Until recently Peter McPherson has been an elusive ancestor. He was Annie McPherson’s father, and for forty years, believed to be a United Empire Loyalist, or at least a U.E.L. sympathizer.
In 1985, UEL files turned up at the Quesnel Library. There was no way to photocopy the information, and I hand-wrote all the pages that referred to someone named Peter McPherson, who had obtained land grants, from Library and Archives Canada.
The first official piece of information was the marriage of Peter McPherson to Susan Bamford on Feb. 10, 1846 in the Gore District of Ontario. It can be found by searching for Bamford – McPherson in a general search. The official title is The Marriage Registers of Upper Canada/Canada West – Gore District, 1842-1856.
Gore District was formed in 1816 and no longer exists. For an explanation, see Gore District, Upper Canada in this link.
Marriages in the Gore District, 1842 – 1850
The following marriage can be found on Ontario Archives microfilm MS 248, reel 1, vol 4. page 56.
Feb. 10, 1846 Peter MCPHERSON to Susan BAMFORD. Wit: John Gunn, Charles P. Murray. (i)
The ceremony was performed by Rev. George Poole, Wesleyan Methodist Church, Gore District.
According to census data, Susan Bamford was born in Ireland in 1818. No official documents have been found to verify this. Peter was born in Scotland according to the marriage license. They had two daughters, Annie b. 31 December, 1847 in Brantford and Jennie (or Jane), born in 1849 in Norwich Twp, Oxford County (Brock/London District)(1). In 1855 Annie McPherson was baptized at the age of eight at Grace Church, Brantford.
Susan remarried Robert Campbell in 1856 who lived on lot 18, South of the Durham Road in Bentinck Township. In the 1861 census Jane McPherson, age 12, is living with Robert and Susan Campbell, and John S. Campbell, age 5. Annie married James Milligan in 1864 when she was 16 or 17. Her story can be found elsewhere in this history. John S. became a teacher and drowned at the age of twenty-five leaving a young wife, Flora McArthur.
In the 1891 census, Jennie McPherson Patterson, widow with four children, lived in Thessalon where she was an innkeeper. Thomas Moore is on the same census as “bartender” and Susan Campbell is listed as “mother”. Susan Bamford McPherson Campbell died 6 July, 1894, at Thessalon, Ontario from insanity, duration 4 weeks. (At the same time Annie McPherson Milligan and her family were living on Manitoulin Island, which is close to Thessalon). By 1901, Jennie had married Thomas Moore and he is listed as “innkeeper”.
- Birthplace of Jane (Jennie) McPherson
Jane McPherson in the Web: Canada, Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register, 1828-1910
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wjmartin/wm-mc_80.htm
| 1 | 155 | District/countyBrock /London | Norwich Twp. | Jane | McPherson | Peter | Susan | BirthplaceNorwich | ResidenceNorwich | Birth1849-01-14 | Baptism1852-05-01 | Baptism placeLondon | Pollard, Rev. Wm. |
2. The Bamford Connection (also spelled Banford, Banfort and Bamfort)
Witness at Annie McPherson’s wedding March 1, 1864 was Annie Bamford.
Annie Bamford married John Leeson 1866.
She died September 25, 1917, aged 68 years.
Questions; Is Annie Bamford Annie McPherson’s cousin? ( Susan Bamford was Annie McPherson’s mother)
3. In the West Bentinck Presbyterian Cemetery, Grey County, where William Milligan and his family are buried, the Leesons and Bamfords are also buried.
Annie BAMFORD 1849-1917 (17 July 1849 – born in Ontario)
John Leeson died October 15, 1919 at age 80 years; also his wife Annie Bamford died September 25, 1917 at age 68 years; also their sons: William J. Leeson died December 27, 1871 at age 4 years 21 days; Joseph Leeson died May 7, 1908 at age 38 years 3 months; and their daughters: Jennie Leeson died January 9, 1905 at age 30 years 8 months; Annie Leeson died March 22, 1904 at age 24 years 7 months 14 days (1871 Census Division 3 Ref. #61) – See more at: http://geneofun.on.ca/names/photo/186702?PHPSESSID=b9896b576cf0d1b3eb0958f2c55a046d#sthash.zAEumKGD.dpuf
Source: http://geneofun.on.ca/cems/on/ONGRY10910?PHPSESSID=b9896b576cf0d1b3eb0958f2c55a046d
Both Annie Leeson (senior) and her daughter Jennie died of tuberculosis (see Ontario death certificates).
4. Possible UEL connection through Bamfords
| Name: | John Banford |
| Arrival Place: | Canada |
| Source Publication Code: | 6407 |
| Primary Immigrant: | Banford, John |
| Source Bibliography: | OLSON, VIRGINIA H. “Notes and Sources: Connecticut Loyalists Who Went to Canada.” In Connecticut Ancestry, vol. 17:1 (Sept. 1974), pp. 18-25; vol. 17:2 (Nov. 1974), pp. 51-59. |
| Page: | 21 |
Source Citation
Place: Canada; Page Number: 21
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.
Original data: Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2012.