Mary (Briggs) Hughes (abt. 1832 - 1906)

Born about 1832 in Bathurst, Lanark, Upper Canada

Ancestors

Wife of George Hughes — married 21 Feb 1855 in South Sherbrooke, Lanark, Canada West

Died 17 Nov 1906 at about age 74 in Bathurst, Lanark County, Ontario

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jan Briggs-McGowan [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Tay Valley, Ontario One Place Study.

Mary was born 1832 in Bathurst Township to Thomas Briggs and Jane Gunness. The family moved to South Sherbrooke about 1844, where Mary was recorded in the 1851 census with her widowed mother and several siblings. She married George Hughes 21 Feb 1855 on Lot 16 Conc 10 of South Sherbrooke Twp. They had children: John William 1857, Christopher 1858, Mary Jane 1859, Thomas Briggs 1859, Elizabeth 1866, Charles Henry 1867, Amelia Ann 1870, George Albert 1871, Stanley 1874, Abigail 1877, Charlotte 1885. When George died in Toronto 1892, the family was living at 57 Tecumseh Street, and seven children were still at home: Abigail, Charles Henry a Toronto Railway employee, Christopher labourer, Elizabeth clerk, George woodworker A. M. Rattan Company, John agent London Life Insurance, Stanley trunkmaker, Langmuir Mfg. Mary died 17 Nov 1906 in the Bathurst House of Industry at Perth

Research Notes

there may have been other children born between years 1859-1866, and it's highly likely that Charlotte was a granddaughter.
Before the construction of the House of Industry in Perth the only alternative place to house indigent residents was in the county jail. Although this building was locally known as “The Poor House”, it was described as “the finest House of Refuge in Ontario”. There were farm buildings in the back fields that lead down to the Tay River and in the early days was sustainable as a working farm.

Sources

• https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1851&op=img&id=e002355062