Clinton News-Record, 1985-07-10, Page 1181
family roots
IK
Research led Goderich
township woman tot e
Enierald Isle on maiden flight'
The folks of the Emerald Isle
Mrs. Jean (Mervyn) Lobb is one of
Goderich Township's most devoted
historians. She has spent years searching
her Irish ancestors.
Her research has not only connected her
own past, but has uncovered the names of
many other Goderich Township families.
Holmes, the Deeves, Ginns, Cantelons,
yds, Potters, Porters, Whitelys, Tbomp
,and Elliotts are some of the familiar
names that Mrs. Lobb has found in her
painstaking research.
Mrs. Lobb's searchfor her Irish ancestors
is best told in her own words.
MY IRISH ANCESTORS
BY JEAN LOBB
11110 It all started when trying to write about
my father's family, the Websters. Accor-
ding to an obituary in The Lucknow Sentinel
one of grandfather's family was unknown.
My story had a missing link.
Hours were spent reading books about
Ireland. Discovering there was a Tipperary
Church in our township, I made a list of
names from the 1828 map. Then I found I
had cousins in the Parish of Kilcooley, Co.
Tipperary, Ireland. I wrote to the rector,
Rev. Warren Wilson and he verified that it
was the right area.
So, I made my maiden flight to the
Emerald Isle. The rector's home was my
headquarters for the next four weeks. He
provided me with records belonging to
Kilcooley Parish Church and others nearby
and I spent many hours copying notes about
the people with familiar names from these
books.
The parish ,of Fennor, Urlingford, Co. Tip-
perary , records Wm. Holmes as church
warden, 1819. On April 4, 1855 Mr. Fredrick
Holmes was warden, signed by Mr. John
Churchill. In 1869 Wm. Churchill was
warden.
This church was closed in 1875 with sdme
of the congregation changing to the
Kilcooley Church. My greatgrandmother
Margaret Churchill (Dempsey) had lived in
this parish.
The vestrymen of the Kilcooley Church in
1808 were John Holmes, John Deeves,
Richard Deeves, Wm. Baker, Samuel
Young and Jacob Cantelon.
I compared a list of names of pew -holders
of the new Kilcooley Church in 1829 with
those from the first map of Goderich
Township. There were several families of
each name - Miller, Spading, Cooke,
Sineltzer, Young, Glazier, Cantillon, Magee,
Deeves, Steep, Cole and others. My great-
grandfather John Semple was listed. He
married Anne Cooke, daughter of Peter
Cooke. This gentleman is mentioned in the
"History of Methodism in Ireland" Vol. II,
for his. outstanding leadership, 1794, in the
Bawnlea Methodist Church.
But there was no mention of my great-
grandparents, Thos. and Mary Webster.
After all, the Methodist Church was just up
the road from the Websters and why would
you take a gang of children in a two -wheeled
donkey cart several miles away?
In the 1872 seating plan of Kilcooley
Church Thos. Webster is included, also the
Switzers. There had been weddings in the
We .ter family and these took place at the
legal -Church. It puzzles me that no baptisms
or Webster burials were mentioned. All
these secrets must be with the little
MethodsS S hurch, and these records have
not been located.
Records from the 1861 Census at the Ar-
chives in Toronto reveal that all the Webster
men in Ashfield Township, Huron County,
listed themselves as Church of Ireland or
Church of England, one was New Connec-
tion Methodist. My Dad said they were
Methodist. Now I understood.
The Parish Church was the legal church,
but many of them attended the Methodist as
well. There were four Cantillon families in
the Kilcooley Parish Church, Ireland, but in
Goderich Township they were faithful sup-
porters of the Tipperary, Wesleyan
Methodist Church.
The Parish Church itself is interesting. It
has a two -room transcept on the north side.
Turn to page 4
ENJOY CELEBRATING
GODERICH TOWNSHIP 1-5-0 WITH US!
•1
'1
FI U'. IU
41,i.::111;1'IF:
11.., %Iu Godrrieh
11,INT11\
Arrangements or Bouquets
in fresh, silk or cornhusk
for Weddings, Honk, or Special Occasions
Other Gifts and Supplies
Wicker, ceramics, glass vases, brass planters,
organic plant food and more
By Appointment Please
Mrs. Jeannette Martin
R.R. 2 Clinton, NOM ILO
519-482-3536
Mrs. Jean Lobb is a devoted Goderich Township
Congratulations
Goderich Township
on your
150th Birthday
Sesquicentennial
County of Huron
Bill G. Hanly
CLERK -TREASURER
AND ADMINISTRATOR
Paul D. Steckle
WARDEN