Culberts and Colberts: From Ireland to Canada and Beyond

I've been studying our DNA links to other Culbert and Colbert families who left Ireland in the 1800s. 

What have I learned?

I've established that our ancestor, John Culbert (husband of Mary Ward) is related to several Culbert and Colbert families who left Ireland in the 1800s. Aside from his brother, Richard, I haven't yet discovered John Culbert's exact relationship to these families. Nonetheless, here are the families I've found, so far, who share DNA with us:

Richard Culbert & Ann Jane Harlton.
Richard Culbert, born c1813 in Ireland was John Culbert's brother. Richard purchased the property next to John in Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario in 1840. Later, Richard and his family moved to Lambton Township, Ontario. I've written about Richard previously in this post. 

James Culbert & Rebecca Hodgins. 
James Culbert was born c1822 in Ireland and married Rebecca Hodgins born c1827 in Tipperary. We don't know the names of James Culbert's parents. I wrote about James & Rebecca's son, Richard Culbert of Centralia, here.
Now, here's where figuring out the DNA connections gets tricky: James Culbert's wife, Rebecca Hodgins was the daughter of Sarah Colbert (related to us) and Henry Hodgins of London Township. So the descendants of James Culbert & Rebecca Hodgins are related to us on their father's side and on their mother's side.

James Culbert & Rebecca Portis.
James Culbert was born c1817 in Ireland. James Culbert and Rebecca Portis married in Modreeny, Tipperary and came to Canada around 1864. They lived in Lucan, Ontario and later moved west to British Columbia. I've written about James Culbert & Rebecca Portis previously in this post.

William Culbert & Margaret Emily Lewis.
William Culbert was born c1807 in Birr, Ireland. Birr is in County Offaly but at that time, it was known as Kings County. Kings County is where our ancestor John Culbert is believed to have been born, and it borders County Tipperary. William died before 1843, leaving Margaret a widow with four children. Margaret Emily (Lewis) Culbert and her children immigrated to Canada, settling in Clandeboye, Ontario near Lucan. Margaret remarried to Robert Hodgins, Jr. 

Rebecca Culbert & Freeman Blackwell.
Rebecca Culbert (born in Ireland about 1807) married Freeman Blackwell (born about 1791) and immigrated to Canada in the 1800s. They settled in Biddulph Township and appear to have lived in Lucan and in Ailsa Craig, Ontario.

The Culbert families of Eau Claire, Wisconsin whose ancestors are from Tipperary.

John Colbert and his descendants of Goulbourn Township and Huntley Township near Ottawa. John Colbert was from Ballingarry, Tipperary, and left Ireland as part of the Talbot Settlement group of 1818.

The Colbert families of Gatineau, Quebec. These Colberts from Ballingarry, Tipperary are related to the Colberts (above) and were members of the Talbot Settlement Group of 1818 from Ireland. Some of their descendants settled in Clarendon, Pontiac County, Quebec.

The Colbert families of London Township, Ontario. One family of London Township Colberts is said to have come over from Ireland with the Talbot Settlers in 1818. We know there was a Colbert family who settled in London Township in 1830. The patriarch of this Colbert family (first name unconfirmed) was from Cloughjordan, Tipperary. He had several children with whom we share DNA, including Rebecca Colbert (c1794-1868) who married John "Stoney" Shoebottom; Thomas Colbert (1804-1861) who married Catherine "Kitty" Mooney; and Sarah Colbert (1807-1893) who married Henry Hodgins. 

And more!

I've discovered DNA links to even more Culbert/Colbert families but I'm still trying to confirm these connections.

Your DNA made these discoveries possible. Thank you. And to the rest of you, please consider taking the Ancestry DNA test.

From Lucan, County Dublin to Lucan, Ontario

When our ancestors, John Culbert and Mary Ward arrived in Biddulph Township from Ireland, they settled at Lot 19, Concession 2, on a road which came to be known as the Coursey Line.

The village of Lucan, Ontario is about three miles southeast of the Culbert homestead.

Lucan's Main Street, 1800s. Credit: UWO Archives.

 

When John and Mary arrived in 1840, the village had not yet acquired the name Lucan. It was originally named Wilberforce around 1829 when a group of black settlers arrived. (More about the Wilberforce Settlement in a future post.) When the Irish settlers started arriving in the 1830s, they changed the name to Marystown. To avoid confusion with another post office named Marystown, it was necessary to change the name again. And so in 1860, the name Lucan was chosen.

So how did the village come to be known as Lucan?

Enter Thomas Hodgins also known as “Dublin Tom” Hodgins. He was twice elected Reeve of Biddulph in the 1850s (a position our own Myron Manford Culbert would hold a century later.)

Thomas Hodgins aka Dublin Tom

Dublin Tom Hodgins was born in Lucan, County Dublin, Ireland. It’s said that he'd been a coachman on Lord Lucan’s estate.[1]

 

Lucan, County Dublin, Ireland. Photo by Jeff Culbert.

Here in Canada, Dublin Tom homesteaded in Biddulph Township at Lot 13, Concession 2 (the Coursey Line) just up the road from the Culbert homestead.

At the first ever meeting of the Lucan Business Men’s Association, the issue of renaming Marystown was raised. Dublin Tom stood up and suggested the name “Lucan.”

“Sure, this place reminds me of me home in Ireland, with the beautiful trees and the river running close by. Call the town “Lucan” and ye’ll never be sorry.”[2]

The Little Ausable River in Biddulph Township runs through Lucan. The trees and the river reminded Dublin Tom of his home in Ireland. Photo courtesy of Wendy Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

And so from that time on, this small village north of London, Ontario has been known as Lucan. There’s another theory as to the naming of the village but as there’s no Culbert connection to that story, let’s move along!

Of course you knew I couldn’t let this story go without a Culbert connection. So here’s a photo of Terry Culbert (right) visiting Lucan, County Dublin, Ireland in May 1993 with his friend, the late Bob McAdorey (left)…

But the Culbert connection doesn’t stop there. (Of course it doesn’t.)

Let’s return to Dublin Tom Hodgins, the man who is said to have named the village of Lucan.

Dublin Tom Hodgins was married to a woman named Ann Colbert Shoebottom. (Does anyone see where this is going? Clue: look at Ann’s middle name.)

Dublin Tom Hodgins and his wife, Ann Colbert Shoebottom

Ann Colbert Shoebottom (1819-1881) was the daughter of John “Stoney” Shoebottom (c1787-1867) and Rebecca Colbert (c1794-1868) of London Township (originally from Tipperary, Ireland.) That’s right - the Colberts of London Township. You know from a previous post that we’re related to the Colberts of London Township although we haven't yet established how we're related. 

Dublin Tom Hodgins and his wife, Ann Colbert Shoebottom had 13 children, all of whom are somehow related to us along with their many descendants.

DNA proves that the Culberts and the Colberts are all from the same pot of Irish stew.

Footnotes: [1] Pioneers to the Present: Biddulph Township Sesquicentennial History Book 1850-2000, Lucan, Ont. : Corp. of the Township of Biddulph, 1998, p.476.

[2] Jennie Raycraft Lewis, The Luck of Lucan, Lucan Heritage Committee, 1967, reprinted 1995, p.17.

The Colbert Report

♫Potato potahto tomato tomahto Culbert Colbert♫

Are the Culberts and the Colberts all from the same gene pool? DNA testing says yes! At least in some cases, we can be certain that the Culberts and Colberts are one big happy family.

It’s been said that our surname Culbert may have been Colbert in Ireland.[1] We don’t know for certain but it’s possible that our family changed the spelling to Culbert at some point after they came to Canada. Some families in Canada kept the original spelling Colbert while others replaced the “o” with a “u.” Families in Ireland tend to have varied the spelling as well.

Let’s look at Susanna Ward’s headstone in the photo below (Susanna was the mother of John Culbert’s wife, Mary (Ward) Culbert.)

Headstone of Susanna Ward and her son, William Ward in St. James Cemetery near Lucan, Ontario. Erected by Mary Colbert. Photo by Cheryl Claridge.

Notice that the headstone says "Erected by Mary Colbert in memory of her mother, Susanna Ward." The engraving shows Colbert with an “o.” Was this an error or had our family not yet changed the spelling to Culbert? We don’t know.

What is clear is that our Culberts have a DNA connection to the Colberts who settled in London Township (south of Biddulph Township), and to the Colberts of Goulbourn Township much further north near Ottawa. Some of these Colberts arrived in Canada in 1818, long before our Culberts arrived in 1840.

So if the names Culbert and Colbert are connected, is Steven Colbert our long lost cousin?

Possibly, but it’s a stretch. His ancestors came from Ireland just as ours did. Steven is Roman Catholic whereas our family are Protestants. However, Steven’s great-grandparents were married in the Lutheran Church so the conversion to Catholicism was recent in the grand scheme of things. So who knows?

If we can find out how we’re related to the London Township Colberts and the Goulbourn Township Colberts, we might be able to trace our roots back further in Ireland. But to do this, we need more Culbert descendants to take the Ancestry DNA test. Now is the perfect time to order your DNA kit. It’s on sale until St. Patrick’s Day! Please help us solve this puzzle as well as many more mysteries by taking the Ancestry DNA test.

Footnotes: ​ 

[1]Pioneers to the Present: Biddulph Township Sesquicentennial History Book 1850-2000, Lucan, Ont. : Corp. of the Township of Biddulph, 1998, 408.