| Notes |
- Our great-great grandmother was not well known to her descendants as she died when she was quite young. Research has not proved the following but there is a very good probability that this is her story.
Margaret was born at or near Mallow, County Cork, Ireland the daughter of Patrick Donahue and Anne (surname unknown). She had two sisters Katherine who was older and Mary who was younger. The family was not well off in Ireland and in fact was probably considered paupers.
When Margaret was born, Ireland was experiencing a depression, the value of Irish goods was low, potato crops were meager (though the Potato Famine was still decades away), the country’s population was increasing dramatically and Irish farmers were subject to rack rents and evictions as land owners felt economic pressure. Further, the British Parliament was also intent on increasing the number of settlers available to defend the border of British North America (Canada) from the United States. Men in Irish families could help form the basis of a militia if border disputes flared up, so Peter Robinson was commissioned to select Irish paupers to immigrate to Canada. He selected 568 people (182 families) in 1823 to come to Canada on 2 ships, the Stakesby and the Hebe.
The Donahue family was one of these and came on the Stakesby. The ship landed at Quebec City on the 2nd of September 1823, after a passage of eight weeks having left on the 2nd of July. After arriving at Quebec City, the immigration port, the passengers first boarded steamships and were transported to Montréal. This is as far as the steamships could go owing to the presence of rapids on the St. Lawrence which in much later years was opened up by the construction of the Seaway. Then they went in barges to Lachine and then to Prescott on the St Lawrence River. From Prescott they went overland to the Mississippi River (Ontario not U.S.) a distance of about 60 miles by wagon. Settlers were given free provisions, tools and farmland mostly in Lanark County. This is how Peter Robinson describes the outfitting of the ships;
- these vessels were amply supplied with provisions, and every comfort in case of sickness that could be imagined; two medical officers of experience, one for each ship, were employed. The vessels and stores were strictly inspected, and they were in every respect as well found as if they had been fitted out by a company of passengers for their own convenience, safety and comfort.
And this is what Peter Robinson says happened when they got to their destination;
As there were no barracks or Government buildings in the neighbourhood, and the whole party without shelter, my first care was to provide log-houses for them, and that on their respective lots: fortunately the autumn was unusually dry and warm, and I completed this object by the 1st of November.
To do this, I was obliged to go to some additional expense, as the settlers were not sufficiently acquainted with the use of the axe to put up log buildings themselves. However, I feel well assured nothing tends so much to fix the attention of the emigrant to his newly-acquired property, and to ensure his becoming a permanent settler, as a little care and attention in placing him on his land.
This is the published list of the Stakesby Passengers. The ages are suspect as children were often deliberately listed as younger than they actually were.
Names Former residence Age passenger No.
Pat Donoghue Mallow 44 211
Anne Donoghue " 40 212
Katharine Donoghue " 7 213
Margaret Donoghue " 4 214
Mary Donoghue " 2 215
The Parish priest of the area reported that Pat Donoghue died shortly after arriving in Canada. There may have been a son born posthumously to Pat and also called Pat. This may be why Margaret at age 16 would be working away from home.
Not much can even be guessed at as to the hardships of a mother with three or four small children and no husband in a place far from family. Margaret’s life between 1823 and 1827 or so was probably very difficult and there are almost no records available for this time.
In the late 1820’s she was in Streetsville, Peel County, Ontario probably working in a carding mill.
Streetsville was formed in 1819 by Timothy Street, a man who had financed the survey of the area in return for land. In 1825 he built a house which still stands. He built several mills, one of which was a carding mill. As the raising of sheep increased, the process of handling the wool by hand became too lengthy, so carding mills were built to handle the bulk wool. Settlers could bring their fleece to be processed, carded, and rolled in bundles for use on their spinning wheels and looms. Carding mills were the forerunners of commercial textile and woolen industries. These mills employed a number of workers, usually unmarried women, to operate the machinery. The mills in Streetsville were powered by waterwheels using the water of the Credit River. Since John Lindsay was a Miller, having learned the trade from his father in Scotland, it is likely that that is where they met. There was also a strong Irish population in Streetsville very early in its existence. This again would be another reason that Margaret was in the area.
Margaret married John Lindsay in Streetsville. The marriage bonds were written 13 November 1834. Margaret would have been about 15 or 16 years old. They likely would have been married in St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. The original church was a wooden structure built in 1824, rebuilt in 1867 of red brick well after the Lindsays had moved.
The children followed; Isabella 13th April 1836 probably named for John’s mother, Margaret 1st April of 1840, and Adam probably named after John’s father, in 1842. They may have been baptized or christened in St. Andrews Church.
Streetsville at that point was in a decline as the rail-lines that were being developed in Ontario had to that point by-passed the town. It is possible John was laid off as work on the mill was not then available. At that time the Lindsay family found another mill at St. George, Brant County and moved there. Two more children were born; John born in 1st October 1843 and likely named after his father and George born in 20th September 1846 and who could have been named after an uncle, his father’s brother.
Tragedy struck in about 1847 as the oldest son Adam died. He had started to school as a note book with his name in it survived. He is likely buried in the St. George Pioneer Cemetery.
John and Margaret saved money and planned to buy their own mill and by 1850 that became a reality. Margaret however was not well and just before the move she died. The cause of her death has been a subject for discussion. We know that she had been in a decline for some time as John bought her a rocking chair (which is still in the family) as she did not want to be bed-ridden. Some of her descendants have had diabetes which could have been the cause, diabetes at that time being untreatable. Others have had serious blood diseases which also could have caused her death at an early age. She also is likely buried at St. George Pioneer Cemetery. The headstones at that Cemetery have been laid down to facilitate mowing and therefore some have been lost entirely so it is not clear that this is the cemetery where Margaret and her son Adam are buried.
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Clarke - Lester Families
Abt 1818 - 1851 (~ 33 years)