Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Loucks Family Homestead (Edward & Laney Loucks), Sauble Beach, Ontario Canada
Several children are buried at the back of the farm. Family folk lore says the house was haunted. The house burned in the early 1950's
The Long Journey Home
Nancy Loucks-McSloy recounts her great-grandmother's brave journey from an English orphanage to a new life in Upper Canada
PUBLISHED In The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine February/March 2009, Vol. 89, No. 1, p54-55
She was an orphan, a waif, a stray living in an orphanage in Chiswick, England. The orphanage was part of the Children’s Friend Society with a goal of teaching the children domestic and farm duties. The girls could work as house maids for the elite and the boys on farms. The reason behind this idea was to stop the vagrancy. By the early 1830's they found that this was not feasible. As a result some of the children were sent to Cape of Good Hope and some were sent to a new frontier, Upper Canada.
On April 6, 1835, nine-year-old Laney (my great grandmother) would embark on a journey half way around the world and settle in a new country working as a house maid, growing up, marrying and raising a family.
Laney was sitting in her classroom that fateful day when a man entered the school and said, “who’s for Canada?” Laney and a friend quickly put up their hands and shouted, “we are!” That being said they were whisked out of the classroom with just the clothes on their backs - nothing else and soon boarded the tall ship Toronto for the long trek to Montreal.
The trip was treacherous to say the least. The ship’s Master Collinson and a handful of passengers spent nearly fourty days on the ship filled with general cargo. In later years Laney would tell her family of the rough seas, the sickness, the deaths, the morbidity of people being thrown overboard and the horribly, filthy conditions on the Toronto. Finally on May 11, 1835, the ship docked in Montreal.
Here was a nine-year-old girl in a totally new country. At that time the population of Upper Canada was approximately 350,000. It was a new land with few people. Other than the natives, everyone was new to the country. Laney’s trip was not complete though. Very soon she was boarding a St Lawrence Steamboat Company vessel and traveled to her new home near Kingston, Ontario. Once in Kingston she was placed at the home of a Mr. John B. Merchant and became a housemaid for the family.
The work would have been hard for a nine-year-old, but she had no other option. Laney spent her years growing into adulthood in the Kingston area and on September 28, 1847, she married Edward Castle Loucks, a wagon maker from Napanee, Ontario and a United Empire Loyalist descendant. They farmed there until 1863, when they moved first to Durham, Ontario and then to their homestead in Amabel Township close to Sauble Beach, Ontario. The hard work did not stop when Laney left her job as a housemaid. She lived on a farm from the time she was married until her death in 1908. Laney and Edward raised eight children during very difficult times. As was often the case in the 1800's, they also lost several children at birth. The infants are buried in a small cemetery on the family homestead.
The distance from Kingston to Durham is nearly 300 miles. Once again Laney embarked on a journey that in 1863 would have taken days over rough roads, by horse and wagon, with her husband and family. The next trek from Durham to Sauble Beach, which is approximately fifty miles would have been another long journey once again over rough roads and trails.
As I think about this and about what this little girl must have endured, I cannot begin to imagine what she went through. She had no idea as to what her future would hold. She was on her own in absolutely horrendous conditions on a ship and then given away to child labour. When I walk my nine-year-old granddaughter to her school bus stop, I often think about the fact that she is indeed the same age as her Great, great, great-grandmother was when she ventured out into a new frontier by herself. My granddaughter is not allowed to leave the street. Laney left her homeland!
My perception of Laney is that of being a very brave, free-spirited child. Perhaps she was a bit bizarre or spontaneous, acting on a whim. There is a possibility that she felt that anything would be better than life in an orphanage. I feel that her faith played a huge roll in her enduring many hardships. As hard as she worked raising a large family, and farming in very poor conditions, Sunday was their day of rest. They would go by horse and buggy in the summer and horse and cutter in the winter to the little country church a few miles from the homestead. Whatever the case may be, she was one of many who paved the way for future generations. I speak of Laney with great pride, even though I never met her as she died years before I was born.
As you head east on Sauble Beach’s Main Street, you will come across Zion Amabel Cemetery. There you will see the tall white tombstone which is Laney’s final resting place. Where would we be today if it were not for Laney and many other British orphans who braved all odds and set out on an incredible journey?
PUBLISHED In The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine February/March 2009, Vol. 89, No. 1, p54-55
She was an orphan, a waif, a stray living in an orphanage in Chiswick, England. The orphanage was part of the Children’s Friend Society with a goal of teaching the children domestic and farm duties. The girls could work as house maids for the elite and the boys on farms. The reason behind this idea was to stop the vagrancy. By the early 1830's they found that this was not feasible. As a result some of the children were sent to Cape of Good Hope and some were sent to a new frontier, Upper Canada.
On April 6, 1835, nine-year-old Laney (my great grandmother) would embark on a journey half way around the world and settle in a new country working as a house maid, growing up, marrying and raising a family.
Laney was sitting in her classroom that fateful day when a man entered the school and said, “who’s for Canada?” Laney and a friend quickly put up their hands and shouted, “we are!” That being said they were whisked out of the classroom with just the clothes on their backs - nothing else and soon boarded the tall ship Toronto for the long trek to Montreal.
The trip was treacherous to say the least. The ship’s Master Collinson and a handful of passengers spent nearly fourty days on the ship filled with general cargo. In later years Laney would tell her family of the rough seas, the sickness, the deaths, the morbidity of people being thrown overboard and the horribly, filthy conditions on the Toronto. Finally on May 11, 1835, the ship docked in Montreal.
Here was a nine-year-old girl in a totally new country. At that time the population of Upper Canada was approximately 350,000. It was a new land with few people. Other than the natives, everyone was new to the country. Laney’s trip was not complete though. Very soon she was boarding a St Lawrence Steamboat Company vessel and traveled to her new home near Kingston, Ontario. Once in Kingston she was placed at the home of a Mr. John B. Merchant and became a housemaid for the family.
The work would have been hard for a nine-year-old, but she had no other option. Laney spent her years growing into adulthood in the Kingston area and on September 28, 1847, she married Edward Castle Loucks, a wagon maker from Napanee, Ontario and a United Empire Loyalist descendant. They farmed there until 1863, when they moved first to Durham, Ontario and then to their homestead in Amabel Township close to Sauble Beach, Ontario. The hard work did not stop when Laney left her job as a housemaid. She lived on a farm from the time she was married until her death in 1908. Laney and Edward raised eight children during very difficult times. As was often the case in the 1800's, they also lost several children at birth. The infants are buried in a small cemetery on the family homestead.
The distance from Kingston to Durham is nearly 300 miles. Once again Laney embarked on a journey that in 1863 would have taken days over rough roads, by horse and wagon, with her husband and family. The next trek from Durham to Sauble Beach, which is approximately fifty miles would have been another long journey once again over rough roads and trails.
As I think about this and about what this little girl must have endured, I cannot begin to imagine what she went through. She had no idea as to what her future would hold. She was on her own in absolutely horrendous conditions on a ship and then given away to child labour. When I walk my nine-year-old granddaughter to her school bus stop, I often think about the fact that she is indeed the same age as her Great, great, great-grandmother was when she ventured out into a new frontier by herself. My granddaughter is not allowed to leave the street. Laney left her homeland!
My perception of Laney is that of being a very brave, free-spirited child. Perhaps she was a bit bizarre or spontaneous, acting on a whim. There is a possibility that she felt that anything would be better than life in an orphanage. I feel that her faith played a huge roll in her enduring many hardships. As hard as she worked raising a large family, and farming in very poor conditions, Sunday was their day of rest. They would go by horse and buggy in the summer and horse and cutter in the winter to the little country church a few miles from the homestead. Whatever the case may be, she was one of many who paved the way for future generations. I speak of Laney with great pride, even though I never met her as she died years before I was born.
As you head east on Sauble Beach’s Main Street, you will come across Zion Amabel Cemetery. There you will see the tall white tombstone which is Laney’s final resting place. Where would we be today if it were not for Laney and many other British orphans who braved all odds and set out on an incredible journey?
About the Graphic
Word to the wise: If you create a group on Facebook, Facebook will not take it seriously (that is, make said group searchable) unless it has a picture. So when I created the reunion group on Facebook I used, at my sister's suggestion, a picture of the du Laux coat-of-arms that hangs in my parents' house. (My father inherited it from his father, who, in turn, received it as a gift in June of 1948 -- according to the inscription on the back -- from his uncle, Myles Loucks and wife Esther.)
This was all well and good except that using it involved presupposing that those viewing it had seen it before and knew what it meant. Moreover, it seemed appropriate to have something that stressed the inclusiveness of the upcoming reunion and all the variation in surnames.
Enter my friend Kate, who is not only totally awesome, but is totally awesome AND studying graphic design. I gave her aforementioned picture and some additional information, and the end result is what you see at top right. (If you scroll down to the bottom of the right column, there's a poll where you can express your views on it.)
To see the full coat-of-arms as printed in the McBrier (1940) book, you can check it out here.
This was all well and good except that using it involved presupposing that those viewing it had seen it before and knew what it meant. Moreover, it seemed appropriate to have something that stressed the inclusiveness of the upcoming reunion and all the variation in surnames.
Enter my friend Kate, who is not only totally awesome, but is totally awesome AND studying graphic design. I gave her aforementioned picture and some additional information, and the end result is what you see at top right. (If you scroll down to the bottom of the right column, there's a poll where you can express your views on it.)
To see the full coat-of-arms as printed in the McBrier (1940) book, you can check it out here.
Greetings and salutations...
Hello, my name is Alison and I am NOT a genealogist.
I want to stress this from the outset for two reasons:
1.) If you’re not a genealogist either but but you're looking for someone to help you get started or to tell you who your ancestors are... I AM NOT THAT PERSON. (HERE is a good place to start.)
2.) If you ARE a genealogist, said introduction is the caveat to keep in mind should I ever make over-generalized statements that contradict generally accepted knowledge or your own research. By all means set me straight, but please be nice about it – when it comes to genealogy, I only pretend to know what I’m talking about.
So what’s with this blog? Just because I don’t consider myself a genealogist doesn’t mean I’m not interested in family histories; when I have a more settled existence, grayer hair, and a greater personal understanding and experience of history, I expect I'll be haunting historical societies and poring over census records with the best of them.
Also, you should know I'm a social science nerd. Despite my appreciation of history, I'll always be more fascinated by living people/populations, their relationships, their communities, their rituals, their personal stories, etc. So expect my entries (when I get around to writing them) to be tinged with ethnography.
And lastly… How ridiculously gleeful and proud am I that the 300th Anniversary Celebration is being held in my hometown of York, PA? A LOT. This means that even if I WASN’T ridiculously gleeful at the prospect, I’d still be obligated to attend. And nothing against the Baby Boomers, (they're the reason for the burgeoning interest in genealogy after all, and for the 300th Anniversary Celebration in particular - thanks Ginger!) but I don’t want to be the ONLY person under 30 in attendance! Just kidding! (Sort of.)
I want to stress this from the outset for two reasons:
1.) If you’re not a genealogist either but but you're looking for someone to help you get started or to tell you who your ancestors are... I AM NOT THAT PERSON. (HERE is a good place to start.)
2.) If you ARE a genealogist, said introduction is the caveat to keep in mind should I ever make over-generalized statements that contradict generally accepted knowledge or your own research. By all means set me straight, but please be nice about it – when it comes to genealogy, I only pretend to know what I’m talking about.
So what’s with this blog? Just because I don’t consider myself a genealogist doesn’t mean I’m not interested in family histories; when I have a more settled existence, grayer hair, and a greater personal understanding and experience of history, I expect I'll be haunting historical societies and poring over census records with the best of them.
Also, you should know I'm a social science nerd. Despite my appreciation of history, I'll always be more fascinated by living people/populations, their relationships, their communities, their rituals, their personal stories, etc. So expect my entries (when I get around to writing them) to be tinged with ethnography.
And lastly… How ridiculously gleeful and proud am I that the 300th Anniversary Celebration is being held in my hometown of York, PA? A LOT. This means that even if I WASN’T ridiculously gleeful at the prospect, I’d still be obligated to attend. And nothing against the Baby Boomers, (they're the reason for the burgeoning interest in genealogy after all, and for the 300th Anniversary Celebration in particular - thanks Ginger!) but I don’t want to be the ONLY person under 30 in attendance! Just kidding! (Sort of.)
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