McCool Name Study - Canada

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Canada
Surnames/tags: McCool McCoole

McCool Name Study -> Canada

Contents 1 McCools in Canada 1.1 Hull Quebec immigrants from County Donegal 1.2 Loyalist Townsend Ontario Settlers from America 1.3 Bruce County Settlers from County Donegal 2 McCool Migration Across Canada 3 Background: Formation of Canada 3.1 Ontario Timeline 3.2 Provinces

McCools in Canada

There appear to be at least three major groups of early McCools who immigrated to the Province of Quebec territories (that later became Ontario and Quebec in the newly-formed country of Canada in 1867). See Formation of Canada section below.

Hull Quebec immigrants from County Donegal

...under construction

Loyalist Townsend Ontario Settlers from America

...under construction McCool Name Study - Townsend Ontario Line

Bruce County Settlers from County Donegal

...under construction

McCool Migration Across Canada

...under construction

Although most McCool lines settled first in three core areas of Eastern Canada, they eventually migrated to other areas.

Background: Formation of Canada

It's important for genealogists to have at least a basic understanding of the European colonization of what is now Canada.

• Late 1400s: French and British expeditions began.
• 1534: Colony of New France was claimed.
• 1608: first permanent settlements started.
• 1763: France ceded nearly all its North American possessions to the United Kingdom at the Treaty of Paris after the Seven Years' War.
• 1791: The now British Province of Quebec was divided into Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) and Lower Canada (present-day Quebec).
• 1791: Britain gave land grants of 200 acres per person to United Empire Loyalists who fought on the side of Britain during the American Revolution, in part to encourage settlement of the Upper Canada frontier (now Ontario) and New Brunswick.
• 1803-1850: Great Migration to Canada, especially from Scotland and England, adding Irish immigrants at the end (during the Great Famine of Ireland).
• 1812-1815: The War of 1812 was fought between American and Britain (including Canada). The US gained no Canadian territory, but the war was devastating to Native Americans in the (Mid)-West and the South.
• 1841: Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada by the Act of Union 1840, which came into force in 1841. Upper Canada became known as Canada West.
• 1867: the Province of Canada was joined with two other British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia through Confederation, forming a self-governing entity. "Canada" was adopted as the legal name of the new country.
• 1867 to 1849: Canada expanded by incorporating other parts of British North America, finishing with Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949.
• 1982: The Patriation of the Constitution marked the removal of legal dependence on the British parliament.

From 1791 to 1830, the majority of English-speaking Canadians came from America. That changed significantly during the Great Migration.

Canada currently consists of ten provinces and three territories and is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy.

Ontario Timeline

Many McCool families have lived in the area that became Ontario. Here's what those areas were called, and when:

• 1763- 1791: Province of Quebec is now part of Britain
• 1791-1841: Upper Canada (formed from the western section of the Province of Quebec)
• 1841-1867: Upper Canada becomes known as Canada West
• 1867- present: Canada West is now the province of Ontario
• 1889: Ontario gains significant lands to the north and west
• 1912: Ontario gains large northern lands

Provinces

The original four provinces of Canada have expanded to ten. There are also three sparsely-populated northern territories. The dates in which they became part of Canada (formed in 1867) are:

• Ontario 1867
• Quebec 1867
• Nova Scotia 1867
• New Brunswick 1867
• Manitoba 1870
• British Columbia 1871
• Prince Edward Island 1873
• Saskatchewan 1905
• Alberta 1905
• Newfoundland and Labrador 1949

Animated GIF showing development of Canada province boundaries