Hi Don:
Like you, I wondered about the name George Williams as an Irish Catholic. My
first assumption was that his ancestors had come from Scotland to Ireland in
previous generations. As you say, George was an uncommon first name among
Irish Catholics.
One of the few cases I've come across (when I was researching my Irish
Byrnes / Burns ancestors) was a George Burns who also came with the Peter
Robinson settlers but in 1825, so the name George was used if only
infrequently.
Another possibility is that somewhere along the line, one part of the
Williams family was Catholic and some were Protestant.
I know that in the records of Notre Dame, the earliest records of the
Williams surname are Catholic. Later records show some conversions of
Protestant Williamses to Catholicism at Notre Dame Cathedral, downtown.
I know that among quite a few families who came to the Nepean area of Ottawa
beginning in the 1820's, there were family traditions of mixed marriages in
Canada and also going back to Ireland.
I have started a new page for George Williams at
www.bytown.net/williamsgeorge.htm but have not run the search engine on it
yet. I'll edit the page with Don's new information before running the search
engine tomorrow.
Carol Bennett's book on the Peter Robinson settlers mentions a couple of
other Catholic Williamses who settled in the Peterborough area and a
Jeremiah Williams from Ballygiblin, County Cork who settled in Ramsay
Township. I'd say that there is a very good chance that Jeremiah and George
were related -- same surname, same area in Cork. There are many connections
between the 1823 Ottawa area and 1825 Peterborough area settlers and I
suspect, the St. Columban settlers starting in 1822. These were three large,
homogeneous Irish Catholic settlements and no doubt there were many
connections among all three communities, possibly based on common
connections in the St. Patrick's neighbourhood in Montreal.
Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for the Williamses and see if I can add
anything.
Thanks,
... Al
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Williams" <d.a.williams@sympatico.ca>
To: "Al Lewis" <ag.lewis@sympatico.ca>; "Fergus V. Keyes"
<fergus@panamsec.com>; <claude.bourguignon@videotron.ca>; "Michael Daley"
<mbdaley@magma.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: Williams family Ancestry (St. Columban)
> Good Morning,
> I am looking for any information on the George Williams, Al has referred
to
> below. I am trying to eliminate any possibility on my part as to how the
St.
> Columban, George Williams arrived in Canada.
> What I can and cannot confirm:
> - There was a Thomas Williams and family in the Ottawa area in 1820 from
> England.
> - George was not a common Irish name for a Williams born in the Cork area
of
> Ireland between 1790 and 1840. If the George in the Ottawa area was from
> Cork Ireland, it is likely they are related. Names carried through
> generations and families.
> - George Williams was a much more common English name in the early 1800s
and
> I have found several who immigrated to North America, but only one in the
> correct age group to Canada, and he settled in the Maritimes.
> - There was no George Williams included in the group letters that went
back
> to England from the Ottawa area as part of the update and thanks of the
> members of the Peter Robinson expedition, but this is in no way conclusive
> evidence.
> - I have not been able to trace how George's wife and Irish born children
> arrived in Canada. The presumption was he came first and they followed.
> - The settlement of St. Columban was a migration from Montreal and I could
> find no records of a George Williams in Montreal before 1823. Montreal at
> that time was a town of 22,000 people.
> - I have no knowledge of relatives, and the family bibles make no
reference
> to relatives in the Ottawa area.
> - There may not have been a strong tie between the George Williams of the
> Peter Robinson expedition and the majority of the other settlers, as
George
> was a towns person (Glenmire) and the majority of settlers were farmers. I
> know for a fact that George changed ship before leaving harbour in
Ireland.
> Easy to do as someone traveling alone, almost all traveled with family.
> - It would also have been easier for him to have remained in Montreal
where
> his skills as a carriage maker would have been of more value. If the
George
> Williams of the Peter Robinson expedition and my ancestor are one and the
> same.
>
>
> Can anyone shed more light on this topic?
>
>
> F.Y.I.
> St. Jacques de l'Achigan
> Located:
> On the left slope of the basin of the St. Lawrence, in the
south-west
> of Joliette.
> Diocese: of Joliette
> MRC: Regional municipality of county of Montcalm
> Tourist area: of Lanaudi?re. Chart 10.
> Catholic parish: Saint-Jacques-of-lAchigan
>
>
>
>
