Genealogies of
the First Families
at the
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
By
the time Cliff and I got up, it was a scorching hot morning yet Mum had
a good fire going in the wood stove to bake four loaves of bread. She
was always planning ahead for supper so potatoes and eggs were boiling
to make a salad. Furthermore she had a mixture simmering to use to make
the filling for squares. As soon as the bread came out, she had
pans of biscuits ready to pop into the oven.
Although she didn’t keep any notes as to what needed to be done, Mum
was certainly organized.
Sometimes when visiting a research institution, even when one is
organized, there are just too many things to remember to look at. Thus,
some files with information get overlooked.
The New Brunswick Genealogical Society has made it easier to get ready
for a visit to PANB by placing the Genealogies of the First Families at
the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick compiled by Robert F. Fellows
on their website at www.nbgs.ca.
This compilation contains information on 7,414 of the first families to
arrive in New Brunswick, which were donated by genealogists, who wished
to have their work preserved for the use of others.
“Many of the descriptive Family Entries contain the name of the head of
a household, his date and place of birth, the date of his death, the
names of his parents, and the name of the community, parish and county
where a family settled. Next is listed the date and place of marriage,
the name of his wife, the date and place of her birth, the date of her
death and the names of her parents. The names of each of the children,
their dates of birth and death, the names of their wives, their dates
of birth and death and names of their parents are listed.” Reference is
given as to sources and where the file can be found.
“The amount of data in each Family Entry depends upon the thoroughness
of the researcher who submitted the genealogy.”
“In addition, over the past four decades more than 3,000 private
individuals, professional people, businessmen, politicians, and various
organizations have donated collections to the Provincial Archives.
Scattered through these collections is a wealth of family history
information.”
For example, the entry on John Lloyd tells us he was born circa 1790 in
County Tipperary, Ireland, married Julia Copley, who was born in 1788,
died 25 Aug 1866. He came to New Brunswick in 1818 and settled in
Simonds Parish, Saint John County. Children mentioned were: 1) John
Farmer Lloyd born 1821, died 18 Sep 1879, married 5 Apr 1853 in Saint
John to, Mary Ann Collins. He settled in Saint John. 2) Thomas Lloyd
born 1823. 3) Marie Honora Lloyd born 1825. 4) Andrew Lloyd born 1829,
moved to British Columbia. 5) Margaret Lloyd married Henry Anthony of
Red Head in Simonds Parish. 6) Julia Anna Lloyd born 1834, died 3 Apr
1857. Three sources are given.
Heather Long’s Good Green Hope: the Irish Catholic settlers of Albert
County, New Brunswick, page 249 provided the details for Michael
Quigley who settled on the New Ireland Road in Alma Parish, Albert
County. He married 6 Dec 1852 at Saint John to Catherine Harding.
Four sources are given for James Martin who was born 18 Jul 1759 County
Down, Ireland, died 11 Feb 1842: came to New Brunswick in 1783 as a
Loyalist: married 15 Apr 1787 at Cornwallis, Kings County, Nova Scotia
to Prudence Wickwire born 16 Nov 1764 at Cornwallis, died 9 Aug
1851, daughter of Peter Wickwire and Rhoda Schofield. His family
consisted of eleven children.
The information online at http://nbgs.ca/firstfamilies.html
on “first families” could help you in your genealogical research
as well as present an opportunity to plan ahead for your visit to the
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.
