to be my biggest hurtle. In America, there is a Hardy line with names very similar to mine, living around the same time. But everything I read says my Hardys came from Ireland. This has been the hardest part. If you look up Francis Hardy on Ancestry.ca with 1780 as the date and Ireland as the location, see how many Francis Hardys you get with very close birth dates - it's nearly impossible to figure out which one is which!
All that to say, I have two goals:
1. Figure out which Francis Hardy is which by finding PROOF of their linkage (for both Francis 1780 and Francis 1740)
2. Get past those two Francises so that I can continue my line for as far back as it will go. As I said, I am almost certain that we are related to the Le Hardy line, but that is just an educated guess. I could be wrong. And I don't want to be. I want to know my Hardy line; the Masseys, Armstrongs, Carews...they're all fine and dandy - and VERY interesting - but Hardy is my last name and I want to be able to find them and know where I came from.
Thank you all for your help so far! I very much appreciate it!
