John BURNS / BYRNES and Amelia ASTLEFORD
from County Wicklow in 1827
ML# 142 on the McCabe List of 1829
(Interesting research by Anne Burgess: multi-generational family connections in Ireland and Canada)
November 1, 2007:
Hi Al,
I found this obit on the Wicklow RootsWeb board:
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
The Ottawa Daily Citizen; Wednesday, April 30, 1879. (Page 2)
DIED
28th April, Amelia Astleford, beloved wife of John Burns, sr., aged 73 years.
The deceased was a resident of this city since 1827, native of the County of
Wicklow, Ireland.
The funeral will take place from her late residence, 244 Slater Street, today
(Wednesday), at two o'clock, to the farm of Mr. William Hopkins, Gloucester,
the place of interment. Friends and acquaintances are respectfully requested to
attend without further intimation.
William Hopkins was maybe the son of Nicholas Hopkins and Eliz. Byrne, whom we
found in Bytown (attached CD listing). Astleford was a family name mentioned
in those letters we were given by Barb. Dowling.
... Anne Burgess
_________________________________
Hi Anne:
Here is the location in 1879 in Gloucester where the funeral took place for John Byrnes.
... Al
November 4, 2007:
Hi Al,
I've had no success finding an Amelia Astleford Byrne/Burns in the 1851 census,
although her obit said she'd lived in Ottawa from 1827. No records on that family
at all really, but I've found a few interesting bits.
Re Amelia's burial at the Wm. Hopkins farm, I wondered if the Hopkins were related.
Attached is the FW notice for Nicholas Hopkins, whose family was at Bytown and
Gloucester, according to our chart on B or B.
I did note the attached page of 1851 Bytown (hard to read) with an Abraham Astleford
(is that his baptism below?) and a Wm. Hopkins and a Susan? Hopkins. (Scottish is
maybe an error; maybe "Scottish church"?).
I was reading through a report of John O's, and I wondered if this Wm. Hopkins
in Bytown might have had an Astleford wife; Susan/Susannah is a name the Astlefords
seemed to like. John reports that the Astlefords and Dowlings were just beginning
to get leases in Aghold / Aghowle c1782, and they became head tenants in the FW system.
Baptism from the Aghold Church of Ireland Vestry Book:
Abraham of Thomas and Eleanor Astleford 30th Sept. 1821 [the Bytown man above?]
Same parish:
Mathew Byrne is named a Church Warden 6th April 1790 and also him or another Mathew
Byrne named as same 20th April 1813.
You noted that John Byrne, h/o Amelia Astleford might have been the ML# 142 John Byrnes,
who had a father, Matthew, in Knockatomcoyle. It would certainly be lovely to find
the future of the ML Byrne! Here's an Ottawa John Byrne whose age in 1871 might fit:
Ontario, Canada Census Index, 1871
about John Burns
Name: John Burns
Age: 72
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1799
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Ireland
Residence District: Ottawa
Residence Location: Wellington Ward
Ethnic Origin: Irish
Religion: Wesleyan Methodist
Occupation: Messenger
Division: 2
Microfilm Roll: C-10013
Page: 11
John Burns is listed as a messenger working in the Customs House in Ottawa in
Lovell's 1871 directory for the Province of Ontario.
Source: Library and Archives, Canada
... Anne
November 8, 2007:
Hi Al,
I found a record of only one child for Amelia Astleford and John Byrne:
Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1857-1924
about Esther Burns
Name: Esther Burns
Birth Place: Canada
Residence: Ottawa
Age: 22
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1837
Father Name: John Burns
Mother Name: Amelia Burns
Spouse Name: John Porter
Spouse's Age: 30
Spouse Estimated Birth Year: abt 1829
Spouse Birth Place: Ireland
Spouse Residence: Ottawa
Spouse Father Name: Oliver Porter
Spouse Mother Name: Elizabeth Porter
Marriage Date: 3 Sep 1859
Marriage Place: Ottawa
Marriage County: Carleton
Family History Library Microfilm: 1030062
Source: Indexed by: Genealogical Research Library
And the family in 1881:
Household:
Marr Gender Origin Age Birthplace Occ Religion
John PORTER M M Irish 57 Ireland Civil Engineer C. Presbyterian
Esther PORTER M F Irish 40 Ontario C. Presbyterian
Samuel PORTER M Irish 20 Ontario C. Presbyterian
Isabella PORTER F Irish 16 Ontario C. Presbyterian
William PORTER M Irish 14 Ontario C. Presbyterian
Elizabeth PORTER F Irish 12 Ontario C. Presbyterian
Malilda PORTER F Irish 11 Ontario C. Presbyterian
John PORTER M Irish 9 Ontario C. Presbyterian
Lidia PORTER F Irish 7 Ontario C. Presbyterian
Louisa PORTER F Irish 5 Ontario C. Presbyterian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source Information:
Census Place Nepean, Carleton, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375867
NA Film Number C-13231
District 108
Sub-district A
Division 1
Page Number 154
Household Number 709
... Anne
November 9, 2007:
Thanks to Sue for the following:
Hi Al;
You probably already have this but if not, here it is.
Ontario deaths, registered, found on Ancestry:
Amelia Benns (bad transcription, it really is Burns)
died 28 Apr 1879. Now this is quite telling - it says "wife of the LATE John Burns".
The informant was S. Burns.
John Burno (bad transcription), died 6 July 1879 at age 82, born in Wicklow Ireland.
Informant was S. Burns (Samuel ?).
Both of the above were Methodist, both from Wicklow, both registered deaths in
Bruce county, both had S. Burns as informant AND both were registered (information
taken and recorded) 20 August, 1879.
Because this was only recorded and registered in August, after both parties had
died, it makes sense that on Amelia's death registration, it would say 'late' John Burns,
yet in her obituary it says, 'wife' of John Burns (indicating he was alive at the time
of her death). Both had already died by August: Amelia, followed by husband John.
Also, there is a tree on-line that says John Burns married Amelia Astleford, a
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Astleford, in Aghold Parish, Wicklow, in 1826.
This John was born in March of 1763 and died in 1822 according to the on-line tree.
Sue
_________________________
Thanks so much for this, Sue!! I clearly didn't get into sufficiently imaginative
spelling in my search of ancestry. I'll now have to find S. Burns.
From Ancestry's World Tree just now, I found another daughter for John and Amelia:
Hannah, plus a fair bit of background on Amelia's siblings.
... Anne
November 10, 2007:
See Anne's collection of emigrants from Ballynultagh and Ballyraheen to Eastern Ontario.
November 13, 2007:
hi al,sue and anne,
i am the one with the tree on rootsweb with amelia
astleford and her parents and siblings.
i have been in correspondence with barbara dowling and
anne she has fowarded my message to you and your
messages to me!
i am related to the astleford family through my 3rd
grt grandmother mary astleford born in 1808.
regards
john tyner
November 17, 2007:
Hi Al,
These are taken from the Aghold Church of Ireland records; unfortunately no witnesses
or sponsors were named there:
JOHN BYRNE of BALLYNULTAGH married 22nd APRIL 1826 to AMELIA ASELFORD of LOWER AGHOLD
by LICENCE. They also had a son SAMUEL bapt. 18th MARCH 1827.
We know that Amelia was the d/o Samuel Astleford and Elizabeth. Here's the baptism of
a likely brother for her:
WILLIAM ASSELFORD, 5th AUGUST 1787, the son of SAMUEL and ELIZABETH ASSELFORD.
And Elizabeth Byrne, w/o Nicholas Hopkins (Fitzwilliam emigre, 1851 Gloucester) seems
to have been a sister/relative of John Byrne (m. Amelia Astleford) because Amelia
was buried out on the William Hopkins farm in Gloucester. Here is the Nicholas Hopkins
marriage, also from the Aghold Church of Ireland records.
NICHOLAS HOPKINS of STRATNAKELLY, married 28th NOV. 1829, to ELIZABETH BYRNE of
KNOCKATOMCOYLE. by LICENCE.
I'll see if I can find William Astleford close to Ottawa.
Anne
November 18, 2007:
Hi Al,
I was sure I'd seen the name Samuel Burns near John Burns on some document, and I
found it in the directory below:
Cherrier & Kirwin’s Ottawa Directory for 1872-73
That Samuel would probably be John's son, don't you think, born in Aghold parish
the year after they were married? And William Burns, the stone carver, is there too.
What a lot of local history we've found all coming from that obit for Amelia!
(William Burns, son of John, carved the gargoyles for our National Parliament Buildings,
I think ... Al)
It's odd, but I can't find John and Amelia anywhere in 1851.
... Anne
November 23, 2007:
See also Lancelot Jackson, ML# 662 from Aghold, County Wicklow.
November 26, 2007:
Update, Al: I checked the rentals records for Ballynultagh, and in 1839 William McGrath
and wife Mary Byrne were renting from Matthew Byrne, who we now know was the father
of the ML# 142 John Byrne / Burns.
... Anne
June 7, 2008:
Hi Al,
Judging by his children's names, I believe Lewis (below) was the son of the ML John Byrne
/ Burns and Amelia Astleford.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ID: I891
Name: Lewis BURNS
Surname: Burns
Given Name: Lewis
Sex: M
Birth: ABT 1804 in Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Death: 2 Jun 1868 in Cumberland, Ontario, Canada
Burial: Dale's Cemetery, Cumberland, Ontario, Canada
_UID: 2F504BAA787B7B4E97DED403399E619347B5
Change Date: 16 Nov 2001 at 13:09:21
Marriage 1 Mary Ann WALLIS b: 25 Nov 1821 in Cumberland, Ontario, Canada
Children
John BURNS b: ABT 1842
Sarah BURNS b: 11 Jul 1844 in Ontario, Canada
Amelia BURNS b: ABT 1844
Lewis BURNS b: 1 Apr 1852 in Ontario
William BURNS b: ABT 1857
Samuel BURNS b: ABT 1857
... Anne
E-mail Anne Burgess, Sue, John Tyner and Al Lewis
Back to Bytown or Bust - History and Genealogy in the Ottawa, Canada area