1847: The Year of the Irish

For the past two weeks (okay, possibly four), I have postponed my weekly entries in an attempt to discover the plausibility of the question I posed in my last post: Might Thomas have arrived in New York, and then ventured across Lake Ontario to Toronto in 1847?

According to historian Mark. G. McGowan, 38 560 refugees arrived in Toronto’s harbour in 1847, 75% of whom were Irish.   For Toronto’s then population of  20 000, Ireland’s mass exodus introduced significant health and socio-economic challenges that resulted in less than favourable opinions of the Irish. Many regarded the Irish as a diseased people who were dependent on the goodwill, and economy, of the citizens of their port of arrival. 

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Thomas’s arrival in New York: Fact or Fiction?

Exciting news!

Last weekend I was seduced by Ancestry.ca’s promise of a free, two week trial of a World Deluxe Membership. For those who may not know, Ancestry.ca is a family researcher’s gold mine, complete with records relating to immigration, land grants,  births, marriages, deaths, divorces, censuses, and much more.  It’s also a great forum to connect with researchers from across Canada, and the world over.  A few years ago I was able to arrange a visit between a distant relative, whom I “met” through Ancestry, and my grandparents who were traveling in Western Canada at the time. But I digress…

After providing all of the necessary information (name, address, email, phone, credit card – the one unfortunate catch), I was politely informed that I had already taken advantage of the free membership.  Blast!  I could have maneuvered around this unwelcomed news by creating a bogus account, but that may be wrong….  Thoughts?  I’m torn.  Creating fake accounts is very inconvenient (yes, I am speaking from experience) and generally not worth the annoyance of receiving duplicate emails.  And just in case you are beginning to wonder, this is not a paid advertisement for the ethical use of Ancestry’s services.  Although… No, I’m sure Ancestry’s executives would never go for that.  

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