The following petition is found amongst the Upper Canada Land Petitions, though it concerns a property in Lower Canada (on Calumet Island/L'Île-du-Grand-Calumet, in Pontiac County, Quebec). Honourable Sir, I humbly beg leave to state that in the year 1835 I settled as Squatter on the Calumet Island, on a lot of land which I considered … Continue reading Squatter’s rights: the Widow Cahill petitions the Crown (Part I)
Tag: Shirley
Catholic Marriage Dispensations
If you come across a marriage record which notes the granting of a dispensation of consanguinity, you should definitely sit up and take note: you are looking at evidence of a common ancestor (or a pair of common ancestors) shared by both bride and groom. However, as Dan MacDonald points out in his Marriage Dispensations in … Continue reading Catholic Marriage Dispensations
Brennan-Connelly Query
On 12 February 1870 (Ste. Anne, Calumet Island/l'Île du Grand Calumet, Pontiac Co., Québec) Thomas Brennan, son of Patrick Brennan and Matilda Shirley, married Susanna Connelly, daughter of John Connelly and Ellen Cahill. This couple then seems to disappear from the Canadian records. Did they emigrate to Leadville, Colorado? The 1880 US federal census for … Continue reading Brennan-Connelly Query