Edward Paterson (abt. 1865)

Ancestors

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Biography

Edward Paterson is born in Toronto, in about 1864, the son of James Paterson (1830-1873) and Isabella Balfour (c1830-?). His father is a barrister who was born in Upper Canada, quite likely on a farm immediately west of the village of Streetsville in what became Peel County in 1851. Harry’s paternal grandfather had come to Upper Canada from Scotland likely in 1820 and had been the first homesteader on this farm. His mother was born in Scotland and her family had come to Upper Canada sometime in the 1830’s.

The first record of Edward is the 1871 census when he is six years old, living with his family in St George’s Ward of Toronto. His father dies two years later and there is a possibility that his mother dies also (she cannot be found in any census record after 1871). Three of the four children of James and Isabella move to Hamilton to live with a cousin (another clue that the mother may also have died). The cousin is Hannah Isabella Forsayth (née Hope) (c1846<1911) and she is a widow. The 1881 census record, although difficult to read the hand writing, shows Hannah Forsayth living in Hamilton and, in addition to her two children, there are three other young people in the household: Edith (19), Edward (17) and Harry (15) Paterson.

It is not known what happens to Edward. In the 1891 census there is one possible person who might be the Edward Paterson of interest here. He is an Edward Patterson (sic) who is 27-years old and who was born in Ontario. He appears to be a cook in a mining camp in the Algoma district of northern Ontario. But there is no way this identification can be confirmed.

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Sources

[1] The 1968 Paterson family tree shows Edward as the 4th child of James & Isabella. In fact he was the 5th. There is no further information on the tree (spouse, children)..

[2] 1871 census, Ontario, 46, West Toronto, St Georges Ward, pg 26, household 110: James Patterson (sic) (42), born Ont, Presbyterian, Scotch, Barrister; Isabella (41) born Scotland; Edith (9); Frank (7); Edward (6); Harry (5); Margaret Balfour (25) born in Scotland; Arnie [?or Amie] Balfour (23). [Margaret & Arnie or Amie are presumably siblings of Isabella.]

[3] 1881 census, Ontario, 149, Hamilton, [cannot read sub-district, possibly ward 2], pg [either 3 or 5], household 10: [first name not legible but might be something like “Annie” or “Fannie”] Forsyth (33) [possibly 38], widow, Ch of England, Scotch; Harriet (12); Bremner (11). All 3 people were born in Ont; the children are “Scotch” and they appear to be going to school. There are 3 other young people, all born in Ont, in the household but it is difficult to read their names. They all have the same surname: “Patasen” is a guess. The first names (with ages) are something like: ??ith, female (17 or possibly 19), Ch of England, Scotch; possibly “Edward” (16), Presb, Scotch, has some type of occupation; [just about impossible to read, maybe “Henry”? is male] (15), Presb, Scotch and occupation is clerk. These 3 people are Hannah Forsyth’s cousins – the children of James Paterson, the lawyer in Toronto, who died in 1873, and Isabella Balfour. The correct names and approx ages of those 3 cousins: Edith Paterson (19), Edward Paterson (17) and Harry Paterson (15).

[4] 1891 census, Ontario, 46 Algoma, pg 17, household 105:appears to be a boarding house with 7 men. An Edward Patterson (sic) (27) is the cook. This Edward was born in Ontario, both parents were born in Ontario [the mother of the Edward we are looking for was born in Scotland] and he is Presbyterian.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Fred Nix for creating Paterson-870 on 27 Oct 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Fred and others.