The Crawley Family of Middlesex County

Our Crawley family is not to be mistaken for the Crawley Family of Downton Abbey...

 ... nor the Crawley Family of Vanity Fair...

Our Crawley Family (Philip Crawley & Susan Culbert) lived in Biddulph Township, Middlesex County, Canada near the Culbert homestead.

SUSAN CULBERT was the daughter of our ancestors, John Culbert & Mary Ward. Susan was born 28 July 1832 in Ireland. She was eight years old when the Culberts came to Canada, settling on Lot 19, Concession 2 (the Coursey Line) near Lucan.

In 1848, when she was about 16 years old, Susan married Philip Crawley; an Irish-born farmer who lived in Biddulph Township. Susan and Philip moved onto a farm about 1/2 mile north of the Culbert homestead. The Crawley property was Lot 17, Concession 2 (the Coursey Line), and the Culbert property was Lot 19.

If anyone has photos of Susan Culbert & Philip Crawley, please contact me so I can use actual photographs instead of these silhouettes.
UPDATE on 18 Aug 2020: We now have a photo of Susan (Culbert) Crawley. Thanks to Lorne Floyd Brock in Wallaceburg, Ontario for sending us this photo of his great-great-grandmother...

Susan (Culbert) Crawley (1832-1907). Photo courtesy of Lorne Floyd Brock.

The photo above is clipped from a larger group photo. To see the larger photo which includes her daughter, Rebecca Crawley, Rebecca's husband, William Heber Brock and their children, click here.

Susan (Culbert) Crawley bore 10 children.

Just as the Crawleys of Downton Abbey and Vanity Fair had servants, our Crawley family had one servant. A man named George Jackson is listed as their servant in the 1871 Census. It's likely he was their hired hand; a man employed to do physical labour on the farm. With so few boys in the household, it's not surprising they hired a man to help with the chores.

And just as tragedy struck the Crawleys of Downton Abbey and Vanity Fair, so too did misfortune befall our Crawley Family. Susan Culbert was left a widow when her husband died of stomach cancer in 1872. Susan was only 40 when Philip died. She had to manage the household and the farm while raising her many children, ages 2 to 18, on her own.

The list below is from the Index to Biddulph Township Map by Concession and Lot from the Historical Atlas of Middlesex County, 1878. The list shows the property holders of each lot on Concession 2 in Biddulph Township in 1878. Lot 17 is in the possession of Mrs. Susan Crawley. This is six years after the death of her husband...

You can see from the left side of the map below how close Susan (Mrs. Susan Crawley) and her children lived to her father, John Culbert. Note that John Culbert's name is spelled "Jno" which was a popular abbreviation for John at that time. Susan lived only about a half mile north of the Culbert homestead, where she had grown up...

Susan (Culbert) Crawley died 19 November 1907, age 75 at the home of her daughter, Harriet "Hattie" (Crawley) McNeil at Lot 13, Concession 4 in Lobo Township. Susan had been living with cancer for over a year at the time of her death. 

Susan and Philip are buried in St. James Cemetery, Clandeboye, near Lucan although I haven't seen the headstone nor do I have a photo of it.

And now for the Crawley Family Tree...

No, not that Crawley Famly! THIS one!...

Susan Culbert's Family Tree:

Ancestors:

John Culbert & Mary Ward (parents)

Descendants: (Children)

Rachel Crawley 1st (1851-1852)
Rachel Crawley 2nd (1854-1881)
Maria Crawley (c1855-? Last seen on 1871 Census so may have died between then and the 1881 Census although I can't find a death record.)
Sarah Catherine Crawley (1857-1939)
Elizabeth Crawley (1859-1915)

Rebecca Crawley (1860-1933) Twin.
Margaret Crawley (1860-1932) Twin.
George Eli Crawley (1864-1921)
Harriet Ellen "Hattie" Crawley (1866-1926)
William H. Crawley (1869-1930)