Peter Robinson's Settlers (Ireland to Upper Canada)

By Carol Bennett

In 1823 and 1825 groups of impoverished people were brought from the south of Ireland to Upper Canada under the leadership of the Hon. Peter Robinson, MPP. They settled in the District of Bathurst in the Ottawa Valley and in the Newcastle District in the Peterborough area.

This is the first book that has studied the two groups together. The implementation of the second stage of the migration in 1825 very much depended on the success or failure of the 1823 settlers, and there were many family ties between those who came in the two different groups.

Carol Bennett has documented the events which led up to this emigration scheme, and she has looked at each family to see what became of them. The book includes stories of the settlers, events in which the families took part, and profiles of prominent descendants.

One section of the book is set up as a hand-book for genealogists. Many helpful hints for those researching these families have been included.

Contents include:

• Preface
• The background
• Map - The Bathurst District with townships identified
• The Ballyghiblin Riots (Morphy's Falls/Carleton Place)
• Map - The Newcastle District with townships identified
• The 1825 group [of settlers]
• Dispelling the Myths
• Peter Robinson's Settlers - alphabetically organized family & individual genealogical and historical details with many photographs
• Grab Bag - The information came from the Bathurst District [Lanark County area], and concerns marriages performed by Father MacDonald, the pioneer priest
• The Palatine Settlers
• Women's Work - from the diary of Teenie Mayhew
• The new pioneers - details of several notables
• The Bathurst District
• Peterborough
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• About the author
• Index (click here to view index)

Reviews:

• "In the 1820s, the British government, under the leadership of the Hon. Peter Robinson, MPP, a Canadian, brought groups of destitute families from the south of Ireland to Upper Canada where they settled the District of Bathurst in the Ottawa Valley, and in the Newcastle District in the Peterborough area. Ms. Bennett provides historical background on the desperate conditions in the 1820s, some twenty-five years yet before the Famine years. The American cotton trade began replacing the Irish linen market, throwing entire families of weavers out of work, and the potato crop failed. The British government believed that emigration was one way to relieve the distress of the population. In 1823 and again in 1825, two groups of settlers emigrated to Upper Canada. The book has historic maps, photographs of persons, families, buildings, and gravestones. There are biographies of families including the names of the ships on which they came to North America and the land descriptions of the plots of land they settled upon. Each family is featured including their life stories, events in which the families took part, and profiles of notable descendants. Ms. Bennett is a Canadian writer whose publications include several non-fiction books on Irish settlements".  - Bobbie King, Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

195 Pages
8.5 X 11"
Softcover - Perfect bound
Photographs
Maps
Bibliography
Index
Originally published by Juniper Books Ltd, Renfrew, 1987
This edition by Global Heritage Press, Milton, 2011
ISBN 978-1-926797-52-6 [2011 Edition]