Susanna Ward c1865. Cropped from a group photo by Alfred Smart. Photo courtesy of Margaret (Culbert) Hankala. |
Susanna Ward, the mother of Mary (Ward) Culbert, came to Canada from Ireland in 1840 along with the Culbert family, and settled with them in Biddulph Township.
We don't know much about Susanna; not even her maiden name. However, we know that she was a great help in raising John and Mary's many children during those first 25 years in Canada.
Family lore has it that her husband, whose name might have been Joseph Ward (no official documents to prove his name,) died during the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and that he was buried at sea.
On board the ship was another of Susanna's adult children, William Ward (Mary (Ward) Culbert's brother.) William didn't survive that first winter in Canada. We don't know what befell him; whether he'd fallen ill on board the ship and never recovered, or whether he contracted an illness or had an accident in Biddulph.
William, born c1819, died on 12 January 1841 and is buried in St. James Cemetery, Clandeboye near Lucan. He was 22 years old.
William's is the oldest grave in St. James Cemetery. His was St. James Cemetery's first burial.
You can see from the closeup below that one of John & Mary's daughters, Rebecca Culbert is buried with Susanna Ward and William Ward. Rebecca, age six, died on 18 July 1841, just six months after her Uncle William's death.
Susanna Ward died, age 86, on 23 December 1865, two days before Christmas, and is buried with her son, William Ward and her granddaughter, Rebecca Culbert.
No comments:
Post a Comment