The 1918 Guelph Raid and Marcus Cahir Doherty

Charles J. Doherty's only son, Marcus Cahir (1898-1970), discerned a vocation for the priesthood and entered the Jesuit seminary in Guelph, Ontario on 30 Mar 1918 to begin his studies. Marcus was my 3rd cousin once removed.

Canada entered World War I as a dominion of Great Britain in August 1914, and experienced many casualties. After contentious debate both in the House of Commons and in the country's newspapers, the Military Service Act was passed in 1917 to require that "all male citizens between 20 and 45 subject to military service, if called, for the duration of the war". The Act came into effect on 1 Jan 1918. Young Marcus had previously been exempted from military service in 1917 because of poor health.

Dictionary of Jesuit Biography, pg 86

Clergy were exempt from conscription, but the question arose around whether seminary students of any faith were to be included in the exemption. See right for what happened next, as reported in his biography in the Dictionary of Jesuit Biography (Ministry to English Canada 1842-1987).

Marcus Cahir Doherty SJ

The Guelph Raid was a notorious incident widely reported by both secular and religious media across Canada. Even the newspaper of the Orange Order in Canada wrote about this incident that fanned the flames of sectarian division during wartime.

According to several newspaper accounts of the Guelph Raid that I've read over the years, young Marcus was able to telephone his father in Ottawa when the raid began, alerting the Minister of Justice. Angry sparks flew over the telephone lines between Ottawa and Guelph on 7 Jun 1918 and later, to be sure.

Marcus completed his theological studies and more (philosophy, the classics, spirituality) and was ordained a priest in 1930 in Montreal. He went on to work as an educator and a pastor for 40 years. In the Jesuit biography that I just received this week, I learned that Marcus "was a man easy to love", but one who experienced bouts of depression and nervous disorders intermittently all his life.

I also learned that for the last four years of his life, Marcus was on staff at St Ignatius of Loyola parish in Montreal. My father attended mass there weekly from 1965 until his 2001 death. I can't remember if he ever mentioned that one of his cousins served at his church. Did they talk? I'm sure that they did. I wonder what they talked about.

The never ending story continues....

The Nova Scotia roots weekend

I spent this past weekend in Nova Scotia, to attend the annual meeting of the Nova Scotia Colony of Mayflower Descendants in Digby. There was a great write-up about the colony and the large number of Nova Scotia Mayflower descendants in the Halifax Chronicle Herald earlier in the week, generating wonderful attendance on Saturday.

Stephen Hopkins is my Mayflower ancestor. His direct descendant and my 6th great grandparent, David Godfrey first arrived in Nova Scotia in about 1761.

After arriving at Halifax early Friday afternoon, I took what I intended to be a leisurely scenic route to my friends in Kentville from the airport, intent on doing some exploring. But it was pouring rain all afternoon, and so while I still did the drive, the scenic part wasn't really that visible at times. I did drive to Great Village (today's population is 500), which is where my father and uncles spent many boyhood summers working on their Nelson grandparents' farm (and giving respite to my grandmother, who had five sons in nine years).

That farmland was the Crown land grant (those seized Acadian lands again) that my New England Planter 4th great grandfather Alexander Nelson received in 1761. At the Colony meeting on Saturday, I learned from an excellent guest speaker that there may be some merit to the story that he fought with General Wolfe at the Plains of Abraham in 1759. I have new leads in the form of muster rolls to explore on that story.

from The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Blog

I need to do more research about Great Village, but I did find this image of farmland there. Perhaps my ancestors farm is seen here.

Besides Great Village, on my scenic rainy drive, I saw many place names and family names with which I've grown very familiar through my years of genealogy research. Places like Old Barns and Salmon River. Family names like Archibald and Yuill and so on. Isn't it comforting to be among your ancestors?

The never ending story continues....

The Old Manse at Camnish near Dungiven

Not too long after Irish nationalist John Mitchel was born there on 3 Nov 1815, the Old Manse at Camnish became the home of my Dungiven Doherty ancestors, and remained a Doherty home well into the 20th century.

The building was originally a Presbyterian manse (this was Scots Ulster after all), and was on land owned by the 3rd Marquess of Waterford, who leased it out. The image of the Old Manse (left) is from an Irish magazine, date unknown.

A few years ago, an internet cousin (4th cousin once removed) living in Limerick, Ireland, shared an old postcard, possibly from the 1940s, also of the Old Manse (seen below). Now, I ask you. Who do you know that can say their family home was once featured in a postcard? No, the Royals don't count. 

Irish postcard 

The address used to send mail to this home, my internet cousin tells me, was Old Manse, Camnish, Dungiven. 

We know that the Marquess of Waterford was the owner of the Old Manse and its lands thanks to property records. One set kept in 19th century Ireland was the Griffiths Valuation, which was conducted between 1848 and 1864. Below is the page from Griffiths that addresses the Old Manse, which was then leased by my 1st cousin 3x removed, Paul Doherty (spelled in Griffiths as Dogherty). Paul appears in the top third of the records on this page. He was a nephew of my 2nd great grandfather, farmer Marcus. This valuation was done in 1858, records indicate.

Paul Dogherty Camnish, Griffiths Valuation

1911 Census Household Return
Paul Doherty, Old Manse, Camnish

Another of my internet cousins (also a 4th cousin once removed) in England has, like me, done a great deal of research into our shared Camnish ancestors. 

We have shared our finds with each other -- helping each other learn more about those ancestors. One gem that she has shared with me is the 1911 Census Household Return for the Old Manse. The return notes that the house had five rooms, and that six family members lived there at that time. It was still occupied by the same Paul Doherty as had lived there when Griffiths was done, only now he appears as the landowner. The return notes such details as the number of walls, and that it is classified as a second class house. Such a small house for so many people. Yet, I think that in the 1820s even more family members lived there. 

The never ending story continues ....

The frustration of 19th century census information

This summer I wrote here about finding two of my ancestors, Thomas Doherty and Joshuah Doherty in a transcribed 1831 census for Camnish, which is near Dungiven.

Recently, many new Irish record sets have been released through Find My Past and the National Archives of Ireland. I decided today to explore some of these new records, and found more 1831 Dungiven census records. How exciting!

I found a James Doherty. in whose Roman Catholic household seven people lived. Hmmmm. Some of my ancestors? Perhaps. More research is needed.

But I also found three households whose head was Widow Doherty -- here are two of them. In all three cases, the households are Roman Catholic. One household had six people living there, while the other household had nine people. And the household head warrants only "Widow" and not a given name.

Right religion, right place, but lacking given names.

This information gap isn't limited to Irish records, but these records today set a new record in frustration for me. Sometimes genealogy research is full of frustration.

The never ending story continues....

Rt Hon. Charles J. Doherty, MP PC KC -- 2

The Canadian Encyclopedia has a good overview of my 2nd cousin twice removed, Charles Joseph Doherty's political career, as does Parliament of Canada biography.

After practising law with his brothers Thomas and Marcus, Charles was appointed to the bench in Quebec's Superior Court from 1891 to 1906. He was a leader in Montreal's Irish community, involved in many associations, including the St. Patrick's Society (following in his father's footsteps) and the Shamrock Lacrosse Club.

After he was appointed to the bench in 1891, he was honoured at a farewell banquet by the Shamrock Lacrosse Club, which was reported here and at which his father, Judge Marcus Doherty spoke.

Charles ran for a seat in Quebec's legislature twice, in 1881 and again in 1886, without success. He was first elected a federal Member of Parliament for St Ann's, a riding in Griffintown, an Irish working class area just south of Montreal's downtown in 1908, and went on to a career in federal politics that concluded in 1921.

At some point after 1911, Charles sold his home on Stanley Street in Montreal, purchasing a home on Frank Street in Ottawa, where he, Kate and their daughters lived. That home still stands today, but is now an apartment building,. He stayed at the Windsor Hotel, located just north of his riding. whenever in Montreal to attend to constituency business,

322 Frank St, Ottawa

From 1911 to 1921, Charles served as justice minister in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Robert Borden and Arthur Meighen, Canada's ninth and tenth prime ministers respectively. He represented Canada at the Treaty of Versailles and later was Canada's delegate to the League of Nations from 1920 to 1922, spending much time during those years travelling between Canada, Paris and Geneva. Charles was also a lifelong strong supporter of Irish Home Rule. It was said that his support for Irish Home Rule contributed in part to his early electoral defeats in 1881 and 1886.

Canadian Jewish Chronicle

During his time in public life, newspapers across Canada carried articles about Charles J. Doherty, In December 1915, the Canadian Jewish Chronicle carried a lengthy profile, noting that "he was born under a lucky star", and highlighting his kindness shown "the Jewish people of this country".  The writer touched also on the relationship between Irish and Jewish people, excerpted at the right.

Following the 1921 defeat of the Arthur Meighen government, Charles and Kate returned to Montreal, purchasing a home at 9 Forden Ave in Westmount, where they spent their final years. I think that the original home that they lived in has been either demolished and rebuilt, or extensively renovated. Below is what that home looks like now.

9 Forden Ave, Westmount, Quebec

After his death at his Westmount home on 28 July 1931, a lengthy obituary ran the next day on page 1 of The Gazette, His funeral was also reported in the 1 Aug 1931 Ottawa Citizen.

The never ending story continues....

Our immigrant ancestors -- David Godfrey & Priscilla Baker

Continuing to recount my New England ancestors, my 6th great grandparents, David Godfrey (abt 1707-abt 1777) and Priscilla Baker (abt 1710-abt 1777) married on Cape Cod in Chatham on 14 Oct 1731. Through his grandmother Deborah Cooke, David is a 2nd great grandson of Mayflower passengers Stephen Hopkins, and great grandson of Giles Hopkins.

By about 1748, David and Priscilla had moved with their family to Connecticut, where they lived for about 12 or 13 years. They followed their eldest son, a sea captain, also David (1732-1813), to Nova Scotia, as part of the New England Planters' arrival in about 1761, when David received a land grant in Horton, which he farmed. David and Priscilla remained in Nova Scotia for the rest of their lives.

I descend from David and Priscilla's second son, Jonathan (1739-1826) and his wife, Lucy Calkin (1740-1825), who after arriving from Connecticut, lived first in Cornwallis and later, Windsor. They arrived in Nova Scotia about 1766.

There are many Godfrey descendants across North America today, including of course, in Nova Scotia.

The earliest Godfreys are recorded in Eastham, on Cape Cod in the mid 1660s. The first, George Godfrey, arrived there by 1661 from England, married (his wife's name is unknown), and began a family that grew to at least nine children, born between 1663 and 1688.

The never ending story continues...

Ancestors in car parks!

For the second time in five years, the remains of one of my ancestors has been found under a car park in the UK. The latest find is my 24th great grandfather, Henry I (abt 1068-1135), youngest son of William the Conqueror. Henry's remains have just been found under the car park of Reading Gaol (or jail as we in Canada would say) in southern England. Henry was crowned King of England on 5 Aug 1100, remaining king for 35 years -- a very long time at that period of history.

Richard III facial reconstruction

In 2011, the remains of my 17th cousin once removed, Richard III (1452-1485) were discovered beneath a Leicester car park near what had once been the ancient site of the Grey Friars' church. Richard has been harshly regarded, both during his life, and for centuries afterwards, possibly unfairly, possibly not. Shakespeare's play Richard III, written more than 100 years after his death, tells the story of Richard's rise to power.

Richard ruled as king for only two years, before he was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field. His remains were reinterred in Leicester Cathedral in 2015. But before that, his skull was used for a facial reconstruction. I hope that Henry I's skeleton includes his skull -- that would be a fascinating facial reconstruction. Imagine seeing the face of a man who lived a thousand years ago.

A visitor centre now tells Richard's story.

My royal connection comes through one paternal ancestor, my 13th great grandmother, Alice Gascoigne (1521-1599), who descends from Northumberland's mighty Percy family, the Neville family, including Richard, Earl of Warwick (1428-1471), known as Warwick the Kingmaker, and from Lady Joan Beaufort (1379-1440) daughter of John of Gaunt (1340-1399), scion of the Plantagenet kings.

Since 2011, I've referred to Richard as my dear cousin Richard of the car park. Now I must add to that: my dear cousins Henry and Richard of the car parks. How many more ancestors' remains are buried beneath car parks in modern day Britain?

The never ending story continues....