Sunday, April 17, 2011

Backward Glance - John Hoyle

In doing family research, I discovered that the name 'John Hoyle' is as common in England as 'John Smith' is in America! I thought because we had quite a bit of information about our immigrant ancestor, John Hoyle, that he would be easy to trace. What a surprise to still be looking for his parents, though I have identified that his father's name is John Hoyle. I have, over time, gleaned enough bits and pieces about John's life to share this brief 'backward glance.'

John was born about 1804 in Goodshaw Chapel, Lancashire, England. He married Mary Lord in Goodshaw, Lancashire, on February 3, 1851. Research shows that John and Mary had only one child: John Richard Hoyle, born in 1852. However, it appears that John had one, if not two, previous marriages. I am still working at determining if Hannah and Ann and Sarah are separate persons. It is likely that Hannah and Ann are the same person, with Sarah being a second wife. The birth years of the children, as well as marriage and death information, suggests three marriages (Hannah/Ann, Sarah, Mary). The children listed below were all born before 1850. Only John R. seems to have immigrated with his parents.
  • James (1824)
  • Alice (1828)
  • Lucy (1834)
  • Ashworth (1837)
  • Mary Ann (1840)
  • Benjamin (1842)
  • Sarah Jane (1845)
  • Hannah (1847)
  • Henry (1848)
 John lived with his family in Higher Booths, Rings Row; District 2, Rossendale, Whalley, Lancashire (whew!) when the census was taken in 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871. His occupations were stated as 'tailor' (1841), 'Master Tailor, employing 3 men' (1851 & 1861) and 'eating house keeper' (1871).

In about 1879, John and Mary immigrated to Canada. Their son, John Richard Hoyle, removed to Canada at the same time. On July 23, 1879, John died in Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario. John is my second great-grandfather. A special thanks to Ethel (Hoyle) Dahl for finding the death certificate so many years ago!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Joleen,

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    Keep up the great work!

    -Sarah Boehm

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