Our grandmother on our father’s side had an older brother Harry Nixon who was born in 1882. His mother died when he was a young boy but his father remarried the next year. Harry became a house builder and resided in Brighton England.
Harry married Alice Mary Sumner in 1909. Together they had five children. Their eldest son John Nixon joined the RCAF during WW2 and died in Malaysia in 1945.
Harry sailed to Canada alone in 1922 though he was married with children. His sister and half sister were living in Canada at the time. The trip was probably to visit his sisters. Our grandmother often spoke of him fondly. Our father was known as Harry Young for most of his life. Our aunts thought that our grandmother renamed our father after Harry Nixon to eliminate the name of her first husband.
There are records showing that Harry was a successful house builder in Brighton. Harry died in 1966. His grave is in Preston Anglican Parrish in Brighton England.
Anne Jagger was baptized January 20th 1822 at St. Helen’s Church in Yorkshire, England. Her parents were John Jagger, a coal miner and Elizabeth Totty. Anne was the eldest child in the family and her mother died when she was 12. Her father remarried and her step mother was Grace Sefton.
Anne was married in 1847 ar Sanda Magna St Helen’s to James Heath. St Helen’s church was mentioned in the 1086 Domesday book. It was named for the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine’s mother. Anne’s signature was an X mark which meant she was illiterate. Her husband was a servant as was his father. Her only child Albert Heath was born in 1848.
In the 1851 England census Anne was listed as a cook living in the house of her employer. Albert was living with his grandparents. Her husband had likely died by then. Anne landed in New York in 1851 with her son. By 1861 she was listed in the Canadian census living in Galt Ontario with her Albert. She appeared in the 1871 census as a housekeeper. At age 54 she married Daniel Allen age 75 in Waterloo. It’s hard to confirm her death but the only Ann Allen born 1822 died in York in 1909 in York due to senility.
Anne seems an incredibly resilient person who despite few financial resources raised her son and provided them both new opportunities in Canada.
Lorenzo Lafayette Cairns, born in 1884, was the third son of James Cairns and Christina Watson. Like my grandfather, he went to medical school and became a doctor in 1908. He studied in Edinburgh for a year, returned to Canada, and worked as a physician for the Canadian National Railroad in British Columbia. He served overseas as a Captain during the First World War.
Upon his return, he moved to Alberta where he married Rose Heric in 1924 at Bow Island Alberta. He is listed in the 1926 census along with his wife and an infant daughter Mary Glenn.
He died suddenly of a heart attack in 1938. His mother was also living in Calgary at the time. He is buried in Burnsland cemetery with a military headstone. This would mean that he also was injured in the War.
His daughter became a nurse, graduating in 1947. So like my mother, she was an only child whose father was a physician dying at a relatively young age and then went into nursing.
Another interesting aspect of Lorenzo’s life was that he was listed as the father of a daughter in Scotland. However, ship passenger lists show that he returned to Canada more than 9 months before the birth of the child and there is no record of the marriage that is cited on the birth register. It will remain one of life’s little mysteries.
Thomas Train was born in 1787 in Kintyre. He married Janet Campbell in Campbeltown on April 8th, 1816. Janet was the stepdaughter of Thomas Cairns. They had 13 children over a span of 20 years. Thomas obtained his certificate to be qualified as an assistant lightkeeper in 1823 and the family moved to the lighthouse at the Mull of Kintyre, a very remote location without a road and inaccessible by sea. There is now a one-track road to the lighthouse with many hairpin turns. The lighthouse was perched on the land 240 feet above the sea. They lived on the lighthouse grounds until his death in 1841. He was buried in Southend Argyll along with his children who had predeceased him. His youngest child was only 4 at the time. We learn from letters that Thomas Train had contemplated moving to York in 1833. His father-in-law Thomas Cairns. His stepfather states that he didn’t want to encourage or discourage him from making the move but cautioned him that it took about 2 and a half years to establish a farm with crops so he would need sufficient funds to cover that time. He also noted that the Canada Company had made a fortune selling the lands they got from the government and that land prices were rising quickly. He lets Thomas Train know that it isn’t a very religious environment and that he had to consider that he was established in Scotland already. We learn from other letters that perhaps Thomas was unhappy with the head lighthouse keeper, Mr. Harvey who had taken part of his garden space. The assistant keeper’s cottage fell into disrepair over the years but has been recently restored. It also appears that Thomas Train’s son, also named Thomas, was good friends with William Cairns, the son of his father-in-law, both being born in 1818.
Janet Campbell was born in Tyndrum, Clifton Perthshire, Scotland, around 1795 to Robert Campbell and Anne McIntyre. Her father died when she was 2 years old. Her mother subsequently remarried Thomas Cairns, and the family lived in Argyll. She had six half-siblings. John Cairns was the eldest of them and was our great great grandfather. Janet was the only member of the family that stayed in Scotland. We have correspondence with her and her stepfather Thomas and half-brother, William. Janet married Thomas Train on April 8, 1816, in Campbeltown Argyll. Thomas was the lightkeeper at the Mull of Kintyre. They had 12 children. Her husband died in 1841 at the age of 54. The family moved to Glasgow, where her son, Thomas, became a merchant.
We only learned these facts thanks to letters saved by descendants of the Train family. The correspondence includes letters to her stepfather Thomas and her half-brother, William Cairns. Janet had to work in the shops while living in Glasgow. The family had contemplated moving to Canada, but Thomas Cairns wrote that while they had their problems in Scotland, Canada also posed challenges. Janet Cameron’s life took quite a turn for the better later in life. Her son Thomas became a whiskey merchant and founder of Train and McIntyre Whiskey. This company still exists today. Janet died in Glasgow in 1887, and the family headstone was located in Kintyre.
Remains of croft, abandoned during the Scottish Highland Clearances, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK. (Photo by: Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Scottish Migration to Canada
The marked increase in Scottish immigration to Ontario in the 1800s occurred due to families looking for economic opportunity and others seeking an escape from poverty
Between 1770 and 1815, around 15,000 Highland Scots moved to Canada. They settled mainly on Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Upper Canada. Most came from the western Highlands and Islands and were predominantly Gaelic speaking and agrarian. Many were Roman Catholic. They were forced to leave Scotland by the Highland Clearances.
Around 170,000 Scots crossed the Atlantic to Canada between 1815 and 1870. The immigrants represented a cross-section of the Scottish population. Most were farmers and artisans, but large numbers of business people and professionals were also included. Most of these newcomers were Presbyterian and spoke Scots/ English. They formed many churches and schools during this period. Around 80,000 Scots entered Canada between 1871 and 1901, 240,000 in the first years of the 20th Century, 200,000 between 1919 and 1930, and 147,000 between 1946 and 1960. Of course, many Canadians have also made their way to, and settled in Scotland over the years.
Christina Watsons Family
Christina’s mother, Jane Mitchell, was born in Polmont, Stirlingshire, Scotland, in 1824. Her father, James Mitchell and mother, Grizell Grace Calder, married and had eight living children when they emigrated from Polmont, Scotland, in 1837.
An Alexander Mitchell owned land on the West Side of Concession 9 Lot 18 of King Township. Alexander took possession of this lot in 1856, a year after James Mitchell died. The Cairns farm was on the east side of Lot 13 Concession 10, just south down the road. The Watson farm was just to the west on the east side of Lot 14 Concession 11. Jane Mitchell married John Watson in 1846 when he was 24. Their daughter Christina Watson was born in 1859 and married James Cairns in 1879 at the age of twenty. James was the son of John Cairns and the grandson of Thomas Cairns who was a shepherd in Kintyre and left for Canada in 1831 with his family.
The Cairns family took a new direction in the generation of the Cairns and Watson children. Instead of farming like their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, the four eldest children all went to university. John William became a pharmacist in BC. Kelso Carmichael our grandfather was a physician in Saskatchewan as was his younger brother Lorenzo Lafayette in Alberta. Jean Cairns became the fifth woman lawyer in Canada practicing in Ontario. Sadly three younger siblings died in childhood. Image to the right in order- Kelso, Jean, John William, Lorenzo Lafayette.
Kelso Carmichael Cairns was born in 1882 near King City, Ontario. During his childhood, he also lived in Port Elgin and Huntsville. According to our mother, her father was admitted to medical school but first played bridge on the ships on the great lakes to earn money for medical school. He graduated in 1905 and was known as a good athlete and a lacrosse champion. In 1908 he married Edith May Heath, a woman he met in Huntsville. They moved to Lumsden, Saskatchewan, where his aunt Flora Wilkie lived and then to Swift Current. Their first child Donald was born in 1910 but died in 1912 as a toddler. His second child Jean Cairns was born in 1917.
He enlisted in the army in 1916 during the First World War and was attached to the 209th Overseas Battalion as the head physician with the rank of captain. While overseas, he contracted influenza and returned to Canada for convalescence. For 2 years, he remained in Quebec for medical treatment until he was discharged from the army. The family returned to Swift Current. Given the serious nature of his illness, it is a strong possibility that Kelso had an early case of the Spanish flu before it was declared a pandemic. He died of pneumonia in 1934 at age 51. His widow was awarded the Memorial (Silver) Cross as he died of injuries related to his time at war.He was known as a prominent physician and a constant student of his profession, as well as an active member in organizations for the benefit of the community. Our mother was just 17 when he died, and she cherished his memory for her whole life.
Albert Heath was born in Crigglestone, Yorkshire, in 1848. The 1851 census finds him living with his grandparents. In 1856 at the age of 8, he emigrated with his mother, Anne Heath, to the United States, landing on Ellis Island.
He started his family in Pennsylvania with his wife, Caroline Stevenson. They moved to Muskoka and eventually lived in Huntsville, where according to my mother, he became a lumber baron. They had 6 children, the second youngest being my grandmother Edith May Heath. The family was quite well off, and Edith’s parents were reluctant to give permission for her to marry my grandfather Kelso Carmichael Cairns.
According to family lore, he lost everything in a fire and then migrated out west. He was listed in a 1900 Washington census as a shingle and mill proprietor. He appears to be living in Vancouver with his adult son Harry in 1911. Eventually, he moved again to Tacoma Washington. His death certificate in 1912 lists suicide as the cause of death.
Albert and Carrie Heath moved to the Huntsville area in 1876 to start a lumber mill. Albert was born in Yorkshire England in 1948 and immigrated to Galt Ontario with his widowed mother Ann in 1856. He married Carrie Stevenson in 1874 in Pittsburg, Penn. Edith May Heath was born in Sparrow Lake (Gravenhurst), Ontario on February 28th, 1883, the fifth of six children. Albert partnered with Andrew Tait of Orillia Ontario, becoming a wealthy lumber baron. The Heaths moved to xxxx Centre Street in 18–
The 1901 census lists Edith as being 18 and working as a bookkeeper. In 1908 she was living in Toronto and married Kelso Cairns and then moved to Lumsden, Saskatchewan.
We have created this site to share random stories that come up in exploring our family history. Stories glimpse our family beyond the formal relationships we unearth in our search for ancestors. We organize these stories primarily through family names and geography, but there are no restrictions! We hope they provide some insights and entertainment.
My great great grandmother Mary Ann Mumford (Viccars) became a widow at the age of 37 in 1850, the year my great-grandmother was born. She had 6 children, according to the 1851 census ranging in age from 12 to one. In 1851 she was listed as both a farmer of 19 acres and a butcher, but by 1871 she was exclusively a butcher. She lived all of her life in Great Horwood Buckinghamshire. She died in 1890, just a few years before her youngest daughter Hannah emigrated to Canada with her husband, George Young and adult children, including my grandfather Richard Augustus Young.
Her estate was 443 pounds. I think Mary Ann lived an unusual life for her time.
George Young was born in Great Horwood, Buckinghamshire, in 1849. George was the third son of Edwin Young and Elizabeth Ridgway.
Great Horwood is listed in the 1076 Domesday Book. It remains a rural part of England, and the village has just over 1,000 people. Roman artifacts have been found on the land. The name is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means muddy wood. The area was subject to the Norman conquest.
George married Hannah Mumford in Winslow, Buckinghamshire in 1870. My grandfather Richard Augustus was the second of four children. According to the 1891 census, George was a farmer and had one employee. He decided to move with his wife, daughter Annie (18), and three sons, George M.(21), Richard Augustus(19), and Percy (9), 1893 to Canada.
George first lived in New Westminster, British Columbia. He tried homesteading in Macleod, Alberta and was enumerated for the 1911 census. He returned to British Columbia after two years.
George died in 1926 while living in New Westminster. His wife, Hannah, died in 1920.
Top: Richard Augustus before he goes to war. Sitting his wife, Margaret May, to her left Sydney, the baby on her lap is Kathleen, to her right kneeling is Doreen, and above Doreen is our father Richard Henry.
Richard Augustus Young was the second child of George Young and Hannah Mumford. He was born June 19, 1873, in Winslow, Buckinghamshire. He came to Canada in 1893 with his parents and his older Brother George, his sister Anne, and younger brother Percy.
By 1901 he was living in New Westminster, BC, with his family. He married Margaret May Nixon in 1907. They had 2 children in British Columbia, then moved to Macleod, Alberta to homestead where Eileen was born. They returned to BC and had 2 more children, the last born in 1916. He became a butcher just like his maternal grandmother, Mary Ann Mumford. He was a short man standing 5’3.5 inches, with blue eyes and brown hair. In 1916 Richard Augustus joined the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. He joined the 238th Battalion, known as the Forestry Corps. They produced timber to be used in the war. He was a private, and his unit sailed from Halifax in September to Liverpool.
In 1918 he had a bout of Influenza, and he returned to New Westminster. He was discharged by the Army in 1919. However, by then, his marriage was over. He often listed himself as single. His wife listed herself as a widow, There seems to be no divorce on file even though his wife remarried in 1922. According to the family, Richard worked in the lumber industry in British Columbia, mostly logging. He kept in touch with his two older children and remained single for the rest of his life. He died in 1957 in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Henry Nixon was born in 1841 in Huxley Lodge Northamptonshire, the youngest and 5th child of Reuben and Ann Nixon.In 1871 he lived with his sister Sarah Hill. He married Matilda Ann Henley in 1881 at Holy Trinity Church in Wimbledon. They had two children one of whom was our grandmother Margaret May. His oldest child was His son Harry Burtenshaw born in 1882. His wife died in 1887 and he remarried Amy Lawrence in 1888 at Blean Kent and they had two children, Laura Maud and Cicily Nixon.
Henry had apprenticed as a wheelwright and became a carriage maker. He died in 1926 and left his estate worth $250,000 in 2021 dollars to his youngest daughter Cicily who was then single and living with her mother. Henry seemed to be an example of upward mobility in England. His father’s estate was worth less than 20 pounds.
It was thanks to Henry Nixon that my father was able to get an education. Public education didn’t go beyond elementary school then and he paid the fees for high school for only my father.
Margaret May Nixon was born Feb 15, 1884 in Wimbledon, England. She had an older brother Harry. Their mother died when they were young children, and their father remarried and had two other daughters. Although her father was relatively well off the 1901 census listed her as a scullery maid in Kent, England. As a single woman, she travelled to Canada and landed in Quebec in 1906. From there, she made her way to New Westminster. By 1907 she was married to Richard Augustus Young. They had five children, one of whom drowned as a child. They split at the time her husband enlisted in the army. She worked on the BC Ferries and in logging camps. Her sons lived with other families during this time. She lived in a logging camp with her daughters, according to the 1921 census. There she met her second husband, Harry Dingee, who was a foreman in the camp. They had two children, but Harry Dingee died in 1942. He left her a house in Duncan, BC. Margaret worked most of her life, including a stint at the Anglican residential industrial School in Alert Bay, teaching sewing and cooking. From all accounts, she was strict and stern with her children and grandchildren alike. Only our father was able to have an education. Her two daughters by Richard Augustus had to go into service as there were no funds for high school. I’m sure this life was not the one she dreamed of as a child in England. However, she lived a long life dying just before her 103rd birthday in 1987.
My father spoke of living in a sod hut when he was young and brought the difficulties of this life home to me while I researched his family history. I can imagine the shock for my grandmother ending up in Alberta in a sod house with two young toddlers. They were in the Bow Valley, and their land grant would have been close to Calgary. They appeared in Alberta for the 1911 census but returned to BC soon after. My grandparents split up around 1917.
