I have been working on identifying a list of people with the surname Charters in Toronto at the time, and trying to figure out who is family and who is not.
William Charters is the earliest Charters family member we know about. He married Mary Blashford sometime on or around 1869--at least this is my best guess, since his first son, William Chesteain Charters, was born in 1870. I haven't found a marriage record yet, though I did go to the Ontario Archives trying to find it.
William Charters is in Canada in the 1871 census, living with his wife Mary in one of William Captain's houses. Before that I don't have a sure-fire census record for him. Pretty much all we know about him is that he was an Irish Baptist.
However there were some other Charters in town whom I suspect were relatives, with no evidence yet.
They are -
Charles Charters
Thomas Charters
John Charters
There was also an Alexander Charters who was a milkman; he had sons named John, Thomas, and Charles but lived in the St James Ward - I'm not yet sure if he was related.
Judging from the city directories, Charles and John and Thomas Charters all lived
together in 1866 at 11 Beverley St, so they were family. This would
have been St Patrick’s ward in 1866, bounded by Queen and University on the
south and West. Thomas Charters also lived at 193 Elizabeth Street and 229
Elizabeth Street. This part of Elizabeth Street runs north-south in the St John’s Ward, two or
three blocks north of Edward Street and west of Bay (Terauley).
The connection I've got between them and William Charters is tenuous for now. The city directories show William Blashford listed as a machinist at 22 Beverley in 1866 at the same time that Thomas Charters, a moulder, was working there. William Blashford's sister Mary married William Charters; so--IF Thomas was a relation--perhaps this is how the Blashfords and the Charters met. In the 1860s we don't know where William Charters was exactly. By 1868-9 he is living at 28 Edward Street, and so, already married presumably. In 1862-3 there is also a directory listing for a William Charters working as a gardener in Sydenham, Yorkville. This seems possible.
Thomas Charters was a similar age to William Blashford and William Charters. He would have been born in 1842; William Charters was born in 1848. Perhaps ... he was a younger brother or cousin of Thomas. ???
I know Thomas's age because I found him in the census in 1871. He is listed as a moulder, age 29, in the census in the St Johns Ward. This
makes his birth year around 1842. (The census has been mistranscribed; his last name is indexed as Charles.) The census says he was
born in Ontario and is English; his wife Elizabeth is Irish, however, born
around 1846. The religion is given as Wesleyan
Methodist. Their daughter Maria is 6, and their son, Thomas, is 4, born in Ontario. Their
ethnicity is given as English. A father, John
Charters, is living with them too; he is 75, so, he was born around 1795. His ethnicity is given as
English too. (Why would an "English" man [Thomas] be related to an "Irish" one [William]? Well, it's possible it was a mistake. Also people sometimes purposely misrepresented themselves. I'm still not sure either way.)
I've also found them in the 1861 census. Jno
(John) Charters, is a carpenter listed as being from England, Episcopalian,
age 65. He is living with Tho (Thomas) Charters, Moulder,
born Upper Canada, also Episcopalian. He has two sisters, Ann (age 17, born
c1844) and Maria (age 13, born c1847). The change from Wesleyan to Episcopalian makes sense in that the Methodists and Episcopalians merged in the 1880s - they were already fairly close. Since the family was Wesleyan I might be able to find more about them at St James Cathedral that holds the Wesleyan Methodist fonds.
Now my own family stories include the firm-held belief that William Charters was a Baptist. So why would he be related to Methodists? I don't know. But he seems to have known a lot of methodists... he married a Methodist. His wife Mary was listed as "English Church" in the 1861 census. Her mother Lucy White / Blashford was listed as a Methodist in 1891. Lucy and Richard Blashford were married at St James Cathedral (methodists were predecessors of the Anglican church in Canada). Their son William Blashford meanwhile was listed as a Baptist in 1881 and a Methodist in 1891. So perhaps there was some overlap. Just because Thomas Charters was a Methodist doesn't mean he was related to William-Baptist-Charters.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Monday, December 29, 2014
26 Edward Street
The houses are all gone but the street is still there. This is where the Charters, Blashfords and Captains lived in the late nineteenth century. William Charters lived there from 1868 to 1874. The Blashfords lived there in the 1860s. And the Captains lived there from the 1840s on.
Gen Charters
I've been researching the Charters for just as long as the Gorsts I would say. Charters are my dad's family; the Gorsts are my mum's. The Charters are a lot easier to research in that I'm still living in Toronto, and the Charters were in Toronto by the 1850s. There is also quite a lot of city documentation to allow us to reconstruct the property ownership and so on by the family. This year I finally got into doing tax roll research. This is partly because I had such success doing property record research in Leeds when I was there in July this year... I suppose, until you start researching a source, it's hard to imagine what can pop up. Well, the visit to the archives was completely worth it.
One enigmatic figure in my history is William Captain. He doesn't have my last name, but he was married or lived with one of my forebears. For example he owned the house in which Lucy Anne White grew up in and in which she later lived with her husband Richard Blashford.
Lucy White was my grandfather Harvey's great-grandmother. She lived a long time--1827 to 1905. William Captain, who died in 1876, would have been a similar age to Lucy's father--but he was not her father, since they had different last names. Still, he lived with Ann Captain, who was Lucy's mother. Another family researcher also tells me that in her family, tradition has it that William and Ann Captain were not married... not not not! And that this is why they never had any other children. She suspects that Lucy White and Ann Captain were escaped slaves from Virginia and that William Captain was Ann's brother or uncle.
My approach has been to go address by address to build up a profile of where people lived and why.
Edward Street does not appear to have existed yet in 1843-44. But by 1846 the city directory says that Edward Street is the fifth street north of Queen Street, and runs west from Yonge. In the city directory of 1846, William Captain is listed as a plasterer on Edward Street (no number given). He is also listed there in the 1850-51 directory.
The city tax rolls also show William Captain living in and owning a house at 26 Edward Street in 1846-47. This was in the city Ward of St John. That part of Edward Street runs between Bay Street and Yonge Street; it is also one block north of Dundas Street. The row of houses where the Captains and Blashfords lived have been demolished--the World's Biggest Bookstore was there for ages. It seems that William Captain owned not one house here but two. He was repeatedly listed as a plasterer in both the tax rolls and the city directory. In the 1850s the street was still under construction. Lots 10-26, next door to where William Captain lived, are "vacant ground." Later this area would become the Briggs lumber yard.
The Charters also lived here on Edward St. In 1868-9, Wm Charters, mariner, is listed as living at 28 Edward Street. William Captain lives next door. Both men are still there in 1870. However, Lucy Blashford is living at 65 Edward Street and is listed as a "tailoress." William Charters lived on Edward Street probably until 1873-4, at which point he and his wife Mary (nee Blashford) and children moved to 181 Seaton Street.
One enigmatic figure in my history is William Captain. He doesn't have my last name, but he was married or lived with one of my forebears. For example he owned the house in which Lucy Anne White grew up in and in which she later lived with her husband Richard Blashford.
Lucy White was my grandfather Harvey's great-grandmother. She lived a long time--1827 to 1905. William Captain, who died in 1876, would have been a similar age to Lucy's father--but he was not her father, since they had different last names. Still, he lived with Ann Captain, who was Lucy's mother. Another family researcher also tells me that in her family, tradition has it that William and Ann Captain were not married... not not not! And that this is why they never had any other children. She suspects that Lucy White and Ann Captain were escaped slaves from Virginia and that William Captain was Ann's brother or uncle.
My approach has been to go address by address to build up a profile of where people lived and why.
Edward Street does not appear to have existed yet in 1843-44. But by 1846 the city directory says that Edward Street is the fifth street north of Queen Street, and runs west from Yonge. In the city directory of 1846, William Captain is listed as a plasterer on Edward Street (no number given). He is also listed there in the 1850-51 directory.
The city tax rolls also show William Captain living in and owning a house at 26 Edward Street in 1846-47. This was in the city Ward of St John. That part of Edward Street runs between Bay Street and Yonge Street; it is also one block north of Dundas Street. The row of houses where the Captains and Blashfords lived have been demolished--the World's Biggest Bookstore was there for ages. It seems that William Captain owned not one house here but two. He was repeatedly listed as a plasterer in both the tax rolls and the city directory. In the 1850s the street was still under construction. Lots 10-26, next door to where William Captain lived, are "vacant ground." Later this area would become the Briggs lumber yard.
The Charters also lived here on Edward St. In 1868-9, Wm Charters, mariner, is listed as living at 28 Edward Street. William Captain lives next door. Both men are still there in 1870. However, Lucy Blashford is living at 65 Edward Street and is listed as a "tailoress." William Charters lived on Edward Street probably until 1873-4, at which point he and his wife Mary (nee Blashford) and children moved to 181 Seaton Street.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Winnie at Durand Gardens
This photo is of Winnie, the au pair's daughter. Probably 1954, if it's the same roll of pictures that has Reeve. At 40 Durand Gardens?
Jane and someone else
Jane and possibly June. The photo was taken by Julia in 1953. Probably the London zoo...
Reeve on a Green Retreat
Here's Reeve when he wasn't as aged as he is now. He's in the back yard at No. 48 Durand Gardens.
No. 48 is still standing; looks like this now.
Today as in the past, the street is considered a bit of a "green retreat." The street itself seems to have come into existence at the start of the 20th century.
Also see the colour key to the map...
No. 48 is still standing; looks like this now.
Today as in the past, the street is considered a bit of a "green retreat." The street itself seems to have come into existence at the start of the 20th century.
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| Source: Oval History |
Also see the colour key to the map...
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