The Culberts Next Door - Richard Culbert and Ann Jane Harlton

Next door to John Culbert and Mary Ward near Lucan, Ontario lived another Culbert family: Richard Culbert and his wife, Ann Jane (Harlton) Culbert.

Thanks to Ancestry DNA testing, we know that Richard is definitely related to our ancestor, John Culbert.

Was he John Culbert’s brother? His cousin? And why did Richard and Ann later move away to Wyoming, Ontario? No one in my family could answer that question so I set out to see what I could discover.

Why oh why, Wyoming?

This Richard Culbert (not to be confused with John and Mary’s son of the same name) was born circa 1813 in Ireland.

Our ancestor, John Culbert and his mystery relation next door, Richard Culbert are listed in the Ontario Archive Land Record Index; showing land deeds for each man dated October 1840. John purchased Lot 19, Concession 2 in Biddulph Township while Richard purchased Lot 18, the property just north of John. 

Skipping ahead a couple of years to 1842, the Assessment List and Population Return for the Township of Biddulph shows John Culbert with 100 acres on Lot 19 and Richard Culbert on Lot 18 with 100 acres. 

These records prove that John and Richard purchased land at the same time (October 1840) next to each other.

So there they are, living side by side. But how were they related? We don’t know. John was born c1806 so he was about seven years older than Richard. However, there’s no mention in any of the documents as to their family relationship.

A decade goes by. The 1851 Census (taken in 1852) gives us more information about the family. At this point, Richard and Ann have five children; John who was born in Ireland; and Elizabeth, Helen, Sally Ann, and Catherine who were born in Canada. (Sally may have been a nickname for Sarah.) (Note for family historians: In 1851, Ontario was known as Canada West, and Biddulph Township was at the time part of Huron County, not Middlesex County.)

Fast forward to 1861. The Richard Culbert family have left Biddulph Township. They’re living in a log house in the village of Wyoming in Plympton Township, Lambton County, Ontario. 

Modern map showing position of Lucan in relation to Wyoming. I'm guessing it's well over 50 miles or over 80 km. (Math wizards, feel free to tell me.) Back in the 1800s, even a distance of 20 miles took a long time to cover by horse and buggy so it's doubtful these families did much visiting after Richard and his family moved away.

The 1861 Census shows a couple of changes to the Richard Culbert-Ann Harlton family. A new member of the family is listed: a daughter, Rebecca Culbert. Daughter Helen’s name has been crossed out and I haven’t seen any reference to her since that time so Helen must have died.

Richard Culbert's family's names on the 1861 Census of Canada. His daughter Helen's name is crossed out so she may have died.

So somewhere between 1852 and 1861, Richard Culbert and his family moved away from Biddulph Township to the Village of Wyoming in Plympton Township, Lambton County. Can we narrow down the date they moved? Yes, we can. Their daughter, Rebecca was born 31 May 1854 in Plympton Townhip so this means the Richard Culbert family moved to Plympton Township in 1854 or earlier.

 

Why did they move away from Biddulph? We don’t know. Lambton County was experiencing rapid growth and prosperity so it’s possible Richard thought he could do better there.

In any case, the Richard Culbert-Ann Jane Harlton family was never again mentioned in any talk I ever heard from my family members. It’s as if they never existed. Yet there they are on the Census form, and the Ontario Archive Land Record Index, and the Assessment List, showing they lived one property north of the John Culbert-Mary Ward family. It may just be because it was so very long ago that memory of them was diminished through time. Or perhaps they lived so far away that the two families lost touch.

Richard and Ann’s last child, William Culbert was born in 1863 in the Village of Wyoming.

A couple of decades later, the 1881 Census shows Richard and Ann, now in their 60s, still living in Wyoming. Most of their children had moved out except William and Catherine. Also in the household was Catherine’s husband, Alexander Morden and their son, George Morden.

Richard’s wife, Ann Jane (Harlton) Culbert (born c1816 in Ireland) died 18 February 1888 at the home of her son-in-law, Alexander Morden.

Ann (Harlton) Culbert's obituary in the March 9th 1888 edition of the Sarnia Observer. Note the misspelling of her last name. If your last name is Culbert, no doubt you've suffered this indignity.

Ann's obituary says that “her aged partner still survives her, although he has been scarcely able to move around for the past year or two. They spent over fifty years of married life together, and are among the oldest residents of the village."

At some point, the widowed Richard went to live with his daughter, Catherine Morden and her family who also lived in Wyoming. He died on 10 March 1894, age 82 of bronchial pneumonia.

Richard Culbert's death document shows that he was a laborer, born in Ireland, who died on March 10th, 1894 at the age of 82 of bronchial pneumonia.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that John and Richard are probably brothers. However, as yet, there's no documentation to prove it. Through DNA testing, I've established that Richard Culbert and his descendants are definitely related to John Culbert and his descendants. Eventually, I hope to have a breakthrough and find more details. Please consider taking the Ancestry DNA test. Your DNA may unlock the secrets of these two Culbert men.

Richard Culbert’s Family Tree:

Ancestors:

Unknown. Richard’s brother is probably John Culbert who married Mary Ward but there's no documentation yet to prove this.

Descendants (Children):

John Culbert (c1840-1874)

Elizabeth Culbert (aka Ettie and Eliza) (1842-1914)

Helen Culbert (c1844 - ?)

Sally Ann or Sarah Culbert (c1845 - ?)

Catherine Culbert (1850-1923)

Rebeccca Culbert (1854-1927)

William Culbert (1863-1935)

Note: The next post will discuss the descendants of Richard Culbert & Ann Jane Harlton. 

UPDATE: Since publishing this post, I've discovered that Richard Culbert & John Culbert are probably brothers. See blog post here.

UPDATE: Richard Culbert and Ann Jane Harlton are buried in Wyoming Cemetery in Wyoming, Ontario. See this post.

John Culbert's Kinfolk

As well as the usual fare here on the Culbert Family History blog, I plan to occasionally write about other Culbert families who are somehow connected to our forefather, John Culbert, and therefore connected to us, as well.

John Culbert. Born circa 1806 in Ireland. He purchased property in Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario, Canada in 1840 with his wife, Mary Ward. Who was his father? Who were his siblings? How are all the other Culbert families in Middlesex County and beyond connected to him?

For years, I've wondered if various Culbert families in Middlesex County and beyond were related to our John Culbert. Thanks to DNA testing, I've confirmed that yes, they are.

I haven't yet determined just how they're connected to our family. Are they John's brothers? Are they John's cousins? More research is required. It would help if everyone reading this could take the Ancestry DNA test. Please give it your consideration. 

The posts concerning John Culbert's kinfolk may be heavy on text and lacking photographs, and so may appeal only to the most zealous family history buffs. For those of you who aren't genealogy enthusiasts, your eyes might glaze over. You might even nod off.

I hope that by documenting these other Culbert families, someone who knows more about them might contact me and tell me how their ancestor is related to our ancestor, John Culbert. If we're lucky, they might even know John's father's name, and where exactly he lived in Ireland. A gal can dream, can't she?

Bill Morgan Remembers the Myron Culbert Family

Charles William "Bill" Morgan (1924-2018) recalls trips to Poplar Farm near Lucan, Ontario to visit the Culbert family. At Poplar Farm, Bill would spend time with his mother's first cousin, Effie (Taylor) Culbert; Effie's husband, Myron Culbert; and Effie & Myron's six sons: Cliff, Ken, Ivan, Mel, Mert, and Earl. 

The following excerpt from Bill Morgan's memoirs is courtesy of his daughter, Pam Morgan.

Charles William "Bill" Morgan. Bill's mother, Zeta Pearl (Cook) Morgan was the first cousin of Myron Culbert's wife, Effie Pearl (Taylor) Culbert. Photo courtesy of Pam Morgan.

Our visits to Exeter with Aunt Lizzie Taylor were just for a weekend, but it would include a visit to Mother’s cousin, Mary (Taylor) Kerslake. She and her husband, Charlie Kerslake and their children, Howard and Josie lived on the south edge of town on a farm. 

We often went to Lucan to visit another of Mother’s cousins, Effie (Taylor) Culbert; her husband, Myron Culbert; and their six sons. They lived on a farm [Poplar Farm] just west of the town about 2 to 3 miles from highway #4. 

Poplar Farm near Lucan, Ontario on the Coursey Line. Photo courtesy of Marilyn (Culbert) Harrison.

After the deaths of Uncle Charlie Brooks and Aunt Lizzie Taylor, we used to spend weekends with the Culberts. Our visits were similar to those in Exeter because their house did not have plumbing or electricity. 

Some of the sons were still at home when we visited. Merton, the 2nd youngest, was about my age and Earl was 2 years younger. 

The three of us would often go back into the fields to bring in the cows for milking. Their dog did most of the work rounding up the strays. However, Earl used to grab hold of the tail of a cow and make it run while he swung along behind. His father would be upset with him because the cow would not give as much milk as usual. 

Myron and Effie were members of the local United Church in Lucan and we were expected to join them at Church. Merton and Earl would try to stay home on some pretense but did not often succeed. 

Mert Culbert (left) and his brother Earl in their church clothes. Photo from the collection of Mert & Muriel Culbert.

After Church and lunch, the three of us would wander around the farm. They had a small bush at the rear and there was a small river close by. 

The Little Ausable River, near Poplar Farm.
Postcard courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

We went swimming in one of the deeper sections. Earl found a blood sucker [leech] on his arm or leg. He decided to leave it on until he got back to the house. When he got home, his mother saw it and was upset with him for not taking it off earlier. He had a good laugh over it.

The two oldest sons, Cliff and Ken, were about the same age as [my brother] Fred, and they used to visit us in Windsor quite often. Howard Kerslake joined them on a few occasions.

When the extras arrived, we used to line up the mattresses on the front porch and there would be six or more sleeping there. 

The middle two, Ivan and Mel, were about [my brother] George’s age and they too visited us. Both Ivan and Mel joined the army during the WW II and Ivan married a Welsh girl. They came back and lived in Lucan. Mel, too, returned to live in Lucan and both he and Ivan operated small stores in town.

I cannot remember where Cliff lived after he left the farm. 

Ken became a salesman for an insurance company and would often stop in to see us when he was in Windsor. 

Merton was an adventurer and travelled to British Columbia and worked as a lumberjack for a while. When he returned from the west, he took over the farm. 

Earl was the black sheep of the family after he grew up. He did marry but left her for another woman. I haven’t heard of him since. 

Bill Morgan's second cousins, the Culbert brothers with their parents, Myron & Effie. Back row, left to right: Ken, Mel, Mert, and Earl. Front row, left to right: Cliff, Myron, Effie, and Ivan.

Elvira (Hutchings) Culbert (1915-1977): A Memoir by Phil Culbert

The Culbert Family History blog presents a memoir of Elvira (Hutchings) Culbert, written by her son, Phillip Myron "Phil" Culbert. Elvira was a war bride who married the great-grandson of John Culbert and Mary Ward: Ivan Hector Culbert.

Elvira Hutchings in her early 20s, during the mid-to-late 1930s.

ELVIRA (HUTCHINGS) CULBERT by Phil Culbert

My mother was born in the small Welsh industrial village of Ystalyfera, Glamorgan, Wales on February 3, 1915, the 7^th and youngest child of Elizabeth Myfanwy Hutchings (1880-1930.) 

Elvira was born at 9 Panteg Road on February 3rd, 1915 in Ystalyfera. This photo was taken c1900.

Ystalyfera is a Welsh word meaning tall, berran (meaning land sharing) island.  It is located in the upper Swansea Valley on the River Tawe about 21 kilometers north-east of Swansea. 

Ystalyfera, c1915.

The village grew due to the advent of coal mining and iron tinplate works where the majority of its resident men would have worked although both industries were declining rapidly by the time Mom was born, and would eventually all shut down, leaving this small town to redefine itself throughout the 20^th century.

Ystalyfera today

My grandmother, Elizabeth Myfanwy Hutchings had been widowed 7 years prior to my mother’s birth, having been married since 1898 to Arthur Hutchings who was the father of all my mother’s 6 siblings, and who tragically died in a coal mining accident at the age of 33 in 1908.

Elvira's mother, Elizabeth Myfanwy Hutchings

Being left a widow at such a young age, my grandmother was forced to work full time despite having 6 young children to feed and care for at home. She secured a position as a housekeeper for a wealthy widower in her small town, and it is thought that this man might in fact be my mother’s father. However, we have no definitive proof to verify it nor do we know his name.  My mother kept this a secret from all of us kids growing up including my Dad, and took this secret to her grave. It was only through researching Welsh birth and death records that I was able to confirm that the man who we thought was her father, Arthur Hutchings, had actually died 7 years before Mom was born. 

Fortunately, my mother had older siblings who were able to help my grandmother with raising my mother while she worked to provide for her large, young family. Unfortunately, my grandmother, Elizabeth Hutchings passed away at the young age of only 50 when my mother was only 15.

Mom was educated at the Pantteg Council School. It was built in 1877 and operated right up until its closure in 1974. All 6 of my mother’s brothers and sisters would also have attended this school until the age of 14.  If they wished to continue their education, they would then have all gone to the Ystalyfera Intermediate School.  

Pantteg School. Source: Ystalyfera History and Heritage.

 

Elvira Hutchings school concert at Pantteg School, age 8 in Grade 3. Elvira is second from the left in the top row.

Many children back then quit school at age 14 or even before to seek employment to help their families out. I’m sure this was the case with most of my mother’s siblings as the eldest child, Tom Idris Hutchings was only 12 years old, and the youngest child only 2 years old when my grandmother was widowed.

Mom and her brothers and sisters regularly attended church at the Chapel of Pantteg.    

Pantteg Chapel. Source: Ystalyfera History and Heritage.

It is written in the book by Bernant Hughes called Ystalyfera Memories that the minister of the Chapel was a man named Rev. Ben Davies. His salary was based on whatever monies were given that week in the collection plate on the last Sunday of each month. Apparently, there were not too many silver coins in that plate as it was a very poor community so he basically lived on the copper coin contributions once a month.

Elvira Hutchings (standing, far right) age 19 at her sister Lal's wedding in Bognor Regis, England in 1934. Her eldest brother, Idris Hutchings is in the back row, second from the left.

Not much is known about my mother’s activities after she left school other then she moved to England at some point where she became a secretary for a few years in a real estate office until WWll broke out. She later joined the British Royal Navy in the WRNS. (Women’s Royal Navy Service.)

Elvira Hutchings when she was a member of the British Royal Navy's Wrens from 1941-1945.

Women joining this part of the Royal Navy were referred to as Wrens. Wrens responsibilities included driving, cooking, clerical work, operating radar and communications equipment, and providing weather forecasts. Many Wrens were involved in planning naval operations including the D-Day landings in June 1944. 

Elvira Hutchings (seated, right) at her housing unit with the British Royal Navy's Wrens, 1941-1945.

Elvira in her Wrens uniform.

It was during this time that she met my father, Ivan Culbert from Lucan, Ontario; a Canadian soldier stationed in Aldershot, England which is 30 miles outside London near where my mother lived, and where all the Canadian soldiers were stationed during the war. 

Ivan Culbert in uniform, WWII.

They would marry on September 8, 1945 in Chichester, England. 

 

Ivan Culbert & Elvira Hutchings, wedding day, September 8th, 1945 in Chichester, England. Photo courtesy of Vicky (Culbert) Schloendorf.

Ivan and Elvira's wedding day.

 

The Ministry of Food issued ration books to every British citizen. This one belonged to Elvira.

Dad returned home in January 1946 on a troop ship and my mother who was now pregnant with my sister Vicky, joined hundreds of other British war brides setting sail on the Queen Mary to this new country called Canada, eventually settling with my Dad in Lucan, Ontario.

Other than a trip back to England in 1948 shortly after Ian was born, my mother would never again see her homeland; spending the rest of her life in her new chosen home of Canada. My sister Vicky and brother Ian accompanied my mother on that trip to visit Mom’s sisters and brothers.

Elvira (Hutchings) Culbert and daughter, Vicky.

That would be the last time that my mother would ever see her brothers and sisters although she did talk on the phone to a few of them each Christmas, and write many letters back and forth. This was at a time in the 1950’s and 60’s when a single phone call to England cost a lot of money so the calls were usually kept very short.

Soon after returning to Canada, my Dad opened Culbert’s Bakery and Grocery Store in Lucan, moving upstairs into an apartment above the store on Main Street. Mom gave birth to her first child, Victoria (Vicky) born August 18, 1946.  My brother Ian would follow 17 months later, arriving on January 16, 1948; and then I was born on April 1, 1950.  

 

Elvira with son, Phil Culbert.

Mom now had 3 children under the age of 5 to care for while Dad ran the store.

 

Left to right: Vicky, Ian, and Phil. 1951.

When Dad sold his store in 1955, he was working for Singer Sewing Machine and was transferred to their branch store in Owen Sound, Ontario as Store Manager. Mom was pregnant with her youngest and 4^th child Christine when we moved, and Chris was born on Sept. 17, 1955 in Owen Sound. Our family spent 2 years in Owen Sound and Mom and Dad decided they wanted to move back to Southwestern Ontario somewhere near Lucan. So they purchased a home in London where us 4 kids basically grew up in the late 50’s and 60’s living at 605 Colborne Street; our family home until we all moved over the years to get married and create our own homes.  

 

The Culbert Family home at 605 Colborne Street in London, Ontario.

My mother always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and besides raising us four kids she took in boarders, did some babysitting, and her real passion was selling Avon products in the local neighbourhood.  Mom would dress up in her finest clothes; always looking like a million dollars, applying her makeup perfectly, and setting out onto the streets in our surrounding neighbourhood, knocking on doors and selling her product.  She became very good at it and had a lot of repeat customers who bought from her regularly. It was very tough to say no to my mother!!!! Believe me, us kids tried many times without success. (LOL)

Like the woman in this 1960 Avon advertisement, Elvira was an Avon Representative, known as an "Avon Lady."

Mom never drove much when she came to Canada despite driving huge supply trucks during the war in England for the British Royal Navy as a Wren.  Apparently, as the story goes, my Dad had bought her a small sports car when they first arrived in Lucan and Mom got into a single vehicle accident, destroying the car and deciding never to drive again.

Mom was the family disciplinarian and she didn’t hold back if we had done something wrong. Like many parents from that era, sparing the rod to spoil the child was not an option in our house as far as Mom was concerned.  As my brother and I got older, we would make a game out of it as she tried to grab us to enforce her discipline but she couldn’t catch us and would always say, “Just wait until your father gets home.” We would chuckle, knowing all Dad would do would be to talk to us and tell us not to upset Mom. 

Left to right: Ivan Culbert, Phil, Vicky, Christine, Elvira, and Ian. Summer, 1960.

Mom would often come to events we had at our school, Lord Roberts, and I will never forget my Grade 8 graduation when we all had to individually perform some form of skit or entertainment for all the parents and siblings in the audience. One of my classmates, Mike Vanbaardwick decided to do a piano recital. Everything was going well until he forgot his place halfway through, and just sat there staring blankly down at the piano keys. You could hear a pin drop! All of a sudden, this booming voice from the audience starts singing the rest of the song he was performing. It was MY mother!!!!  I was so embarrassed I started to slide under my chair on the stage as all my classmates watched my descent into oblivion. Soon, Mike picked up where she was singing in the song and started playing on the keys of his piano again. My mother received a standing ovation!!!

I did not appreciate what she had done until years later. That was Mom. Never shy about doing or saying anything! This trait of Mom’s of which I was so embarrassed about as a child, I would later proudly emulate as an adult myself, and continue to do so today. Mom always stood up for what she believed in, and was never shy about letting other people know as she had little to no filter at all when it came to expressing her feelings.

Elvira makes the news! London Free Press article, 1960s.

At the age of 52, my mother had a major brain hemorrhage that almost killed her, leaving her unable to care for herself, with permanent brain damage. She remained in Victoria Hospital in London for almost 7 months, recovering. She was later transferred to London Psychiatric Hospital where she would remain for 7 years, eventually being transferred to a nursing home until she died after contracting pneumonia. 

My father suffered a major stroke a year after Mom was hospitalized, and was unable to look after Mom himself as he also needed care. So it became the duty of her children to fill that role, especially my sister Vicky and her husband Earl who became the main caregivers, picking her up on weekends to visit my Dad, and entertaining her at their home until it was time to go back to the hospital.

My brother Ian and his wife Nancy were also very helpful, shuttling Mom back and forth from the hospital, and taking my Dad grocery shopping and helping out however they could. I never owned a car until 1971 so had to rely on my siblings to do all the driving back and forth to the hospital.

As I had moved to B.C. in late 1971, I was never able to help out with Mom or Dad’s care so I am forever grateful to my siblings for filling the roll of caregivers of my parents for all those years before they passed.

After 10 years of institutionalized care, Mom passed away at the very young age of 62 on March 7, 1977 and is buried in St. James Cemetery in Clandeboye near Lucan with her husband, Ivan.

Elvira and Ivan with their son Phil, and their grandchild, Brad Culbert (Phil's son.)

War Brides

Thousands of romances bloomed between Canadian servicemen and British and European women during the Second World War (1939-1945). The more than 48,000 women (most British) who married their Canadian sweethearts and journeyed overseas to Canada were known as war brides.

September 10, 1945 - War brides on board the aircraft carrier Reaper as it enters the harbour at Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Canadian federal government provided free one-way trips for the war brides. To carry the brides and their children to Canada, they employed huge troop ships that had been especially outfitted, and converted luxury liners such as the famous "Queen Mary." Upon arrival in Nova Scotia, many brides were then transported by train throughout the nation.

 

RMS Queen Mary

These women left everything and everyone they knew behind to start a new life. Some of them never saw their homeland again.

Many war brides were unprepared for the culture shock of their adopted homeland. Women who had grown up in cities found themselves on farms with no running water, electricity or indoor plumbing. Suddenly, they were expected to milk cows and bale hay. Others arrived in small villages where life meandered along at a different pace and everyone knew your business. Some were embraced by their new families while others would always remain outsiders. Many would be teased for their accents and different customs. And, of course, Canadian winters came as a complete surprise to them.

The war brides were brave women, taking a chance on love in a new country. They are part of Canada's immigration story. 

Tomorrow, we'll meet a war bride who married a descendant of John Culbert and Mary Ward.

War brides en route to Canada aboard S.S. Letitia waving goodbye to families and friends. Credit: Barney J. Gloster/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-175794

Like Great-Grandfather, Like Great-Grandson

On Friday, you saw this sketch of Richard Culbert, created by Charles Newton Carscallen...

And by now, you all know Richard Culbert's great-grandson, Terry Culbert...

Now, compare and contrast...

Richard Culbert (left) and great-grandson, Terry Culbert (right)

I had to flatten Terry's head to fit into the picture (ha!) but I think you'll agree there's a resemblance.