My 2nd great-grandfather through his daughter Jane.
George Leary was baptized April 14, 1837 in Welton, Lincolnshire, England. I couldn’t find a birthdate. He was the second son of William Leary and Rebecca Smith.
There are several Welton Towns in the UK, so I’d like to clarify that this is Welton-by-Lincoln in the north central part of the shire. One of the oldest buildings in town is the Welton & Dunholme Methodist church, which was likely where the Learys worshipped.
George lived in Welton with his 6 siblings until some point between 1851 and 1861. I have not found an immigration record for him. It seems the rest of his family stayed in England.
Around April 1861, George is living in a house in Toronto Gore Township, Peel County, Canada, immediately west of Toronto. And that is where, seven months later, he weds Jane Crawford.
The marriage records states that they’re both living in Chinguacousy Township in Peel County, but I don’t see Jane in the census earlier that year. Since they are both Methodist, I assume they met in church or through church.
George and Jane will go on to have six children. Most or all of them are born in Perth County, Ontario, where the family moves shortly after the wedding, likely to join Jane’s brother John who owned land there.
Throughout his life, George is listed as a farmer. The couple spend the rest of their days in Hibbert, Ontario. Most of their children stayed near them.
George dies suddenly of a brain aneurysm on May 27, 1899.
My records for George are mostly governmental. The service in which I received the newspaper articles has been taken down from the Perth County Genealogical Society website, a common thing that happened during the pandemic. I hope they can offer the service again soon.
Sources
UK Censuses
(1841 – 1851)
Welton-by-Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK. Accessed on Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org.
Canada Censuses
(1861 – 1901)
Hensall Township, Perth County, Ontario, Canada. Accessed on Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org.
Canada, Ontario County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869
Entry for George Leary and Jane Crawford. FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2CB-QL5V).
Exerpt from A Hibbert Review, County of Perth, 1953.
Book by Isabelle Campbell. Printed by the Huron Expositor (Seaforth, Ontario). Reprinted in 1979. Concession XIII, Lot 13. Personal holdings.
Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906. Hibbert, Perth County, Ontario. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
Obituary and Funeral Notices.
Some sources and dates not given. Exeter Advocate (Exeter, Ontario); Huron & Middlesex Gazette. 1 Jun and 8 Jun 1899. Accessed from Perth County Genealogical Society on 6 June 2019.
Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938
George Leary. Perth County, Ontario. Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection MS935, Reel 93. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
Assorted photos. From personal files.
Northwest Journals 