HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1967-03-22, Page 20THE. LUCKNOW SENTINEL,. LUCKNOW;. ONTARI
istory Of Pert land family
Dungannon community
(By Mrs. Margaret Pritchard)
.Lang. long years ago, the
people of Scotland were the: Picts
the;'wild Picts. Some authorities:.
say, the name Meant the Painted
People., SQ it is easyto'call the
country Pectland, the° Land :of the
Painted People;; and due•to lack
of uniformity ofspelling this
.could be ,Paintland Painteland or
Pentland or any one of several
other variants. Suffice it to say'
that Scotland has Pentland Hills
and Pentland Firth. It ,had a Pent
land Castle. and Barony between
130.0 and 1513 when they passed to
Sir 'William Sinclare .There is
still a. Pentland cr st with the motto
Virtute et Opera' (by virtue and
deeds) and there is a Pentland Inn
near Edinburgh with a'seven day
license I , It May •bea coincidence
that two Alexanders and a John.
Pentland were Sheriffs of • Edinburgh
County in•the 1500's and that., three
hundred years later two'of'the
pioneersettlers in West'Wawanosh
were Alexander and. John Pentland.
M, any''Scottish families crossed to.
Ireland about the time of Eliza
beth 1, and their names appear
among 'the 'typically Irish names,
!:Pentland being one..
Until the , Industrial Revolution
and, the rise of the factory °systern ,
such industries as spinning .and ;
weaving were carried. on carried
homes of the ,workmen.. By the
early 1800's'there were hundreds of
unemployed weavers in Ireland.
Canada was opening tip then and •
was .looked upon as a. Land.'of,.Opp
ortunity, so there. wasa great. •
movetnent of people. from Ireland;'
to C'.anada ,= Pentlands:'arnong them
The first, heartbreak :was severing
ties with loved ones at home: ' and
Then came the weeks weeks'of
monotony; crowding :seasickness
and'sometimes outbreaks of ,the.
dread cholera and other illnesses'
aboard ship: Arrival in Canada
brought the. uncertainty of finding
a home in the, .new, frightening
strangeland. We have one story
in our family. of one. great-aunt .
who was so overcorrie .with either .:
excitement or fear that she dropp-
ed dead at the cry of. "hand Ho!'"
and neverdid see her new home.
Another story 1 have heard was of
a boy whose parents 'died during
the voyage; He was brought up by '
•another; family , married one of the
daughters, came to Huron; and
became a pillar:of the church and '
a most.. respected member of the',
'community. itis son became a
M. L. A. for ,one: of: the ridings of •
' Huron or Bruce. Another legend
in our faritilyis of ;two great -great
• uncles who served' in the. Penirsula
War, one of whorl-) died 'lead
a'• forlorn'hope' at Talavera
Many of theseIrish pilgrims,
Settled on.Atnherst"Island at the
east end, of.Lake:Ontario. The, ,
Pentlands carne: in 1824 and stayed
• there.• for twenty 'years. .There is,
still a'Pentland farm and a Pent-
land Cemetery.ther'e the latter
containing the only ,Pentlands on
the '.Is aearly. Ys
a
Island now In: those a rl d
the island was all owned by an
Irish -landlord ; so the high hopes of
the newcomers of owning their own
farms were dashed to•the ground; I
expect that is the reason that ,they;
like Joshua , sent 'spies' • farther
afield. The so-called Northern
Townshi of Huron.County were
available and, the 'spies; chose
land ori or near' the Boundary and
Gravel Roads, at Nile and Dungann-
on, E:etween 1840 and,1850many
families came from Amherst island
to Enron. County, and their descen
.„, ., ants are now_ptoud owners of
CentttrFarnpsouerr"ome.
names common to both Amherst
g
Island and north Huron are Ander-
song` Bailie',_ Finnigan, Girvin,
Glenn; .McMath;. McQuoid,, Pentre
land, Polley and a number of orb
ers which 1 have forgotten or: never.
knew: Many of these pioneers re -
ceivedCrown Deeds to theii ;farrns
My own. Grandfather.'s Crown Deed
givesthe price of the farm 'as 40:
pounds about $200 in•our.
money. Wilfred Pentland now owns
that farm, and a ; year ago.lie
brought $185 worth of repairs for
the combinehome in the trunk of
the carp Nearly the .price of the
original. farm. The farms were
solid bush so these staunch pion:
eers began the, backbreaking,. some
times heartbreaking, task:' of care-:'
ing'a" home out of the virgin wild-
erness. Transportation and comm-
unication.were-slow and difficult;
mills, and factories were far distant,
schools and churches were non'
existant;.doctors were few and far
between. Itinerant' saddle -bag'
preachers looked after the spiritual
needs of .th'e, people . But slowly " • '.
the forest disappeared;roughroads
took the place •of the blazed ." :
trails; small, log cabins and barns
were built on the tiny clearings,
then larger houses: and barns. Fin-
ally ,
in -ally, _ a- generation' later, there
were brick and frame houses;
There is -'story-that-ourrhouse was-7-
one
as;one of the first brick houses in .the
Township. (1 mean the. old house
which 'was.. rebuilt in I92..)' Chur-
cies;` schools, stores,, blacksmith.`
shops and mills were, built to serve
the people: 4 drive through our,
part of Huron with its fertile flags,
fine e bu.uildings : a,nd 'paved roads ;
show how well the Ppioneers, and. .till
their descendantsc d
su ceede .
Needless to say•, , there was con.-
,siderable inter -marriage among
the original settlers, so, much of
what I say' of the . Pentlands could
be said of many other families,'; I'
`mentioned the saddlebag preacher
s
At onetime they held .services in
the of my, h
e
near Dile. Later, when a church
was . th `' Gravel Road, 'one
built on e o ,
connection, of the family used .t�.
drive a tern' ofoxen and sleigh •..
to churchin winter.. He picked
up all the neighbours along the
way, but they had to be.ready to
jump an'the moving sleigh, as
once the oxen `stopped , •.they
would not` start' again!. We think
our Great-grandfather was one of
the out -of -Work weavers in-.Treland.
as he built and operated,a loom at
Nile. It ,is now, in the Museum lin
Toronto , A uthoritieS. at the Mus -
emir)* have Said that .it is perfect in'•
every detail and ' must have been
constructed by an expert,' At, first •
it was used'to weave heavy
hom'espun•material and :blankets;
later'beautiful coverlets.'were.
made and finally the rag carpets
which were'so common two gen-
erations ago; The. Pentlands were,
mildly active •111 local politics in
the early days too.. John* was Reeve
in 1852; and 1857 he was Collect-
or. and Alexander was 'Au.ditor. \
As'you may have guessed already,'
• the Pentlands have always had an
itching foot. One of our family ,
stories is that a few years ago,
when •one of my brothers annoutic-
ed a move to another city; his'
five-year-old son 'said, ,"Daddy.; •
you're just like : a big hoppergrass ,
jumping from one field to another`
About 1870, With the opening of
the West, a number of Pentlands
'hopped' to Manitoba and then
kept on' 'hopping' until they reach',
ed Vancouver Island .and the
Peace River. Many 'hopped' right.
V` "`t.h'e„'li'ortn n re—scattered
all over 'U.S.A. Not only have
•
•
they' gone far, geographically,
many have gone`a long ivay in
education.' and industry. Many are
still farmers•but ,what :a far cry
from axes; saws, oxen and the
crude implementls-of Pioneer
days, to tractors,`combines, and
all the other mechanized equip.
ment. of to -day, 'Our great-grand-
parentsencouragedreligion and
education, and many of •their
descendants have become' succi '
essful preachers and. teachers and
even oneor two University pro=
fessors. Our greatgrandfather oper-
ated his loom for the good of the'
community - and doubtless some .
profit .to ' himself. Many descend-
ants have been successful in the
worlds of business and industry and
one is an outstanding Economist.
In the old days, entertainment
was largely homemade - in fact,
there'is a story' of a step -son who ,
played the 'bagpipes' to enliven' a
Wake, by putting the cat's head
under his arm- and then biting the
tip.of its tail! Others 'were story
tellers ' and singersto entertain the
'family .and neighbours.:The next.
generation were amateur singers,
players and elocutionists. The
present generation number several.
who -can: be classed as semi -prof=
essional, and at least two are
professionahsingers ; actors -and
entertainers. with one composer
thrown in.for good measure. Eachl
generation has had several nurses,
and. intwo World Wars several of
theconnection have followed the
example of th'ose'remote'uncles
who served in the Peninsular War.
Just as; a' few ancestors wereoffic-
ials in the municipality, :so some
of their descenda snt .. r
Civil Service. I cannot
inthe
not think of
any, doctors or scientists; but, we
can think of oneof'ou(r name who
discovered and gave his name to
Pentlandite, one. of the nickel
bearing g ores"at Sudbury: They Y'sa
Y.
that our Grandfather used to write
the love letters for his 'friends and
relatives. Unfortunately we have not inherited that gift though we ;
have one or:two'journalists, but
we do love to't,pen to paper '
put P Pe
and often become very verbose'
when .we do!
I often wonder what Our Pioneer
ancestors ;would think if they
could come backand see the
labour saving devices and: machin
• ery'on our modern farms, the.
comfort and, convenience of ' our'•
homes and; travel, the instant
• modes of cottrnu,nication,',and the
almost unbelievable` increase in
knowledge and power. Would they
envy.us our modern hectic lives .
with all 'their tensions and, pressur-
es, or would they choose again
their quiet, uneventful, unhurried
pioneer.lives?• Would they be
proud of their descendants, or
would they, look askance at so
many of the things we accept a.s .
part of the North American way of.
life in this. Twentieth Century?,
Editors Note: Several weeks ago,.
'The Sentinel. published a family
history and suggested that' we. ••
would welcome such articles, from
others. ,Mrs. Margaret Pritchard of
Toronto was the first to respond,
:with the'"Pentland:History" and w
.hope many;mdre'such articles will
'be subtn fitted
WEDNESDAY; MARCH 22nd, 1967
Friends Honour
Siert' Jardine
On March 8th a showeewas 'held.
in honour of Miss Sherry Jardine
at the home of Mrs. Graydon ',Zit
chie with.Mrs. Jim Wilson' as co--
hostess. Many of Sherry's friends
and neighbours gathered to hon-
our her prior to her approaching
marriage:. .
Musical numbers were rendered
by Donna Mullin and Mrs. Clare
Johnstone and her daughter Helen.,
'Mrs. Armstrong Wilson conducted
some contests,
Mrs. "Graydon Ritchie read an
address to Sherry on behalf of
those present and Sherry was
assisted in opening many beauti-,
ful and useful gifts by her sister
Brenda Jardine: of Lucknow and
Sharon Reavie of Wingham :
Sherry thanked the ladies and in-
vited them all to her home to see
her. trousseau Tuesday or Wednes-
day evening of the next week.
Lunch was served by Mary Jar-
dine.
ar-dine. Donna' Mullin arid, Janet
Ritchie .....
EASTER SERVIETTES
THE LUCKNOW. SENTINEL
Brownie News
(by Nancy Chisholm)
2ND LUCKNOW BROWNIES
The Second Lucknow Pack met
on 'Tuesday, March 14th. ,The -
meeting opened with two singing
games' by Catherine Dunsmuir:
Fairy Ring was held with Nancy
Chisholm. as Fairy Queen; Most
of the :girls; did 'semaphore with
somesewing on 'buttons.:
At Pow'Wow Tawny,Owl told a
story The meeting. closed with
the squeeze and :chimes. '
Prowse 80
Cost Of Education
Paid By Goy.
REPORT.FROM QUEEN'S PARK
,, MURRAY GAUNT., 'M. P. P .
(HURON -BRUCE)
The legislature adjourned Mon-
day
on-
day; and Tuesday of this week in.
respect to:the late Governor. Gen=
eral of, Canada , ,George Philias
Vanier;
'.In speaking :about the late Gover•
nor General the, Premier stated
''that this beloved: and respected
Governor General had served the
Canadian people well. .
A resolution was proposed to the,
Legislature which read as follows:
"The'iegislative Assembly of
the Province of "Ontario and
Parliament here assembled place
upon .the records of this House, an.
expression of, its sorrow and the
'sorrow of the people of Ontario on
the death of his. Excellency, Gen
eral GeorgesPhilias Vanier, D..S,
0., Mc. and Bar, Canadian For-
ces Decoration, Governor General
of Canada. On his, passing we are
conscious of the loss of a great
public servant who had, rendered
exceptional service to his nation
im peace and in war and who
stood high in the Councils of our
Commonwealth of Nations. His
long and distinguished career, as
well 'as. his personal qualities, se-
cure
e-cure for him a lasting place in the
'hearts of his countrymen and we
'honour his memory.
memory.
lyTothMe aAsammebVlyaniexe
treandnds thheer sfya1Xm'-
pithy of the people of Ontario in
Ate.,hoss.„,of,..4410,091.0 husband and
father..We, mourn with thetrriir
TOP QUALIWESSO
HEATING EQUIPMENT
ON asy,18-yar, budget terms$
HOME: HEAT
SERVICE :.
AT NO COST TO'YOU
ROY. HAVENS'
Plumbing and Heating
ESSO OIL BURNER
Sales" and .Service
HOME HEAT* SERVICE .
their bereavement."
.11 'resolution was roposed by Olethe
leader of the Opposition this. week `•
to the effect ;that inview of the
rising cost .of municipal govern -
Ment and partculakrly the intoler—
able burden:of the cost of educat:_
ion among ratepayers in Ontario' •:
o_
and the failure ofthe .governtrient
to :. steps alleviate . .
to ke too the sit
uation and lessen the financial,
burden: uponthe: citi.zens of Ontario'
:at the municipal 'level, the; govern
ment should therefore take over.
80c/c.of the cost -of education rather
than the .present 45%0.,
ASK POR
f8 MIVTATIONS'
0 ANNOUNCEMENTS
• ACCESSORIES. '
COME IN AND "'
ASK. FOR YOUR
FREE BRIDAL GIFT
REGISTER.
At
THE. LUCKNOW.
SENTINEL
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