I’ve already told the stories of three family members who were amongst the many thousands emigrating from Scotland to Canada [see Reunion , Brick Wall and Migration] and now it is the turn of my great grandfather’s younger brother, William Clark, who left for Ontario in 1871.
William was born at Longhill, Lonmay in Aberdeenshire on 16 December 1842 according to the Old Parish Register, and his parents were crofter William Clark and his wife, Christian. He was the youngest of their three children – a sister, Margaret, had been born in 1835, and his brother, John (my great grandfather), in 1838.
William’s childhood must have been tough even by the standards of the time as by 1845, when he would still have been just a toddler, his mother is receiving poor relief from the Parochial Board because she has been deserted by her husband.
The family continued to be dependent on handouts from the Board for the next 10 years, and in the 1851 census, 9-year old William is living in New Leeds, Strichen with his mother, who is a pauper, and his sister, Margaret. His brother, John, is working as a cattleman on a nearby farm in Lonmay – he was just 12 years old, but it was not unusual for children from poor families in Scotland to be employed as farm servants at this time and I have found examples as young as 8 years old.
The 1861 census records William as a ships’ carpenter living in Longate, Peterhead with his mother, who has somehow managed to pull herself out of poverty to become a grocer, and his sister Margaret. On 9 July 1866 he married farmer’s daughter Maggie Begg in New Deer – their marriage registration is the first family document to describe his father as “deceased”.
Marriage record for William Clark and Maggie Begg, 1866
[Source: National Records of Scotland]
In 1871, he is a grocer living in Uphill Lane, Peterhead – it is not clear whether he is working with his mother or in competition with her. Two of his wife’s siblings are also recorded at his address: Rachel Begg is a visitor whilst James Begg, a tailor, is a boarder. Maggie is staying with her brother Hugh Sharp Begg and his family in New Deer.
Sometime later that year, William and Maggie emigrated to Canada, settling in the township of Edwardsburgh, Ontario.
In the 1881 Canadian census, William is described as a farmer and is living with Maggie, and in 1891 he has apparently returned to his trade as a carpenter. Maggie’s brother Hugh and his family are close neighbours having also emigrated in 1873. Edwardsburgh has by this time been renamed Cardinal and has grown from a population of just 300 to become a thriving settlement with many small businesses supporting its 1,000 inhabitants – situated on the St Lawrence River, it benefitted from abundant water power and excellent transport links, including the a canal and railway station.
William and Maggie remained living in Cardinal for the rest of their lives and appear to have prospered as in 1901 he is listed as a retired farmer living on his own means at the relatively young age of 59, and by 1911 he has become a magistrate, suggesting that he had some standing in the community.
William and Maggie did not have children of their own, but they came to play a key role in the lives of some of their siblings’ offspring:
- Helen Ann Begg: the daughter of Margaret’s brother, Hugh. She was born in New Deer in 1873 and is living with William and Maggie in the 1881 and 1891 census records.
- William and Harry Clark: the sons of William’s brother, John Clark. An 1897 Poor Relief application made by John reveals that they were sent to live with their uncle in Cardinal after the death of their mother in 1891 [see Siblings].
Maggie died on 10 July 1913, just a week after her brother Hugh, who had remained living close to the Clarks.
By the time of the 1921 census, William has remarried as he is listed alongside wife Annie, aged 72, who was born in Scotland – from the reverse of William’s headstone she can be identified as Annabella Christian who was born in Peterhead in 1849. Annabella, who had been widowed in 1893, arrived in Quebec as a tourist destined for Cardinal, Ontario on 20 July 1914 – who she was visiting is not recorded but, as she had been living near William in Peterhead at the time of the 1861 and 1871 censuses, it is likely that they knew one another.
Annabella died on 8 July 1922 and William on 24 October 1923, aged 80.
Sleuthing Notes 